South Kingstown Public Schools

District Newsletter                             web edition                            September 2005

 

 

What’s New in the SK Schools

Math Program K-6 – Kindergarten through sixth grade students in every class in every school are using a new mathematics program this year.  The program, Everyday Math, was chosen after a year of review and analysis as the best one to implement our new mathematics curriculum.  Teachers were provided materials in June and student materials were delivered over the summer.  Nationally more than 2,000,000 students use Everyday Math.  It has been extensively researched and longitudinal studies conducted by the University of Chicago and Northwestern University found the following:

§         As compared to other programs, Everyday Math students use a greater variety of computation methods, are especially strong on mental computations, and perform equally well in paper and pencil computation.

§         On topics that have been missing in elementary curriculum, such as geometry, measurement, algebra, problem solving, reasoning, and communication, Everyday Math students score substantially higher than students in other programs.

§         Total math achievement typically increases significantly following adoption of the program

Lab Classrooms – Lab classrooms will be up and running in each elementary school this year.  What is a lab classroom, you ask?  A lab classroom is one that analyzes the effectiveness of lessons and then opens itself to other teachers to come, visit and learn.  It is a way to disseminate the most effective teaching strategies throughout the district so they are available to all students.

In the process, a visiting teacher meets with the lab teacher to discuss lesson design and identify a focus for decisions in instruction and assessment.  Following a classroom observation, the two teachers meet again to review and analyze the observation.  The importance of lab classrooms is that they create a structured opportunity for teachers to plan, observe, and analyze teaching, critical steps to improvement.  It provides a forum for teachers to study effective lessons and think about their own teaching and learning in the classroom.

Advisory – Homeroom in the high school will no longer be what it used to be.  South Kingstown High School is very successful, yet every student is not successful.  Part of our effort to make every student successful is to have them individually known by an adult who follows their progress.  Replacing homeroom with Advisory is part of that plan.

The form of Advisory has been in place for a while, students assigned to a single homeroom teacher for four years.  This year the substance begins to take hold.  Teachers spent the latter part of last year on program design and will continue that work this year.

Learning Center – Throughout last spring teachers and administrators were hard at work completing the design for middle school Learning Centers.  The Learning Center is a flexible teaching period in the school schedule that provides time for students receiving individual help and support through Personal Literacy Plans (PLP’s) or Individual Education Plans (IEP’s), for teams to work with students on specific study or organizational skills, or conduct team lessons.

Math Coach – To support teachers in their implementation of the new mathematics program and curriculum the district created a Mathematics Coach.  The Math Coach will work in classrooms in each of our elementary schools, facilitate grade level discussions where issues and questions involving mathematics teaching and learning are reviewed; model lessons for teachers; and identify areas of focus based on state and local assessment results.  The district will add a coach in each of the next two years to support consistent application of programs and best practice.

 

This is a year of big changes in the organization of the South Kingstown Schools, and no area is more affected than student transportation.  The changes impact every K-12 bus route.

·    Our elementary schools were redistricted requiring new bus routes.

·    Our school day was lengthened for elementary and middle students (the longer high school day is coming).

·    Middle and high school students are on the same bus runs to avoid elementary bus runs in hours of darkness in winter.

DATTCO worked all summer getting ready for the changes, but even though they can run computer simulations of the routes, and even though they can send busses out to make trial runs, when students are at the bus stops the first day of school and URI traffic hits the roads, some adjustments will undoubtedly be necessary.  For that reason, we ask for your patience the first few days of school while we work out the inevitable kinks.  Transportation numbers: SK district (792-9681 ext. 3)  DATTCO (284-0472)

P.S. Thanks to Kingston Hill and Compass Charter Schools for adjusting their times to assist our transportation planning

This fall we implement a computerized telephone notification system to provide an important communication tool, serving to both improve operations and assist in emergencies.  Some things the new system can do include:

1.        Call the parent of every absent or tardy student.  That task now takes much of the day for a big school like the High School, and the automated system can do it in a matter of minutes, freeing up important staff time.

2.        Provide notifications in emergency situations such as school evacuations.  Up until now, schools lacked the capacity to promptly notify all parents in such circumstances.

3.        Place a phone call to every household when school is cancelled for inclement weather.

4.        Send out reminder calls for Open House and other school events.

The system works by reaching into our data base and sends a telephone call to everyone identified.  It can send a prerecorded message for absent students or no school, or a specially recorded message for an emergency situation. For families who do not speak English, it can automatically send pre-recorded messages in their native language.  The messages come from the school’s own phone numbers, so it will not appear as a telemarketer on Caller ID.  It provides reports of out of date phone numbers so we’ll be better able to keep our records current.

Implementation will be phased in over the course of the year as we learn how it works and get the technical components up and running.  So, if you receive a recorded message, we apologize for the lack of the personal touch, but it’s a message we’d be otherwise unable to deliver.

Welcome Two New Principals to South Kingstown This Year

Doug Pierson joins Peace Dale Elementary School.  He was formerly Principal of Fishing Cove in North Kingstown.  In 1992 Doug was Rhode Island’s Principal of the Year and a National Distinguished Principal.  Additionally, he served as a mentor principal to candidates in the Principal Residency Network.  His education includes a BA from Boston State College, Masters Degrees from Fitchburg and Keene State Colleges, and an Ed.D. from Clark University.

Robert McCarthy steps in at South Kingstown High School.  He comes to us from East Greenwich High School, where he has served as Principal since 1999.  Prior, he was Assistant Principal at East Greenwich HS, and before that a Social Studies and English teacher.  He has a B.A. from Emory University, an M.A.T. from Brown, and an Ed.M. from Harvard.

Thanks to the members of the screening committees who served diligently and conscientiously.  For Peace Dale - Joan Alix, Helen Pernicone, Pam Thompson, Pam Dolan, Donna Tanguay, Deb Zepp, Muriel Mueller, Carol Stedman, and Sue Coughlin.  For the High School - Randall Brown, Robert Cavanaugh, Terrance Lynch, Roni Meyer, Harold Smith, Gayle Tarzwell, Martha Spiewak, Andrea Tucker, and Ana Zannella.

 

The district still has work to do in determining how students will move from fifth grade in elementary school to sixth grade in middle school.  Smaller groups of students in each grade are moving into middle school making it difficult to retain our current team structure.  In effect, we are transitioning from a population that requires four teams for each grade to one requiring three teams for each grade - and three teams do not divide evenly into two schools.  Important decisions are before us –

·         Should we have teams with more than one grade (for example two sections each of seventh and eighth grade on a team)?

·         Should we have one fifth and sixth grade school and one seventh and eighth grade school?

·         Should our middle schools both be the same size, or should they be imbalanced (for example one with two teams in each grade one with one team in each grade)?

·         What system should we use to move students from fifth to sixth grade (our past feeder system no longer works with our current organization)?

·         How should we transition into the system that is best for South Kingstown?

The first community work session was held on Tuesday, August 30 and focused on identifying decision criteria and standards.  The next two sessions will also be held in the High School cafeteria since they are work sessions, not presentations, and begin at 7:00 in the evening.  Please come and be part of the decision process.

Session #2    Tuesday, September 20

Session #3    Tuesday, October 18