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Over the summer South Kingstown saw a big jump in kindergarten enrollment. Last year we opened school with 202 kindergarten students and had 199 for the official October 1 census. With the addition of full day kindergarten an enrollment increase was projected, and 220 to 230 students were expected.

We now look to have 250 kindergarteners when school opens, the biggest entering class since 1999. When planning for full day kindergarten, some additional capacity was built into the system, so there is room for all the students with between 18 and 23 students in each class. Most of the growth occurred over the summer, as spring kindergarten registration numbers were almost exactly what was projected.

In November the district will review its enrollment projections which are based on the October 1 census. October 1 is the official census date because there is always student movement around school opening and enrollments shift slightly. This is the second sign of a potential reversal of the trend of declining enrollments. The first was evident in last year’s projections when the birth count in town increased.

 

An extensive amount of planning went into getting ready for the new middle school transportation system. The new system was needed to accommodate the redistricted elementary schools. Now, Matunuck and West Kingston students attend Curtis Corner Middle School, and Wakefield and most of Peace Dale attends Broad Rock. Peace Dale students who live in close proximity to Curtis Corner attend there.

When the new districts were created, an important priority was to allow current students to finish out in their current middle school. The problem in doing this was creating a system that simultaneously transported students in the same area to different middle schools, since, in some places, sixth graders would go to one school under the new districts, while seventh and eighth graders would go to another under the old districts.

This was solved by creating a shuttling system. The bus routes are designed to get sixth graders to their assigned school. Seventh and eighth graders who remain in a school outside their new attendance area (about 180 in number) will transfer busses. In the morning they will transfer at the high school and in the afternoon a bus will take them to the other school to board the bus home. Additional details and the supports that will be in place to help students transfer are available either at skschools.net or at each middle school.

Additionally, last year with transportation to our new elementary districts there were communication problems. Parents and school staff had trouble contacting the transportation company since lines were overloaded and staffing inadequate to handle the crush of calls. Repeating that situation is not acceptable. Consequently, DATCO added phone lines and staff to handle questions and issues that will likely arise around the new middle school system. There will also be a direct communication link permanently in place for schools in emergency situations. If you have questions try skschools.net, and if that doesn’t work the DATTCO number is 284-0472.

 

At its August 22 meeting, the School Committee modified the school calendar for this year. The major change was to close school on Primary Day, September 12, in response to a new state law requiring schools to be closed. That day was added to the end of the year, making June 20 the planned last day of school (unless snow dictates otherwise).

Additionally, graduation was moved from Friday, June 15 to Monday, June 18. This was done for two reasons: one, the Ryan Center was unavailable on the 15^th, and two, the closing of school on September 12^th makes it difficult for seniors to get in the required 170 days of class before exams begin. A revised calendar is on the district web site.

One last calendar note - up until this year, the parent conference date on the calendar has been limited to elementary schools. This year, the November 20 parent conference date is through eighth grade – middle schools will have parent conferences too. Details will be coming home from the schools on the format of the conferences.

 

Part of each summer is work to protect and improve the school department’s physical plant. These projects are funded primarily by the Town’s Capital Improvement Program, adopted by the Town Council each January. The School Committee reviewed its part of the project at its August 22 meeting. Work done this summer included:

A new roof was put on the original building at West Kingston. It is a metal roof, like the one put on Matunuck last year, and will be long lasting while greatly improving the appearance of the building.

At the High School, the last of three stages of new floors and doors in the original building is being completed. The flooring is done and the doors will be installed after hours during the fall. We also removed the school’s underground oil tank, the last such tank in the district. Fortunately, there was no soil contamination.

At Curtis Corner, the old underground water tanks were removed and a new, more compact and above ground system was installed. The new system will also assist with the water demands of the athletic fields behind the school. The handicap access lift in the school is also being replaced.

Flooring on the lower level of Peace Dale School was replaced. This project was scheduled earlier, but delayed in order to install a sprinkler system in compliance with new fire codes. Since the bid came in under projection, we were able to replace the well-worn library and kindergarten carpet too.

The roof and garage doors were replaced and trim painted at the Columbia Street maintenance building.

Painting projects were undertaken at several schools around the district, including exterior trim at Curtis Corner and Peace Dale, the cafeteria at Wakefield, and the gymnasium at West Kingston.

 

On July 14, the School Committee held a full day retreat to review progress on the goals it set last year and update its goals for the school system. The goal setting work grows out of the two subcommittees established by the School Committee, one for Professional Development and the other for Accountability. To set goals the School Committee analyzed data from the district targeted at three specific questions:

1.      How are our students performing?

2.      How well does the district support teaching and learning?

3.      How well is the school district managed?

In addition to quantitative data, information from the three community forums conducted in May and June was reviewed and incorporated into the goals. The School Committee’s goals for the district are:

Continue Accountability Work – the work of the accountability subcommittee this past year provided a solid beginning in creating an accountability structure for the district. This work should continue and accountability should be a component of all goals.

Improve Communication Across the School System – to date communication work has been focused on the district level. Communication should be a system-wide goal permeating every facet of the school system, including clarified expectations and policies.

Improve High School Success For All Students – understanding why students drop out; options that intervene early; how the K-8 system can support high school success, seeking solutions that retain students and improve school safety; and resolving the limitations imposed by the high school schedule.

Supporting Innovative Strategies for Student Achievement – policy initiatives would promote innovative programming in the district. This work will need to address the innovation and consistency balance, budgeting for innovation, and necessarily supportive cultural shifts.

These goals are reviewed by school administrators to make implementation recommendations. The School Committee reviews those recommendations, and the result is incorporated into both the budget and strategic plan for the school district.