Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Tuesday, May 24 Budget Referendum East Hampton Middle School 6:00 AM – 8:00 PM
East Hampton Public Schools Superintendent’s Update
Week of May 16, 2016 The vision of the East Hampton Public Schools - preparing and inspiring our students to be innovative, responsible, contributing members of an ever-changing global society.
Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.
~ Buddha
Calendar
Monday, May 16 – East Hampton Town Meeting in the Town Hall, 7:00 PM
Tuesday, May 17 – The Hartford Yard Goats Mascot Visit at Memorial School, 11:30 AM-12:30 PM.
Tuesday, May 17 – “The Hungry Heart” – A Documentary Film About Prescription Drug Addiction and Recovery at the East Hampton Public Library, 6:30 – 9:00 PM. There is a Q&A session after the film. This event is sponsored by the East Hampton Local Prevention Council in partnership with the Middlesex Substance Abuse Action Council.
Wednesday, May 18 – The “Writing Celebration” Open House for Families at Memorial School, 6:30 PM -8:00 PM. Student work will be on display for families to enjoy: 6:30-7:30 PM for Grades K and 1, 7:00-8:00 PM for Grades 2 and 3.
Wednesday, May 18 – Senior Class Awards Evening in the East Hampton High School Auditorium, 7:00 PM.
Thursday, May 19 – Ralph Fletcher, Author at Memorial School. There will be 4 assemblies for our students, an author luncheon, and book signings.
Thursday, May 19 – High School Building Committee Meeting in the High School Library, 5:30 PM.
Thursday, May 19 – Elementary PTO Mother’s Day Tea, 6:00-7:30 PM.
Thursday, May 19 – Student Art Award Ceremony at the Sears Park Pavilion, 6:30 PM. The East Hampton Arts and Culture Commission will recognize many of our student artists!
Thursday, May 19 – High School PTO Meeting, 7:00 PM. This is the final meeting of the year. New members and the parents of students currently in Grade 8 are encouraged to attend!
Friday, May 20 – East Hampton High School Honors Breakfast, 7:30 AM.
Friday, May 20 – East Hampton Cafeteria and Custodian Appreciation Day.
Friday, May 20 – Fifth Grade Visit to Middle School. Our current fifth grades students visit the Middle School for an orientation to the Middle School in advance of the 2016-2017 school year.
Friday, May 20 – Middle School Celebration Dance at the Middle School, 6:30 PM.
Saturday, May 21 – Junior/Senior Prom at Fantasia in North Haven.
Monday, May 23 – Board of Education Policy Subcommittee meeting in the High School Library, 5:00 PM.
Monday, May 23 – Center School Band and Choir Spring Concert in the High School Auditorium, 6:30 PM.
Monday, May 23 – Board of Education Meeting in the East Hampton High School Library, 7:00 PM.
Tuesday, May 24 – Budget Referendum at East Hampton Middle School, 6:00 AM-8:00 PM.
Saturday, May 21-Sunday, May 22 – French Fry Days at East Hampton McDonald’s! Purchase any size order of fries and McDonald’s will donate to EHHS Project Graduation!
Tuesday, May 24 Budget Referendum East Hampton Middle School, 6:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Thursday, May 26 – East Hampton High School Music Department Spring Concert in the High School Auditorium, 7:00 PM.
Friday, May 27 – Coffee with the Superintendent of Schools at the Central Office, 7:30 – 9:30 AM. Start the Memorial Day weekend off with a coffee!
Friday, May 27 – East Hampton High School Senior Picnic.
Friday, May 27 – Last Day to order EHHS PTO Lawn Signs. You don’t have to have a graduating Senior to show your support for the Class of 2016. By purchasing a Class of 2016, you support all of the EHHS students with your $15 donation for the sign. For more information e-mail Denise at [email protected].
Monday, May 30 – Memorial Day. No School.
o Monday, May 30 – East Hampton Memorial Day Parade and Remembrance Ceremonies. The parade assembles at the high school at 8:30 AM and steps off at 9:00 AM. Organizations interested in marching or entering a patriotic float should contact Lou Carillo at 38 Middletown Avenue, East Hampton, (860-462-3711).
Wendesday, June 1 – Superintendent’s Advisory Council at the Central Office, 9:00-10:15 AM. On the first Wednesday of each month, the Superintendent holds a more formal “coffee and chat” meeting for parents and community members. Don’t miss this meeting – it’s the last one of the year!
Wednesday, June 1 – Project Graduation Meeting in the High School Library, 6:30 PM.
Thursday, June 2 – Center School Art Celebration / PTO Ice Cream Social, 6:00-7:00 PM.
Friday, June 3 – IT Appreciation Day. We’ll take time to thank our small, but powerful team of people who keep our technology up and running!
Friday, June 3 – Center School Spelling Bees: Grade 4 at 9:30 AM & Grade 5 at 1:00 PM.
Friday, June 3 – Hartford Yard Goats Baseball sponsored by Elementary PTO. The event is back on! Be part of opening weekend in Hartford as the Hartford Yard Goats take on the Portland Sea Dogs. Spend the night at the ballpark with friends and family from Center and Memorial School. Ticket order deadline is Friday, May 20. In the case that the park is not open by this date, you will receive undated vouchers for any remaining home game.
Wednesday, June 8 – Middle School PTO Meeting in the Middle School Library, 7:00 PM.
Friday, June 10 – Nominations due for recognition as an East Hampton Friend of Education. Nominations are due to the building Principals by the last day of school. Please nominate one of our outstanding volunteers, parents, local government official, community leader, or legislator.
Friday, June 10 – Nominations due for recognition as The Rookie Employee of the Year. Nominations are due to Rosemarie Smith in the Central Office at 94 Main Street by the last day of school. Please nominate one of our outstanding new teacher of staff members who are currently in their first three years of employment by the East Hampton Schools.
Friday, May 27 – Nominations due for recognition as an East Hampton Public Schools “Good Apple.” Nominations are due to the building Principals. Please nominate one of our outstanding teachers or staff members. All employees are eligible!
Friday, June 10 – Last Day of School of School for East Hampton High School, Middle School, Memorial School. The last day of school is a half day of school. Note: The Center School will also have a half day on Friday, June 10.
Friday, June 10 – PTO Movie Night at Center School.
Sunday, June 12 – East Hampton Graduation Exercises for the Class of 2016 at the Memorial School Front Lawn, 6:00 PM. It’s hard to believe that we are sending another group of Bellringers off to college already!
Monday, June 13 – Last Day of School of School for East Hampton Center School.
Monday, June 13 – Board of Education Policy Subcommittee meeting in the High School Library, 5:00 PM.
Monday, June 13 – Board of Education Meeting in the East Hampton High School Library, 7:00 PM.
Tuesday, June 14 – Flag Day.
Wednesday, June 15 – The 24th Annual Bellringer Golf Tournament sponsored by the East Hampton Sports Boosters at the Glastonbury Hills Country Club. All proceeds from the event are used to support the athletic programs at East Hampton High School. Sponsors, golfers, and volunteers are needed! Contact the booster club for more information at [email protected] or call Mark Vickery at 860-308-4202.
Sunday, June 19 – Father’s Day.
Monday, June 20 – First Day of Summer.
Monday, June 27 – Board of Education Meeting in the East Hampton High School Library, 7:00 PM.
Get your event on this Calendar; it’s sent every Monday morning to all East Hampton Public Schools teachers, staff, parents, and families! If you would like a school/community event listed please forward dates and information to Paul Smith: [email protected].
Notes
Budget Update 2016-17
The East Hampton Town Council at their meeting of May 10 eliminated $312,500 from the Board of Education Budget. The Board of Education Budget will be presented at the referendum with an increase of $187,500 or 0.65% increase.
Board of Education approved Budget: Increase of $559,396 1.9% increase
Board of Finance approved Budget: $ 59,396 reduction Increase of $500,000 1.7% increase
Town Council approved Budget: additional $312,500 reduction Increase of $187,500 0.65% increase The Town Council made their reduction of $312,500 based on potential uncertainty of Education Cost Share (ECS) grant funds due to the town. After CT lawmakers approved the state budget, that reduction is closer to $165,000.
The Budget Referendum will be held on Tuesday, May 24 in the Middle School from 6:00 AM – 8:00 PM.
Please note: Due to the fact that the Referendum has been officially announced for May 24, the weekly Superintendent’s Update can only include basic budget information along with the date, time, and location of the budget referendum.
Prior to this date there has been information shared with details of the 2016-17 Budget. That information cannot be shared in an electronic fashion any longer due to recent legislation. If you would like further information regarding the budget, you are always welcome to meet the Superintendent, Paul K. Smith in person, or call (860-365-4000), or e-mail ([email protected]), or visit for “Coffee and Chat” during a scheduled time or at your convenience.
It’s interesting that given our global connections to the world… …only 7 percent of college students in America are enrolled in a language course.
…In 2013, roughly 198,000 U.S. college students were taking a French course; just 64, on the other hand, were studying Bengali. Yet, globally, 193 million people speak Bengali, while 75 million speak French.
…Less than 1 percent of American adults today are proficient in a foreign language that they studied in a U.S. classroom.
The reality is that school budget cuts and a difficulties in finding qualified certified world language teachers have resulted in our country falling behind the rest of the world. While some may consider English to be the language of the world, those students who are fluent in another language increase the likelihood of landing a better job in business, politics, marketing, medicine, and many other fields. Click the link to read the whole article.
Help us recognize the Rookie Employee of the Year
Please help us recognize the efforts of the newest members of the East Hampton Public Schools family of teachers/staff members by nominating one of our “rookie” employees – anyone who is currently in their first three years of working for our school district.
Welcoming new staff members into the profession and recruiting experienced teachers and staff members are both important to the continued excellence of our schools. Please take a moment to nominate one or more of our recently hired employees to be recognized as the “Rookie of the Year” for the East Hampton Public Schools. Nomination forms were e-mailed to staff members and families. Forms are also available on the school’s website.
The nomination should honor an employee who has made an impact on students in his/her first year to three years in the East Hampton Public Schools and has distinguished himself/herself as an excellent role model in the first year to three years of employment in the East Hampton Public Schools.
The Rookie of the Year nominations are due to the Rosemarie Smith in the Central Office at 94 Main Street by Friday, June 10 and will be announced at the beginning of the 2016-17 school year. The recipients will be recognized at a future Board of Education Meeting during a special ceremony. Please nominate someone today!
East Hampton Board of Education Highlights (5/9/16)
The Board of Education recognized Grade 8 students: Emily Balda and Nathan Lazor and High School Seniors: Chelsea Salafia and Jordan Thomas who were recognized by the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education for outstanding academic accomplishments, service, and leadership.
The Board received enrollment figures for May. The district has a total of 1995 students enrolled compared to 1991 as of October 1. (Pre K – 56, Memorial – 584, Center – 290, Middle – 432, High – 516, Other Special Ed/Magnets/VoAg – 117)
Budget updates were shared with the Board including the dates of the Town Council Meeting (May 10), Town Meeting (May 16), and Budget Referendum (May 24).
The Board approved policies that deal with Nondiscrimination, Harassment, and Sexual Harassment. In addition policies were approved for Use of Restraint.
The Board approved the district’s All Hazards Plan and Emergency Operations Plan. The Board approved the new Math curriculum for grades K-5: Go Math. The Board approved a three-year contract for a new website for the district with APPTEGY that will also be used
for emergency contact. In addition, the program is responsive to tablets and cell phones.
Source: America's Lacking Language Skills by Amelia Friedman in The Atlantic. (Click here for full article.)
The Board reviewed new policies to be approved at the next meeting: Health Records, Physical Exercise and Discipline of Students, and Gender Identity and Expression.
Center School turns 150 years old!
Thoughts
We are still learning much about how children learn! I have included below a brief synopsis below of a well-researched white paper on psychological aspects of learning. You can glance through the synopsis but I strongly recommend you take the time to view or download the complete
paper by clicking here. The twenty principles are broken down into five categories: (1) How do students think and learn? (2) What motivates students? (3) Why are social context, interpersonal relationships, and emotional well-being important to students? (4) How can the classroom best be managed? (5) How can teachers assess student progress? Each of these areas are briefly discussed based on research and studies. Pick any one of the principles and you have a great topic for discussion. Take a few moments to review the quick synopsis and then view the 30-page paper. It is well worth your time as teacher, coach, or parent.
The current Central Office at 94 Main Street is the original Center School and it is now 150 years old.
In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Center School, we are going to recreate the picture to the right with our current Grade 5 Center School students who will walk over to 94 Main Street for a photo on Thursday, June 2 at 2:00 PM.
Parents are welcome to attend to watch the picture taking and the simple celebration. Please make sure to drive carefully around Main Street and park appropriately in the various lots available!
Twenty Psychological Principles for Successful Teaching and Learning (A summary from the Marshall Memo)
In this report from the American Psychological Association, Joan Lucariello and nine colleagues synthesize key psychological principles and explain their implications for PreK-12 educators. The full report (see link below) has considerable detail on each one.
• Principle #1: Students’ beliefs and perceptions about intelligence and ability affect their cognitive functioning and learning. Students with an “incremental” or “growth” mindset tend to focus on learning goals and are willing to take on challenging tasks to expand their intelligence or ability. Students with a “fixed” or “entity” view of intelligence feel the need to continually demonstrate or prove their ability and are hesitant to take on difficult challenges. Teachers can foster a growth mindset by encouraging students to attribute success and failure to effort and strategy and avoiding ability-based praise or criticism.
• Principle #2: What students already know affects their learning. Prior knowledge can be “Velcro” for new knowledge, but what students “know” may also be erroneous. Teachers can gain insights on students’ current knowledge – and their misconceptions and knowledge gaps – by giving pre-assessments and putting the data to work in unit and lesson planning. Getting students to change their misconceptions requires especially careful lesson planning.
• Principle #3: Students’ cognitive development and learning are not limited to general stages of development. Recent research has debunked earlier stage theories of learning and shown that students are capable of advanced thinking if specific knowledge and skills are in place. Baseline assessments are helpful in guiding how instruction should proceed, and heterogeneous grouping can foster peer learning.
• Principle #4: Learning occurs within a specific context (e.g., a classroom, a lab, a textbook) and transferring or generalizing learning will not happen by itself. Teachers need to make real-world connections, teach in multiple contexts, and take the time to develop students’ understanding of deep, underlying concepts that can be applied in new contexts.
• Principle #5: Acquiring long-term knowledge and skill is largely dependent on practice. Students experience a plethora of stimuli every day that lodge in short-term or working memory. Moving the most important items into long-term memory takes deliberate practice – attention, rehearsal, practice testing (the retrieval effect), spaced repetition over time, and interleaving material from different subject areas.
• Principle #6: Clear, explanatory, and timely feedback to students is important for learning. Specific learning goals are the starting point, followed by feedback on what students have right and wrong that guides them to knowing what to do, becoming self-correctors, and taking ownership for their own learning.
• Principle #7: Students’ self-regulation assists learning, and self-regulatory skills can be taught. Students need to learn planning, attention, self-control, and memory strategies.
• Principle #8: Creativity can be fostered. Being able to generate ideas that are new and useful in a particular situation is an important 21st-century skill, and it’s not a fixed trait that you either have or you don’t. Teachers should allow for a wide range of student approaches to completing tasks or solving problems (create, invent, discover, imagine if, predict), emphasize the value of different approaches, and avoid the tendency to see highly creative students as disruptive.
• Principle #9: Students tend to enjoy learning and do better when they are more intrinsically rather than extrinsically motivated. The long-term goal is to get students to the point where they engage in activities for their own sake – where success and mastery are sufficient motivation to work hard and stick with the task.
• Principle #10: Students persist in the face of challenging tasks and process information more deeply when they adopt mastery rather than performance goals. Mastery goals are about acquiring new skills and improving levels of competence, while performance goals are about showing one’s ability and doing better than others. Teachers should emphasize progress over past performance (versus normative evaluation and comparison to others), deliver feedback privately, get students working in cooperative groups, and encourage students to see mistakes as opportunities to learn versus evidence of low ability.
• Principle #11: Teachers’ expectations about their students affect students’ opportunities to learn, their motivation, and their learning outcomes. “These beliefs shape the kinds of instruction delivered to students, the grouping practices
that are used, anticipated learning outcomes, and methods of evaluation,” say the authors. “If faulty expectations are communicated to a student (whether verbally or nonverbally), that student may begin to perform in ways that confirm the teacher’s original expectation.” Teachers need to continuously self-check, for example: Where are students sitting the classroom? Are all students participating in discussions? Is written feedback delivered equitably?
• Principle #12: Setting goals that are short-term, specific, and moderately challenging enhances motivation more than establishing goals that are long-term, general, and overly challenging. At least until middle adolescence, students aren’t skilled at thinking concretely about the distant future (e.g., succeeding in college). Teachers need to set goals that move students toward high achievement and gradually “stretch” the goals.
• Principle #13: Learning is situated within multiple social contexts. These include families, peer groups, neighborhoods, communities, and the larger society. The more teachers know about the different contexts, the better they will do at creating a classroom culture that facilitates learning.
• Principle #14: Interpersonal relationships and communication are critical to both the teaching-learning process and the social-emotional development of students. “Given their social nature, classrooms provide a critical context for teaching social skills such as communication and respect for others,” say the authors. “Developing successful relationships with peers and adults is highly dependent on one’s ability to communicate thoughts and feelings through verbal and nonverbal behavior.”
• Principle #15: Emotional well-being influences educational performance, learning, and development. Teachers’ choice of vocabulary, effective modeling, and explicit teaching can help students develop a healthy self-concept and self-esteem; self-efficacy and locus of control; happiness, contentment, and calm; a capacity for coping in healthy ways with everyday stresses; understanding, expressing, and controlling one’s own emotions; and perceiving and understanding others’ emotions.
• Principle #16: Expectations for classroom conduct and social interaction are learned and can be taught using proven principles of behavior and effective classroom instruction. Teachers need to start at the very beginning of the year and re-teach behavioral expectations throughout the year. Certain well-established programs like PBIS are very helpful.
• Principle #17: Effective classroom management is based on structure and support at the classroom and schoolwide level. This means teachers are: (a) setting and communicating high expectations; (b) consistently nurturing positive relationships with a high ratio of positive to negative statements; and (c) providing a high level of student support.
• Principle #18: Both formative and summative assessments are important and useful, but require different approaches and interpretations. Formative assessments are on-the-fly and used to improve instruction and learning in real time. Summative assessments measure learning at certain points in the year. Clear learning targets are important to both.
• Principle #19: Students’ skills, knowledge, and abilities are best measured with assessments that have well-defined standards for quality and fairness. Some important questions on the validity of formative assessments:
- How much of what you want to measure is actually being measured?
- How much of what you didn’t intend to measure is actually being measured?
- What are the intended and unintended consequences of the assessment?
- What evidence do you have to support your answers to the first three questions?
Reliability is another key criterion of good assessments – are they consistent indicators of students’ knowledge, skills, and abilities?
• Principle #20: Making sense of assessment data depends on clear, appropriate, and fair interpretation. This comes back to what the assessment was designed to measure, ensuring that the data are used in ways that improve teaching and learning.
“Top 20 Principles from Psychology for Pre-K-12 Teaching and Learning” by Joan Lucariello, Sandra Graham, Bonnie Nastasi, Carol Dwyer, Russ Skiba, Jonathan Plucker, Mary Pitoniak, Mary Brabeck, Darlene DeMarie, and Steven Pritzker for the American Psychological Association, 2015, https://www.apa.org/ed/schools/cpse/top-twenty-principles.pdf
Have a great week! Paul Smith
May 24 – Budget Referendum East Hampton Middle School
The Superintendent of Schools sends out text message using Remind. If you would like reminders about East Hampton Public Schools events or immediate updates on school cancelations in the winter directly from the Superintendent of Schools click here and simply enter your mobile phone number.
$
Please click the dollar sign to get information about the 2016-17 Budget from Paul K. Smith, Superintendent of Schools. Any parent or community member is welcome to schedule a personal appointment with the Superintendent if you have budget questions. You are also encouraged to stop in for coffee at one of the regularly scheduled, Coffee with the Superintendent meetings.
Please click on the calendar for the 2016-17 school calendar. Next year’s school calendar is now available to parents. The 2016-17 school year will begin after Labor Day in order to accommodate the high school construction project. Please review the calendar and plan your vacation time accordingly.
Are you following the East Hampton Public Schools on Facebook? You should follow us to get simple reminders and updates on all the great things going on in our schools. Click on the Facebook icon and “like” us!
Come and have coffee with the Superintendent of Schools some morning or evening. It’s a great chance to learn what’s going on – especially if you want accurate information right from the source. The Update has a list of coffee dates – and you can always find them on the school’s website.
6:00 AM – 8:00 PM
