Canton Public Schools Friday Blog

Race to Nowhere Update

2011-08-17T16:47:00.001-04:00

The most recent comment about 'Race to Nowhere' was posted just a few minutes ago, and the writer requested an update. Prior to that, we heard from a reader on July 14th. Well after the April viewing of the documentary film, its message is still on people's minds.

Coincidentally, the Administrative Leadership Team meets tomorrow for our annual all-day summer retreat. It is our first opportunity to talk together about the previous school year and to plan for the next one without the busy end-of-the-year workload. Everyone is refreshed and ready to go.

'Race to Nowhere' IS on our retreat agenda for tomorrow, August 18th. I had already made copies of all of your blog comments, and we are planning to review them and discuss what this means for the school district. That said, it never hurts to call your school's principal directly and ask about the school's homework policy and what can be done to help students who are overly stressed or unable to get enough sleep due to school work.

Race to Nowhere: Share Your Thoughts!

2011-04-27T15:07:00.000-04:00

The BLOG is being resurrected so that community members who have viewed "Race to Nowhere" on Wednesday, April 27th, or at another time, have a space to share their thought about the documentary.

1. Which topics from the film affect you and/or your family?
2. What ideas do you have for ways to combat student stress? Have you found ways to help your child manage stress?
3. What are ways that you would like to see the issues raised by
the film addressed in your school and/or community?
4. What are the guiding principles you would like to see for education on the local, state and national levels?

They're HERE! The TESTS Have Arrived!!

2011-01-28T09:00:00.006-05:00

Lynn K. McMullin

In the midst of all our snow closings and delays and sub-freezing temperatures, the CMT and CAPT tests have arrived in Central Office – all 68 boxes of them. We’ve gotten them color-coded and ready for delivery to the schools. In fact, by the time you are reading this, they may have already arrived at the offices of our four school test coordinators: Chris Woods at CBPS, Lynn Kaufman at CIS, Bill Donovan at CMS, and Irene Urko at CHS.

What every farmer knows is that you can’t get the little pig fatter by weighing him. I often use this statement as an analogy to standardized testing, such as the CMT and CAPT. We certainly won’t make our children more skilled or academically successful by testing them. And while, this blog is an inside look at the time and effort that goes into the “weighing,” we all know the real work is what our teachers do every day in their classrooms to help our students achieve.

On the other hand, I’d like you to also know it is no simple task making these tests happen… Imagine, our efforts are replicated in every school district across Connecticut, and for the most part, on a much larger scale. Each year when I check-in our boxes, (which everyone in our office noted inevitably arrive wet and dirty), I remind myself that some districts (Hartford, for example) must be receiving literally 100’s and 100's of boxes and need a whole storage facility to store them.

Here are some facts to ponder!

Based on last year’s data, we can expect our students to spend a total of 58.5 total hours across the grades in the actual testing. Our third graders have the least amount of testing -- 7.5 hours. Our 10^th graders have the most – 13 hours! Three of our schools were assigned to take supplemental tests this year, which adds to their testing window, as these students will be trying out questions and tasks for future CMT’s and CAPT’s. Tenth graders will be taking an extra Interdisciplinary Writing Test, for example.

We will likely administer about 340 different make-up tests for students who were sick or away from school during the test administration. We will work with about 106 official accommodations, such as students who need a reader or scribe, or large print materials, or extended time and an alternate setting, per their Special Education individualized plan (IEP). We will need 117 teachers, working as trained proctors, to follow a specific set of protocols and administer the tests.

The four school coordinators and I will spend about 250 hours on the various administrative tasks, including 50 hours in unpacking and inventorying tests and supplies, 15 hours training proctors and readers, 15 hours in phone or email correspondence with Measurement Incorporated over interesting testing ‘issues’ (such as what to do with a booklet a child was sick on), and 30 hours repacking the test booklets for scoring. I have 184 emails in last year’s ‘testing folder.’ Lest you think that even the inventory is simple, at the Middle School, for example, Bill Donovan will count '290 small blue paper rulers' and '170 formula sheets'. There are individualized bar code labels to check for each student’s testing booklets.

In addition, your school administrators, and sometimes even their PTO’s and parent volunteers, will spend many hours planning whole school assemblies and pep talks, re-doing the bell schedule, finding appropriate space for small group accommodations, scheduling proctors and substitutes, writing letters home, and even arranging breakfast or wholesome snacks for our test-takers.

At the end of March, we’ll re-inventory and box it all up again – the completed tests and the materials -- and each box will be taped shut and affixed with its two security seals and two address labels.

No one is complaining!! (Well, maybe just a little!) But, in Canton, we do take this time very seriously, intending that every detail is well planned and every eventuality, controlled. It’s important to us that this community continue to enjoy its excellent test scores.

But, more importantly, it’s crucial to us that your children continue to master the math, reading, writing, science, and analytical problem-solving skills that the Connecticut tests measure. It wouldn’t be fair of us to send them into a testing situation feeling overwhelmed and underprepared. Over the summer, we'll study our overall test results and make changes in the curriculum and instruction that will help more of our children reach the goal. We'll also study the individual results and set personalized goals so that each child reaches the next benchmark.

In a few weeks, I’ll blog about what you can do as parents to help us ensure your student’s best performance.

What does 'Parents 4 A Change' Have to Do with You?

2011-01-21T09:00:00.006-05:00

by
Lynn K. McMullin

On Tuesday, in the midst of all the snow calls and AlertNow hullabaloo, you also got a message from me and the Community of Concern's Substance Abuse Council about an upcoming program February 2nd. Here are the details, and then I'll tell you more about why the program might be of interest to you.

WHO: Mary Marcuccio, from Parents 4 A Change, a dynamic speaker featured on Good Morning America! Along with an informative display to help you recognize today's drugs and paraphenalia sponsored by our local Narcotics Enforcement Officers Association

WHEN: February 2, 7:00 p.m.
WHERE: Canton High School Auditorium -- with childcare provided.

WHY?

The first time I heard Mary Marcuccio speak I was impressed with her intensity, honesty, and passion for sparing other families the same grief she experienced in her own family with a teenage son, now lost to drugs. The tragedy struck at a time in his life, and hers, when she thought they had already beat the odds and were 'free and clear.' I remember her talking about the little elastic bands he would have on his fingers, picking at them, flipping them around from finger to finger, in plain sight. She had noticed the little elastic bands and just thought they must have come from his girlfriend's hair. But, they came from baggies. The baggies held cocaine. Her son, like so many others, was a middle class honors student, college-bound, well cared for and living in the suburbs. His parents were smart and knowledgeable. They had a 'typical' parent-teen relationship.

That's one reason to come -- not because we're trying to scare you, but simply because knowledge is power.

Another reason to come is this:
Even if your children aren't yet teens themselves, you might have teens in your home. It's not uncommon for teens to take a quick peek into the bathroom cabinets of neighbors, families for whom they babysit or mow the lawn, to collect prescription medications. Bringing pills to share at parties is more common than any of us would like to think; and sometimes kids who will not participate in pill-taking, still contribute.

Several years ago, we did a Drug and Alcohol Survey at the high school. We asked our students about almost everything -- family patterns, friends, seatbelts, smoking, academics, and sports, church, etc. What we learned wasn't earth-shattering, but it was worth sharing.

By filtering the responses we found that students with three or more of these indicators were significantly MORE likely to make unsafe choices, including illegal drinking, riding in cars with people who are drinking, using illegal drugs, and misusing legal drugs. Click here to read the full survey results.

Students who spend 0 – ½ hour per day on homework
Students who spend 3+ hours alone per day
Students who do not eat 1 meal per day with their family
Parents who “rarely” or “never” know where their teen is when the teen is away from home
Parents who “rarely” or “never” know with whom their teen hangs out
Parents who “sometimes,” “rarely,” or “never” set clear rules about the use of alcohol or drugs
Students who report they “rarely” or “never” feel comfortable sharing their thoughts with their parents
Students who smoke
Students whose friends smoke, drink, or use marijuana
Students who report no close friendships within Canton High School
Students who feel they are in “fair” or “poor” mental and physical health
Students who spend more than 3 hours during the school week “hanging out with friends”

Based on those findings, and the filtered responses of the 'safest' students, the Community of Concern wrote a plan called "What Parents Can Do Immediately." Here are those suggestions:
1. Eat 1 meal per day with your children
2. Set expectations for homework (in terms of stress, the healthiest two groups of students do 1 – 2 and 2 – 3 hours of homework per night)
3. Arrange the schedule so that your children are not home alone more than 1 - 2 hours daily
4. Know where your children are, and with whom, when they are not at home.
5. Set clear and firm rules about the use of alcohol and drugs
6. Become more aware of your teen's stress levels and more informed about stress reduction
7. Help your student become involved in civic organizations and volunteering in the community
8. Limit the amount of time your student spends “hanging out with friends”

One more thing parents can do:
Join us February 2nd at 7:00 and become as informed as you can be!

Window to the Night Sky

2011-01-14T09:00:00.016-05:00

By Lynn K. McMullin

A wonderfully magical, boxy-drumlike-kind of instrument, a telescope!, on the sidewalk of Cherry Brook Primary School becomes exactly what it advertises – 'a window to the night sky.' Through these 'windows', last night, I saw the half moon, dusty-gray and looking as big as a basketball, and Jupiter with her four bright moons all in a row!

I love the way Canton is teaching science!!

I know we’re not perfect -- our Grade 5, 8, and 10 science scores have room for improvement -- but I love that we help our kids do things with science, not just spout back to us what they know. I love Gizmos, Robotics Club, Search, experiments in Mills Pond, in the redesigned CBPS courtyard, the CIS weather station, BrainPop, and all the regularly scheduled science labs where kids can experiment and talk about the results.

In the 60’s, I was a perfect science student – I studied and got an A on every science test I took; and yet, (amazingly, you might think!), I never really understood a single thing! If the teacher asked, “Why does an apple look red?” I could explain in a perfect cursive paragraph that 'white light, like sunlight, is composed of all the possible wavelengths of light. The different surfaces of things caused them to either reflect or absorb some of the light’s wavelengths. The reflected wavelengths determined the color. For example, if the apple is red, the apple reflects the red light to our eyes and it absorbs all the other colors in the light. That's why it’s red!' Uh-hunh?

In fourth or fifth grade, I built an A+ solar system out of painted papier-mache covered styrofoam balls, coat hangers, and string. The planets colors, sizes, and distances from each other were more a function of what my mother could find cheap at Woolworth’s five and dime than any application of scientific principle. I still remember it: “Mary’s Velvet Eyes Make Johnny Stay Up Nights Proposing.” (although, now I realize the ‘proposing’ has been demoted.) I knew that the sun was a star, only closer, and stars were ‘masses of burning gasses’ held tightly together by gravity. Uh-hunh?

My ‘night sky’ education, naming the constellations and studying two dimensional pictures of artist-drawn planets like I've recaptured here, didn’t prepare me for the ‘adventure’ over 40 years later of looking through the telescope for the first time and seeing Saturn's rings for myself. I had that chance four years ago at Cherry's Brook's first 'night sky' event, and I've been a convert ever since!

That’s why Cherry Brook’s “Window to the Night Sky,” originally the dream and now a labor of love for teacher, Ms. Linda Caraher, is so special. The event, which is held each year for 2nd graders and their families (and for all the various interlopers who want to a chance at the telescopes) is unforgettable. What you see through the telescope is real – not a picture in a book or on TV.

The event was postponed twice due to miserable weather forecasts in December, but not even temperatures in the teens and a blustery wind could squelch the spirit and enthusiasm of the second graders and their guests who took turns at four magnificent telescopes set up along the sidewalks. Two local astronomers, Mr. Scott Tracy and Mr. Victor Leger, along with seventh graders from Ms. Marsha Jorgensen’s science class manned the telescopes, providing assistance as needed. The telescopes were fixed on Jupiter and the moon; and this morning, I wonder how many Canton residents will be logging into amazon.com to check out the price of a telescope for their own homes. It’s that wonderful of an experience!

Like any remarkable educational event, “Window to the Night Sky” takes a lot of people, planning, and preparation. The program began at 5:00 with students singing a song led by Ms. LuAnn Saunders and listening to a brief presentation about the relative sizes of things in space (If Jupiter was the size of a basketball, Earth was a marble.) This was followed by varied activity stations for students and their families to visit. At the Star Finder Station, additional seventh graders helped families use devices they had made themselves to find prominent constellations in the winter sky. In the driveway, Mr. Bill Phelps and Mr. John Sherman showed students how to use a program on the i-pads to locate constellationsand night sky objects. In the cafeteria, students could work on science experiments with Ms. Kathy Magarian and her fifth graders. In the gym, after listening to a question, students could use the ‘planet parachute’ with Ms. Pam Keagan and Ms. Robin Nardini and try to finesse a ball into the hole next to the correct planet's name.

Students worked together to maneuver the 'planet parachute'
trying to get the ball into the hole labeled "Venus," the brightest planet.

Mr. Scott Tracy showed students pictures of his backyard conservatory,
with its sliding roof which opened the room to the sky. Then, he let them take turns
at one of the telescopes he has built himself.

Several of the telescopes were fixed on the half-moon;
the rest were fixed on Jupiter. One student, who looked through
the telescope at the moon summed it up perfectly: "Whoa!" she said.

TELL US: How well are we communicating the District’s news?

2011-01-07T09:00:00.005-05:00

By Lynn K. McMullin

Several times over the past year, I’ve had the chance to mention the BOE’s Strategic Planning document -- the plan that has become the cornerstone of changes, when we initiate them, and so much of what we regularly do day-to-day.

Communications is one of the five goal categories in the plan: it became a goal when members of the strategic planning committee focused on the need to improve the quality of communication at all levels of the school system. The committee members felt that leadership in a highly communicative environment should be more about orchestrating conversations, than dominating them. In other words, our communications should be more responsive and collaborative. Rather than ‘share information,’ communication should build confidence and trust.

We're over a full year into the Strategic Plan, and it's time to measure how we’re doing with this particular communications goal. So, we’re putting out a survey today, January 7th, and one of our key questions is specifically about trust: How confident are you with the information you receive? We sincerely want to know more about the quality of our communications and their impact on our relationships with you and our wider community.

Thus, I'm hoping that you’ll take the time you would normally spend reading this blog to go to the on-line survey and weigh in. Click here… and tell us what’s working and what isn’t. (Or, type or copy and paste http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/boecommunicationssurvey in your browser's address bar.) The survey, which takes less than 5 minutes to complete, will remain open through Friday, January 21st.

In the end, every communication avenue we try is always aimed at finding the most effective means of connecting you to what is going on across the school system.

___________________________________________________

A follow-up to the December BLOG on our students kind hearts....
This fall, 18 students came to Walter Lowell’s home in Avon to help with fall clean-up
The students donated the money they were paid by the Lowell's to the Canton Food Bank located at the Trinity Church in Canton. Another way our students give back to their Community.

Two Amazing Canton Graduates

2010-12-24T09:00:00.026-05:00

By Lynn K. McMullin

This week’s BLOG is a follow-up to last week’s look at the altruism of our classrooms and clubs. I want to celebrate with you the success two amazing CHS graduates, Ryan Abraham and Chris Robitaille, who exemplify the epitome of civic-minded initiative and problem solving. For over three years, these two young men have impressed us with their creativity and verve in their efforts to support the Lance Armstrong Foundation. It began with their Senior Project. In March 2009, following their first cross-county bike race, which raised over $20,000 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, they were recognized by Jodi Rell and each received a Red Cross ‘Local Hero’ award.

Now, three years later, they (along with several of their peers Peter Leung, Brian Beaulieu, Miranda J. Conary, and Mark-John Clifford) have organized a foundation of their own called R.F.A.R. (Riding for a Reason). Check out this foundation’s extensive website at http://www.rfarchallenge.org/index.php?CID=11. I can guarantee you will feel both astounded and proud!

Click on the link above and check out the RFAR Foundation's website.

Clicking on the Foundation’s history lets you know that R.F.A.R. was “founded in 2008 by Canton High School seniors Ryan Abraham and Chris Robitaille in an effort to combine their passion for an active lifestyle and supporting cancer victims. RFAR’s first event raised over $20,000 and the second event nearly tripled the revenue and raised almost $60,000! Riding for a Reason has now expanded its organizational leaders to help create a unique and exciting event each and every year. Riding for a Reason will also be expanding across the nation, adding new states each year!”

Recently, Ryan Abraham sent an email to Gary Gula, principal at Canton High School to share with him the latest accomplishments of their foundation. Ryan wrote, “After creating a new partnership with Robin Williams and creating 'The Power of Laughter Gala: An Evening with Robin Williams' to be held in October 2011 at New York City’s Gotham Hall, Mr. Williams has graciously offered up the idea and his list of contacts and we have created 'The Power of Laughter Tour.'

We will be sending celebrity comedians including Ellen Degeneres, Jimmy Fallon, Jerry Seinfield, Ray Ramano, Dennis Leary, and Jeff Dunham across the 50 states to top cancer centers! While everything is still very much in the works, we will be coming out with a press release and a website page for this new addition to the Riding for a Reason Foundation shortly!

We will be hosting 50 events across the 50 states up until October 2011. These events will lead up to the main event - the Gala, where we will bring in all the comedians to honor and thank them for their support as well as 500-1000 other guests.

We are incredibly excited to have live entertainment provided by Robin Williams, himself, and Robert Holden as a keynote speaker - the leader in the true power of laughter, and the top researcher on how leading a happy life can help cure cancer.”

In a rather humble closing to his email, Ryan wrote, “I just thought I would let you all know of this great new addition!”

Both young men are currently college students!

The Value of Empathy

2010-12-17T09:00:00.083-05:00

Lynn K. Mcmullin

At every grade level, involving students in community service projects makes sense. Not only do students learn empathy, (which adds value in every potential future endeavor), but they learn a little bit about the responsibilities of citizenship in our democratic society. Community service projects are particularly meaningful when students design and carry them out themselves. In those instances, they learn skills such as problem solving and participating in groups, both as leaders and followers.

Our Senior Project course at the high school includes a community service component. In this course, students identify a significant need and design and implement their own community service project to meet this need. The most meaningful projects involve developing new initiatives, rather than supporting one that already exists. The Grade 6 community outreach projects and Grade 8 Odyssey Projects incorporate this same kind of civic responsibility learning.

In addition, many of the clubs and activities Canton offers have community service components to them, thus helping students to understand why people volunteer. As adults we are likely to have experienced many kinds of civic volunteerism and service which have helped us build a sense of belonging in our wider community. And, let’s face it… helping out others makes us feel good about ourselves -- we feel worthy, energized, capable, and connected to others.

There’s no better time to tell you about some of the community-minded projects that our students are fulfilling. I hope you feel as proud as I do of their accomplishments:

Canton Middle School

Students sent packages of snacks and hygiene
items to our soldiers overseas
through http://www.anysoldier.com/

On November 12, the Middle School sent 94 packages off to Afghanistan and Iraq. This was, by a good margin, more packages than the school had ever sent before. First, the students visited http://www.anysoldier.com/ to find a soldier, who makes a single request on behalf of his or her whole group, (watch “Tango Mike” on this website if you’d like to learn more about the value of this outreach program). The students then spent several weeks collecting and boxing necessities (such as body wash or Chapstick), snacks, and some items just for fun. In the Collinsville PO, Barbara worked 90 minutes off the clock to get the packages out and donated $20 to cover a little postage. The rest of the postage was covered by the Community of Concern, the Student Council, and the PTO. Within days the students got their first correspondence:

Canton Middle School Students,

On behalf of Delta Company, 3rd Battalion, 10th Aviation Brigade I would like to sincerely thank you for supporting the "Dukes", as we call ourselves! The fantastic Christmas decorations and cards have all found homes in the hangar where our Soldiers work. Our job here is to provide 24 hour maintenance support to the many AH-64 Apache, UH-60 Blackhawk, CH-47 Chinook and OH-58 Kiowa helicopters throughout Afghanistan. The soldiers work very long hours, both day and night, to ensure the helicopters are ready to fly at a moment's notice.

Everyone stops to read the cards and smiles when they see the decorations. We definitely feel the love and support you have sent! Thank you again for being a part of the Any Soldier program and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

Respectfully,

1LT Sarah M. Brisson

Middle School students packed a police trailer with
donations for the Canton Food Bank.

This month the Middle School has undertaken a canned food war with the competitive goal of filling a police cruiser which came to the school last Friday and was packed with over 1000 non-perishable food items for the Canton Food Bank.

Cherry Brook Primary School

At Halloween, students collected donations for UNICEF, (which you and I also may remember doing when we were children). After Halloween, CBPS collected and took donations of candy to share with the Food Bank and the troops overseas.

Then, on December 6th, a collection began for new, unwrapped toys for Canton’s Gifts of Love. The following week, they set up their annual “Mitten Tree” display in the hallway by the library. Students have been bringing in children's hats, gloves, and mittens to decorate the tree. On December 17^th, the items will be collected and given to the Canton Food Bank, who will help distribute the items to local families.

Canton Intermediate School

Just before Thanksgiving, students and teachers participated in their annual “Jack Bannon Turkey Trot” collecting canned goods to help our neighbors in need. Grades 4, 5, and 6 competed in a spirited rivalry that brought together more than 2,100 lbs. of non-perishable food items.

This month, CIS is busy with a number of projects. Students are putting the final touches on their annual Holiday Gift and Toy Drive of books, toys, cash donations, and gift cards which will be given to Canton neighbors in need. The “Kids Care Club” is making ornaments for the senior citizens and Cherry Brook Health Center. The “Kids Care Club” is a nationally-recognized, student-driven community service group that generates projects and activities to benefit the community and is facilitated through the school’s Quality Council.

Another group, the CIS “Circle of Friends” in collaboration with the Boy Scouts is collecting crayons to send to the “Crayons for Cancer Center” to be melted, recycled into different shapes, and sold. They are asking CIS students to contribute old crayons to this very exciting project. The money they raise will help families stay with their kids while they are getting treatment at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

In one example of the Grade 6 outreach projects mentioned above, a Grade 6 student in Mrs. Perry’s class decided to ‘reach out’ globally. In order to bring supplies and food along with her and her family on a mission to the Dominican Republic, she and other students held car washes, raked leaves, and collected $107 towards her project.

One of CIS’s major service initiatives took place on Thursday, December 16, when the “CIS Flying V's" met the "Cherry Brook Spikers" on the CIS volleyball court for the third annual staff match. All proceeds from the game, attended by families from both schools, will be donated to the Kilimanjaro Education Foundation, which is an excellent example of a school community making a long-term commitment to help others. Proceeds from many previous fundraisers funded the building of a classroom in Tanzania; proceeds from this year's volleyball match will be targeted specifically to purchase lesson plan books. If you’d like to read more about the Kilimanjaro Foundation click here http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/kef/47544/.

Canton High School

The student members of the high school’s ‘Substance Free Students’ found the idea for a very different kind of service project on the Nike website at http://www.nikereuseashoe.com/. In an effort to promote “green” thinking, they are collecting 200 pairs of used sneakers which will be recycled into indoor tracks, basketball courts, and gym floors. Approximately 30 students are involved in this project which required publicity, (including writing promotional articles for the newspapers), collecting and counting the sneakers, and finally, transporting the very large collection to the Nike store at West Farms.

CATA (Canton Adolescents Taking Action)
meets regularly to plan community
service and civic-minded projects.

Students involved in CATA, “Canton Adolescents Taking Action,” recently baked Thanksgiving cookies for the Canton Food Bank and delivered in them in time for the holiday. Now, and through the beginning of January, CATA is holding a winter clothing drive for people in need.

CATA cookies were packaged with this message:
"Happy Thanksgiving from CATA!...Baked with love at
Canton High School just for you!"

Another civically-minded group, the FCCLA Club (Family, Career, & Community Leaders of America) spent an afternoon putting together cookie-making kits for the Canton Food Bank -- the kind that you see beautifully layered in decorative jars. These “cookie jars” are available to families at the Canton Food Bank (which despite the efforts of the schools and other local civic groups will continue to need support throughout the year.)

Hopefully, by learning empathy and experiencing the positive rewards of helping others, our students will become more responsible, less self-centered citizens.

Student members of the FCCLA Club made cookie mixes
for the Canton Food Bank.

Extended Day Kindergarten Family Event

2010-12-10T09:00:00.008-05:00

By Lynn K. McMullin

Every day, the news coming from our 'Extended Day Kindergarten Pilot' gets better and better. Our teacher, Jessica Papp, is a real find! She is inventing the structures and curriculum as she goes – observing the children in their morning classes, and then incorporating what she learns about their strengths and weaknesses into the afternoon lessons. We can see that the children are making great strides in both the academic and social arenas, but it’s too soon for me to report any data.

I would, however, like to report on the recent family event hosted by the Bushnell in Hartford and attended by 80% of our extended day kindergarten families… about 55 people in all! As you may recall, our families agreed (when they applied for the pilot program) to help out in the afternoon classroom occasionally and to attend the planned social events designed to build community among the students and their families. The first of these events was held Tuesday, November 30, at 5:30 in the Seavers Room of the Bushnell, where our Choice and Canton resident kindergarten families -- moms, dads, brothers, and sisters -- joined for an evening of friendship, education, and fun.

The Bushnell, thanks to the kind and meticulous attention of Yolande Spears and her staff, treated us to a beautiful hall complete with linen covered tables and a stage with a grand piano -- where a charismatic professional storyteller engaged the students in a funny and interactive performance. Then, Max’s provided a delicious (kid-friendly) meal of macaroni-and-cheese (comfort food to die for!), chicken fingers, (roasted chicken for the adults), salad, and desserts. It didn't end there, as the kindergarteners were then invited to take home a book to add to their family library. The books, all mainstays of the Bushnell’s Education Department, featured diverse characters, settings, and themes.

Amanda Potrya, with whom we have been working to ensure the quality of our program, shared her thoughts with us the next morning. She wrote, “I'd really like to highlight the efforts of the Cherry Brook Primary School's Extended Day Program to welcome in our [Choice] families, and create a welcoming school/family partnership. Tonight was priceless. I know I walked away with great memories, and a lot to look forward to. Thanks a million for making a difference in our young student's lives!”

So what’s up next?

Amanda, Margaret Miller of Canton’s CPAT, and I met this past week to see if we can extend our CPAT program to Choice families of two- and three-year-olds who already have siblings in the Canton Schools, (but perhaps not until the weather changes again in late March). Meanwhile, Andy Robbin and I are working on a proposal to offer the kindergarten extended day to additional Canton families next year. It’s important to remember that we have accomplished everything thus far without spending any local Board of Education money.

What Does it Mean to Be 'Educated'?

2010-11-26T09:00:00.003-05:00

By Lynn K. McMullin

This BLOG is a bit of a departure – a little more philosophical than newsworthy or practical; but I’d love to know what the members of our community are themselves thinking about the direction of education.

What does ‘being educated’ mean today?

Somewhere and sometime in the past few years, I’ve heard two separate anecdotes which illustrate an interesting paradox in defining what is means to be educated. The first was in a speech by Vartan Gregorian, the past-President of Brown University and current president of the Carnegie Corporation in New York. Gregorian cited a study in which Brown’s graduate students – supposedly among the best and the brightest young people in the country! – were asked, ‘What causes the seasons?’ About 85% of these graduate students (none of them science majors) explained and graphically illustrated on a piece of paper, with a great deal of confidence, an elliptical orbit, which when the earth was closer to the sun gave us summer and when it was farther away, gave us winter. Something approximating the diagram below:

Close to the sun -- it's summer! Far away, it's winter!

But this, of course, is wrong! If it were true, the entire Earth would experience the same seasons at the same time. Yet, we know that summer in North America occurs at the same time as winter in Australia, and vice-versa. In fact, the Earth's orbit is nearly a circle, and the difference between its smallest distance from the Sun and its largest distance is proportionally very small. Furthermore, the Earth is furthest from the Sun in June when summer is beginning in the north! The seasons are caused by a combination of the tilt of the earth on its axis and its rotation.

Does this then make Brown University’s graduate students unprepared for the real world? They probably knew this concept at one point, but have forgotten it along their paths to learning something else in depth. Should we label them 'uneducated' as they go off into the 21st century’s market place to become tech specialists, business executive, lawyers, manufacturers, social workers, Spanish teachers, and so on? Or, should we accept that they will function exceptionally well with their particular skill set, enhanced with what is called 'just-in-time' knowledge, i.e. the ability to analyze accurate information as needed.

This second anecdote I heard at a curriculum workshop for differentiated instruction: eighth graders in a California school were given a portion of a standardized math test in which they were asked to generate their own answers and show their work. A word problem asked them, ‘How many buses will the army need to move 367 soldiers if each bus holds 48 soldiers?’ Students in the highest level math classes were more likely than students in lower level math classes to take their long division answers to the third decimal place and then round their answer to 7.65. Yet, what’s .65 of a bus? In this case, the students were well-schooled, but not practical. They were more concerned with being precise or accurate, than they were with being right.

Herein lies the paradox of the ‘educated’ student in the 21st century! To be educated, our students have to do much more than avail themselves of knowledge; they must apply what they know in a logical, meaningful way. To be educated, they must both seek out information and develop critical minds capable of differentiating between pure academic knowledge and its real-life application. They need to be able to ask deep questions, observe meaningful patterns, make predictions.

In the past century, the ‘educated student’ knew a comparatively small body of work extremely well -- Shakespeare, ancient history, algebra and geometry, the Bible, the Fall of the Roman Empire, the function of cells, and so on. Today, however, with knowledge expanding exponentially, we know less and less about a whole lot more. We cannot worry about our students being ‘academically’ educated in the same way they were in 1985. Our fear should be whether or not we are creating one-dimensional students who are unsure of what they know and how to use it. In fact, recognized mathematician Grisha Perelman has said, "Learning is what most adults will do for a living in the 21st century."

Recently someone complained to me that the kids today don’t even know their state capitals. In truth, I wondered why that was such a problem. In the argument that students can't locate states, countries, continents in the world -- an important global concept -- knowing the state's capitals contributes very little. Learning the state capitals requires rote memorization, a low-level skill that could potentially be reserved for life’s necessities, maybe spelling and multiplication facts (although even that is debatable in 2010). But, should today’s students spend time memorizing the 50 state capitals? Keep in mind, no thinking or problem-solving is involved!

My grand-daughter, who’s a freshman in another school system, could find you a list of the state capitals on her cellphone in less than a minute. In fact, one day when she, her mother, and I were driving through Vermont, my daughter wondered aloud if every state had a Springfield. We started naming them, when from the back seat, my grand-daughter soon reported that about 35 states had Springfields… and several countries did… and then there was the Simpsons’ fictional city of Springfield… and three famous people with the last name of Springfield (‘Who’s Dusty?’ she asked!). In about two minutes, she ‘knew’ more facts about Springfield than anyone cared to know.

That’s why as we work on Canton’s new social studies curriculum, we’re spending a great deal of time on the kinds of questions we want students to be able to answer. In 5th grade, about the same age they might learn their state capitals, for example: Not, “What is immigration?” but, “What factors cause groups of people move?” Not, “What were the major inventions of the Industrial Revolution?” but, “How do we determine when change is 'progress'?” Not, “What is the capital of Maine, Maryland, or Minnesota?” but, “How do our geography, climate, and resources affect the way we live and work?”

Your thoughts?

Improvement and Maintenance of Our Facilities

2010-11-19T09:00:00.002-05:00

By
Kevin D. Case

A major responsibility of the Board of Education is the oversight and maintenance of Canton’s school facilities. The Canton Public School System is comprised of three school buildings: Cherry Brook Primary School, housing Grades Pre-K through 3; Canton Intermediate School, housing Grades 4 through 6; and Canton Middle School and Canton High School, located in one campus facility, housing Grades 7 through 12.

To address ongoing facilities needs, a Facilities Subcommittee of the Board of Education was formed comprised of representatives of the Board of Education, the district’s Business Manager, and me, the Superintendent of Schools. This subcommittee has the responsibility to ensure that our students and the Canton community are provided with safe and modern facilities and equipment that support the extraordinary educational opportunities our students are engaged in.

As we prepare our District Budget for the 2011-2012 school year, one of the areas we look at is the improvement and maintenance of our facilities. Throughout this process, we identify Capital Improvement Projects, which are long range and long term in nature. These projects range from roof replacement to comprehensive renovation or replacement and are normally above the $50,000 threshold. We also identify Current Operating Projects, which are projects that are preventative-based and can be accomplished during the fiscal year to prevent further deterioration of the facility. These projects can range up to $50,000.

During the 2009-2010 fiscal year, due to effective management of the district’s budget, the Board of Education was able to purchase equipment and furniture and accomplish projects to improve our schools. Examples include: new cafeteria tables for Canton High School; new performance risers for the stage at Canton Middle and High School; new lockers for the Canton High School locker room; refurbishment of bleachers in the gym at Canton Middle and High School; renovation of the locker room and weight room/wrestling room at Canton High School; and the replacement of the back windows at Cherry Brook Primary School which will result in energy cost savings to the District.

It is at this time of the year that we solicit input from the public as to what projects you feel are necessary to upgrade our school facilities. The Board of Education and I look forward to working with all members of the Canton community throughout the budget process as we look to continuously improve our school system.

Please send me your thoughts or questions at kcase@cantonschools.org.

I wish you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

How to Make the Most of a Parent Conference!

2010-11-12T09:00:00.005-05:00

You're Invited!

Lynn K. McMullin

When I was a high school teacher, both in East Granby and Canton, I remember a few of my colleagues pulling their parent teacher conference schedule from their mailboxes and complaining, “I’m always seeing the wrong sets of parents.” I understood what they meant by this, but it made me cringe then, and still does today.

I’ve always looked at parent conferences this way: First, if your child is doing very well in class, you deserve to hear that message in person. Second, and more importantly, if your child is excelling in class you deserve to know what the teacher is doing to challenge your child above and beyond the everyday expectations… what are his or her goals for your child this year?   Third, if your child is struggling, the teacher should lead a discussion about what you can do together to support your child’s motivation and/or achievement. You have some information about what works and doesn’t work with your child, and the teacher has additional strategies to suggest.

It’s very important to attend conferences if your child is struggling academically or socially. It’s equally important to go if your child is doing very well. Every parent has a right to be at conferences, to be treated with respect, and to be given a current progress report, with clear goal statements and suggestions for working together as partners in the student’s best interests.   You should never feel like you don’t belong or are taking up the teacher’s time. If your schedule does not permit attending conferences, or if you have too many conferences to squeeze them all into one day, call and ask for an alternative day and time.

Maybe you’re asking yourself why you should attend for the umpteenth time and what you're supposed to say or ask during a parent teacher conference. After all, you’ve got a progress report; you can check grades in PowerSchool; you’ve seen papers coming home; you have, or will receive, a report card. What’s left?  Face-to-face communication can be much more effective than a number or letter on a report card. You can learn so much about the teacher’s expectations and your child’s progress when you and the teacher review a few of your child’s papers together. Facial expressions and body language can also help you and the teacher better understand each other’s perceptions.

The Art of the Elementary School Conference:
1. Ask how your child is doing overall in the classroom. Is your son or daughter behind, ahead, or on target academically and socially? Is your child happy in the classroom?
2. Ask to review some specific information about your child’s work in comparison to a benchmark. The teacher should be able to show you examples of what the grade-level expectations are for writing or what a sample math problem or task looks like. The teacher should be able to show you and explain your child’s reading level. Together, you should compare your child’s papers or written work to a benchmark or standard. Some teachers can also provide rubrics which describe what they are assessing.
3. Wherever your child is on the spectrum, ask what the teacher’s goals are for your child, when your child might reach those goals, and how your child is going to get there.
4. Ask about your child’s personal performance. Is your child working hard? To his or her full potential? Does your child enjoy the academic work? Share what you observe during homework time. Share any strategies that motivate your child … or circumstances that shut him/her down.
5. Ask about your child’s social growth. Does your child get along with others? Is your child friendly and respectful towards others? Does your child handle frustration, disappointment, guilt, or anger appropriately? Is your child accepted by others?
6. Both the teacher and parents must try to give vague observations a clearer context. If you can’t picture your child in a particular scenario, say, “Tell me more about that.” Ask the teacher to describe a particular time, place, and situation. Provide the same specifics for the teacher, when necessary. The goal is to determine ‘what works.’
7. Ask the teacher about your child’s good qualities and strengths. How can you, together, as a team, capitalize on those qualities and strengths?
8. Ask the teacher for suggestions about what you can do at home to support what the teacher is doing in school. There are specific ways parents can help children develop number sense, engage in critical thinking, read and follow multi-step directions, or make connections between stories (or even movies) and their own lives.
9. Ask what’s coming next. What’s the next unit in math or science? The next skill in reading?
10. If necessary, plan a follow-up conversation. Sometimes the teacher needs to think through a question or research new information. In that case, the teacher will need to get back to you. Sometimes, you’ll agree to try new strategies at home or in school and a follow-up will be necessary to evaluate the strategy.

Middle school and high school conferences are much tougher. Because teachers must see 40 or more parents in three days, secondary school conferences are considerably shorter. As a result, specific details about the student (rather than generic observations) and the facial expression and body language from both parties become the key communication devices. There IS time to be friendly; but there’s no time to chat about older siblings who went off to college, where the student is currently working, or the outcome of a recent sport or music event.

The Art of the 8-Minute Conference:
1. Ask how your child is doing overall in the subject. Is your son or daughter behind, ahead, or on target academically for that course? Is your child engaged, interested, and involved in the classroom?
2. Bring the last progress report with you and ask the teacher about any patterns you’ve observed. For example, your student might be struggling with homework or tests and quizzes. Ask the teacher for strategies which can strengthen weak areas. Ask for content-specific studying tips, such as flash cards or out-loud practice in front of a mirror. If you don’t know the amount of homework time expected each night, ask.
3. Ask to see your child’s work in comparison to a grade-level or department benchmark. The teacher should be able to show you what the expectations are for some elements of the content area -- a sample of a lab report, a one-page essay, or an essay test question response, for example. The teacher should be able to define the work qualities being assessed, such as labeling, showing all steps in a process, using complete sentences, or providing specific examples. Most teachers can provide rubrics which describe what they are assessing.
4. If necessary, plan a follow-up meeting or phone call, especially when a parent-teacher collaboration is required for the student to improve.

Conferences are November 16th, 17th, and 18th. Early release days are scheduled to accommodate the greatest number of parents.

Carnival Day in Math Class

2010-11-05T09:00:00.063-04:00

By Lynn K. McMullin

Often, I have mentioned the importance of 21st century skills and real-world applications in classroom learning. I’m sure everyone is familiar with the concept that knowledge is expanding astronomically. We’ve all read or heard that knowledge doubles at some “fill-in-the-blank” rate, whether that rate be every 8 days … or every 8 months … or some other frightening statistic. But, the point remains: change happens in content knowledge so quickly that what a person knows is becoming secondary to what a person is able to do.

We hear that students in other countries are now achieving much more than our own students do. Studies show that the countries with the highest achievement teach fewer topics more deeply. They teach less content knowledge and more reasoning and application skills. In order to compete in the global economy, the United States will need students who can communicate, collaborate, and problem solve, not recite. Our students will work with ‘just-in-time’ specifics by researching and analyzing information just as they need it for the particular problem and proposal their boss has assigned. They need to be innovative, analytical, and persistent.

This week, in two high school math classes, students participated in Carnival Game Day. The task was this: work collaboratively in a small group to develop a carnival game that favored the house, but looked ‘winnable’ to the potential client. There were a lot of parameters. Students had to use a combination of at least two spinners, coins, dice, or cards. They needed to write-out the ‘game-play” rules, test the probabilities for profit vs. payout, and calculate the mathematical expectation of their games.

On “Carnival Day" itself, the students were given $48 in play money and were required to visit each game a minimum of three times. In the end, the tables had to calculate their profits; and the contestants, their winnings. Keep in mind, the students could go back as many times as they wanted to the games that seemed the “loosest” to them.

Lollipalozza -- what row you spin, what side you flip,
which lollipop you choose determines whether you win --
nothing, the lollipop, or $4.

Lollipalozza was both enticing and interesting. It cost $3 to play. First, you spun for a color: 33.3% of the wheel was red (the bottom row) and 8.3% of the wheel was yellow (the top). If you spun blue, green, or yellow, you knew you walked away with at least a lollipop; so if you didn’t mind a $3 price tag for the lollipop, you could call yourself a winner at that point! Next, you flipped a coin. Heads got you a pick from the left side; tails from the right. Now, you got to select a lollipop from the colored row and side you had won. If the dot on your lollipop stick matched the color of the row, you won $4… and the lollipop!

In Probability Roulette, you paid $3 to play. You had to spin the wheel and roll the dice simultaneously. If your die landed on a pink triangle, you won the show of the die, anywhere from $1 - $6. If your die landed on a green triangle, you lost.

I really enjoyed seeing what the kids had created, but I didn’t count my money on the way out. I did hear one student complain to Mrs. Gabrielle Aitchison, their math teacher and the department chair, “I don’t get it. The probability of winning our game is minimal, but everyone keeps winning!”

The final part of this activity is that the students each write a self-evaluation based on the game they invented and the games they played. Which game was the best performer and why? Remember, a game had to both make money and attract customers. What would you do to improve your own game now that you saw how it performed? Explain why your game’s performance did or did not match your mathematical prediction? Students learned a little bit about odds and gaming at the same time, knowing how games can be built to favor the table and still look attractive.

Spin the roulette wheel and throw the die into the spinning wheel --
land on pink, you win the face value of the die.

Will this kind of collaborative, problem-solving activity make a difference? I think so, especially since self-reflection is an important final component of the process. Students still had to “know” things about probability and math to write their game proposals and resolve their problems. But, they also had to put what they knew to the test, and then they had to be critical of their results.

What do I see next? I’d love for this kind of activity to move into the technology realm, with the kids designing their game components on computers and testing their results over the broad spectrum of their many peers through their ready access to ‘social networking.' Posting links to their games and collecting the results might even be one example of putting the Internet to work for them.

The Carnival Day assignment was designed by Mrs. Gabrielle Aitchison, (in red)
who grades students on every facet ... from the project proposal to the visual display ... from the "fairness" of the payout description to their grammar and spelling.

More about Studying

2010-10-29T11:49:00.000-04:00

By
Lynn K. McMullin

After last week’s BLOG, a young mother emailed me with a follow-up question that might be worth sharing and is significant to students and families from grades 4 or 5 and up. She commented, “Students who are high-performing can have a hard time learning study skills as they get older. Because everything has come so easily to them, they haven't learned how to study and master more challenging material, and it can be daunting.” I’d like to share with you what I shared with her, which is applicable to every child no matter his or her abilities.

First of all, some struggle when the material begins to get harder is healthy for children. We don't want learning to always be easy and risk-free. It’s OK for students to attempt to learn something, to not succeed, and to then try something else until they figure out what works for them. Finding our own path to success is part of the learning process. But, frustration to the point of anxiety or shutting down is counter-productive. So let’s build on last week’s research about studying.

The most common technique for studying is some kind of personalized method using these kinds of strategies:

Previewing
First, always preview the "printed pages" before reading. Studying is not linear, like reading a novel is: read page 1, then page 2, etc. Students should examine the chapter before reading it. Pay attention to how the chapter is organized – what parts are likely to be the most difficult? … and the most interesting? They should read all the titles and sub titles and turn them into questions or observations. For example: If the article or chapter title was "Three Worlds: One Choice,” they might ask what is meant by the phrase ‘three worlds’ (when really there is only one) and whether ‘one choice’ seems positive or negative. Asking challenging questions makes students want to find out the answers.
Next they should look at all the pictures to understand them, not just glance at them. Read the captions under the pictures. "Why does that monument have such a huge crowd around it?" "Why are the people all wearing white?" "In this picture, if there is no grass, how do those goats eat?" When you’re really trying to understand, there’s no such thing as a dumb question.

Students should look at any charts and graphs and read their captions, trying to understand what they are showing. Read the "call-out" boxes (areas of text that are larger or in boxes, etc.) and ask questions about what this information might be referring to.Reading
Second, there are a variety of ways to take notes while reading. I use what is called "dialectical journaling." It's easy and it works for me. A standard notebook with a line dividing the page in half. The page number goes in the margin. I retain all the chapter and subtitles by writing them down. Below each one, I write my book note on the left; and on the other side of the line, I either reword it in my own words or comment on it on the right.

Students also need to develop three different reading strategies and know which one to apply in different scenarios. There’s study reading, skimming, and scanning.
In study reading, they should slow down! Try to interact with the author by paying attention and really trying to understand, not passively letting the words wash over them. They might have to read the material more than once… read it aloud in a one foot voice… or, use a ruler to move your eyes down the page… and, they should take notes.Skimming is useful as a pre-reading tool – to get the general idea before beginning reading – and as a reviewing tool to remind yourself what each section was about before summarizing it to yourself. Scanning helps you find an exact piece of information or quote you’re looking for in material you already have read and understand.

Studying
Finally, when studying. The best thing to do is mix-up modalities. Students might review and write what they're reviewing on note cards. Writing and reading simultaneously allows the brain to recreate a memory of writing the information down, which supports the memory of seeing it and is both more permanent and more easily retrieved. Think of trying to remember someone's phone number. If you write it down, your brain will recall not just hearing the numbers, or seeing the numbers, but the actual act of writing the numbers on the page.

Some kids might do better if they speak the information into a tape recorder, or even speak the information to a mirror, than if they simply write it. It depends on learning style, but mixed modalities help most people. Students should include strategies such making a set of flashcards, writing new words several times, diagramming something, drawing a flowchart of steps, using pneumonic devices, etc.

I’ll be the first to admit this is the briefest of overviews. I remember the shock of getting a C+ Ancient World History in the first quarter of my freshman year. But I worked it out.
I’m sure that one of my strategies would have included meeting with the teacher, Mrs. Benway, to get her suggestions. (I was that kind of kid!) Certainly, meeting with the teacher is always a good idea.

I found a fabulous website for more information. Check out “How to Study” -- http://www.how-to-study.com/ -- which has study tips and information, categorized by math or language arts, by memorizing or note-taking, and so on.

The Latest on Study Habits

2010-10-22T09:00:00.046-04:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

Two recent research pieces, one in the New York Times and one in msnbc.com on-line, bear a little consideration and might prompt comments from those of us who can share our own practical experiences, either as students ourselves or as parents raising contemporary students.

The first is the NY Times article, "Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits" by Benedict Carey, published September 6, 2010, just in time for the start of school. Carey claims that recent research turns our old-fashioned, common knowledge about studying on its head. For example, how many of us believe that our students perform better when they have one established place in their homes or rooms for quiet study. In my mind, the ideal spot should have a desk, a light, and a dictionary. OK, I admit that's very old fashioned, so replace the dictionary with a laptop!

Carey says research, however, proves we're wrong, and "simply alternating the room where a person studies improves retention... In one classic 1978 experiment, psychologists found that college students who studied a list of 40 vocabulary words in two different rooms — one windowless and cluttered, the other modern, with a view on a courtyard — did far better on a test than students who studied the words twice, in the same room."

For years, as a teacher, I told my students and their parents that they shouldn't study in the car on the way to karate lessons.. and that they should study one subject at a time, the hardest one first. Yet, Carey claims research proves kids should change-up what they do as they study, moving from memorizing vocabulary, to reading and taking notes, to writing an essay or reciting aloud. This studying technique, which Carey calls "mixed practice," enables retention for a longer period of time. He explains that when a student does the same repetitive process over and over, the brain anticipates the correct response pattern, rather than internalize the content. Variety, therefore, causes less automation and lasting knowledge.

What about cramming? We've all done it with positive results! Carey makes this analogy: "Hurriedly jam-packing a brain is akin to speed-packing a cheap suitcase... it holds its new load for awhile, then most everything falls out." This is a old piece of common sense that seems to hold true -- study a little today, tomorrow, and then again next week for greater retention.

So, would you have gotten these three factors of success correct? 1. Changing study locations? 2. Switching the kinds of content being studied? and 3. Spacing the study sessions over time? The fourth key factor of success, of course, is motivation!

So, what does research say about studying success and Facebook, texting, emailing, or tweeting? Suzanne Choney, in an article titled, "Facebook Use Can Lower Grades by 20 Percent, Study Says" (msnbc, September 7, 2010) writes that, "...college students who are on Facebook while studying or doing homework wind up getting 20 percent lower grades than students who don't have the social networking site in visual range, or even running in the background on their computers or mobile phones."

The study was done by two researchers, one in the Netherlands and one from Ohio State University. The purpose of the study was not to label Facebook as either good or bad, but rather it looked at whether there was any truth behind the belief, common among social networkers, that they are good at multi-tasking. The study concludes, "the reality is it [social networking] extends the amount of time needed to carry out tasks and leads to more mistakes."

So, what are your thoughts?

TEAM and Our Qualified Teachers

2010-10-15T09:00:00.003-04:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

In late August, we introduced our newest teachers in a webpage photo album called “Welcome New Staff.” (You can find it below the BLOG is you missed it.) Since, I am fresh from a meeting in Hartford about the new TEAM program for beginning teachers, I thought I’d provide some information about the paces we put our new teachers through to ensure they are the best teachers they can be.

First of all, in Canton we only hire certified teachers (or teachers whose certification is immediately pending because, perhaps, they have moved to Connecticut from another state.) As you can see from the photo album, most of our new hires already have their Master’s degrees. Others are enrolled in a graduate program and are well on their way to an advanced degree.

All beginning teachers have 3-year Initial Certificates. This means they have successfully complete a state-approved education program at an accredited college or university; they have passed the Praxis I Skills Tests (math, reading, and writing); and passed the Praxis II Subject-Knowledge Tests, such as in Elementary Education or French or Biology. Once hired in a school district, teachers with initial certifications now need to complete TEAM (which I tell you more about below) in order to move on in their careers.

The next level is the Provisional Certificate, which is valid for 8 years and requires 30 months of successful teaching experience, as well as 30 semester hours (10 courses) of credit beyond the bachelor’s degree at an accredited college or university. After 2016, those credit hours can only be graduate level courses and cannot be in the pursuit of another bachelor's.

Next, the teacher seeks a Professional Certificate, which is valid for five years. It requires 30 additional months of successful experience and 9 additional CEU’s (Continuing Education Units). Each CEU is equal to 10 hours of additional training, so a total of 90 hours of professional development are required for a teacher to retain certification.

Some beginning teachers come to us through ARC, or Alternate Route to Certification, which allows qualified, motivated adults to change career paths. These are individuals with college degrees and years of experience in a relevant profession who are willing to enter an intense teacher training program.

TEAM is Connecticut's Teacher Education and Mentoring Program

TEAM is an induction program which pairs beginning teachers with trained mentors and, step-by-step, works them through five, 10-week modules. The difference between this experience and their eight to 10 weeks of student-teaching in college is enormous. In TEAM, they are immersed in their own classrooms, they are expected to set very specific learning goals for themselves, to reflect on their daily classroom performance and how they are improving and developing as teachers, and to track student achievement in specific impact statements.

The TEAM modules are: Classroom Environment, Planning for Active Learning, Instruction for Active Learning, Assessment for Learning, and Professional Responsibilities. The phrase “for active learning” in these modules refers to the idea that the new teachers must concentrate more on what their students are doing than on what they are doing. New teachers are expected to be coaches of learning not lecturers or imparters of knowledge. Or in edu-speak -- they are to become a “guide on the side’ not a ‘sage on the stage.’

TEAM is a brand new state program, so as I mentioned to one of our administrators today, we are flying the plane while we are building it. We have mentors in various stages of training, we have the draft of brand new 3-year District TEAM Plan in the hands of a brand new, though eager committee. We’re still trying to iron out some glitches in the data, so that our new teachers are in the correct schools and can be paired with the correct mentors in State’s new on-line system. I was told yesterday, that the request for data corrections is down to only 470 this week.

Yet, I must say, none of this is scary. In fact it is rather exciting! The three most positive signs of success are: 1.) the new TEAM modules have a heavy emphasis on mentoring, in-class coaching, and co-teaching, a practice well supported by research; 2.) the in-house committee approach for scoring our beginning teacher’s reflections about the modules gives Canton a great deal of control over induction, and 3.) the happy coincidence that Canton’s five new Teacher Evaluation Rubrics align with the State’s five modules (we must have used the same research!)

I’m sharing this information with you as reassurance that we have hired the best teachers and are working even harder now to ensure their success. When new teachers leave the profession, they generally do so in the first two years out of frustration, because getting started in teaching is very, very difficult and they have felt alone and unsupported. We’re doing everything we can to create a supportive community that retains the fabulous people we have hired.

An aside:
** By the way, athletic coaches are required to have certifications, too. In fact, this July, legislation was passed that in addition to other required courses, coaches must complete a training course regarding concussions and head injuries and must update that training every five years. Only courses approved by the Connecticut State Board of Education qualify for this certification.

Are you a WARRIOR?

2010-10-08T09:00:00.035-04:00

By Lynn K. McMullin

This past week, Canton’s students and parents have had the opportunity to meet with a highly recognized motivational speaker, Mr. Calvin Terrell, to explore the topics of justice and acceptance. Calvin Terrell is the founder of Social Centric, an organization dedicated to creating peace, fighting injustice, and challenging the stereotypes and intolerant behaviors of the young and old alike. Terrell first came to Canton for a two day visit last spring to work with high school students and the student group ‘Be the Change,’ advised by social studies teacher Jennifer Gembala, who also organized each workshop event. Terrell’s visit had such positive impact on the school, we asked him back in August to speak at our Opening Day Convocation for teachers and to meet with student groups in preparation for this month's week-long visit .

Calvin Terrell began his week with 4 - 6th graders at
Canton Intermediate School. He ended his week at the high school,
and on Wednesday evening met with parents.

Terrell’s work with our students, which is 100% grant funded, is one facet of Canton’s multi-faceted approach to creating a safe school culture, free of harassment and bullying. Along with Character Counts, CyberSMART, small counseling groups, classroom curriculum, and Advisory group discussions, this week's workshops are aimed at reducing racism, prejudice, hatred, bullying, and violence.

Terrell, (in back), told Middle School students that
being in a clique was OK, everyone wants to have a group
of friends. But he asked them to consider what kind of energy
their clique brought forward -- love or hate?

Terrell begins his workshops with an examination of five different types of people, asking his audience to decide what they want to be. In brief, COWARDS are people who may know what is right, but act, or fail to act, out of fear. They go along with the crowd; they pretend to be something they're not in order to fit in. THUGS create chaos and attempt to feel great by disarming the people around them. Thugs come in all colors and all forms. They hurt people and rationalize that there have always been people who've hurt others in the world.

SOLDIERS are people of action who follow orders. There are good soldiers who try to make a difference, but there are others who hurt people. REBELS use their personal anger to act out against others. They are self-centered and oblivious to others. It’s all about them.

Finally, Terrell points out there are WARRIORS. Warriors are people who follow a sober mind, heart, and spirit. A warrior knows what is right, speaks his/her truth, and lives an authentic life. Terrell explains to his audience that it's the warrior who brings peace, not chaos, to the world.

Terrell asks the students about their own groups or cliques – Together, are you cowards? Thugs? Or warriors? Do you build or tear down? He asks, “How many of you have seen people spread a rumor about someone else? How many people have seen others treat someone in a mean way? How many of you have ever been that kid who's marched around the playground or down the halls and treated someone else that way? What are the things you've been saying to the others in your school?”

“All of our lives will end,” Terrell says, “but my goal is to be remembered as a Warrior, not as one of the other four. How am I living? That's what this short time I have is about -- how do I treat people around me? My enemies, strangers and friends alike?”

MS Principal, Joe Scheideler, worked with students to untie a
human knot as part of a workshop exercise that challenged
kids "get out of the maze of your mind and into the genius of your heart."

During a "Call of Warriors,” Terrell asks if there is anyone who wishes to apologize to someone they may have hurt or excluded. At every session, at least 20 students took the microphone. Some students choose to say their "peace," some specifically apologizing to someone for unkind, even hateful, things they had done in the past. Some choose to thank a warrior friend or family member who helped them in some way. The comments were heartfelt and authentic.

Terrell spent Monday through Thursday, working with students in grades 4 – 12. His work included large group assemblies, team-level sessions, and small group workshops, all of which were planned and organized by Jennifer Gembala. Terrell, Gembala, and our school community recognize that a week of workshops will not sustain the safe, accepting school culture Canton is trying to attain. If the impact is to be lasting, the students and teachers need to embrace Terrell's message and find additional vehicles for spreading the positive energy he creates. Thus, part of the students’ responsibilities at each school will be planning how to sustain the ideas Terrell has introduced.

Terrell admits he works tirelessly, like a Warrior would, for his cause which is an end to injustice and hate. On Monday evening, he spontaneously accompanied Dr. Jordan Grossman to St. Joseph’s College where he spoke to Grossman’s graduate school class. On Wednesday evening, he held a parent community session from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.

After the assembly, a large group of students met with Terrell in the CHS library
to continue the work and discussion begun earlier.

Calvin Terrell is shown here with social studies teacher Jennifer Gembala,
who orchestrated the week-long event. Both educators used every available minute
to convey a simple message to our students: "Live authentic, hate-free lives."

Who Selects our Textbooks?

2010-10-01T09:00:00.007-04:00

By Lynn K. McMullin

Following a recent article in the Canton News and Foothills Trader, in which the reporter mentioned the Board of Education’s decision to purchase new textbooks for the French program, a resident asked me, “Who chooses our textbooks? Is there a process?” I’m happy to tell you, yes, there is!

Any time we purchase a new textbook, we usually spend at least several months reviewing a variety of texts and the support materials, such as teacher's editions, workbooks, technology links and applications, and so on. In the final analysis, the Board of Education policy requires that a minimum of three texts be overtly compared.

The teachers and principal then select one text and present a report to the BOE in which they provide specific and detailed answers to questions about the reading level and content level appropriateness for the grade; the attention to format and organization of the material; whether or not there are quality charts, maps, diagrams, and illustrations; whether or not the text presents any potential controversies and is free of gender bias and stereotypes… and, in today’s world, are there a variety of technology resources and applications. The BOE even wants to know about the textbook’s physical features, including the size of print and weight of the book, as well as the quality of its binding and paper.

The Board of Education also keeps a watch on our publication dates. The new French text, Bon Voyage: Levels 1, 2, and 3, published in 2008 by McGraw Hill, replaced a 1995 text, Abord. Not only is the new text less Eurocentric and more global, it is more up-to-date. Chapter 2 in Abord taught students the vocabulary for making a call from a pay phone in Paris. It included learning the phrases for asking Parisians on what street the nearest pay phone was located. The new text includes the vocabulary of electronic communications; contemporary clothing (such as sport sandals); transportation; contemporary occupations, and so on. Its travel chapters include asking for bottled water, salads with dressing on the side, and vitamin supplements.

Modern textbooks are expensive. The Bon Voyage texts we just purchased for the French program cost $72 each. People suggest that we simply buy e-copies of the text and forego the printed copy. But, as of now, you can only buy the e-copy if you buy the hard copy. In other words, if we purchase 50 French textbooks, we get 50 e-copy licenses to the same text. Students can then keep their hard cover book in school and view their on-line book at home. But, it is still a one-for-one proposition. Most e-copies are actually simple PDF’s of the printed text, with some additional links and Internet features. Book publishing is a business, and while schools are trying to save money, the publishers are trying to make money. Someday, students will carry around electronic readers, not textbooks; but that day just isn’t here yet.

We do try to save money on textbooks, however. When a text is in its third year or older, and we need to purchase copies for new students or to replace lost or damaged copies, we have had good luck lately finding “used excellent” or “used very good” textbooks on amazon.com for quite a savings. The used text comes in 'matching' the used texts we have in our classrooms. In the past, we have also sold off copies of texts to used textbook companies, such as Budget Text, but generally not for a lot of money. By the way, when texts are lost or damaged, we do expect students to pay for them.

Kids Love 'Clickers'!

2010-09-24T09:00:00.014-04:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

I could call this technology a “Personal Response System” (PRS), and risk a ‘ho-hum’ reaction... or I could call it what the kids call it -- a 'clicker'! -- and hopefully entice you to read on. A 'clicker' looks like a simple remote control, it fits in even our littlest student’s palm, and it changes the way our students participate in class.

The Clicker Instructional Model

Linda Caraher, a Grade 2 teacher at Cherry Brook Primary, uses clickers with her interactive SmartBoard to gauge her students’ progress with the concepts being learned. For instance, she might show a reading comprehension activity on the whiteboard (like the “Penguin” example shown here) and ask the students to answer several multiple choice questions with their clickers. Immediately, she has the results and sees who needs to meet with her in a small group for further instruction. Or, she can use the clickers in the morning for a quick assessment, and then during Reader's Workshop, pull the children who might have missed the morning assessment question into one group. The software program for the Smart Response system also provides a spreadsheet with the students’ scores. The clickers even make DRP assessments more fun and provide Linda with immediate feedback. A DRP assessment moves from easier questions to more difficult questions. (Examples also included below.)

The kids love the clickers as well. They actually get excited to take a test when they see the clickers come out. According to Linda they beg, "This is cool! Can we do more?"

Linda collected some simple data about the impact of the clickers on students’ learning. She had her class complete several simple reading comprehension exercises in which students identified the ‘best answer’ to a multiple choice question (see below). When using the clickers, the students were more focused and were significantly more accurate -- from about 75% (paper/pencil)to 95% correct (clickers). Linda then asked the students to answer an open-ended question explaining their choice, and they more eagerly participated in this activity as well. As a result, the class scores had improved, probably due to the increased interest level of the students and their desire to have their correct answer show up in graph.

The Everyday Instructional Benefits
First, and foremost, they make 100% on-task attention more likely. They are enticing to students. Every student responds to every question posed by the teacher, and the teacher waits until every clicker has entered a response. Second, the teacher has immediate understanding of whether or not the class 'gets it'. In conventional instruction, even if every hand is raised after the teacher asks a question, only one student actually answers. If the student is right, does this mean the class understands?

Third, each student has the chance, by viewing the class graph, to compare his or her answer to the rest of the class. Finally, the teacher can pinpoint and correct misunderstandings, as in, “Eight of you thought ‘D’ was the right answer. Let’s look at what may have been misleading...”

'Clickers' are spreading. Principal Joe Scheideler at CMS is exploring the use of clickers in his Language Arts classrooms.

CLOZE assessments, such as this one, progress from easy to difficult.

The History of Clickers

The technology began on college campuses, where professors began using them for en mass quizzes and exams in those large lecture hall settings. They could post a multiple choice or true and false question in a PowerPoint presentation, ask each student to respond with his or her personal remote (which was coded to software on the professor’s laptop), and then view the answers for each student and for the entire class. The professor knew two things: each student’s individual score on the quiz or test, and how well the class did as a whole on each question. It’s also the same technology used on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” when the contestant asks to poll the audience, and the audience members use radio-signal responders to select A, B, C, or D. A graph then displays the results.

CyberSMART and a Decision-Making Model

2010-09-17T09:00:00.006-04:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

In education, as with many other fields, we tend to rely on catch phrases which are intended to resonate with an audience and make a complex concept more meaningful and memorable. Sometimes, however, jargon does the opposite because the phrase is wide open to a variety of interpretations. “Whole Child Education” is one of those terms. On the surface, it even seems a little silly – after all, who would teach half of a child?

Whole child education, however, refers to the idea that all children learn best when their academic, emotional, physical, and social needs are met. Yes, we report to you on CMT, SAT, AP, and CAPT testing as evidence of our students’ academic achievements. For a while now, educational thinking, practice, and policy has seemed singularly focused on improving academic achievement. But, to be successful participating world citizens, our students must also be healthy, safe, confident, self-motivated, caring, and capable. All of our schools focus on these important qualities; but today, an event at the Middle School illustrates the idea of whole child education perfectly.

CyberSMART at CMS
Today, parents and their students are participating in a day-long event aimed at equipping both groups with the knowledge and skills they need to navigate the world of the Internet and telecommunications. The day is being hosted by Mr. Drew Bartkiewicz, a parent and the CEO of CyberRiskPartners; Joe Scheideler, Principal; the Middle School PTO and Quality Council; and its teachers and staff. The event includes opportunities to learn new information and to discuss both concerns and possible plans for the Middle School’s next step in this contemporary student arena.

In conjunction with this day-long event -- during which students will receive USB flash drives and the parents coffee mugs bearing the school's CyberSMART logo -- the teachers have added a CyberSMART experiential course. This is a 30-day course covering the basics of SMART use of electronic information and communication: Safe, Mannerly, Authentic, Research-wise, and Twenty-first century ready. A major theme of the curriculum is that your "online self" should mirror your “real self.” If you wouldn’t walk up to a perfect stranger on the street and say, “Here’s my name, age, phone, and address,” then don’t do that online either. If you wouldn’t pass a questionable photo aound the cafeteria or walk up to a classmate and bully them to their face, then don’t do it online, either. The internet is neither distant from you nor anonymous. Be real. Be who you are. Put your best self forward.

A Important Decision-Making Model
Over the past two years, the Middle School has begun to adopt a focused decision-making model to help students consider wise choices, rather than simply “follow directions.” Often we think that decision-making only has two opposing sides. In error, we think that decision making is black and white, our kids either do the ‘right thing’… or, the ‘wrong thing.’ But, in reality, decision-making is more complicated than that, as shown by the four quadrants in the model below. The model applies to all decisions, from choosing the right food to choosing the right social action.

Consider this example: Student A tells her best friend, Student B, that she has done something really stupid. She sent a photograph of herself in her underwear to a boy in their class because he asked for it. Student A begs Student B not to tell a soul.
Using the decision-making model above, a class can discuss what Student B should do. In the green quadrant, the right decision might be to get the help of a parent; the right reason might be so that Student A is saved from embarrassment and future repercussions. In the red quadrant, the wrong decision might be for Student B to keep the secret and tell no one. The wrong reason would be because she never liked Student A anyway and hopes the picture gets around.

But, most students find themselves living in the middle of those two choices – If I tell my mother or an adult, my friend will get in trouble and she will hate me. I care about her, so I better not say a word to anyone -- the wrong decision, but for the right reason.

If I tell my mother or an adult, my parents may see how responsible I am and think I’m old enough to have my own cellphone -- the right decision, but for the wrong reason. This latter quadrant can be confusing sometimes, because the student DOES make the right decision. But whenever kids make the right decision solely out of fear of the consequences… or, due to our level of policing… or, because we have told them what to do… their ability to make the right decision for the right reason is affected. When they get older, and the fear or the policing or the parental direction lessens, they will need to rely on their own reasoning and decision-making ability. That's why instruction in decision-making needs to explore all four quadrants.

In educating the whole child, the Middle School is focusing on doing the right thing for the right reason by talking about real-life decision-making as being more complex than simply right or wrong. Right or wrong, “WHY?” is the question.

Extended Day Kindergarten Pilot

2010-09-10T09:00:00.003-04:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

Over the past few years, we have worked diligently to improve reading at Cherry Brook Primary School. Our focus has been on assessing the reading skills of our youngest students and differentiating instruction to meet the needs of our emerging readers. In the process, we have successfully turned over a pyramid of support so that we now provide a great deal of tutoring support in kindergarten and require less support for third graders.
We have enjoyed solid, positive results!

Providing tutoring support to our kindergarteners, however, is complicated by the reality of our half-day Kindergarten schedule, which includes not only reading and writing instruction, but also math, science, art, music, computers, PE and Health. Thus, was born the idea to pilot an extended day program, to collect some relevant data, and analyze whether or not taking extra time to develop background knowledge, foster print readiness, and focus on early reading and math skills makes a significant difference. Our Extended Day Kindergarten Pilot is yet another effort to provide just the right support to our students at just the right time.

This pilot program is 100% funded by an Open Choice Academic and Social Support Grant which is designed to benefit Choice students and Canton students equally. Currently, our Open Choice students attend one session of kindergarten in either the morning or the afternoon and spend the remainder of their day at a local daycare/preschool. In this pilot plan, our seven Choice students will remain with us at Cherry Brook for the full day, thus experiencing less time in buses and fewer transitions in their day.

The additional benefit to us is the opportunity to offer placement in this extended day class for seven or eight Canton students. The composition of the class will be an even combination of students who are 'at goal' and 'below goal' in reading as determined by in-house assessments during the opening weeks of school. Parents who are interested in this extended day opportunity are currently filling out an application, which requires some background information about their child and a commitment on their part to occasionally volunteer in the extended day classroom. Additionally, they agree to attend three social gatherings for the extended day kindergarteners and their families and to participate in survey-like data collections.

All our Choice kindergarten students began Extended Day Kindergarten on the first day of school. We are planning to have the Canton students placed by September 21st.

The extended day kindergarten program will offer the students our suite of intervention strategies, (including Lexia Reading, DIBELS, guided reading groups, interactive read-alouds, etc.); a strong hands-on component; individualized instruction; a focus on building background knowledge as an aid to comprehension; and a wealth of print-rich experiences.

The extended day kindergarten teacher, Ms. Jessica Papp, will also work in the morning, observing and assisting her 15 students in their regular kindergarten classrooms. She will confer with their teachers, analyze the skills and gaps of her students, and plan for their needs regarding upcoming curriculum. We’re thrilled that this provides an extra teacher in the morning kindergarten classes, which have larger enrollments than we’ve experienced in the past.

There is an abundance of research comparing half-day and full-day kindergarten programs and analyzing whether children benefit from developmentally appropriate, full-day programs. Most research states that in terms of early academic achievement, full-day kindergarten gives students a better foundation for school success and helps prevent a future cycle of remediation and possibly grade retention. Research focuses on primary-grade reading and math skills.

However, the seven studies (one each from 1988, one from 1991, and the rest coming after 1995) were specifically focused on the difference in achievement between full-day and half-day programs for disadvantaged students. Students were considered disadvantaged based on criteria such as print-rich environments, non-English speaking homes, mother’s highest completed grade in school, and so on. There is no research study which supports a difference in achievement between full-day and half-day kindergarten for students from print-rich, English-speaking environments, etc.

To that end, we’ll try to analyze our own data collection, by continuing to progress monitor the kindergarten students in reading and math and surveying the parents of these students, and to thereby evaluate the effectiveness of program.

As I mentioned earlier, this is a grant-funded pilot program with no cost to Canton. Both the teacher’s and the tutor’s salary and benefits are funded by an Open Choice Academic and Social Support grant.

A Summer of Accomplishments

2010-09-03T09:00:00.011-04:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

The building principals, Kevin Case, Ed Hoyt, and I often hear, “You must love summer! It’s got to be so quiet without the kids and teachers!”

In truth, the summer -- especially this summer! -- is anything but ‘quiet.’ Granted it is a very different kind of work, and what we do in the summer is very exciting, because we see the changes happen right before our eyes. So much gets done that I thought it might be fun to share with you what we have accomplished while you were away.

We Hired New Staff!
We have many new staff members, and I can tell you unequivocally that everyone in this district recognizes there is no more important summer task than hiring the right people. Because, this district’s strengths are its people, we don’t rush the process or take short cuts.

Most of our employees had a series of two or three interviews, and many of the teachers taught a summer school class in Canton to demonstrate their classroom expertise. Did you know the advertisement for elementary teaching positions attracted over 400 applications? By the second week in August, we had hired 9 new teachers, 11 paras and tutors, one high school counselor, a new Athletic Director, and a new Administrative Assistant for Cherry Brook. Within a few weeks, after an equally extensive search process, including a site visit, we’ll announce a new Assistant Principal for the High School. To see photographs and introductions of our new staff members, please click on “Welcome New Staff” back on the district website.

We Developed New Programs!
Over the summer we added a couple of new features -- without spending a dime! – to our programming. The Extended Day Kindergarten PILOT is key among our accomplishments. This is a 100% grant-funded program for about 14 – 15 kindergarten students, and we’re so excited about this new program I’m featuring it as next week’s blog.

But, I’m also excited about two new courses added to the Middle School curriculum. The first is a new course called “Electronic Communications,” based on the CyberSMART curriculum, which teaches students safety, manners, authentic uses, research skills, and twenty-first century readiness. This year all 7th and 8th graders will take the same electronic communications course; next year, all 8th graders will have an application course which will follow-up on this year’s foundation. Joe Scheideler and the two CyberSMART teachers are also planning a full-day workshop for students and their parents on this topic for late October; so as we draw closer to that workshop, I’ll feature this new curriculum in a future blog.

Also, at the Middle School, we added a course for 7th graders called “The Science of Healthy Eating,” to cover everything from food preparation safety (cross contamination, proper temperatures, and properly holding a paring knife) to balancing your food group choices to preparing your own healthy snack. Look for new curriculum in the 7th and 8th grade Physical Education and Health classes, as well. In a future blog, I’ll tell you more about the "decision-making" model that underlies all of these new Middle School courses.

We Added Technology!
Both equipment and programs! First, a new internet technology is now simplifying and tracking our mandated Title IX training. Staff members train on-line and take an on-line test for their Title IX certification. Second, we added a new module Inform to our PowerSchool Student Information System to help us track our SRBI interventions (this is grant funded!). A great deal of very intensive training and reconfiguration went into this new product. We’re adding NetTreker, a tool for differentiating research and instruction (also, grant-funded!). And, most classrooms at every school have been equipped with LCD’s, speakers, and other enhancements such as SmartBoards, mimios, document cameras, and so on (with a lot of generous support from our PTO’s and a lot of installation work by our tech department).

In addition, we added to our Virtual High School (VHS) program by training our first teacher to host American Popular Music in the VHS format. Tom Moran will conduct an on-line class of students from around the world. In return, up to 25 Canton middle and high school students can take on-line virtual classes of their choice from the VHS catalog. (If you’re interested, the school counselors at the high school and middle school can help.)

We Went Green!

Our new janitorial supply company, ROVIC, worked with Ed Hoyt and our custodians to introduce new cleaning processes and products which are “green certified.” All of the custodial staff were trained and certified in green cleaning basics, carpet cleaning care, and hazardous materials handling. The gym floors, for example, have never looked better, and they were cleaned with ionized water, not chemicals. The same process, using hand-held ionized water cleaning, makes our white boards look like new.

New painting projects were completed with environmentally friendly paint. All classrooms were analyzed for efficiencies, and teachers are sacrificing the convenience of small appliances, such as coffee makers and microwaves, in their classrooms in our “green schools” effort. In addition, between August 12th and 25th, the windows on the back wall at Cherry Brook Primary, which were rusting and contributing to significant heat loss during the winter, were replaced.

We Improved our Facilities!
Paint crews were busy -- everywhere! – and, as I mentioned, with green-friendly paint. At CHS and CMS, the classrooms on all three floors were touched up or repainted. At CIS the hallways and stairwells were painted. At CIS and CBPS, the outside doors were scraped and painted, as well.

Concrete floors in the CHS and CMS weight room and boys locker area were tested for moisture, analyzed to be in the acceptable range, and the highest recommended flooring was installed. Bleachers in the gymnasium were also renovated and repaired, by replacing broken boards, cracked welds, and adding the handrails which made them ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant. In addition, the classroom locks and hardware in the old section of the high school building were replaced in order to meet ADA requirements (IDEA ARRA grant-funded).

The CBPS Courtyard, under the careful eye of Jarleth Connolly’s Lawn Tailors, has made a radical transformation into two teaching stations. There is still work to be done, but the "science center" dream is being realized as each day passes.

This report touches on some of the key efforts and changes that mean the most to us. We did these things in addition to cleaning every classroom, processing hundreds of purchase orders and inventoring truckloads of supplies, registering a slew of new students, printing handbooks and policies, analyzing the CMT and CAPT testing results, setting school goals and writing district and school improvement plans, preparing for our back-to-school student orientations and teacher professional development, establishing bus routes and student schedules, and so much more.

All of this work, none of which would be possible without our secretaries and custodians, led to what we hope has been a fabulous first week ... and what will be another successful year.

“It’s summer vacation! Do I have to read?”

2010-06-18T10:59:00.007-04:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

The answer is an unqualified "YES!"

Summer Reading as part of the daily routine is the best antidote for what is called the ‘summer slide’ in children’s reading achievement. A set schedule for reading, as well as access to books and to library programs which promote reading, result in more reading. More reading in turn results in improved reading skills and wards off the predictable slide in skills that comes from two summer months without reading 'exercise.'

In a meta-ananlysis study of 39 other reading research projects, the University of Missouri found that most students lose an average of one month of school learning over summer vacation. Some students lose up to three months of learning in that same time period.

A research report titled, "Lost Summers: For Some Children, Few Books and Few Opportunities to Read," created by The Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University showed that for elementary school children who do not read during the summer, “Reading skill loss during the three summer months accumulates to become a learning gap of 18 months by the end of sixth grade. By the end of middle school, summer reading loss produces a cumulative lag of two or more years in reading achievement even when effective reading instruction is present during the year.”

Furthermore, the research shows that the more a student struggles the more he or she stands to lose over the summer. Reading works in a sort of "rich-get-richer, poor-get-poorer" pattern of development. Both successful aqnd unsuccessful early reading experiences have cascading effects that can benefit or deter students success in other areas. The same study also found that an increased volume of reading was an important factor in building language and vocabulary skills.

Another study revealed that children who engage in leisure reading of a variety of books have more 'background' knowledge. Developing extensive background information is a key success factor in making difficult texts easier to read and understand in future years. Children who enjoy reading will read more and become proficient at the same time. A report from the National Institute of Education concluded that, “… the amount of reading done out of school is consistently related to gains in reading achievement.”

OK, so I don't want to "research study" you to death! We, of course, find all of this fascinating, but I know that not the general case. So, to skip to the bottom line:

Summer Reading Matters! And, parents can help their children avoid the 'slide.' Help us help your student by making reading part of the summer routine, free from television and distractions. Bring books to the beach or pool... or, to the doctor's waiting room.

P.S. Just, one more study: Educational researchers from the University of Florida found that children who read as few as six books over the summer break can maintain their reading skills at the level they achieved in the preceding school year. It's not that difficult!

CLICK HERE for Reading Resources.

See you here in September! All new topics!

Background Information and Survey Results for the World Language Question

2010-06-11T09:00:00.062-04:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

As many of you know, we are facing a significant crossroads in World Language. Of major concern is this question: What World Language offering, in addition to Spanish, is of most interest to the community?

In Canton, French has seen a significant decline similar to the nation's. Next year at the high school, the senior class will have 12 French students and the junior class will have 10. The students in these two classes began French in 7th grade with 37 and 34 students respectively. This year's 7th grade enrollment for French was only 17 students, half the number that enrolled four years ago. At out current attrition rate in French (based on 6 years of data), we could expect those 17 students to decrease to 5 or 6 students by their junior and senior year.   That is why, for 2010 - 2011, we did not offer French in grade 7.   By the way, attrition in Spanish parallels the attrrition in French, but the Spanish program begins with a significantly larger population of students.

Thus, two questions arise: First, what can we do to improve attrition rates? Second, are we offering the right program? It is my responsibility to be aware of trends and provide the Board and the school community with the facts. I have been wrestling with this issue for several years now, and recently I presented the Board of Education with the following:

"The recommendation below is made after three years of various data collections, many conversations with the Middle and High School administrators, in-house and state and national research, and meetings with parents and world language teachers. The key factors considered when making this proposal are:
1. Budget implications for the future
2. Attrition rates in French
3. Educational trends for a 21st century education

RECOMMENDATION:
1. Phase out French beginning in 2010 – 2011, but continuing the program for all current students
2. Teach only Spanish in the Middle School
3. Reintroduce a second language study in Grade 9; possibly Chinese, but also consider French, Latin, Russian, and others
4. Develop a plan to introduce Spanish in Grade 4 enabling students to study Spanish grades 4 - 8.

RATIONALE:
First, research shows that the acquisition of a second language:
a. Enhances higher order, abstract and creative thinking
b. Fosters a thinking process that benefits academic progress in other content areas
c. Develops basic skills, such as listening, speaking, etc.
d. Promotes cultural awareness and competency
e. Improves college acceptance, college achievement, and attainment of future jobs
f. Benefits understanding of and a sense of security in own and other communities

However, while the research supports the benefits of second language study, it does not support the acquisition of one World Language over another, i.e. there are no research reports which distinguish the acquisition of French is more beneficial than the acquisition of Spanish, Italian, German, and vice versa.

Second, current World Language trends show that Spanish study has increased steadily since 1991; 68% of all World Language students take Spanish. At the same time, French has decreased, but not at a rate as high as Canton's, and it still remains the second most commonly taught language. Nationally, 16% of WL students take French. In Canton, 21% of WL students take French.

Third, Chinese language study is very different from the study of French and Spanish, which in terms of skills development are more similar than they are dissimilar. Chinese has no verb conjugations, no gender, no noun-adjective agreement, no articles (the, a, an), no number agreement (i.e. one book / three books), and has 1000 commonly used characters which make up 90% of the characters in a Chinese newspaper. Chinese offers a different skill set and the study of an Asian culture. But, it is difficult.

Additional Factors:
1. Currently there is no WL in grades 4 - 6.
2. Currently, students have one opportunity to choose a WL, at the end of grade 6. They choose between two similar romance languages as has been done for at least the past 25 years.
3. No other WL choice is offered, except to begin Spanish I in Grade 9. Past attempts to offer French I in Grade 9 attracted fewer than 5 students.
4. If Canton offered Spanish grades 4 - 8, students who wanted to change from Spanish another WL could do so in 9th grade.
5.  An increased level of fluency in Spanish is possible with a stronger foundation which could begin in Intermediate School.
6. A stronger foundation in one language [grades 4 – 8], makes the possibility of students successfully taking two languages much greater.

CLICK HERE to view the WL survey results.
There were 244 respondents to our survey between May 18th and June 2nd. The survey was publicized through AlertNow's email server, backpack notices, and on our webpages. Thank you very much if you participated.

Since the comments are not included with the survey summary linked above, and since they total 10 pages of text, I collated and shortened the comments that were offered by 4 or more respondents below:

2. If no program change is made, which WL would your children be more likely to take?
(62 comments)
Don’t limit our choices - 4
Teach WL earlier - 4
Depends on the teacher - 7
Want to continue with French - 6
Spanish is more useful today - 11
Make Spanish mandatory - 5

3. When you think about a 21st Century education, which is 1st (most important) to 5th (least important)?
Arabic - 7
Japanese - 6
Chinese – 4 (wrote a comment supporting Chinese as a choice within the question)

4. Thinking of the future which of the following is important to you?
French should not be eliminated – 7
Start both French and Spanish earlier - 7
Offer Spanish earlier - 30
Offer Spanish from CBPS on - 10
Offer both Spanish and Chinese earlier - 9
Offer Latin in HS - 4

We also took a survey in the high school in which students included their names (i.e. not a count of hands) with these results:
Would you take Chinese if it was offered next year?
Yes -- 39
Maybe -- 65
No -- 186
If you answered yes to taking Chinese, would you continue in your current WL in addition to Chinese?
Yes -- 15
No -- 21

Among the Middle Schoolers
7th grade   -- 40 would like to take Chinese; 108 would not
8th grade -- 45 would like to take Chinese; 96 would not

Improving Teaching and Learning Through Professional Rounds

2010-06-04T09:00:00.001-04:00

This Friday's BLOG was written by Superintendent, Kevin Case

During the course of this school year, all of our District’s Administrators have been involved in professional development work known as Professional Rounds. The major focus of the teachers and administrators in our District has been the establishment and implementation of the data team process, where teachers collect and analyze student achievement data to improve their instruction in the classroom. Each administrator is involved in reviewing grade level/department data for each school and in setting goals collaboratively with you based on the collected data.

The administrators have the responsibility for writing and implementing each school’s Continuous Improvement Plan. In order to do this effectively, a high level of knowledge is required regarding effective, high-quality instruction because classroom instruction is the single largest factor in student achievement. To enhance and build upon our knowledge of the K-12 curriculum and the instructional strategies being implemented in our School District, the administrative team conducted what we called “professional rounds”, where we visited each school. This process required a full day in each building as the administrators visited most classrooms. A shared understanding of highly effective, rigorous instruction is essential if our students are to continue to make dramatic gains in achievement.

Patterned after rounds in the medical profession, the purpose is to examine what is actually happening in the classrooms and to work together purposefully and systematically to improve classroom instruction and provide high quality instruction for all students. The 'Rounds' process begins with the host administrator sharing background information about the school and the professional development focus of the school. This information sets the stage for the focus of the visits. The team spent time discussing the strategies they might see employed in the high performing classrooms, what teachers might be saying and doing, and what students might be saying and doing.

Our administrative team then visited classrooms for approximately 15 to 20 minutes to record evidence of what is being observed. Following the visits, the team gathered to debrief their observations with the host administrator. Here, based upon the evidence collected, the administrators discussed what they determined students were learning from the classes observed. The question the observers answered was, “If I was a student at this school, and did everything I was expected to, what would I know or be able to do?” The final step in the process is to identify the next level of work: what supports and resources will be needed to move teaching and learning to the next level at the school?

Many Connecticut administrators are learning what some of the most respected names in the education profession have said about instructional rounds. Michael Fullen stated, “This is a powerful, specific, accessible treatment of what it means to get in the classroom in order to make a difference in the daily lives of teachers and their students.” And Douglas Reeves said, “Instructional rounds in education will have a profound influence on educational leaders who are willing to invest the time to observe, listen, and learn.” These results have proven to be invaluable to the visited school in developing specific professional development activities that will lead to improved teaching and learning throughout the Canton Public School District.

What Do We Do?

2010-05-28T09:00:00.003-04:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

I decided to use the BLOG this week to introduce our new Business Manager, Ed Hoyt, but also to let you know what jobs happen in the district’s Central Services Office. Superintendent Kevin Case’s role is prominent and public, so you’re probably very familiar with his presence; but that’s not true for Ed or me. We’re not in the least offended that sometimes people ask us, “What exactly is it you do?”

Superintendent Kevin Case divides his time among three key roles:
1. Educational Leadership: Working with the Board of Education, school community, and staff to define a comprehensive vision for the district; creating a culture that nurtures and capitalizes on the talents and skills of the staff; setting high performance expectations; sustaining and improving high-quality research-based programs to enhance teaching and learning.

2. Organizational Management: Overseeing the daily operation of the school district and its programs; planning and organizing; hiring, evaluating, and supervising staff; evaluating the district’s operations and programs; reporting regularly to the Board of Education and implementing Board Policy; preparing and managing the District's Budget; ensuring the health and safety of students and staff

3. Community and Board of Education Relations: Working with the Board of Education and the community to establish a vision and set goals; representing the District by attending school and community events; communicating regularly with all members; preparing meeting agendas and providing data and information to the Board; maintaining positive working relationships with local, regional, and state organizations and agencies

As Assistant Superintendent, I (Lynn McMullin) also wear many hats, but key among them are my responsibilities for:
1. Improving Teaching and Learning: Developing programs, curriculum, instructional strategies, and assessment tools with teachers; researching and implementing new technology products; writing grants to support programs and new initiatives; researching and providing current resources to teachers and conducting professional development; analyzing and communicating the District’s standardized assessment data for CMT, CAPT, SAT, and AP to the Board and community; conducting program pilots; proposing new courses, textbooks, and programs; chairing district-wide committees.

2. District-wide Communications: Writing communications for the webpage, Friday Blog, newsletters, and area newspapers; preparing reports for the Board about curriculum, test results, and initiatives; completing state reports, such as for new teacher induction, technology planning, and grant spending; managing the AlertNow Early Notification System; liaising with the EAC (teacher’s union) on new initiatives; conducting surveys and analyzing results; writing and communicating policies, such as Acceptable Use Policy for Technology, Sexual Harassment and Title IX, and Annex O Emergency Procedures; representing the District at school, state, and community events.

3. Program Management: Supervising CMT and CAPT testing; writing mandated State plans, such as the 2009 – 2012 Technology Plan; developing the District’s program for TEAM (new teacher induction and support); designing and implementing the new Teacher Evaluation and Growth Plan; implementing SRBI (Tier 1, 2, and 3 interventions for students not meeting grade level expectations); setting a vision for 21st century learning, including Virtual High School and Odyssey; working with the Board, Superintendent, and Administrators to develop the annual budget.

Business Manager, Edward Hoyt joined us from the Orange School District in late January of 2010, just as we entered the most difficult stages of the budget preparation. He was quickly absorbed into the Canton Public Schools’ community as a valued member of the Central Office team. Ed is responsible for:
1. Operational Management: Overseeing the school district’s operations such as transportation, food services, and facilities, assuring the full compliance with State and Federal requirements, as well as assuring both cost effectiveness and efficiency; negotiating the terms for these contracted services; evaluating these operations for quality of service; reporting regularly to the Board of Education; and ensuring the health and safety of students and staff while in the District’s jurisdiction. Within transportation, specifically, Ed is responsible for: ensuring the safety of students on buses; establishing bus routes; and addressing parent concerns in cooperation with the principals and the bus contractor.

2. Human Resource Coordination: Overseeing all non-certified staff from recruitment to hiring to evaluating their performance; maintaining all current personnel records; assuring accurate and fiscally sound payroll processing; participating as the primary liaison for the Board and Superintendent in negotiations with all collective bargaining groups.

3. Facilities Maintenance and Planning: Coordinating building repairs and maintenance; conducting regular inspections of school buildings and contracting for repairs and/or replacement of facilities and equipment; developing specifications for contract bids and evaluating all bids and/or cost estimates for facilities maintenance.

4. Fiscal Management: Overseeing all the fiscal operations of the school district -- payroll, purchasing, and internal accounting; overseeing funds received under federal and state grants; reporting monthly to the Superintendent and the Board of Education on expenditures, allocations, balances, and anticipated over or under expenditures; working with the Board, Superintendent, and Administrators to develop the annual budget; establishing standards and procedures for accounting; working with appropriate town committees and employees regarding facilities, maintenance, and business; representing the District at school, state, and community events.

Teacher Evaluation Broke New Ground

2010-05-21T09:00:00.028-04:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

This past Wednesday, a committee of 7 teachers, 3 administrators, and 2 Board members reunited to review the year-long implementation of a new Teacher Evaluation and Continuous Growth Plan which the BOE voted into effect and implemented last fall. This wouldn’t be exciting except for the fact that the teacher evaluation portion of the plan was a radical departure from what had been done in the past. And, it worked!!

Five Rubrics for Teacher Evaluation

When our committee first convened in the winter of 2008, we began with a solid bank of nationwide research which showed that despite the fact principals averaged 13 hours per year per teacher writing narrative evaluations, this typical teacher evaluation process did little to impact a teacher’s performance and had no impact on building or culture change. Armed with that research, and our own combined years of practical experience, we sought something very different. As a result, we developed five different teacher performance rubrics, one for each of these five domains:
1. Planning and Preparation for Learning
2. Classroom Management (briefly detailed below)
3. Instruction
4. Monitoring and Assessment
5. Professional Responsibilities

Each of these five rubrics is divided into four ratings: “Exceeds Standards” (which is reserved for exceptional performance and should be what all teachers aspire to reach); “Meets Standards” (the norm for most teachers); “Needs Improvement;” and “Does Not Meet Standards.” We used four standards, rather than three or five, because with four there is no middle ground. Every teacher ends the year either above the line in the top two bands… or, below the line in the bottom two bands.

Within each different rubric, we wrote very specific indicators. For example, in the Classroom Management rubric, a teacher who “Meets Standards” would “build positive relationships with students, create a climate of respect; and handle disruption well,” as well as “develop positive interactions among students and reinforce cooperation for all students.” In contrast, a teacher who “Needs Improvement” has attributes we described as “builds positive relationships with some students, but has regular disruptions in the classroom” and “lectures students about ‘good’ behavior and makes an example of ‘bad’ students.” A teacher who "Does Not Meet Standards," would "come up with ad hoc rules and consequences as events unfold," and "be sometimes disrespectful to students and create a chaotic climate." At the very top of the four-point scale, a teacher who "Exceeds Standards" creates a collaborative community of mutual respect in which disruptions are handled seamlessly and students are overtly taught key social skiils. Within each of the five rubrics listed above, there are six or more indicators written as specifically as these examples.

The plan combines the teacher's self-evaluation using the rubrics with the supervisor’s evaluation. The supervisor also has a classroom observation sheet which is very tightly aligned to the rubrics. In brief, what used to be amorphous and subjective has become significantly more directed and objective. Supervisors used bullet points this year, where in the past they used paragraphs. As a result, both the administrative team and the teachers reported that they have never had such productive discussions about teaching as they had this year.
Next Steps

On Wednesday afternoon, when we met to review the plan and suggest revisions, the excitement and satisfaction with a job extremely well done was obvious among the committee members. We did have some changes to make – some of the forms were glitchy, the timelines needed tweaking, and our forms for the Continuous Professional Growth portion of the plan are too cumbersome -- but the problems were minor and easy to fix.

Everyone agreed, however, that the new plan has so much potential we should provide administrators and teachers with additional opportunities to discuss the rubrics and exemplars of best practices. The belief is our conversations about the indicators will continue to refine our district-wide vision of excellent teaching. The plan should also be incorporated into each building’s strategic planning and professional development, and the administrative team should continue to work together to create a common set of standards for excellence.

If you would like to read the full Teacher Evaluation and Continuous Professional Growth Plan, back up your browser and click on “Curriculum” on the District’s webpage, then click on the Evaluation document… or click the title at the beginning of this paragraph.

Committee Members
Teachers: Shelley Lloyd (Co-Chair and EAC Representative), Linda Caraher, Jan Schley, Melissa Cook, John Duffy, Lisa Deltano, and Laurie Burrill
Administrators: Mary Dorpalen, Nancy Bean, and myself
Board of Education Members: Susan Crowe and Sue Saidel

What is Lexia?

2010-05-14T09:00:00.009-04:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

In brief, Lexia is a reading software support program with a strong research base behind it. In fact it’s an award-winner - recognized by several organizations, including Scholastic and EdNet for being the best in reading technology, RTI, and assessment. Lexia helps students ages 4 and up acquire and improve the most essential reading skills from phonics to Latin roots. At the same time, it allows the teacher or the tutor to monitor the student’s progress and target very specific and informed instruction to meet his or her needs.

There are three programs in Lexia: Early Reading, Primary Reading and Strategies for Older Students (SOS). Each program has multiple levels within it. We’re using it in grades K – 9 in a variety of scheduling options, including before and after school tutoring sessions. Some parents have even asked to be trained and are using Lexia at home. Research shows that fidelity yields results; success with Lexia requires 20 – 30 minutes a session, 3 – 5 times a week (depending upon the child’s needs). The teacher or tutor also must take a backseat and not help students answer the questions. When on the computer, the student must be working independently 100% of the time for the program to correctly diagnose and assign skills.

Canton’s reports are showing this level of fidelity is giving us results, and some students have moved up four or more Lexia levels since we began in November. Lexia Reading begins with an auto placement tool in which a student completes a game-like assessment on the computer, using a headset to listen to instructions and to the sounds and words being taught. Based on the results of several different diagnostics, such as short and long vowels, segmentation of words, beginning and ending sounds, etc., Lexia seamlessly levels the student and then creates a program specifically targeted to the student’s needs. The Lexia dashboard below is an example of a program a student might be assigned. I was working from a student’s screenshot, so it’s not the best clarity; but you can see that the student has been assigned to five activities in Early Reading, Level 2: Consonant Tree I, II, and II, Short Vowel Crate, and Consonant Pairs. The yellow progress bar shows the child has almost completed the Short Vowel Crate, including all of the looping that Lexia might have done within that activity. In the meantime, the tutor’s dashboard shows the amount of time each child has spent on Lexia, each child's progress through the activities, and the trouble spots he or she might be having.

When a student bumps into a skill he or she can’t master in Lexia, a yellow exclamation point shows up in both the teacher’s dashboard report and at the bottom left corner of the child’s screen. This indicates the child needs one-to-one instruction to get over this hurdle.

Using “long vowel, silent e” as an example of a skill-based activity, Lexia might begin by assigning a game in which the student sorts words with “long a, silent e” into a barrel while a clown descends onto the screen. The student would click on “lake, maze, name, gate,” and so on. Next Lexia will add “long i, silent e” and the student will find “bike, dime, kite, pipe,” etc. If the student is successful and can move on to “long o, silent e,” Lexia will mix all three patterns together, "name, bike, note, tape, home" etc. If the child is unsuccessful, the Lexia program will back up and isolate the skill where the student was last successful. Furthermore, the teacher's report will show all of this by charting the long vowels. This type of pinpoint accuracy has amazed all of us, as while a teacher or tutor will know a child is struggling with reading, it takes a good amount of trial and error to know that “long vowel, silent e” is the immediate culprit.

In the screenshot below, the child is working in Consonant Castle; and as he or she answers correctly, the pieces of the castle are coming together. When this child selects the “b” to complete the word “bow,” the castle will be complete. If the child didn’t hear the word "bow" clearly, clicking on the ear in the upper right corner will repeat it as many times as necessary.

This is a very brief description of a very involved tool. Lexia obviously cannot teach reading and replace the teacher’s multi-faceted classroom instruction… nor will it replace our very successful DIBELS program… or Wilson Reading for significantly struggling readers... or "Soar to Success." It is simply another successful tool in our toolkit.

The Facts about Field Trips

2010-04-30T09:00:00.002-04:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

        Field trips cost money! When your family has two or more permission slips sitting on the counter and the checks need to be written, the tempting question is, “Are field trips really worth it?”   The answer is a qualified ‘yes.’ Yes, if they are planned with a clear-cut purpose and follow research-based principles.
        I remember as a 6th grader going to Old Newgate Prison in East Granby. I vividly remember climbing down a ladder to the underground caverns and then experiencing the slimy, wet walls and lightless holes where prisoners were kept. I remember the docent telling us that a prisoner, over the course of many years, had worn away a small bowl to hold water in the rock to which he was chained. My feelings about the inhumanity of the place have never left me.
        My memories, and maybe some of your own, remind us that field trips are definitely worth it when they are experience driven, rather than information driven, and when they involve multi-sensory learning rather than language-based learning. In other words, if kids get to see it, touch it, manipulate it, hear it, taste it, and talk about it, rather than read about it from a placard, field trips are well worth the cost in dollars and classroom time.

What is the perfect field trip?
        Experiences that cannot be replicated in the classroom head the list of ‘perfect’ field trips. I don’t want to throw a lot of research at you, but one study stands for many others: kindergartners who attended an interactive science museum had specific and accurate memories of the field trip for more than a year after it occurred (Wolins et al., 1992). The study revealed that the teachers had used a high degree of anticipation – in other words, they got the kids excited before they went!   And a high degree of summary – they talked about, replicated, or play-acted the experiences at the museum for several days after their return. The teachers had also capitalized on the social nature of the trip – they formed color-coded teams, they put friends together, they had students hold hands, they took photos, and so on.  It’s a juggling act – great field trips enable students to socialize about learning and yet still have a high degree of personal, independent involvement in the activities. Follow-up review activities are another essential.
        Two of the “favorite” Canton field trips are detailed below. Both of these trips show up in our students’ senior yearbook memories and graduation speeches. Nature’s Classroom, a Grade 6 trip, marks for many students the first time they are away from home “on their own.” Washington, DC, in the 8th grade is a remarkable adventure, both socially and educationally symbolizing for many students a Canton ‘rite of passage.’

Nature’s Classroom
        CIS students have been attending Nature's Classroom for over 20 years with great success. In a week-long adventure (5 days, 4 nights), they learn a variety of subjects – maps, compasses, orienteering, bridge-building, storytelling, Native American games and crafts, dissection, weather, etc. -- through hands-on explorations and activities.  By living and learning together, Nature’s Classroom also develops community awareness, social responsibility, independence, and self-confidence. Usually, Nature’s Classroom is held on the property of Camp Jewel in Colebrook, Connecticut; but this spring, from May 3 to May 7, the students are travelling to Camp Beckett in Beckett, Massachusetts. In the fall of 2010, Nature’s Classroom will be returning to Colebrook.

Washington, D.C.
        The Washington, D.C., trip has traditionally proven extremely popular with students and the learning experiences are closely related to the 8th , 9th, and 10th grade social studies curriculum. One of the themes in the 8th and 9th grade courses in Western Civilization is the development of western democratic institutions. A trip to Washington, D.C., brings to life the culmination of ideas and experiences which began thousands of years ago by Greeks, Romans, and many others in the long history of civilization. In addition, the English, math and science teachers on the 8th grade teams incorporate ideas and concepts about Washington, government, and travel into their lessons prior to the trip. But, aside from these important intellectual pursuits, the personal memories of this independent travel experience, embarked on together with classmates, will stay with the students for many years to come.

The Annual Town Budget Meeting Needs You!

2010-04-23T09:00:00.005-04:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

On Thursday, April 15th, at its 4:00 p.m. meeting, the Board of Finance accepted the Board of Education’s and the Board of Selectman’s budgets.

What Happens Next?
Following a newsletter communication in the next week or so, the town will hold its Annual Town Budget Meeting on Monday, May 10th, at 7:30 p.m. in the High School Auditorium. This is a particularly significant town meeting this year in that, due to the new charter revision, 150 voting residents at the meeting will constitute a quorum and if 150 attend a vote on the budget will be taken that night. If fewer than 150 residents attend the meeting, the budget will automatically go to a referendum which will be scheduled for a date within 2 weeks. Since referendums cost the town additional money, it’s in Canton's best interests that residents come out 'in droves' to vote at the May 10th meeting.

I found it interesting reading, and since many people haven’t seen it yet, I’m including the relevant portion of actual Charter Revision here:
A. Date and Quorum Requirement – An Annual Budget Meeting to vote on the Town budget recommended by the Board of Finance shall be held at a time and date during the month of May determined by the Board of Finance. The presence of one hundred fifty (150) Voters as determined by the Registrars of Voters immediately prior to taking the vote shall be required to constitute a quorum.

B. Approval by Town Meeting – By vote at the Annual Budget Meeting, any appropriation or item in an appropriation may be decreased or deleted, but no appropriation or item in an appropriation may be increased or added. The vote on the budget shall be by secret ballot. In the event that the budget is not approved by vote of a majority of persons qualified to vote at an Annual Budget Meeting at which a quorum is present, then the budget shall be returned to the Board of Finance for review, adjustment and revision and the Annual Budget Meeting shall be adjourned to a date not later than twenty-one (21) days subsequent thereto, to be set by the Board of Finance. The Board of Finance shall then present the budget to the adjourned Annual Budget Meeting in accordance with this Section of the Charter and, if necessary, the process set forth in this Section shall be repeated until a budget is approved.

C. Provision for Referendum – In the event that a quorum shall not exist, the vote on the proposed budget shall be conducted by a referendum. A referendum shall also be required in the event that a Petition to approve the budget by referendum vote is signed by one hundred fifty (150) Persons qualified to vote at Town Meetings and is filed with the Town Clerk not later than the close of business on the fifth (5th) day prior to the Annual Budget Meeting. The date of the referendum shall be set by the Board of Selectmen so as to occur not less than seven (7) nor more than fourteen (14) days after the date of the Annual Budget Meeting. The referendum shall be held from 6:00 a.m.until 8:00 p.m. Any succeeding budget shall be submitted to referendum.

D. Finality of Approval – When the budget is approved either by secret ballot at the Annual Budget Meeting or by referendum, such action shall be final and may not be rescinded.

Help Us Find Canton's Next "Teacher of The Year"

2010-04-15T18:16:00.007-04:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

Some of you may remember that this past September, we celebrated Anne Lippincott, our Cherry Brook Primary pre-school teacher, as Canton's 2009 – 2010 “Teacher of the Year.”

I don’t know how long Canton has been awarding this honor (at least for the 14 years I've been here); but at the state level, the Connecticut "Teacher of the Year" began in 1952. The State “TOY,” as these excellent teachers are affectionately called, is selected once a year from among all of the district-level winners. (The application process is quite exhausting, but Canton's "Teacher of the Year" always enters.)

Some school districts, however, don’t choose to extend this honor. Perhaps they feel "Teacher of the Year" becomes competitive among staff members, sets one teacher apart, or fails to recognize all the excellent teachers on the staff. Maybe it is political or their teachers shy away from this kind of honor, feeling that all of their colleagues deserve recognition as much as they do. In Canton, however, this program works!

Over the years, our “Teacher of the Year” program has successfully recognized and honored representatives from each school and many differnt disciplines for teacher excellence. The surprise introduction of our TOY at the opening of the school is an exceptionally moving moment and fills everyone with pride – a great way to begin the year! Often we remember our colleague's remarks months later. We believe that our TOY program recognizes the best in teaching from among the many Canton educators who share those same qualities.

We try to select a teacher each year who will speak to the staff at convocation and, for the remainder of the year, serve as a representative of what is best in our profession. We look for a teacher who always puts students first, who inspires a love of learning in them, as well as sets a caring example for others in the school community. We look for a teacher who demonstrates the importance of community by working successfully with students, colleagues, and parents. Our TOY’s are innovative, hard-working, dedicated professionals.

Canton’s “Teacher of the Year” Winners for the last 5 years are:

2005-06 Patrick Allen

2006-07 Tina (Colangelo) Roy

2007-08 Linda Caraher

2008-09 Marsha Jorgensen

2009-10 Anne Lippincott.

You can click on the links above to read more about Linda, Marsha, and Anne.

Nominate a Teacher

You can help us find our next "Teacher of the Year" because the nominations may come from anyone in the community: parents, students, colleagues, and principals. Over the next week or two, we are hoping that you will click on the link below and use the form to nominate a teacher for this honor.

Nomination Form

A Real World Application at the High School

2010-04-09T09:00:00.004-04:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

In several other blogs, I have mentioned the importance of 21st Century skills and real-world applications in classroom learning. I’m sure everyone is familiar with the concept that knowledge is expanding astronomically – you’ve read or heard that knowledge doubles at some “fill-in-the-blank” rate, whether that rate be every 6 months, or every 12 months, or so on. But, the point is this: change happens in content knowledge so quickly that what a person knows is becoming secondary to what a person is able to do.

This past weekend, riding in the car, my daughter, grand-daughter, and I were wondering if every state had a Springfield – we could name about a dozen. In under 5 minutes, my grand-daughter had lists … not only did she find a list of the 34 states with Springfields, but the other countries with Springfields, the 'fictional' Springfields (as in the Simpsons and Father Knows Best), and the people named Springfield (as in Rick or Dusty). On her cellphone!

This only underscored the experience last week when Superintendent Case and I had the pleasure of attending a class at the high school in which students applied and demonstrated their 21st Century skills in research, math, science, technology, and oral presentation. We both loved it, but more importantly, the students really enjoyed it as well. And what they had learned had the potential to benefit them in their future real-life decision making.

Dylan Smith, Jeremy Stanhope, Sadeq Al-Aqel, Brieanna Rowley, Sondra and Krista Westerling, Jamel Mayo, and Josh Wood had taken a CADD drawing of a house that Dylan Smith had created in his 8th grade Odyssey project and they “finished” the house, inside and out, top to bottom. First they obtained the measurements of the house to scale – for example, the living room was 73.86 square meters; the master bedroom was 35.88; the pantry was 3.64;… the garage, 44.82. The presentation began with this drawing and the measurements of every nook and cranny and continued with the use of charts, graphs, and pictures in PowerPoint. In their multi-week project, the students equipped their entire home.

First, they researched the pros, cons, and costs of flooring including materials such as bamboo, vinyl, ceramic, porcelain, carpet, and so on. The students knew the chemical compositions, durability, and eco-friendliness, as well as the costs. The students weighed trade-offs such as the fact that bamboo is quickly renewable when compared to hardwoods, but the transportation of imported bamboos from East Asia creates carbon emissions pollution. The students reported that carpeting contains decabromodiphenyl (for flame retardancy), permethrin (for dust mites), and formaldehyde (for its binding properties). They learned about petrochemicals, plasticizers, and VOC’s (volatile organic compounds)!

As the presentation progressed, we learned about heating options (oil, electric, natural gas), as well as wood and pellet stoves and solar panels (photovoltaic cells) and wind turbines. (Did you know Jay Leno's "Seahawk" is a self-starter and is capable of producing up to 10kw of power at 6 mph? The kids did!).

The students had researched energy-efficient windows and could tell us the potential savings in electricity for both summer air-conditioning and winter heat. They had even chosen CF (compact fluorescent) light bulbs for their house. On-line, they found a calculator which could predict their household’s savings based on the projected number of lights in each room and the projected amount of time the light burns each day. Click here to try it yourself.

Our students installed an eco-friendly swimming pool (of course!) and had chosen energy-efficient appliances (although they rejected a small, wall-mounted clothes washing machine that sits atop the toilet which uses the wash and rinse water for flushing!). They reported on chemical-free fertilizers for the lawn and chemical-free paint for the walls. They even told us about common products that affect the air quality of our homes – things such as pesticides, nail polish removers, bleach, and ammonia.

At the end of the PowerPoint and oral presentation, in which all of the students participated, we had a chance to ask questions and the kids even gave us a task to complete. They asked us to look at graphs they had made of the flex and stretch of common freezer and sandwich bags, brand-name garbage bags, and even plastic shopping bags (such as from Big Y and Wal*Mart) and determine, based on the data they provided, which were best.

The questions I wanted most to know – what did you learn and how will this help you in the future? One of the students said that the information and products will change a great deal from now until the time when they actually begin choosing flooring and heating for their own homes, but they learned how to do the research and how to make the comparisons, and mostly, they learned the importance of it.

More About the Budget....

2010-04-02T19:07:00.002-04:00

This week, I'm "lending" my blog to Superintendent Kevin Case so you will have the chance to read his full budget message. Next Friday, I'm planning to share with you some really interesting details from a class at the high school which I observed today. It was great to see what these kids had done, so I'm excited to tell you about it! In the meantime, here's Kevin's letter...

Dear Canton Residents,
The proposed 2010-2011 budget seeks a 0% increase over this current year’s spending. We have approached the development of this budget responsibly, recognizing the extraordinarily difficult economic times and the fiscal constraint of the town, while maintaining our obligation to meet the individual needs of the students in the Canton Public Schools.

Contractual obligations related to employee salary and benefits along with increased costs in utilities, out-of-district tuition, and transportation accounted for a $928,545, or a 4.17% increase over this year’s spending. Administrators’ budget requests totaled $359,809 or a 1.61% increase. Thus, combined increases totaled $1,288,354, representing an increase of 5.78%.

Although every administrative request was justifiable, I worked to reduce each area of the budget possible, reducing the budget by over $855,433. There are reductions in the area of instructional supplies, equipment, and professional development. No new requested staffing positions were part of this budget proposal.

On February 9, 2010, I presented a proposed budget request to the Board of Education with an increase of $432,912 or 1.94%. The Board of Education’s Finance Subcommittee met several times to review my proposed budget. Every line item and personnel position in the District was reviewed carefully. On March 4, 2010, the Board of Education voted to reduce the budget further by reducing funds in various line items where more accurate information had been obtained, such as in workers’ compensation and transportation fuel. Reductions were also made in the utilities line items, as we will be challenging the staff and students in each of our buildings to conserve energy more than ever before through various activities. We also continue to implement energy conservation measures wherever possible.

The following personnel changes were also made:
• Elimination of .5 FTE Director of Physical Plant
• Reduction of .5 FTE Library/Media Specialist
• Reduction of .5 Custodian
• Elimination of four paraeducator positions
• Reduction in secretarial support

This budget development process required extra attention this year from start to finish, as each request and line item was scrutinized as never before. If additional cuts are made, existing non-certified and certified staff and programs will be affected, which would greatly diminish the quality of our school system. We wish to see the Canton Public Schools continuously improve by providing the highest quality educational experiences and opportunities for our students. It is our hope that you will support this budget as submitted.

Sincerely,
Kevin D. Case
Superintendent of Schools

Going Green

2010-03-26T13:54:00.001-04:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

This week, two separate events happened that together became the topic of this week’s blog. The first was working with Beth Kandrysawtz, the Board Chair, on a list of changes the district has made to save money. The second was a conversation with the HS Science Department Chair, John Duffy, who has found a solar-powered battery charger that the science and math departments could use to recharge the batteries for graphing calculators and science probes. Batteries cost each department hundreds of dollars a year, but just as important, is the fact that battery disposal is not eco-friendly. In combination, these two discussions led to blogging about the steps the district is taking to become “greener.”

Did you know the light switches in most classrooms and offices have motion sensors that turn the lights off if no one is moving in the room? That’s why if you’re meeting at the circular table in Superintendent Case’s office, the lights will go out, and someone need to hop-up and wave at the light switch. In a similar effort, the computers have software installed which “puts them to sleep” after 10 minutes of inactivity and “powers them down” at the end of the school day.

An audit of the district’s lighting energy use three years ago resulted in fixture reconfigurations and element replacement. The changes are projected to save $18,400 over three years, $60,346 over five years, and $309,000 over 15 years. But there is a saving of energy, as well. The hot water heaters have been replaced at the High School/Middle School, saving natural gas; but more can be done. Our new Business Manager, Ed Hoyt, is planning to begin audits of other energy use, as well.

Did you know the outdoor picnic furniture selected by the Board of Ed’s Student Reps is made of recycled plastics? The same recycled consciousness will go into the purchase of the benches and storage shed in CBPS’s new “Science Inquiry Center” being planned in the school’s courtyard. That whole project has a “green” theme from the solar lights and solar-powered vents on the greenhouse to the composting bin and the absence of trash cans, teaching students to take back out what they bring in.

Next year, the schools will begin school-based energy conservation plans, looking at the details of their building’s energy use, such as open windows and doors during the winter, or lights left burning in empty classrooms, or the use of refrigerators and appliances – in other words asking the same kinds of energy conservation questions at school that we’re all asking in our own homes. The administrators at each building will begin a Green Committee with students as part of the membership. A town-wide committee is also growing, and the schools will join in those community efforts as well.

Currently, all of the schools have some level of recycling paper, cardboard, and plastics. Those programs will become more formalized. Also, on the radar screen for the future is the idea of adding solar heat panels to the High School/Middle School when that roof is replaced.

As Kermit said, “It’s not easy being green;” so if you have additional “greening” or energy-saving ideas, please share them with us.

What Our Kindergarten Data Tells Us

2010-03-19T09:28:00.007-04:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

Over the past few years, a planned focus on reading instruction at Cherry Brook Primary School has yielded exciting and rewarding confirmation that we are on the right path. The 2009 CMT, our DRA2 data, and our in-house assessments have documented this success. From the beginning, the instructional changes in reading included our youngest students, as Columbia Reader's Workshop, leveled-books, sight-word lists, DIBELS, and the DRA2 found their way into our Kindergarten classrooms. The intention of this week's blog is to share with you an overview of that success story. There is additional information and resources for reading at the bottom of the CBPS website and in their monthly newsletters.

What is DIBELS?
Several years ago, Canton began using DIBELS, a reading assessment focused on early intervention. DIBELS stands for Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, and it is a research-based assessment program with years of strong data support. Basically, there is a series of one-minute assessments that follow the same continuum as a child's reading development. The assessments progress from recognizing beginning letter sounds, naming the letters of the alphabet, segmenting the different sounds in a word, rhyming, through reading nonsense words such as MIP or CACK. As the child learns to read, the DIBELS assessments also include fluently reading texts aloud and retelling what you’ve read. There are five main categories of assessment: phonological awareness, the alphabetic principle, accuracy and fluency in reading text, vocabulary, and comprehension.
Using DIBELS, Cherry Brook’s well-trained tutors can now spot gaps in students’ emergent reading skills and immediately target specific interventions to address those gaps. Rather than waiting for Grade 3 CMT results, which might show general difficulties with comprehension and fluency, DIBELS provides information right when it is needed, in grades K, 1, 2, and 3.

Turning the Pyramid of Support on its Head!
Thus, the focus on immediate remediation changed our model of support. Four years ago, our largest group of tutored remedial students was in the 3rd grade, and there was no reading assessment done in the kindergarten program. Letter recognition and sounds, for example, were introduced beginning in January of the Kindergarten year. As a result, no kindergarteners received tutor support and only about 20 students received tutoring in Grade 1.
Over the past four years, we have changed the pattern of both instruction and support. Letter recognition and sounds are taught beginning in September; kindergarteners have a sight word list; and they, too, are reading "just right" books in the Columbia workshop model. We have also successfully tipped the pyramid of support over with our largest group of tutored students now in kindergarten and the smallest group in Grade 3. That is success!

To illustrate what it 'looks' like, the first triangle below represents what we had -- a little support in the early grades and a great deal of support in Grade 3 when it was clear to teachers that some students were struggling with their reading. The second triangle represents what we have achieved -- a great deal of support for reading in Kindergarten and with our emerging readers. There is less support in Grade 3 because more students are meeting the expected reading goals.

A more specific look at the actual support data is pictured below. As you can see, we started the DIBELS in 2005-2006. In addition, the teachers at every grade level have spent the past four years collaborating with Columbia Reader's Workshop. They attended full-day Columbia workshops for three days in August for several years and regularly worked with Columbia trainers in their classroom. They have met collaboratively in their grade-level teams to write mini-lessons and discuss student data. They have worked together on the additional components of literacy, such as word work, guided reading, interactive read-alouds, and vocabulary and have fully developed their classroom libraries of "just-right" leveled books. These are just a few of the many program and instructional changes that have suported reading.

But, Are Kindergarteners Ready to Read?

Absolutely! And we have the data to prove it!

Two years ago the Connecticut State Department of Education changed the expectations for kindergarten reading. The new standard became DRA2 Level 4. In addition, the new DRA2 included a retelling and comprehension question. Prior to that, the expectation had been Level 3 with no comprehension question. Some people asked if the kindergarteners, particularly those in a half-day program such as Cherry Brook's, were prepared to meet a Level 4 expectation by May.

A readiness assessment which the kindergarten teachers complete in October for each of their students gives us the information we needed. The results, which I'll summarize here, show our students are more than ready. To determine a district's kindergarten readiness, the students are rated in six categories at three performance levels -- from Level 1 (lowest) to Level 3 (highest). As you can see from the Level 3 scores below, Canton's kindergarteners are well above average for the State in terms of their kindergarten readiness. I've put the state results in parentheses.

Language Skills -- 56% at Level 3 (37%)
Literacy Skills -- 66% at Level 3 (35%)
Numercy Skills -- 70% at Level 3 (38%)
Physical/Motor Skills -- 83% at Level 3 (47%)
Creative/Aesthetic Skills -- 81% at Level 3 (47%)
Personal/Social Skills -- 65% at Level 3 (41%)

For more information about the DRA, click here.

For more information about Kindergarten readiness, click here.

2010-2011 Budget Enhancements

2010-03-12T09:00:00.005-05:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

Some people call it “doing more with less;” but whether you accept that phrase or not, next year’s budget does have some enhancements to the educational program despite the bleak 0% increase. We are planning on doing a few things differently … and better!

We’re adding three new “Experientials” to the Middle School curriculum

What we’re doing and why!
First, there are two new technology-based mini-courses called “Experientials” in the works: one will be about the responsible use of electronic communication and the other about 21st century problem-solving and challenges. Principal Joe Scheideler and the Middle School Quality Council had been wrestling with the question of how best to help adolescents become responsible users of electronic communications and the Internet. Topics for these two 30-day Experientials might include the S.M.A.R.T. curriculum: 1. Safety and security on-line; 2. Manners, cyberbullying, and ethics; 3. Authentic learning and creativity; 4. Research and information fluency; and 5. Twenty-first century challenges.

A third Experiential at the Middle School is also under development: “The Science of Healthy Living,” taught by the Hybrid team's science teacher, but in the culinary arts room. We had previously added the “Super-Size Me” curriculum to science. This new mini-course would build on that program, adding the science of nutrition as well as hand-ons experience with healthy alternatives to unhealthy food choices.

How we’re doing it!
Mr. Scheideler creatively designed a schedule in which each of the teachers on Team Hybrid will be able to teach four courses in their content area and an additional Experiential 30-day course. Students currently take six Experientials each year. This idea means that two of the staff members currently teaching Experientials can be reallocated to the high school saving the district a little money in what we call FTE (full-time equivalency). An additional amount of money will be saved when one of the Team Hybrid teachers takes on the existing Drama Experiential.
A lot of specific details and the actual curriculum still need to be worked out, of course, but you get the gist.

We’re expanding the ACT Program to Cherry Brook

What we’re doing and why!
Next year, we’re expanding the successful ACT Program down to Cherry Brook Primary School and putting it in the capable hands of the Library Media Specialist, the Technology Integration Specialist, and the Math Science Curriculum Coordinator. Students will soon be able to complete content and skill enriching activities in a wide variety of interest areas.

How we’re doing it!
Again, the idea is still new to us, but next week we’ll begin our planning meetings and discuss specifically how this program will roll out to students. We do know that one of the tools will be an internet-based program called Odysseyware. With Odysseyware, students will have their own folders and the teacher can 'drag and drop' specially chosen activities into the folders. Then, anywhere there is access to a computer – in the classroom, the school library, or at home -- the student can open his or her personal folder and work on these enrichment activities.

The teacher has several options including selecting Odysseyware’s enrichment content based on a topic of interest or a higher skill level (as in math). Or, the teacher can create and upload in-house developed activities that align with CBPS’s curriculum and then drag and drop these activities to students. Odysseyware also tracks progress.

Students, of course, will still need the individualized attention of the ACT teachers, and that is one of the key components of this idea that we need to talk about in depth and ultimately schedule.

We’re adding technology integration support to CHS/CMS

What we're doing and why!
We need to creatively assign technology integration support to the Middle School and High School. This is curriculum-based support, which is a much different role than our technology specialists who provide equipment, installations, repairs, infrastructure, network monitoring, back-up, and database services.

We know that teachers have a very difficult time integrating new technologies into their classrooms without some instructional support. The first few times a new strategy is attempted, it is essential that a technology integration specialist who knows the equipment well is available to assist both the students and the teacher. This is how we "grow" our teachers' capacity for change. Let’s say a high school teacher wants to try a new lesson with the white board, LCD, and student responders, but upon start-up of that lesson, four of the student responders simply don’t ‘respond’? Does the teacher stop the lesson and try to troubleshoot the equipment? Or… move on in the lesson without the participation of the four students? I think the potential for technology failure and the need to troubleshoot, without the time or expertise to troubleshoot, is the number one fear teachers have about using technology in front of their students. They know that technology integration done well looks seamless.

In addition, teachers need ideas for how a particular technology tool could improve the content of their lesson and their method of instruction. They need ideas for technology-based assessments that challenge students’ problem-solving skills as well as display their content knowledge. And, they need training in how the technology tools work. That’s the role of a Tech Integration Specialist, and literally, we need one at every building. But that was a pipe-dream early on in the budget cycle for the past two years; it’s simply not a reality in today’s economy.

How we’re doing it?
We don’t know yet, but the Administrative team and I will resolve this question over the next month; and recognizing upfront that sharing a technology intergration specialist won’t be perfect, we’ll at least take an important step in the right direction. Technology instruction and assessment are a key component of the 21st century skills our graduates will need in college and the workplace.

BOE’s 2010-2011 Budget

2010-03-05T13:44:00.001-05:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

The Board of Education met last evening at the Community Center to adopt its 2010-2011 Budget. This is the budget they will now present to the Board of Finance on paper March 8th and in a presentation on April 5th. The opportunity to address the Board of Finance comes at its April 7th Public Budget Hearing.

The meeting was attended by about 30 people; about a third of the attendees addressed the Board with comments. Each person who spoke acknowledged the difficult financial times, but also asked the Board to bring forward the Superintendent’s 1.94% budget without further reductions. Concern for the future of the Canton Schools was a common theme.

Mr. Case and the Board Chair Beth Kandrysawtz thanked all of the attendees for coming and expressed their appreciation for those who spoke. They both reiterated what everyone was, and is, thinking and saying: “This is an extremely difficult budget.”

Next, as Chair of the Board of Education’s Finance Committee, Carlene Rhea outlined additional cost savings and reductions in the budget. Prior to last night’s meeting, the Board’s Finance Sub-Committee had met seven times to examine every line item of Superintendent Case’s proposed budget. They had discussed options, made suggestions, and considered the educational impact of reductions in the various lines. There is always a great deal of give and take in the ongoing communications between the Superintendent and the Board.

At the end of last night's meeting, the proposed final budget number was fixed at a 0% increase or $22,283,809. The Board of Education had already asked the Superintendent for an additional $432,912 in reductions to his proposed budget to arrive at that 0% increase over last year’s spending. With teachers’ contractual salaries, employee benefits, Special Education costs, and utilities relatively fixed, there were not a lot of places to go for reductions.

Key reductions will now come in these areas:
Eliminate ½ library media specialist position at CIS
Eliminate ½ custodian position through attrition
Eliminate the Director of Physical Plant position
Eliminate 4 paraprofessional positions

Reduce workman’s compensation
Reduce transportation fuel
Reduce property liability insurance
Reduce utilities
Reduce by two the number of workdays for all paraprofessionals and tutors
Reduce purchases of new technology equipment
Reduce classroom teachers at CMS/CHS through reallocation of staff to teach “experientials” (I’ll provide more detailed information about this staff reallocation in next week’s blog)
Reduce professional development Reduce stipends for timekeepers and officials, Esteem, and athletics at CHS/CMS
Reduce secretarial support

A two-day furlough concession from custodians and non-union staff
Concessions from the secretarial union and administrative union are pending (or an additional reduction)

Please use the comments space below to ask any questions and I will do my best to provide answers.

Budget Process in Full Swing

2010-02-26T10:00:00.006-05:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

        In the past week and a half, Superintendent Kevin Case has introduced his 2010-2011 Education Budget at several different public forums. Mr. Case held four meetings at the Community Center and the elementary schools. In addition, about two dozen members of the community attended when he presented the budget to the Board of Education at its February 22nd meeting.
        I know the expression seems trite, but there really is no better way to say it: This is a bare bones budget. The 1.94% increase in the Superintendent’s proposed budget includes:
        • Contracted salaries: $287,958
        • Employee Benefits: $120,547
        • Instructional Materials: $7,090
        • Athletics: $10,894 (league contracts for officials, timekeepers, dues, etc.)
        • Pupil Transportation: $90,813 (including out-of-district transportation and a recalculation for transportation which is off-set by a reduction in out-of-district tuition below)
        • Utilities: $32,325
        • Capital Expenditures: $9,085

        Despite predictable increases for textbook and desk replacements, for building maintenance, property insurance, professional development, postage, legal fees, and other items, most of the budget lines have remained flat with a 0% spending increase over last year or have been decreased. The decreases include:
        • Out-of-District Tuition: $95,722
        • Plant Maintenance, Equipment: $11,500
        • Other (includes Dues, Office Supplies, Legal Fees, Consulting): $19,389
        • Professional Development: $729

        The 2010 – 2011 Education Budget currently includes no new staff. Despite the fact that class sizes will rise slightly, all class sizes will remain within BOE policy. Every program and budget choice has a well-thought out rationale, and none of the cuts have been painless. You may have heard me make this analogy before, but in our education budget, we’re not choosing between caviar and champagne; we’re choosing between bread and milk.
        Next, Mr. Case will present additional cuts in tiers to the BOE Finance Sub-Committee; a 0% budget increase is likely to include the loss of staff positions, as the budget will need to be reduced by an additional $432,911. That’s why Mr. Case included important reminders about the mission, accomplishments, and goals of the school system in his budget proposal. His objective was to remind the community that all decisions are being made thoughtfully, responsibly, and with reverence to the strong educational foundation that has been built in Canton over the years.

What’s the Difference Between “Savings” and “Fluff”?
        The citizens who have attended the budget presentations have commented on the fact that there is no wiggle room or “fluff” in this budget. Fluff is a negative term which denotes the presence of vague items in a budget which have no substance or importance. With that in mind, it’s very important for us to distinguish between savings and fluff.
        Often the school district can save money in non-predictable ways. If a veteran teacher retires in May or June and a replacement teacher is hired lower on the salary scale, there can be a savings of almost $40,000. If at the time of purchase, the Technology Administrator negotiates a great deal on replacement computers, the total cost for the equipment can be lower than was budgeted. If a student who was out-placed for an educational program successfully returns to the district, then his or her services may become less expensive. If a Professional Development trainer combines services with a nearby district, we might be able to split the travel expenses by half. These kinds of savings are not “fluff.” When the budget was built, the people involved used the most accurate information available to them. We never budget extra money, or “fluff,” because we might need it or want it. Savings are a continual goal; and when they occur, they do not indicate anything other than excellent management of the district’s resources.

Where to Get More Information

~~ The Superintendent's presentation materials are now available on the webpage.
~~ The Superintendent’s Proposed Budget can be found by clicking here. It will be replaced in about two weeks by the Board of Education’s Adopted Budget.
~~ A PDF presentation of students across the district can be found by clicking here.
~~ The schedule of upcoming meetings can be found by clicking here.

What are Your Thoughts?
        At this time, it’s important for all of us to know your suggestions or thoughts. Please read the budget documents linked above and comment below. If you have a question, I’ll do my best to answer it.

A Parent’s Guide to the CMT and CAPT

2010-02-19T09:00:00.005-05:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

        For teachers and administrators, it seems like the standardized tests are no sooner over than they are upon us again. Here we are preparing for March’s CMT and CAPT tests in grades 3 – 11, and every school in the district is involved.
        The CMT and CAPT will take place in Grades 3 – 8 and Grade 10 from March 2nd – 12th. Make-ups will occur over the following two weeks.

What are “High-Stakes, Standardized” Tests?

        Many people cite President Bush’s 2002 NCLB Act (No Child Left Behind) as the beginning of standardized testing. That’s simply not true! Granted the NCLB Act stated that by the 2005-06 school year, all states needed to test students yearly in Math and Reading, grades 3 – 8 and one grade in high school, and by the 2007-08 school year, in science, as well; but, the truth is Connecticut has conducted the CMT (Connecticut Mastery Test), now in its 4th generation, since 1985 and the CAPT (Connecticut Academic Achievement Test), now in its 3rd generation, since 1994. The CMT was originally administered every other year, in grades 4, 6, and 8, and given in October versus March. It’s gone through three revisions since then.
        “High-stakes standardized testing” sounds ominous; but, in Canton, from your student’s and family’s point of view, you should not be worried about the kind of fallout and horror stories you read on the Internet. Your kids are not sitting through hours of kill-and-drill workshops and our teachers and administrators are not changing answer booklets to save their jobs. The term “high-stakes” means there is the intention of a tighter accountability for each state’s and district’s educational system -- although, interestingly enough, each state developed its own tests. Regardless, “high-stakes” means the results of the tests can be used as determinates of funding, licensing, sanctions, interventions, and so on.
        In Canton, we have not lost funding and no educators have lost their jobs due to the CMT or CAPT. Neither are your students’ test results ever used for grade promotion … nor as the sole data point for placing them in programs or courses. The term “standardized” means all students take the same test and are measured against the same grade-level learning expectations as all other students across the state. It was taken for granted in the NCLB Act that the states would set challenging, but reasonable, expectations for student learning. Connecticut has done so.

What are the CMT and CAPT?

        Both the CMT (grades 3 – 8) and CAPT (grade 10) are multi-day tests in Reading, Math, Writing, and Science that take approximately 500 – 625 total minutes to administer and complete. The tests are designed to accomplish several goals:
1. Establish high expectations for all students at each grade level
2. Identify students who need extra help
3. Help schools and teachers identify weaknesses in the curriculum and improve daily instruction
4. Help families monitor their children’s achievement from grades 3 through 8, and high school.

For a parent brochure about CMT, click here.

For a parent brochure about CAPT, click here:

So, What Can You Do to Help Your Child?
        A lot of the following suggestions are simply common sense. Most kids want to succeed and will naturally strive to do their best. You simply need to nudge that natural tendency along.
        First and foremost, engender confidence in your child’s ability to do well. Help them to see the tests as their chance to shine rather than as tasks they must suffer through. Tell your child that they're not expected to know all the answers. They should work hard on what they know and not worry if they find some things hard to do. Encourage your child to take their time, to listen carefully to test-taking directions, and to ask questions if any of the directions are not clear. In other words, when you talk to your child, find the happy medium between taking the tests seriously and being overly anxious about the test and its results.
        Secondly, make sure your child is well-rested during the testing window and eats a well-rounded diet. Hunger detracts from performance; and, at the risk of sounding corny, the more protein and less sugar your child consumes in the morning the better. Make it fun! To boost morale or alleviate stress, surprise your child with something they love. For lunch, include a positive message or something along the lines of a "test survival reward."
        Finally, it’s very important to make sure that your child attends school on time during the testing sessions. Do not plan doctor or dental appointments on test dates. Research shows that students perform much better when they begin comfortably and calmly and when they take the test in a familiar setting along with their peers. Remind your child that there’s no prize for finishing first, and when they do finish, they should review their answers and check their answer sheets for errors.
        Your child’s teacher or school might have additional suggestions for at-home support. Watch for information in the school newsletter, on the website, or in the backpack notices. And please, feel free to call the school if you have any questions.

2010-2011 BUDGET information coming NEXT FRIDAY

Adolescents, Sexting, Social Networking, and School

2010-02-12T09:00:00.016-05:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

         In the mid-1960’s, teachers reported their biggest discipline concerns as chewing gum in class, running in the hallways, and smoking in the bathrooms. Rising hem-lines were also an issue; and I can remember kneeling in the nurse’s office, and if my skirt didn’t touch the floor, Mrs. B. stapling a crepe paper steamer to the hem. In the 1970’s, when I entered my own classroom, teachers were reporting disrespect in the classroom, T-shirts with references to drugs, and public displays of affection (PDA’s) as their major concerns. Times certainly have changed; and this century’s educators are faced with issues no one could have imagined 40 years ago.
        Among those issues is the far-reaching impact of today’s technologies. With Internet research, what’s a reliable fact? Should cell phones be banned from classrooms? Or, used as instructional tools? Should classroom discussions be extended through blogging? Also, of concern is the impact of social networking on the school environment, especially when negative on-line messages and questionable content spill over into the hallways and lunchrooms. On-line bullying, which takes place off school property and during non-school hours, has become both a worry and a disciplinary quagmire for school administrators, particularly in middle schools.
        Canton is trying to respond with proactive solutions. We developed an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) for the Internet several years ago. The Intermediate School held an Internet forum for parents in October; and the Canton Middle School Quality Council, a committee comprised of educators, parents, students, and Principal Joe Scheideler, is studying the impact of electronic communications on the school environment. Their goal is determining how Canton Middle School can best help parents and students navigate the electronic landscape of cellphones, Facebook, and the Internet. Since providing as much information as possible seems like a step in the right direction, I’d like to answer a few questions here.

What is Social Networking?
       Online social networking occurs when a website is used to create an on-line community of Internet users who share a common interest through culture, music, age, gender, hobbies, religion, politics, etc. Once you “join” a social networking website, you can begin to socialize with other members by sharing your own information in a “profile,” by reading the profile pages of others, and by contacting them. MySpace, FriendWise, FriendFinder, Yahoo! 360, Facebook, Orkut, and Classmates are examples of social networking sites. Recent research suggests that 93% of American teens (ages 12 to 17) use the Internet (no surprise there!) and that 55% of those teens use social networks (also, no surprise!). The 12 – 13 year-olds are the fastest growing group of social network joiners.
       Social networking is still too new, however, to have a strong research base about its positive and negative impacts on teens. But, opinions abound. On the positive side, some experts feel teens are safer now than when they were entering private chat rooms, because their "network" of friends, friends’ parents, relatives, and others “follows them around the site” and can thwart bad decisions and “intruders.” In other words, social networking is more public and less secretive than the chat rooms of the past. Supporters feel teens are also reading and writing more and are more actively-involved with their friends than they were when they passively watched TV and played video-games.
       On the negative side, detractors say adolescents are trusting; and thus, they are too forthright in providing information about themselves and too non-discriminating about the information they read from others. They also can be secretive, impulsive, and mean to each other when friendships go wrong, sometimes resulting in gossip, lying, and even “cyber-bullying.” At the very least, opponents argue, social networking is a worthless activity; it contributes no “product;” does not make teens smarter, happier, or healthier; and therefore nothing of merit results.
       Families should weigh the information carefully, become informed about their teens attitudes and usage, and make their own decisions.

What is Sexting?
       On Monday, February 8, the Today show offered a brief lesson for parents in adolescent sexting, which is the transmission of nude, semi-nude, or sexually provocative photos or videos by cellphone. The largest growing group of “sexters” is 13 – 15 year-old girls, which makes both the sending and receiving of “sexts” child pornography, a criminal offense. Yet, when adolescents who "sext" were confronted about their sexting behavior, a surprising number did not see their actions as having been “sexual” in nature.
       In brief, parents should know the photo and video capabilities of their teen’s cellphone, and then talk to their teen about its use, and particularly about the act of sexting. Many teens who engaged in this practice claimed that no adult had ever discussed sexting with them, and they had not considered the consequences of sexting prior to engaging in it. Basically, they trusted the receiver of the sext (usually a friend or boyfirend), and did not think that the photos or videos they sent would be shared, copied, posted to the Internet, or viewed by an adult. They also had no understanding that sexting was against the law.
       Clearly, teens today live in a technology-dominated world. Clearly, parents and schools must help them understand the pros and cons of electronic communications and teach them to become informed consumers. The Canton Middle School Quality Council has accepted this challenge, and their findings and recommendations will add another dimension to our educational programming. In preparation for future program development, on February 17th, Mr. Drew Bartkiewicz will be conducting proper Internet use seminars with middle school students and sharing the results of these workshops with the Quality Council members who are able to attend.

Click here to view the Today show segment from February 8, 2010.

Science Center Classroom Planned for Cherry Brook’s Courtyard

2010-02-05T09:00:00.006-05:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

The excitement is beginning to grow over Cherry Brook’s new outdoor classroom planned for the courtyard. This week, Principal Andy Robbin, Math and Science Curriculum Specialist Lisa Deltano, and PTO President Kim O’Brien were happy to accept a $4,200 check from Westinghouse’s Charitable Giving Program to be used for the purchase of a new 10’ x 10’ utility shed, a space-appropriate lawnmower and snow-thrower, and recycled benches for the area. Along with the PTO’s ongoing financial support (and time and energy!), and the expert contributions of Jarlath Connolly, owner of Lawn Tailors, the science center is well on its way to becoming a reality.

What’s in the Works?

For awhile now, the CBPS community has talked about turning the existing, rather overgrown courtyard into a vibrant learning center where teachers can take their classrooms of students to experience and appreciate nature and earth science with a curriculum that is tightly-aligned to carefully designed features. Picture this: groups of students with magnifiers, rakes or shovels, and their writing notebooks, charting what they find and making predictions. They could be digging for earthworms, recycling in the compost bin, or growing food. They could be planting seeds in the greenhouse, noting how a solar panel takes in sunlight and produces energy, or releasing the butterflies they grew from larvae. They could be noting which plants have their seeds on the outside (a sunflower) and which plants have their seeds on the inside (a pumpkin). Where do you find the seeds of a milkweed? The over-arching objective of this project -- we want our youngest students to wonder about the natural world, to participate in it, and to begin to understand their ecological footprint.

If you’re not familiar with this space, the CBPS courtyard is in the center of the building, lined with classrooms on three sides and a corridor with floor-to-ceiling windows on the other. It is very spacious, 120 feet by 92 feet, and has some interesting nooks. After studying the area, we have mapped out two paver-stone pathways with teaching stations at either side. Each station would feature a semi-circle of recycled plastic benches for seating 24 students.

At one end, we’re planning to install garden features; at the other end, renewable energy features. Both are aligned with our K – 3 curricula. A composting bin, for example, would support science objectives for soil testing, recycling, conservation, and earthworm study. Students will plant and keep a simple garden. Naturalized daffodils (1000 bulbs were already planted by the PTO last fall), will illustrate “the life-cycle of a plant.” Milkweed, daylilies, and asters will support lessons on indigenous plant-life and plant classification. They will also provide habitats for butterflies (raised in the metamorphosis unit), and for other insects, toads, and birds. Kindergarteners will plant pumpkins and sunflowers in the spring, then, as first graders, measure the height, weight, circumference, and volume in their first math unit, checking their predictions about whether the largest pumpkins and the largest sunflowers faces have the most seeds. Solar-powered vents on the greenhouse we’re hoping to install and many solar-powered lights will support units on renewable energy sources. If all goes well, the area could also see a water pump, powered by a photo-voltaic cell, for a fish pond habitat, as well as bird houses made by the Garden Club and even a bat house.

Our teachers and an active group of parents who currently lead nature walks will be trained to use the courtyard science stations. We also have the commitment of Liz Butner, K-8 Science Consultant for the Connecticut State Department of Education, who has agreed to provide on-site professional development to help teachers get the most out of the new outdoor classroom, including during the winter months.

While beautification isn’t the primary goal, the newly-redesigned area will be beautiful, and certainly will offer wonderful opportunities for art, reading, and writing classes as well. Cherry Brook’s Garden Club, advised by Ann Atwood, will find many active ways to enjoy the center, and a bird house building workshop planned for the Torrington Lowe’s will only be the beginning of their involvement. Rick Murawski, the Manager of Lowe’s, is the newest member of the planning team.

So, that’s what all the excitement is about! Watch for an Open House event this spring.

The Budget Process

2010-01-28T17:11:00.003-05:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

How to Join the Budget Process

The district’s budget process began in the fall as the building administrators began evaluating their programs and inputting the dollar amounts needed to support their school’s unique needs. At the same time, the Superintendent and Board of Education began collecting information about the more inflexible portions of the budget – transportation, utilities, benefits, and contracts. Our goal in Canton is never to merely maintain the status quo, but to continuously build upon the most effective components of our success while finding cost-savings wherever we can.

Mark Your Calendar

Now it’s time for the community – you -- to join the budget process. The dates below will help you decide when and where to participate. Try to attend as many meetings as possible, but the key meetings are: Tuesday, February 9th, when Superintendent Kevin Case presents his budget to the Board of Education; Monday, February 22nd, when the Board of Education holds a public hearing; Wednesday, April 7th, when the Board of Finance holds its public hearing on all three of Canton’s budgets; and Thursday, April 15th, when the Board of Finance holds its Budget Workshop. At most of these meetings, the public may speak. However, at the April 15th Board of Finance workshop, the public may only observe. Even when you do not or cannot speak, your attendance at a meeting becomes an observable “presence” in the budget process.

The Board of Finance Public Budget Hearing is set for Wednesday, April 7th at 7:00 p.m. Many town residents will choose to speak at this meeting about both the Board of Education’s budget and the Board of Selectman’s budget. If you do choose to speak, try to be as specific in your remarks as possible. It is required that you begin by stating your full name and address. According to one member of the Board of Finance, general statements, such as “I support the school budget,” are not as well received as very specific statements about what you are supporting and why. Specific statements show you truly understand what is in the budget and its implications for education in Canton. You should try to state your points well within a three-minute time limit.

After this public hearing, the next important meeting is Thursday, April 15th, the Board of Finance’s Budget Workshop. Residents may only observe this discussion. However, your presence in the audience as the Board of Finance makes its decisions does speak for you. It’s actually a very interesting meeting to attend, and the Board of Finance’s decision to cut or accept the Education and Selectman budgets follows their discussion.

Remember: if you can’t attend a meeting, you may write a letter to the Board of Education and/or the Board of Finance and request that your letter be read aloud. You may also call your Board members or write or email messages with your opinions.

Calendar of Important Dates:

Tuesday, February 9th -- 7:00 p.m. – BOE meeting; Superintendent Kevin Case presents his budget at the Community Center

Monday, February 22nd – 10:00 a.m. – School budget presentation by Kevin Case at the Community Center

Monday, February 22nd – 2:00 p.m. -- School budget presentation by Kevin Case at Cherry Brook Primary School

Monday, February 22nd – 7:00 p.m. -- Public hearing with Board of Education at the Community Center

Tuesday, February 23rd – 7:30 a.m. -- School budget presentation by Kevin Case at Canton Intermediate School Coffeehouse meeting

Thursday, March 4th – 7:00 p.m. – Special Board of Education meeting to adopt budget at the Community Center

Wednesday, April 7th – 7:00 p.m. – Board of Finance Hearing on the Budget

Thursday, April 15th – 4:00 p.m. – Board of Finance Budget Workshop – public can’t speak; only observe

Monday, May 10th – Annual Town Budget Meeting

Student Fees for Parking and Athletics at the High School

2010-01-22T09:00:00.004-05:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

One of the most controversial and painful decisions the school board has had to make is the implementation of parking and athletic participation fees at Canton High School. Across the state, these difficult economic times have seen one district after another resort to fees in order to maintain the quality of athletic programs; and in Canton, in order to expand rather than reduce our students’ athletic opportunities.

Athletic Fees

There is no argument that athletics are a vital part of the high school’s program. Sports provide over 55% of Canton’s students with the chance to develop their physical aptitude, as well as their personal and leadership skills. Competitive sports provide another realm of challenges, and the lessons that come with both winning and defeat build character. A myriad of benefits come from participating in athletics. No one argues that point!

Yet, the high school athletic program represents about $240,000 in the district budget, and that price tag rises every year. Canton pays $11,000 in dues and fees to the league, associations, and state for its 11 varsity and junior varsity men’s and women’s sports: soccer, field hockey, cross country, basketball, wrestling, indoor track, baseball, softball, tennis, golf, and track. Our officials and coaches are not overpaid; our transportation throughout the widespread NCCC League is not unreasonable; and our kids’ uniforms are neither new nor personalized.

Knowing all of this, the Board of Education adopted Policy #5139 and added athletic fees stating that all developmental, freshmen, JV, and Varsity athletes would be required to pay a fee for each season. For all sports, except football (which is self-funding), the fee is $100 per athlete per season with a $175 individual cap for the year and a $300 family cap. The participation fees do not guarantee playing time; and the policy provides additional regulations for fee collection, refunds, and so on.

As you can see, the fee schedule for athletics was carefully designed to be sensitive both to families with multiple athletes and to athletes who participate in multiple sports. In addition, students who receive free and reduced lunch are automatically waived from athletic fees; and a form for athletic fee relief is readily available on the CHS home page, under “Important News” in the right menu (“Pay to Participate Waiver/Reduction Fee Form”). Privacy is guaranteed.

The athletic fees for the 2009 – 2010 budget are intended to pay for the athletic trainer ($26,000) from whom all the teams receive a valuable service. Fees in excess will be used to offset transportation costs, another equally shared expense.

Parking Fees

Implemented in September 2006, the parking fees pre-date athletic fees by three years. Students who wish to drive to school pay $50 per semester or $100 per year. Upon completing an application and providing payment, a student receives a permit which must be visibly displayed in the same vehicle for which the permit is issued.

Despite the existence of a parking fee, parking at Canton High School remains a privilege. A parking permit can be suspended at any time for violating the parking lot rules, such as driving above 10 miles per hour or driving against the flow of traffic. On the rare occasions when a student needs to drive to school and does not have a parking permit, the student can park at Millennium Field and walk the sidewalks to school. Some students elect to do this routinely.

Parking fees bring about $6,000 a year into the district budget and are always used to enhance the middle and high school’s outdoor campus. An example is the lighted school sign at the end of the driveway, the newly-planted shrubs, the benches at the top of the field hockey field, several trash receptacles, and outdoor bleacher replacement. Recently, three picnic tables were purchased for student use. They are currently housed in the cafeteria, but will be moved outside in the spring.

The Board values input from the students and community about the use of the parking lot fees.

What happens to gate receipts?

Just in case you’re wondering, the money you pay for a family pass or a single ticket into a basketball game does help a little, too. Gate receipts for winter sports bring in about $9,000 and are used to offset the $25,000 budget line for time keepers and officials. Football gate receipts from home games belong to the Canton Football Association, however, as that program is completely self-funded.

Code Red! Code Yellow!

2010-01-14T19:55:00.004-05:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

As a child growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, I experienced the duck-and-cover style civil defense preparedness drills that followed the Soviet Union’s development of a nuclear weapon and the Cuban Missile Crisis. We were taught to fall to the ground and get under something if we saw a bright light. We practiced going to the school basement and lining up in rows along the basement walls; littlest kids closest to the wall, biggest kids on the outside. I lived within one mile of the school; so in one drill, when the town’s air raid siren sounded, I ran home as fast as I could, My mother was supposed to time me and report my time to the principal.

Thank goodness times have changed! Hopefully, we have grown more cognizant of how emergencies actually happen; and, while we still must prepare for these emergencies, more sensitive to our children’s feelings when they experience that ‘preparedness.’

I’m not going to share with you the details of our Code Red and Code Yellow procedures, as publicizing those plans would be counter-productive to children’s and teacher's safety; but I do want to explain when, how, and why we practice.

First of all, this year new legislation required that we practice our emergency procedures (Code Red and Code Yellow) a minimum of three times a year. Previous legislation required 10 fire drills per school year. Now, we may add the three emergency drills to that schedule to total thirteen drills; or, we may substitute up to three emergency drills for the fire drills, keeping a schedule of ten total drills per year. Canton will be doing the latter. From 2009 – 2010 on, we will have seven fire drills and three emergency drills. The thinking is that for decades no student has died in a school fire because everyone knows exactly where to go and what to do; the same level of practice might prevent misfortune in other types of emergencies.

All school administrators and town officials have what is called an “Annex O Handbook.” It was written by committee and is revised every July. Its goal is to “establish protocols and guidelines for all agencies who would be responding to Canton School facilities so that any incidents would be handled as rapidly as possible thereby allowing an orderly return to the business of educating the children of Canton.” It contains protocols for everything from severe weather to bomb threats to finding a mysterious package to locating a missing child, and so on. Depending upon the situation, a Code Red or Code Yellow is called by the principal or other administrator. Code Red emergencies indicate a threat within the school; Code Yellow emergencies indicate a threat outside of the school. In both cases, the doors to the buildings are locked and no one can leave or enter.

To be prepared for these kinds of potential emergencies, we do hold drills as mentioned above. Just as with fire drills, which have become commonplace and routine, Code Red and Code Yellow drills do not constitute a real emergency. Students are always told “This is a drill” and reassured that there is no reason to worry. During drills, teachers remain calm and practice the procedures that have been outlined for them.

When one school has a Code Red drill; the other two school buildings will always have a Code Yellow drill. This is because the Canton Police and Adam Libros, the Director of Emergency Management, attend the Code Red drills so that they can provide feedback to the principal and teachers at a faculty meeting later that same afternoon. Canton’s emergency responders are too limited in number for us to effectively practice a Code Red drill at all three school buildings simultaneously; therefore, we stagger our Code Reds. The debriefing sessions we’ve held so far have been very helpful. While teachers always want to know exactly what they should do in a variety of ‘what if’ situations, they are reminded that real emergencies aren’t predictable and common sense prevails.

To date, we have had several real Code Yellows where a possible or perceived emergency was outside the school buildings. In none of these instances were any children ever endangered. An incident where a bear was spotted on the playground at Cherry Brook Primary School is just one example. We realize that it can be inconvenient for parents when the doors are locked and you can’t get in… or sometimes, can’t get out. But the strict procedures to lock the doors are in place for well-intended reasons.
In a real Code Yellow, we will use AlertNow’s everyday calling and emailing feature to let you know what happened. This phone call will look like a call from Central Office, or from the school, on your caller-ID; it will begin 860-693-77xx. In a real Code Red, however, we will use AlertNow’s emergency calling and emailing feature as soon as possible to let you know what is happening. Your caller-ID will display 411.

Remember, in a real Code Red, you should not come to the school that is experiencing the emergency situation. Past emergencies in other school systems have taught us that, especially when roads and driveways are narrow (as they are in Canton), citizen traffic to the location of the emergency can delay the access and mobility of the rescue personnel. Wait for the AlertNow message to tell you where to congregate and what to do.

My intention this week was to provide reassurance, not to create a sense of urgency or alarm. We have had one emergency drill to date and need to conduct two additional drills to be in compliance. We hopefully enter into all of our emergency preparedness with a sense of compassion for our children; we want them to feel safe in their classrooms. At the same time, we want you to feel comfortable that we know how to protect them, as we know you would, in an emergency.

Virtual High School Opportunities at the High School

2010-01-08T13:25:00.003-05:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

Already the time is upon us when students in grades 8 - 11 begin registering for next year’s classes! With that in mind, I wanted to share some information with you about one of the 21st century options we have available at the high school level – VHS!

What is VHS?

Virtual High School, or VHS, is a perfect opportunity for your independently motivated student to take a specialized online course for a semester or full-year. Currently, 14 Canton students take a variety of courses through Virtual High School, Inc., the industry-leader in online high school education. Over 650 schools subscribe to VHS, Inc. representing 31 states and 34 countries. When I look at a the catalog, there are several I would have loved to take when I was in high school.

First, however, let’s clarify VHS, because not all online courses are VHS, Inc.! The term “virtual high school” is often used generically, much like chapstick or diet coke is used. Some virtual high school courses, for example, are offered by colleges and universities; others are intended for families engaged in home-schooling; many are not taught by a teacher and are what’s called ‘static content courses’ with computer-scored assessments. Canton is a client of VHS, Inc. through the Capitol Region Education Connection (CREC), our local educational services provider. Other area schools, such as Simsbury and Granby, are subscribers of VHS, Inc. as well.

How does VHS, Inc. work?

VHS courses are offered through the Internet in a BlackBoard format, which is the common format for the online higher-education courses offered by many colleges and universities. Each day your student would log into his/her chosen course. From the course’s homepage, your student would use tabs for daily announcements, assignments, grades, discussions, and the user directory. All VHS, Inc. courses are designed by and monitored by a real, certified teacher somewhere in the United States. But the courses are ‘asynchronous,’ meaning your student can complete his/her work from any computer … at any time of day. Up to 25 students from across the country can be enrolled in any given course at a time. The teacher sets up the reading assignments and activities for the week, and all the work will be due at the end of a seven-day period; for example, the coursework might always be due on Tuesdays.

The tasks vary from week to week. Your student may have to respond to assigned articles through a monitored blog with his/her online classmates. The teacher might assign students to view online video clips, to interview local experts in the Canton community about a topic, or to listen to and record speeches. Your student’s individual work is always private, even though he/she will electronically submit papers to the teacher and receive them back electronically from the teacher with the grades and comments.

Sound good?
So, how does your student enroll?

It’s actually pretty simple. First, you and your student should discuss whether an online course is a good match for your student’s learning style. Research, reading, writing, online communicating and collaborating with peers, and time management are required to successfully complete a VHS course. Students working in an unscheduled, online environment must be organized and self-motivated. Next your student would select a course from the VHS, Inc. catalog and complete Canton’s basic VHS application available through guidance. The Canton guidance counselor and the VHS advisor, Melissa Cook, will try to determine if your student will excel in this format.

VHS offerings include 200 full-semester or full-year courses in every interest area and include many specialized topics. They offer 15 full-year Advanced Placement (AP) courses, and Canton students have been extremely successful in AP classes, as well as offerings such as “Bioethics Symposium,” “Engineering Principles,” “Oceanography,” “Environmental Chemistry,” “Pre-Veterinary Medicine,” “Anatomy & Physiology,” “Philosophy,” and even “Gods of CNN.”

You can view the full VHS, Inc. course catalog online at www.govhs.org.

How do we support VHS students?

First of all, Canton pays for Virtual High School, Inc. courses regardless of whether they are a semester long or year long. One or two students have even taken two VHS, Inc. courses in their high school careers. While it may not seem it, Canton’s VHS application process is actually a support system. It is very important to your student’s success that he or she understand the time and commitment a VHS course requires; VHS courses are not ‘a walk in the park.’ Through this application process, the counselors and VHS advisor can make sure your student and you understand the intricacies of online learning.

Our VHS Coordinator, Melissa Cook, has been trained in the BlackBoard format and technology, so she can offer tech support when necessary. She is also there to help students locate special resources when required. One student needed a specific graphing calculator, for example, which Melissa was able to provide for the duration of his course. But most important, Melissa regularly checks on the academic progress of all our VHS students. She requires them to email a screen shot of their grades once a week. If a student is not doing well, Melissa pulls the student into her classroom for extra support. For that student, the asynchronous-nature of the course is temporarily suspended; and the student is assigned a class period during the school day to complete his/her VHS work. When the student is ready, he or she can return to the asynchronous environment as soon as possible, since independence is one of the goals of the program.

If VHS, Inc. courses sound interesting -- and I certainly hope they do! -- check out the website and contact guidance.

Canton’s Students Give Generously to their Community

2009-12-17T18:12:00.009-05:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

     Last year at this time, two high school seniors, Chris Robataille and Ryan Abraham, made the news when their Senior Project raised over $20,000 for the Lance Armstrong Cancer Foundation and the two young men were selected to receive a Red Cross Good Samaritan award
     However, well before that, and since then, Canton’s students have regularly been acting as ‘samaritans’ by giving back to their community – often creating service projects of their own design, as Chris and Ryan did. From learning about and understanding the world around them, our students realize the ideal that together we can take action to change the lives of others less fortunate.
     Certain philosophies hold to the concept that acts of charity fall into a tiered structure. At the lowest level of giving are the actions that have little impact on us, such as throwing our change into the bucket under the McDonald’s drive-through window or buying a poppy from a Veteran. These acts, while nice, require little thought and little of our resources or time. At the higher levels of giving, we sacrifice more of our time, as well as the resources that are important to us, and we give to people without their knowledge and without any thought of personal reward beyond the act of giving itself. As you look at what our students are accomplishing, you’ll proudly see that they do engage in these higher levels of giving. Their actions are thoughtful and varied.
      This week at the high school, CATA (Canton Adolescents Taking Action) made 15 plates of homemade cookies for the Canton Food Bank. At the same time, their math classes are competing in an annual food drive for non-perishables which will be delivered by the carload to the food bank. With the support of two teachers, Ms. Gabrielle Laux and Ms. Loreen Forastiere, the students have undertaken this project annually for 12 years, always making their delivery in plenty of time for the community’s holiday needs.
     At Cherry Brook Primary School, during their annual Book Fair, students and their families donated $300 to “Bucks for Books” to provide books for impoverished schools. Students also collected four boxes of non-perishables at Thanksgiving for the Jack Bannan Food Drive, and are currently bringing in mittens, hats, and unwrapped toys for Canton “Gifts of Love.” The teachers regularly donate $5.00 a month on “wear jeans day" which also goes to “Gifts of Love.”
     Several CHS students have been teaching computer skills to our senior citizens through the "Surfing for All Ages" program which was just completed at the high school. This volunteer program bridges the generations through the mutual gifts of interest and time. Twenty sophomores pitched in and completed an extensive fall clean up for the Lowells. In return, the Lowells donated $400 to the Canton Food Bank in their honor. Fifteen students also volunteer regularly as mentors and tutors at Canton Intermediate and Cherry Brook.
     On November 11th, as part of their Veterans' Day activities, the Canton Middle School students in each advisory group went to the website http://www.anysoldier.com/, where they selected soldiers to whom they would write letters and mail care packages. The 19 advisory groups wound up with over 70 boxes loaded with letters from students and the kinds of things the soldiers had asked requested, items we often take for granted such as personal hygiene items, granola bars, soup, Band-Aids, and Chapstick. In return, the response from the soldiers has been equally amazing, with a couple of the soldiers writing a note to each and every child in an advisory group. One serviceman, Major Anthony Beatman, mentioned the thrill a young Iraqi girl got from receiving a backpack because the Iraqi children, particularly the girls, attend schools with no supplies. This week, the middle school is sending Maj. Beatman an additional 20 boxes of school supplies.
     During the first two weeks of November, Canton Intermediate School students also participated in Jack Bannan’s Farmington Valley Food Drive. Students and staff together collected over 2,057 pounds of non-perishable food items. That’s over 1 ton of food that students moved into the school and out again on its way to people who need it in these hard times. Currently, CIS students are engaged in a toy, book, and gift certificate drive for the Canton Chamber of Commerce.
     CIS has also started a new club called “Kids Care.” As their first project, they are collecting gently used books, toys, art supplies, puzzles, and blocks for children ages birth to age 5 for the Therapeutic Child Center.
     At Canton High School, two freshmen Autumn Magro and Shayla Durbois, pledged to go 30 hours without food to raise money to ease hunger in Africa. They began their fast at 8:00 a.m. on December 11th and ended it at 2:00 p.m. on the 12th. Through pledges, at the end of their 30-hour fast they were able to donate over $400 to the World Vision Organization. During the two days, the young women also spent time with the Salvation Army in Hartford wrapping presents for those in need and ringing bells at store fronts.
     Also at the high school, students and staff raised over $500 for Greg Mortensen’s “Pennies for Peace” program, supporting his Central Asia Institute which builds schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The National Honor Society collected school supplies for Hartford elementary schools and made holiday cards to send to senior citizens. The Student Council collected new, unwrapped toys as admission to their recent dance. This group also adopted two local families through Avon Social Services’ "Adopt-A-Family" program. For the holidays, the Student Council presented the families, via social services, with nearly 40 gifts! The Student Council is also in the process of organizing a "team" for the Komen "Race for the Cure" in June of 2010.
     A relatively new student group at the high school is called “Be the Change,” and these students made 12 fleece blankets that were delivered to "My Sister's Place," a shelter for battered women and children in Hartford.
     For the past two years, Canton Intermediate School has had an ongoing vested interest in the Kilimanjaro Education Foundation through which they are helping to build a school. To raise the necessary $12,000, they have produced a CD, hosted volleyball competitions with Cherry Brook, held a 6th grade Talent Show, and participated in a basketball shoot-out, all to build a CIS classroom in their sister school in Oltoroto, Tanzania. The walls are up, the roof is on, and what remains is finish work, painting, and furniture. The students have raised $9,458 so far, and will have completed their goal in the next few months. Once the classroom is done, CIS will receive pictures of their sister school classroom.
      The Middle School’s SFS (Substance Free Students) and Team Hybrid (a group of students from 7th and 8th grades) ran a canned food drive and sent 30 cartons of food Canton Food Bank. In addition, the 8th grade team made sandwiches for "House of Bread" in Hartford, and about a dozen students (one or two students from each advisory group) traveled to Hartford with the teachers to make their delivery in time for lunch.

          All this generosity in the first four months of school!
Happy Holidays -- watch for the Blog to resume on January 8th!

School Closings and Delayed Openings: When? Who? and How?

2009-12-10T17:46:00.003-05:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

To delay? Or, not to delay? To close? Not to close? When the weather is foul, parents, teachers, and the community at large often wonder how, when, and by whom the decision to close schools or to remain open is made. While one single factor is at the heart of each decision – student safety! – there still remains the question, how does a district determine when the roads are safe?

How are the weather-related decisions made?

First of all, I do set-up the AlertNow early notification system to teachers’ and students’ homes, and it is my voice you hear… but, I don’t make the decision. In fact, no single individual makes the decision to cancel school or delay school’s opening.

The final call is a collaborative one usually made around 4:30 a.m. by Superintendent Kevin Case, Dean Martel owner of Martel Transportation who bears direct responsibility for student bus safety, Walter LeGeyt, the Director of Public Works, and the on-duty police dispatcher who is in constant contact with the police officers on the road. These individuals are paying close attention to the road conditions, particularly in North Canton where many times, due to a difference in elevation, the roads are more treacherous. Ideally, at 4:30 a.m., they try to predict what the driving conditions will be like two hours later when the buses will actually hit the roads. However, sometimes the conditions either worsen or don’t improve as anticipated and a decision to delay or cancel comes at 5:30 a.m. or later.

Yes, there are times when Avon or Simsbury have school and Canton doesn’t; but every town’s bus routes and road conditions are different. Yes, there are times when your route, or my route, to work might be safely passable, but our older high school students and our buses must navigate some very difficult roads in the hilly North Canton neighborhoods.

In every case, only one question factors into the decision – will our students be safe today?

How to get weather-related updates!

First, the AlertNow Early Notification System is set-up to make phone calls to teachers and students’ homes on the morning of a delay or cancellation. Once the decision is made, the phone call to teachers is arranged immediately, usually around 5:15 a.m. Hartford students also receive their calls at this time, too, since some of these students catch the bus around 6:00 a.m. A second of round of calls to Canton students’ families is scheduled for 6:20 a.m.

Second, most schools have set-up the AlertNow student records to include email. If that is the case for your family, you can turn down the phone and use your email instead. In a few days, you will be able to send a note to your school and arrange for a second email address if you need one. You can also arrange to receive an email notice by registering for e-notifications at http://www.ctweather.com. Just follow the on-line directions.

Third, check our www.cantonschools.org webpage. I use the scrolling bar at the top of the page to post delays, cancellations, and early closings. It is updated as soon as I have set-up the AlertNow calls.

Finally, you can still listen for school delays and cancellations on the radio and television as follows: WTIC – 1080 or 98.6, WDRC – 102.9, Fox 61, WVIT 30, WTNH 8, and WFSB 3.

More about AlertNow!

Sometimes I get requests regarding the AlertNow Early Notification System from families wanting special arrangements – Can we receive our call at 6:00 a.m., instead of 6:20? Can we receive a call for delayed openings, but not for cancellations? Can we receive a call on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays only? I would love to accommodate, but AlertNow is not set up that way. It operates from a database using our district’s student information system, so I can isolate ‘logical groups’ already existing within the system. I could isolate gender or birthdates, for example, but those fields wouldn't make sense for announcements. However, I can select “all students” and “all teachers” as sub-groups. AND, I can also isolate students by their specific bus routes. The bus route sub-group, for example, is what allows me to place a special call to Hartford students. There is a down-side to this special call, however; because when I later make the 6:20 a.m. call to “all students,” these families get a second call from me. The same is true for teachers who are also parents of a Canton student – two calls, one at 5:15 and one at 6:20.

Even with a computer-based system like AlertNow, mistakes happen! If you are not receiving your AlertNow call, please contact the school with the correct phone numbers. This past Wednesday, I disconnected a cell phone belonging to an elderly woman in South Carolina who called back to say she “has no kids and was enjoying her weather down south very much!” Our records had her cell phone number listed as belonging to one of our teachers, but it was an easy fix. After Wednesday’s call, I was also able to provide information to our schools about four invalid phone numbers and 22 disconnected phones, thus enabling us to correct our contact information. I also know based on our “delivery report” that 78% of the calls went to answering machines, 14% were answered live (including the woman in South Carolina), 6% were ‘live partials’ (meaning the person hung up on us), and the remaining 2% were busy, disconnected, or invalid numbers.

How can Senior Citizens Be More Active in our Schools?

2009-12-04T14:10:00.004-05:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

At a recent Board of Education meeting, this question was posed by one of our guests, and it’s a good one: How can our senior citizens be more involved in our schools? We would love to include senior citizens in a variety of ways and with flexible schedules. Join us once a day, once a week, once a month, once a year! Sometimes, we even come to you with programs at the Senior Center and would love your input about what you’d like to see more often.

Rather than answer this question school-by-school, I’ve grouped the possibilities for involvement in the school by interests, such as mentoring or working with clubs. All the contact numbers for volunteering are at the bottom of this posting.

We DO need mentors for young people!

Cherry Brook Primary School (grades K – 3) would appreciate seniors during lunchtime to help our littlest students open their milk cartons and snack packages, to sit with them while they eat, to talk to them as grandparents would, to promote intergenerational conversations. Cherry Brook Primary would always welcome assistance with read-alouds in the classrooms and with art projects, and especially on days when indoor recess is a must. Or, senior volunteers might prefer to help in the hallways in the afternoon at bus-time, saying “goodbye” and “see you tomorrow” to our littlest guests.

Canton Intermediate School (grades 4 – 6) is always looking for more senior citizens to volunteer as Friday morning greeters. This is an ongoing tradition and the kids and teachers love it! There is also a program, through the town’s Senior Center, in which senior citizens pair up with students once a week in the Talented and Gifted Program to complete writing projects.

Canton High School would welcome seniors willing to serve as mentors and tutors to students, particularly in the Canton Alternative Academy where mentors might work with students on real-life skills such as interviewing, communicating in the workplace, providing customer service, and so on. Canton Alternative Academy meets in the afternoon – early evening (from 3:00 - 6:00) and compassionate, caring mentors could make a real difference.

Are you interested in playing chess with students?

All four schools expressed an interest in senior citizens helping out with or starting up a chess club. Last week’s blog mentioned the academic and social success that students at Vaux Middle School, Philadelphia, achieved through chess, so this is a very timely request. Chess gives kids what is called “intellectual capital,” as it builds critical thinking and problem-solving skills. And, it’s fun!

Cherry Brook has an established Chess Club with about 80 students, and last year three students went on to state-level competition. The Cherry Brook Club, in its 7th year, is starting up again on January 13th, and it meets every Wednesday from 3:30 to 4:15 until March 31st.

We’d love to continue the success of Chess Club at CIS and the middle and high schools, so an individual or group of volunteers willing to start up a Chess Club would be an asset. A Bridge Club or Cribbage Club is another possibility, and afterschool in the high school library is the ideal time and location for a new club to meet.

Why not attend student events? You’re invited!

Senior citizens are always welcome at our band and choral concerts, athletic events, and school plays. The high school Chamber Singers has an all-day concert tour around Canton on December 9th, and the full concert schedule is available on the high school website, by clicking on “Canton Music” and then “Music Calendar.” The PRISMS Concert is one highlight of the high school concert schedule. The evening is designed by the students and is always spectacular! This year’s PRISMS concert is scheduled for February 5th at 7:30 (rain date the 7th). Other events to watch for are the very popular “Concert in the Park” at Mills Pond on June 8th at 6:00 and the Senior Citizen Prom on June 10th at 3:00 in the Community Center.

The athletic calendar and daily events calendar are also good sources of information for inexpensive and fun events. Both calendar links are above this blog link on our webpage. For any of these events, you can also call the high school for a free ticket or even a ride, if you need one.

Have you considered auditing a course?

A course called “Surfing for Seniors” in which students taught seniors more about the Internet, just finished up at the high school. It met once a week on Wednesday afternoons. It will be offered again in the spring. But there are other interesting courses you might want to consider in areas such as technology education, art, and creative writing. High school courses held in the afternoon, during Periods E, F, and G, don’t rotate, so they meet at the same time every day. You might want to ask about courses held specifically during the afternoon.

For more information about any of these ideas, or if you have an idea of your own, please contact:

Tina McCarthy, Cherry Brook Primary School -- 693-7721
Lori Carlson, Canton Intermediate School -- 693-7717
Nan Bartlett, Canton Middle School -- 693-7712
Lisa Davidson, Canton High School -- 693-7707

Making the Right Choices: CABE / CAPSS Convention

2009-11-20T21:47:00.002-05:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

The Friday blog was posted on Friday evening this week so that I could share some of our enthusiasm for today’s convention hosted jointly by the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education and the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents. It’s held annually and features speakers, exhibits, vendors, and a variety of workshops. This year Canton won first place awards for both the district webpage and the “Brick-by-Brick Report,” but that’s not why we were there. The convention offers an expedient way to get new ideas and resources to bring back to Canton.

This morning’s keynote speaker was inspirational; Salome Thomas-El is the author of two books and his story will be the subject of an upcoming movie with Will Smith. Thomas-El spoke of the difference a community of teachers and parents have made in Vaux Middle School in Philadelphia where learning to play chess has changed the lives of hundreds of students. His students have won world recognition as eight-time National Chess Champions. They accomplished this feat despite growing up in a world where “people everywhere waited in the wings to kill the dream.” Thomas-El said ‘the Hollywood message’ tends to turn school success movies into stories of the lone hero teacher who rides in to save the day. That’s not how it really works; and he has negotiated for 11 months to secure the thematic concept that it takes twenty to thirty committed individuals, all with the same vision and belief, all working tirelessly, for lasting change to happen.

Canton's Board of Education members Leslee Hill, Beth Kandrysawtz, Sue Saidel, and newly-elected Mark Lange attended the convention along with Superintendent Kevin Case and me. After the keynote, we divided up the many workshops among us, so that we would come away with as much information as possible. In the morning we covered “Navigating Connecticut’s Freedom of Information,” “What it Will Take for Connecticut’s Students to be Prepared for the 21st Century,” “Trends,” Legal and Legislative Issues,” “Policy Implications of Recent Legislation,” and “Negotiations.” During the afternoon session we covered workshops in the common mistakes superintendents and boards make, communications, tapping parent leadership, restructuring schools to control costs, and quality education in difficult times. The evening’s keynote speaker provided a humorous, but eye-opening look at “the modern student’s technology.” Did you know voice mail and email are already “so three weeks ago!”?

I can’t predict right now the impact of this year’s convention because we haven’t had a chance to ‘debrief,’ but I can tell you we listened, took notes, asked questions, collected resources, and networked. This blog is the result of last year’s convention at which Dr. David Title, Bloomfield’s Superintendent, urged the use of a weekly blog as an open communication tool. This year, coincidentally, Dr. Title was named Connecticut's "Superintendent of the Year." In the past, the convention has given us policy revision and negotiation ideas, newsletter and communications formats, and appreciations for the do’s and don’ts that translate into effective practices. When school leaders work together and share information about what works, it keeps us all from reinventing the wheel.

How to Make the Most of a Parent Conference

2009-11-12T23:25:00.012-05:00

Every two weeks, I meet with our newly-hired teachers and discuss Canton’s philosophy and approach to various facets of teaching. Last week’s topic was “Conducting Effective Parent Conferences;” and we talked about welcoming parents and clearly communicating students' progress and expectations. While it is very important for teachers to know how to structure a conference, it’s also important for parents to know how to maximize that limited time as well.

Who should attend conferences?
Definitely attend conferences if your child is struggling academically or socially! Definitely attend if your child is doing very well! Every parent has a right to schedule a conference, to be treated with respect, and to be given a current progress report, clear goal statements, and suggestions for working together as partners in their student’s best interests. You should never feel like you don’t belong or are taking up the teacher’s time. If your schedule does not permit attending conferences, or if you have too many conferences to squeeze them all in, call and ask for alternatives.

Why should parents attend?
Maybe you’re asking yourself why you should attend for the umpteenth time and what you're supposed to say or ask during a parent teacher conference. After all, you’ve got a progress report; you’ve seen papers come home; you have, or will receive, a report card. What’s left? Face to face communication can be much more effective than a number or letter on a report card. You can learn so much about the teacher’s expectations and your child’s progress when you and the teacher review a few of those papers together. Facial expressions and body language can also help you and the teacher better understand each other’s attitudes and perceptions.

The art of the elementary school conference:
1. Ask how your child is doing overall in the classroom. Is your son or daughter behind, ahead, or on target academically and socially? Is your child happy in the classroom?
2. Ask to review some specific information about your child’s work in comparison to a benchmark. The teacher should be able to show you what the grade-level expectations are for writing, for example, or what a sample math problem or open-ended task looks like. The teacher should be able to tell you and demonstrate your child’s reading level. Together, you should compare your child’s papers or written work to a benchmark or standard. Some teachers can also provide rubrics which describe what they are assessing.
3. Wherever your child is on the spectrum, ask what the teacher’s goals are for your child, when your child might reach those goals, and how your child is going to get there.
4. Ask about your child’s personal performance. Is your child working hard? To his or her full potential? Does your child enjoy the academic work? Share what you observe during homework time. Share any strategies that motivate your child … or circumstances that shut him/her down.
5. Ask about your child’s social growth. Does your child get along with others? Is your child friendly and respectful towards others? Does your child handle frustration, disappointment, guilt, or anger appropriately? Is your child accepted by others?
6. Both the teacher and parents must try to give vague observations a clearer context. If you can’t picture your child in a particular scenario, say, “Tell me more about that.” Ask the teacher to describe a particular time, place, and situation. Provide the same specifics for the teacher, when necessary. The goal is to determine ‘what works.’
7. Ask the teacher about your child’s good qualities and strengths. How can you, together, as a team, capitalize on those qualities and strengths?
8. Ask the teacher for suggestions about what you can do at home to support what the teacher is doing in school. There are specific ways parents can help children develop number sense, engage in critical thinking, read and follow multi-step directions, or make connections between stories (or even movies) and their own lives.
9. Ask what’s coming next. What’s the next unit in math or science? The next skill in reading?
10. If necessary, plan a follow-up conversation. Sometimes the teacher needs to think through a question or research new information. In that case, the teacher will need to get back to you. Sometimes, you’ll agree to try new strategies at home or in school and a follow-up will be necessary to evaluate the strategy.

Middle school and high school conferences are much tougher. Because teachers must see 40 or more parents in three days, secondary school conferences are considerably shorter. As a result, specific details about the student (rather than generic observations) and the facial expression and body language from both parties become the key communication devices. There IS time to be friendly; but there’s no time to chat about older siblings who went off to college, where the student is currently working, or the outcome of a recent sport or music event.
The art of the 8-minute conference:
1. Ask how your child is doing overall in the subject. Is your son or daughter behind, ahead, or on target academically for that course? Is your child engaged, interested, and involved in the classroom?
2. Bring the last progress report with you and ask the teacher about any patterns you’ve observed. For example, your student might be struggling with homework or tests and quizzes. Ask the teacher for strategies which can strengthen weak areas. Ask for content-specific studying tips, such as flash cards or out-loud practice in front of a mirror. If you don’t know the amount of homework time expected each night, ask.
3. Ask to see your child’s work in comparison to a benchmark. The teacher should be able to show you what the grade-level expectations are for some elements of the content area -- a sample of a lab report, a one-page essay, or a test question response, for example. The teacher should be able to define the work qualities being assessed, such as labeling, showing all steps in a process, using complete sentences, or providing specific examples. Some teachers can provide rubrics which describe what they are assessing.
4. If necessary, plan a follow-up meeting or phone call, especially when a parent-teacher collaboration is required for the student to improve.

Conferences are November 17th, 18th, and 19th. Early release days are scheduled to accommodate the greatest number of parents.

Veterans Day in our Schools

2009-11-06T12:24:00.005-05:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

Our school-based commemoration of our local veterans is now a decade-long tradition, and each year our celebrations become more meaningful. In 2005, the Board of Education made the conscious decision that Canton would hold school on Veteran’s Day, rather than taking the day off. Board members, administrators, and teachers recognized that lessons about patriotism and what it means to serve your country would mean more if the kids were in school rather than at the mall or watching television.

However, some of our students had begun recognizing veterans five years earlier through efforts such as Veterans Voices and the Veteran’s Day Breakfast. Veterans Voices was a research and writing project in which high school students interviewed a local veteran, wrote a transcript of the interview, and then crafted a historical-fiction story especially for the veteran. The stories were read and presented during a special evening event. The interviews, stories, and pictures from this project can be found on our webpage near the bottom of the left menu, under “Canton.” By clicking this link, you can read the stories told by 50 local veterans. Sadly, some of these celebrated veterans are no longer with us. We’ve lost, for example, WWII veteran Sam Humphrey, who worked with two of our Canton students over the years; Robert Gillespie, who trained pilots during WWII, and my own father, Robert Ellershaw, a Navy electrician, who had never before spoken about the war.

Shortly after participating in Veterans Voices, two high school students Abby Daley and Sarah Miner, with the assistance of then-Assistant Principal Jordan Grossman, held the first Vetrean's Day Breakfast on a Saturday morning in early November 2000. Even the organizers of this event were amazed by the large turnout and the warmth and appreciation coming from the veterans they were trying to appreciate.

Now, that spirit, which bridged two generations, lives on in new projects. For the past four years, the Middle School students have reached out to men and women currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. The students go to a website called www.anysoldier.com, where they can read about the needs of a wide range of military groups. There a representative of the group tells viewers who they are and what they need. The vast majority of our servicemen and women ask for Chapstick, suntan lotion, throat lozenges, personal hygiene items, socks, reading material, snacks – the things we take for granted in our everyday lives. They also want Beanie Babies, which they keep in their pockets and give to children they meet. Mostly, however, they want mail from people at home. If your family would like to help, visit the website and click on the “Tango Mike” video to get started.

This year, the high school’s video production class was inspired to write and produce a video honors veterans called “Why Veteran’s Day.” The video will be featured at the high school assembly at 9:15 on the 11th. All three PTO’s are volunteering breakfast or lunch for our guests and their families, and the schools’ bands and choruses are learning songs of tribute. It is a heart-tugging sight to hear the Middle School band playing each of the service anthems one-by-one and the veterans in the audience standing when they hear the theme of their branch.

Each school celebrates Veteran’s Day in its own age-appropriate way. The ceremonies are detailed below. Feel free to join us.

Cherry Brook Primary School

The PTO will host a luncheon from 1:15 – 2:00 p.m. for veterans and their guests. Lunch will be followed by a half-hour assembly in the gym in which students will sing songs and read poems. Then, from 2:30 – 3:15, the veterans will visit the classrooms of the children who invited them, where they can choose between reading a specially selected book provided by the teacher… or, telling a story of their own choice. Currently, fifteen veterans are expected, but any interested veteran is welcome. If you would like to participate at CBPS, please call Tina McCarthy at 693-7721.

Canton Intermediate School

The students and staff at Canton Intermediate School are looking forward to welcoming and honoring local veterans at the annual Veterans Day Celebration from 8:00 – 10:50 a.m. Before the event, students in Grades 4, 5 and 6 will have discussed what it means to be a veteran, why we celebrate Veterans’ Day, and why it is important for us to honor our veterans each year. Students have invited family members and friends who have served in the armed forces to participate in the celebration. Special vocal and instrumental music is being prepared, and some students will read speeches they have written for the occasion. In addition, the PTO is planning a breakfast reception for veterans, families, and student ambassadors. Veterans who would like to participate may sign up by calling the CIS office at 693-7717 by Monday, November 9.

Canton Middle School

The event will begin at 8:00 a.m. with an hour-long assembly of music and speakers. Two students are scheduled to speak about the history of Veterans Day and service to country, and both the band and the chorus have prepared patriotic and commemorative pieces for the assembly. Veterans may also speak to the whole assembly when they are introduced. On the stage, the boxes of supplies being sent to Iraq or Afghanistan will be displayed. Each advisory sponsored a group from anysoldier.com and tried to meet the needs of that group. A PTO breakfast will follow immediately, and then veterans are invited to attend any of the classrooms to speak and answer questions. Please call Nan Bartlett at 693-7712, if you would like to join the festivities

Canton High School

The Canton High School will hold a full assembly beginning at 9:15 a.m. in the auditorium. The assembly will begin with the pledge and a moment of silence. The student choral group, the B Sharps, will perform; and students will get their first glimpse of the video production class’s video titled “Why Veteran’s Day?”

Veterans will then be invited to attend specific social studies classes, such as World in Transition, U.S. History, or Government classes. Veterans are asked to call the school at 693-7707 if they would like to participate.

World Language at Canton High School

2009-10-30T09:53:00.004-04:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

Some of the issues and decisions surrounding World Language at the Canton High School have captured the community’s attention, so I’d like to try to answer as many of the questions as possible.

Why were Honors and Academic combined into non-weighted classes?

Let’s lay some groundwork.

1. First, the division of the World Languages into two tracks, Honors and Academic, began in 2002 and was continued until 2008 – 2009, when the levels were still distinct, but were being taught in the same classroom. Prior to 2002, there had not been any Honors and Academic tracking or weighting of grades. Tracking was begun in 2002 under the assumption that an Honors track would increase the number of students who took Level 5 and AP classes in French and Spanish. As of 2008 – 2009, enrollment in these advanced levels had not increased. Last year, in fact, no students took AP French, and one student took AP Spanish through an on-line Virtual High School course. So, the rationale for tracking students in the first place never fulfilled itself, and in all likelihood has created the division we currently see among students. In Grades 7 and 8, there has never been any tracking in World Languages.

2. We must offer students the same opportunities in both World Languages. We cannot offer Honors and Academic tracks in Spanish unless we offer Honors and Academic tracks in French. Honors tracks receive quality points in configuring a student’s GPA. To offer quality points in Spanish and not French would give Spanish students an unfair GPA advantage over French students and thereby doom the future of French. Likewise, we cannot offer students the opportunity to advance to an AP level in one language and not the other.

So, last February, when we were building the budget, we were faced with some very hard choices. Based on the 2008 – 2009 enrollment figures, and February’s course selection sheets, if we had maintained Honors and Academic tracking, we would have had seven under-enrolled World Language classes:

□ French II Academic – 9 students
□ French III Academic – 9 students
□ French III Honors – 11 students
□ Spanish IV Academic – 7 students
□ Spanish V and AP / Honors – 10 students
□ French V and AP / Honors – 5 students

In fact, the French V and AP Honors enrollment of five students was so close to the Board of Education’s class size limit that we monitored it weekly to make sure one or two students didn’t drop the course.

When we look at enrollments, we make decisions based on the district’s needs and very often are weighing one difficult choice over another. Do we support low enrollments at the high school and eliminate a section at Grade 5, for example? Should we let the class sizes in the elementary schools rise above 23 and 24? Should we let English and social studies classes at the high school rise to 26 and 27? We have to look at what we call ‘course load’ very carefully. Should one high school teacher have 105 students in his/her course load and another have 60?

It’s not a secret that last year’s budget caused some reductions in school personnel. The decision to end tracking in the World Language department resulted in average class sizes of 18 students per class in that department. Maintaining tracking would have resulted in even smaller class size averages. Level IV in both languages does have Honors weighting, and there is a commitment to maintaining Levels V and AP in both languages as well. Students applying to the most competitive courses will have the opportunity to take the most rigorous courses in World Language in their junior and senior years. Incidentally, the number of students in AP Spanish has increased dramatically to12 students.

What are we doing to meet the needs of all World Language students?

We are asking teachers to differentiate their instruction by researching new strategies, implementing these strategies in the classroom, sharing what works with their colleagues, and incorporating technology. The use of technology, through a virtual language lab called Virtuoso, (which will be available by January), is a key component. Virtuoso, a computer-based program, will allow teachers to select, listen to, and provide feedback to students as the students individually respond to oral language cues and assignments. The program also records the students' responses for later reviewing, as well. This oral language strategy is the key ingredient in achieving success for all, as the students’ written work is easily differentiated.

Has overseas travel been cancelled because the World Language teachers no longer want to bother taking the kids on trips?

Nothing could be farther from the truth; the teachers are remarkably willing to resurrect these trips. Before it approves the Saltillo, Mexico, trip, the Board of Education is simply re-looking at its policy regarding these trips to ensure students’ safety.

Parents, however, do need to understand these trips from a teacher’s perspective, especially since overseas trips are not owed to a student. In education, we are trained to always act "in loco parentis,” a legal term meaning that a teacher must act "in the place of the parent." That is a weighty responsibility. I have taken kids on several overseas trips in my career, and I can't even describe the level of concern you have for their safety minute-to-minute. What if a child forgets and just steps of a curb in front of a taxi which is coming from the other direction in Europe? If something were to happen to a student, a teacher’s greatest fear isn’t ‘getting sued,’ as parents believe. That's not what this is about. Imagine the sense of guilt, responsibility, and regret that would plague you indefinitely: "What didn't I do that I could have done to keep this student safe?" That's the burden of "in loco parentis." In light of what happened a few years ago, the WL department has made a remarkable recovery, has once again readily proposed trips, and is now waiting for the Board of Education to reassess its policy.

The district's issues are complex and the intention here is to explain that no one is out to hurt kids through the decision-making process. The opposite is true! I often explain to people that our budget is so tight it’s not as if we’re not choosing between champagne and caviar. We’re choosing between bread and milk.

Do We Get Grants?

2009-10-22T15:45:00.006-04:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

Does our school district ever take advantage of grant opportunities?

The answer is, “Yes, we do! And, as often as possible!” Since July 1st, we have received $139,000 in grants, and we’re waiting to hear about another $34,000 in pending applications. What have we won, so far?

1. $114,950 for our participation in Open Choice. The grant award must be used to attract, retain, and ensure the academic and social success of Open Choice students. But, it must also include Canton students, so it was a win-win opportunity. Our proposal was to implement a reading recovery program, called Lexia®, at all four schools and it covers the salary for tutors, training, software, headsets, and computer equipment. It also includes $300 per elementary teacher for additional books for their leveled classroom libraries, professional development for Lexia and Botvin LifeSkills healthy choices program, and three renowned programs for grades 6 – 12. The best part is it’s renewable!

2. $15,750 for the curriculum development, textbooks, and materials for our new Personal Finance course at the high school.

3. $4,400 from the Canton Education Foundation for LifeCycles and additional aerobics equipment to support a curricular change in Physical Education grades 7 – 12.

4. $4,000 from the Connecticut Education Association (CEA) for the costs of mentoring our newly-hired teachers.

But, the answer to the question is also that there are dwindling numbers of grants available and often restrictions in the grants limit our opportunity to apply. A common misconception is that philanthropic organizations will simply give money away. In truth, organizations have a very specific mission and clearly defined projects that they want to support. We’ve applied for four grants totaling $$25,000 to improve the courtyard at CBPS. Both grants required “green” elements; in our case, benches made from recycled products and specific teaching stations where students can learn “green” concepts. Thus, we’ve included a photo-voltaic powered pump, solar lights, and a composting center, among other things.

Many grants have specific target audiences, such as urban schools, or disadvantaged schools with high percentages of free and reduced lunch, or schools in specific geographical locations, such as one for habitat studies in coastal areas and another for schools located near a Dow Chemical plant. Many grants target very specific projects, such as webpage development or the development of a Personal Finance course, like the one I mentioned we won above. Virtually none will support salaries, however.

So, how do we find the grants that are right for Canton? I subscribe to a service called “eSchool News Online Grants and Funding Alert” and read it monthly looking for grants that match our needs. Since most grants take many hours to write, it doesn’t make sense to apply for grants requiring us to develop programs we don’t really want or need. In addition, the Board of Education only rarely approves a grant which is embedded with future budget implications, called "future indebtedness" becuase it would require the BOE's support for additional years. Therefore, I most often look for one-time-only purchases or self-sustaining projects.

Feel free to make suggestion, ask questions, or offer a comment,
Lynn

Dealing with Adolescents

2009-10-16T09:50:00.005-04:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

Last night, I had the opportunity to enjoy a humorous, yet very practical program with Dr. Anthony Wolf, author of Get Out of My Life, but First Could You Drive Me and Cheryl to the Mall: The Parents Guide to the New Teenager. The program was hosted by the Canton Youth Services Bureau and the Canton Community of Concern. This weekend, the first thing I’m going to do, is log onto amazon.com and order Dr. Wolf’s book.

As parents in the audience, we felt like Wolf had looked in on our house and had somehow met our children. Wolf had us laughing at our kids, yes! -- but at ourselves, too, because we really do know what to say to our teens.

Wolf explained that inside every adolescent a little war is raging between the ‘baby self’ (which wants to be taken care of) and the ‘mature self’ (which wants to grow up and be in charge). In fact, he said our ‘baby self’ is still with us even in adulthood; we just manage it better. All day long at school, with friends, at sports, and at play, the adolescent works at letting his or her ‘mature self’ dominate. That's why teachers and adults tells us such wonderful things. However, at home, with parents, in a desire to return to the blissfulness of childhood, the ‘baby self’ emerges in our teen. Unfortunately, the ‘baby self’ is impatient, fussy, and demanding. The ‘baby self’ does not look at itself honestly, judge itself, or have a conscience. It simply wants what it wants. Wolf’s examples were very true and very funny:
“Mom, can I go to the mall?”
“No, dear, it’s a school night, and you’re fighting a cold.”
“I’ll be home by 9:30, and you know the mall closes at 9:30.”
“That’s not the point. I don’t want you out on school nights.”
“But, that’s not fair. You let Matt do all kinds of stuff because he’s a boy.”
“Matt is older. Besides we’re not talking about Matt.”
“You never let me do anything I want to do.”
“I said no, and that’s final.”
“Everyone else’s mother is letting them go.”
“You’re starting to make me angry.”
“You’re angry? I’m the one that can’t go to the mall when I need to.”

Wolf said the ‘baby self’ can go on like this for--EVER. And if only once in 20 or so attempts, the ‘baby self’ wears the parent down and gets what it wants, that’s enough to encourage the ‘baby self’s’ ongoing resilience and future emergence. Even though the adolescent does have a ‘mature self’ that should be saying, “OK, this mall-thing is really no big deal. I can go over the weekend, and I really should take it easy tonight,” it’s NOT going to happen at home, where the ‘baby self’ has dominance.

So, what did Wolf say a parent can do? The steps were easy: 1. Make a decision. 2. Express it firmly. 3. Disengage. Even, if you have to leave the room. But, never, ever argue with the ‘baby self.’ If something happens between you and the 'baby self', something that you do need to address, talk about it later when your adolescent’s ‘baby self’ is not dominating.

The hour and a half that Wolf held the audience in his grasp was entertaining and also very encouraging. The adolescent's ‘mature self’ is the REAL self, Wolf explained. It is the ‘mature self’ that the world is seeing, and it is the ‘mature self’ that will emerge almost completely in adulthood.

Dr. Wolf presented a terrific program, so 'thank you' to the two community groups mentioned above for bringing him to Canton. And, if you missed it, why not read the book?

Students' Wellness and Health

2009-10-08T09:26:00.005-04:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

I'm using this Friday's blog to tell you more about our efforts to enhance student's wellness, a perfect topic this week because two fabulous events are on the immediate horizon.

The first is the chance to hear Dr. Anthony Wolf, author of Get Out of My Life, but First Could You Drive Me and Cheryl to the Mall: The Parents Guide to the New Teenager. Dr. Wolf will present a sometime humorous, always practical look at parenting an adolescent. The talk is aimed at parents of children in grades 6 – 12, but all are welcome. Join us Thursday, October 15, at 7:00 in the CHS/CMS auditorium. We work closely with the Community of Concern and Youth Services Board who are co-sponsoring this program.

The second is an after-school cooking class for students in grades 9 - 12 to be held in the state-of-the art Culinary Arts Lab at the High School. This seven-week session begins on October 22, and students can register in the CHS Office. This Iron Chef program is offered by Teresa Dotson, who also provides the district with the “Building Healthy Families” programs and website.

But, what else are we doing?

1. This month one of the Middle School's PE/Health teachers is going to Virginia for two-days to learn the Botvin LifeSkills Training program for grades 7 and 8. A grant provided the money for both the training and materials. The program fosters students’ ability to make positive choices in all situations, not just the ones they have been told to avoid. Lifeskills Training is one of the few research-based intervention programs listed in the National What Works Database. Currently, 28 different research studies provide data that the program cuts tobacco use by 87%, alcohol use by 60%, and poly-drug use by 66%.

2. Over the summer the High School's PE/Health curriculum was rewritten to emphasize overall "wellness" vs. athletic skills. New objectives focus on warm-ups to prevent injury, personal fitness activities, aerobic and anaerobic exercise, and so on. The goals are for 100% participation, 100% of the time. When sports are de-emphasized as the means to wellness, students are more likely to develop active adult lifestyles. To this end, the Canton Education Foundation has provided a grant for two Lifecycles® and additional aerobic equipment, such as steps and Xertubes®.

3. The McCall Foundation is in its third year of working with high school students, and this year its services have expanded to include more students. McCall’s groups provide drug and alcohol education and counseling to students seeking help for themselves or for their peers. In addition, McCall, as well as Parents-4-A-Change, will visit 9th and 10th grade Health and Wellness classes. The McCall Foundation work is funded by the Community of Concern and Youth Services Board, another example of school and community collaboration.

4. Canton Intermediate and Canton Middle School are combining resources for a student program called “The Power of Words,” with Monte Selby. The program is aimed at positive school relationships and anti-bullying. Canton Intermediate also offered an Internet Safety Program for parents last week.

5. There is an active Substance Free Students group at both the High School and Middle School. Call the school offices for more information.

6. At CBPS, our students are part of an early morning walking club when they get off the bus until school begins.

These programs are just a few of the things we are doing to promote healthy choices among students and their families.

Opening Day in Canton

2009-09-02T11:26:00.004-04:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

School opened with many excited students and only a few glitches. The three days of teacher inservice before school began were used to break out a new student information system, called Power School. This change was made necessary when Pearson dropped the SASI system that Canton had been using for years. Their new product, Power School, is internet based and will have features parents will appreciate.
Teachers also began working with a new Evaluation and Continuous Professional Growth Plan. In addition, we met to transition Special Education students from one grade to the next, to discuss bullying prevention and Title IX legalities, and at the high school, to study John Collins writing improvement strategies. We also began working with data teams and analyzing the summer's released test scores. (See CMT Scores and CAPT Scores articles in the scrolling gray box.)
We welcomed new staff (see our scrapbook of new faces under 'Featured Articles' below) and we celebrated with tremendous pride our preschool teacher Anne Lippincott as our 'Teacher of the Year.' During this celebration we learned the preschool was one of a few in the nation to receive a National Certification with scores of 100+ in seven of the 10 categories.
In short, it was a very strong and positive beginning to the 2009-2010 school year.

Approved Budget

2009-05-13T11:48:00.006-04:00

by Lynn K. McMullin

On Monday, May 11th, at the Town Budget Meeting the town voters passed the proposed town budget; 106 voted in support, 13 opposed. The mill rate was set at 25.64

The school budget passed with a 1.19% increase, as follows: (decreases in the budget are in red and in parentheses.)

Salaries $273,055
Employee Benefits $227,917
Out-of-District Tuition $107,908
Other Operational ($ 33,494)
Dues and Fees $ 2,133
Capital Improvement Projects $ 70,262
Equipment and Furniture ($ 24,750)Heat Energy ($ 61,203)Supplies ($ 10,094)Technology ($ 93,946)
Board of Finance additional Reduction to Budget ($195,000)
2008-2009 Approved Budget $22,021,023
Total Operating Budget Increase 1.19% $ 262,788

Total Budget $22,283,811

This proposed budget:
Ø Reflects an additional decrease of $195,000 as directed by the Board of Finance. Specific line-item reductions will be determined by the Board of Education.
Ø Reflects services to 1,811 students, an increase of 46 students from the district’s actual enrollment in 2008-2009.
Ø Maintains appropriate class sizes in Grades K-8. All projected class sizes, K-12, for 2009-2010 are within the established guidelines as set by the Board of Education.
Ø Includes the implementation of a Participation Fee for athletics to fund the cost of the athletic trainer and other associated athletic costs.
Ø Does not fund the replacement of computers, laser printers, and other hardware to replace aging equipment per our district’s technology plan or fund any new technology.
Ø Provides services for 18 students placed out of the district. These tuition and transportation costs represent a 25.54% increase over this year’s budget.
Ø Includes funding for an additional Grade 2 Teacher at Cherry Brook Primary School to meet growing enrollment needs.
Ø Reflects a .5 reduction in the ACT Program at Canton Intermediate School.
Ø Reflects the decrease of 7 special education paraprofessionals at Canton Intermediate School and 3 special education paraprofessionals at Canton Middle School based upon the projected needs of the students and a different model for delivering support services.
Ø Reflects the reduction of a .5 Special Education Teacher at Cherry Brook Primary School based upon student needs.
Ø Reflects the equivalent of a decrease of 1.0 FTE position in the maintenance/custodial areas.
Ø Reflects the decrease of the Director of Physical Plant position from .7 to .5 FTE.

Feel free to ask questions or comment on the school budget. Your input is valued.