A Summer of Accomplishments

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?”

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!