Dear Parents and Community Members,
I would like to thank the parents who attended the Superintendent's Community Forum at James Morris School on Tuesday night. Parents who were there said they appreciated hearing the information that was presented at the meeting. It was a small crowd that showed up on a foggy Tuesday evening due to extremely busy family schedules. Therefore, I am providing a recap here that is based on my recollection of Tuesday's conversations.
One item that was discussed, in case you haven't heard, is that I have decided to retire at the end of this school year. I have been an educator for 39 years, and I am honored to have spent the final 5 years of my career as principal of James Morris School. Our grandchildren recently moved to Pennsylvania because of my son's job, and we want to spend more time with them. Mr. Drapp discussed how the principal position at JMS may change to become slightly less than full-time due to declining enrollment. Each year we graduate 2 sixth grade classes, but we have only one kindergarten class coming along to replace them. We currently have 155 students enrolled, and next year we'll be closer to 140. Mr. Drapp mentioned that many districts in northwest Connecticut are also operating with fewer students, and that Region 6 has created an enrollment task force that will prepare options for the Board of Education and district citizens to consider.
Important questions were raised about whether or not we would experience an implementation gap related to the new common core state standards. Mr. Drapp told the group that the new standards are required to be in place by 2014, and that Region 6 is ahead of the curve in preparing for this change. Parents also wondered what the school is doing to prepare students for the common core. Mr. Drapp talked about the district and school initiatives. A preschool program, a full day Kindergarten, and a new curriculum (aligned to CCSS) have been put into place so that our younger students are prepared now and do not have to go through an implementation gap. We are participating in the State's pilot teacher evaluation program. This has "raised the bar" for teachers and administrators because our evaluations are now tied to student achievement and to higher standards for teaching and learning. In addition, we are providing valuable feedback to the state regarding this program.
Mr. Drapp also discussed improving student achievement. We know that our students are capable of higher achievement, and we certainly want our students to perform to the best of their ability. At James Morris School, all teachers have identified student performance goals that are based on their analysis of grade level strengths and weaknesses. Our students did well on their prompt scores on the 2012 CMT, but revising and editing scores were weak. Therefore, many of our goals focus on improving students' editing and revising skills. We are also focusing on using details from the text to form connections in reading, and we have math goals designed to help students strengthen their estimation , measurement and computation skills.
At JMS, teachers meet in vertical professional learning communities to plan lessons, monitor student progress toward their goals, and to evaluate student outcomes. All students are being assessed through an adaptive computer assessment that will monitor their growth three times per year. Students who are "red flagged" based on their assessment results are monitored and receive additional intervention help in the classroom or through pullout sessions as needed. Classroom teachers, support staff, and the intervention specialists collaborate on a routine basis. Teachers recently met during Student Intervention Meetings and Data Meetings to set and align classroom and intervention goals for their students. The reading and math intervention teachers often co-teach alongside the classroom teachers. Students who require additional small group interventions are seen in pullout sessions, and their progress is carefully monitored.
I hope you have an enjoyable weekend!
Guy Weik
