Change = Improvement

One of the things that you have heard me talk about and write about all year is the idea of constantly improving. Any organization not working to improve is in decline. When everything around you is changing there is no such thing as simply maintaining the status quo and holding your spot on top. Others will pass you by and the success that you were having quickly becomes a thing of the past. If you want positive results and continuous improvement you need to get creative, continue to evolve, and try different things.

So in an effort to improve the educational program that we offer our students, we have been exploring different ways to provide more support for all of our students. Our high school has used the practice of Interaction Time (IT) for many years now, and it has proven itself to be an effective way to give our students more time with teachers. Essentially, IT is a 30 minute period at the end of the day where students can meet with teachers for a variety of purposes.  This time could be used for students to connect with a teacher for a class that they missed due to an absence or music lesson, to make up a quiz or test, to complete a lab, or for an extension of the classroom experience. In addition, it would provide an opportunity for our students to access our computer labs and library. This is much more than working on homework or making up work, this is about improving how we support ALL of our students in a time of tremendous change in education. After working closely with the Director of Transportation on the logistics and presenting this information to the Board of Education last week, we are happy to tell you that we are ready to implement IT at the start of the 2013-14 school year.  Below is a series of FAQs on that will help you understand IT. Please keep in mind that the times are approximate until we solidify transportation schedules.  

What will the middle school hours be next year?

The day will begin at 7:35 a.m. and end at 2:10 p.m. Interaction Time will occur from 2:15-2:50 p.m. There will be two bus runs, at 2:10 and 2:50 p.m.

Will my children have to get up much earlier with the new start time?

Most students will have to be out and ready for the bus approximately 5-13 minutes earlier than this year.

Will some middle school students be riding buses with high school students?

Yes, depending on the bus route some Middle School students will be riding with High School students on both bus runs. There is often a perception that the behavior of older students will have a negative influence on the younger students on the bus and some parents have expressed an initial concern with having them ride together. First and foremost we have terrific high school students and generally have few issues on our High School bus runs. In addition, we currently have our parochial students (over 300) in grades K-12 ride the buses with High School students each day and we have not had any behavior or other problems with younger students riding with older students since combining those bus runs in 2008. The other piece to this that Elementary and Middle School parents are typically not aware of is how few High School students actually ride our buses.  On average we have 17 or fewer students riding any of our High School buses to or from school and our buses hold at least 55 students. The majority of our bus runs for next school year will be primarily Middle School students.

Will Interaction Time occur Monday-Friday?

Students will have IT on Tuesday-Friday.  On Mondays, IT will be used for staff development and faculty meeting purposes. Students who participate in modified sports, clubs, school musical, etc. will stay on Mondays and attend a supervised study hall until 2:50 p.m. at which time their practice or club will start.

How much instructional time was lost as a result of creating Interaction Time at the end of the day?

None. With careful planning and looking at scheduling and transportation in a different way we were able to maintain the current amount of teacher-student instructional time and make better use of some time that existed on the front end and during the school day.

We are excited about Interaction Time at the Middle School and all of the opportunities that come with it to better support and challenge our students. Please feel free to call or email me should you have any questions.

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

sdunham@westgenesee.org

@Sdunhamwgms

487-4615

May Update

I won’t take the time to give any more attention to the New York State assessments. There has been enough conversation and debate about their value, lost instructional time to administer and score, their connection to the Common Core Learning Standards, how scores are tied to teacher and principal evaluation, parents and students making decisions to opt out, etc., etc., etc. While it is certainly a great topic to debate, all of the attention given to it over the last month put a great deal of stress and anxiety on our students; unintentional perhaps, but real nonetheless. We are extremely proud of how our students handled themselves during the assessments at the end of April. They approached the assessments with focus, determination and great effort. Our message was clear: they are an opportunity to show how much you have grown and learned over the course of the school year. All we asked was for them to do their best! It is the same message I gave to my oldest child who is in 3^rd grade at Stonehedge – do your best and forget the rest! (P90X reference that makes a lot of sense) With the assessments in the rearview mirror we move on and get back to business as usual.

It's Game Day! 

Our spring sports teams are now in full swing. It’s very special to see the hustle and bustle on any given afternoon of our student athletes grabbing their lacrosse sticks, gloves, lacing up their cleats and sneakers, and heading out to their respective practices. We are all WILDCATS and it is inspiring to see the excitement and enthusiasm in the classroom carry over to athletics and fine arts. The majority of our students are involved with either athletics or fine arts, and many of them are able to manage being involved in both. Being involved and connected is a big part of being a well-rounded individual and an important piece of being successful. 

Softball: ready to hit the road



Law Day Winners

Speaking of being successful, three of our students won awards as part of Law Day. Each year the Onondaga County Bar Association participates in Law Day, which is a nation-wide event aimed at making the public more aware of what those in the legal profession do.  This year's theme was: Realizing the Dream: Equality for All.  Alyssa Fiumara won first place for her poster which was entered in the Creative Freelance Contest, and Nicole Barrington and Michelle Cassidy tied for second place. All three girls are in Mrs. Vertigan's Studio in Art class and were honored at a ceremony at the courthouse May 2. Congratulations!!

May and June are going to fly by with a wide variety of concerts, games, and other end of the year activities. I will post much more frequently as we head into the home strech. Thank you for your continued support of our students and staff. As always, do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. Enjoy this terrific weather!

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

sdunham@westgenesee.org

@Sdunhamwgms

April Assessments

As you are aware, April is assessment month in New York State. Our students at WGMS, along with all students in grades 3-8 across New York State, will take the Common Core Assessments in English-Language Arts from April 16th -18th and Mathematics from April 24th – 26th.  Our students and faculty have been working very hard all year; focusing on making sure that every child is becoming a better reader, writer, and mathematician. The state test gives us an opportunity to demonstrate the students’ learning and growth. 

The NYS Education Department has explained that this year’s assessments will differ greatly from assessments that our students have taken in previous years. The following link provides a terrific explanation for parents on the overall changes with the state assessments: http://www.ocmboces.org/tfiles/folder874/ParentExplanationAssessmentChanges.pdf

The best way for you to help your children is to simply encourage them to do their best, ensure that they get a good night’s sleep, and a nutritious breakfast each morning.  Testing will take place each day at 8:00 and run until approximately 10:00 on each of the six days of testing.  It is important that your child is present and on time. Students tend to do much better on these tests when they take them as scheduled, in the order they are given as opposed to taking them on a make-up day when their classmates are involved in other activities.  We are also encouraging parents to have their child leave all electronics (cell phones, DS's, ipods, mp3 players, etc.) at home during testing days.  Test administration rules require that any such device must be turned over to school staff and cannot remain in a student’s pocket or desk during the exams. If brought, students must keep these devices in their lockers.

As I have talked about in previous posts, in order to truly evaluate instruction you need to be in classrooms with students and teachers. As building administrators we are in classrooms every day and are confident that all of the hard work by our students, faculty and families will come shining through on these assessments. Regardless of what we think of them, let’s look at the next two weeks as an opportunity to showcase the tremendous amount of learning and growth that we have all been a part of.

Please email me or call with any questions, comments or concerns. Your feedback is always appreciated. Thank you for your continued support of our students and staff.

Steve Dunham
email: sdunham@westgenesee.org
Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms