The summer days in my office are vastly different than they are during the school year. And I admit that it is a welcome reprieve to not have the seemingly endless flurry of responsibilities, meetings, emails and student/staff/parent conversations and multi-tasking that I experience on a “typical” school day. However, there is still much on my “to do” list this summer as we end one school year, and put final details into planning next year.
The 2012-13 school year will begin September 4 and we will be ready! Classroom floors and hallways are being waxed daily. The varsity gym floor has been sanded and varnished and wow! Thank you to the Cook County Athletics Booster Club for paying for the new and beautiful Cook County and “Home of the Vikings” graphics.
One of the biggest changes this year will be our daily schedule and the overall school calendar. See www.cookcountyschools.org for a copy of the school year calendar. This year, we will have 13 fewer student contact days but our school day will be 28 minutes longer. Overall this will result in only a small reduction in our total instructional minutes, but teachers will need to adjust their curriculums to fit the new timeframe.
It will probably feel great when the last day of school for all students is May 31st but it will “hurt” a bit in February when there is no winter break. The most important part of this new calendar is that our teachers will have 13 additional days for collaboration, analyzing our students’ achievement data, planning intervention strategies and for discussing curriculum, assessment and instruction. We have prioritized improving the math achievement of our students as a district wide goal and will integrate this into all curriculum areas.
We will also have six new teachers on staff this year. Kassi Felts will be our early childhood special education teacher and our MN Reading Corps Literacy Tutor, Natalie Shaw will be teaching first grade. Todd Toulouse and Sarah Malkovich will be teaching middle school classes. Tim Dennison will be teaching high school math. David Liechty will be teaching high school social studies (and one section of eighth grade). I am really excited to have each of them join us and am confident our students, staff and district will benefit from their expertise and enthusiasm! We will have teacher mentors in place to support each of them.
Technology has such a profound impact on how we function internally, but even more significantly on how we teach and how students learn. Do we dare hope that Broadband will be here during 2012-13? When students and staff return this fall, they will be very happy to find that our entire campus is now wireless (still filtered) and that we have added 24 muchneeded student computer workstations in our MS/HS Media Center.
I am also really excited to work with a Middle School Parent Advisory Committee this year. In my PK-12 role, there is no doubt that the middle school years are the most challenging and complex – for students, staff, parents and principals! These parents will meet with me at least once each month to discuss issues, share ideas and communicate about activities. Please contact me if you would like to participate.
I also want everyone to know that we will have a “Back to School Orientation” for all students and parents on Wednesday, August 29 at 2:30. I am excited as this will be a true “back to school” event prior to the first day of school. Elementary students and parents can meet their teachers, see the school and classrooms, and we will run a 10-minute seven period schedule for MS/HS studentsThe and parents to follow theirMinnesotaschedule and meet their teachers. We will also have a general presentation regarding our website and Parent Portal tools at 4:30 p.m. Office staff will be available for families to make meal account deposits, pay miDispc. ayfees,Adetc. (This event will Networreplace our typical Open HouseYou in September.)newspa e asThe Vikinggreed Voiceto participate newsletter will be mailedin totheall 2x2box holders onDisplayAugust 24.d Thistwo willk have lotsp ogof amimportantby r ninginformation andth morese d details.i the Allainfamilies willn wsreceivese t an letterof y fromr me in mid-August, with studente p p ( HStnrschedules. th MS/ cla ifie The PK-12 office will be openi n oMonday- Thursday,your n spaper)beginningA August 13. es,Teachersad ertisersofficially come backmayAugusteque t27,a pecbut fic most will be worksectionng inHowever,classrooms well beforethe decisthen.
I hopetely alupstudentsto eachand families newspahave erhadAda funma summer andneedwillto comebe de backreas dready to worklig hardtly i andsiz learn!to f Please knowyou I alwaysolumn sizeswelcome ideas, questions and concerns. The best strategy for every student’s successP isoall tofill ous working together.d If
EachMNAmonthat a800/representative279- of2979our localThankschoolsyouwill offer thoughts in Issues in Education. This month’s contributor is Gwen Carman, PK-12 principal of Cook County Schools.
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