Superintendent's Journal

Superintendent's Journal
Year 3: 2010-2011

Week beginning August 1, 2010
(Introduction to the Superintendent Journal

Disclaimer: The journal entries that follow represent the thoughts and musings of Susan Hollins, Superintendent, and no one else. Any concerns or thoughts about the content are welcome. Superintendent@gpsk12.org

Tuesday, August 31th, 2010: Teachers Return

In Greenfield, teachers and teaching faculty return two days before students begin. The custom is for everyone to first meet for coffee and then for the Superintendent to address the faculty. It’s an important day, for it sets the tone for the year.

Bernie and the high school cafeteria staff provide d a perfect spread of morning snacks—homemade muffins and trays of fresh fruit with coffee, small bottles of water, and tea.

At 8:30 a.m. an announcement brought everyone into the concert hall. I spoke from a podium on the stage. Carol Holzberg (tech administrator) and I had discussed the presentation and she was present with all the technical support needed for the presentation.

I’d decided to start the year on a thoughtful and serious note—going from past to future and then talking about the present. I wanted everyone, including our many new teachers to see the progress of the last year.

Talking about history, I passed out my Helen Keller autograph. We’ve been trained for 25 years to think about children with disabilities and to accommodate their learning needs. Some literature suggests that for all this attention we have lowered expectations for accomplishment. Helen Keller is an inspiration. Despite being deaf, blind, and mute she was an extremely accomplished woman.

And I read a few paragraphs each from two important 18th century books thought to be the most important American literature of the time. One is the autobiography of Ben Franklin who was poor and had little schooling but had a passion for reading. I mentioned how we talk about free and reduced lunch counts so much it also can cloud our thinking about expectations.

Lastly, I read just a few paragraphs from an essay about being an American (1732) reminding all of us that the public education system began, in part, to assure the values about self-government were upheld. It’s a wonderful essay about how important it was to the average person to be an American—this amazing melting pot of a nation.

From there I played a short film about the future and how fast our world is changing. It takes your breath away to see this and it ended with “what does this all mean?” The presentation ended with a review of all that was accomplished in 2009-2010. When we stop and think about a year's worth of accomplishments—it is impressive, really.

I also gave out my own version of recognition awards—small TEAM award (little trains) to anyone in the system who has gone above and beyond what a typical person is expected to do helping the system improve, taking on an adverse or difficult assignment. All the teachers at the 8th Grade Academy received TEAM awards as did the four teachers who transferred to Four Corners to re-open the school as an innovation school. A TEAM award went to Jane Smith, high school nurse, for bringing in a grant to computerize our health records and for accomplishing this and then being available to train other nurses.

A TEAM award went to Bob Kumin whose work with families and our school system helped bring back to the district $500,000 worth of out-of-district tuitions, replacing these with inschool programs. I gave out almost 20 TEAM awards. The police chief and fire chief were not there but I gave each of them a TEAM award for supporting the school budget so we could stabilize this year, which was very much needed.

And this year I also gave out a new PRIDE award. I got this idea from Len Huber, one of our school psychologists who talks to me about sensing a resurgence of pride among faculty for being in a system that is accomplishing aggressive goals. This award is for people who are just proud of Greenfield and supportive of the system in so many ways that go above job requirements: Tara Cloutier, high school teacher; Lisa McGuinness, registrar; Brenda Lively, high school administrative assistant; Paula Bell, kindergarten teacher; Len Huber, school psychologist; Denny Phillips, custodian; Elaine Wysocki, high school cafeteria director.

I hope new members of the Greenfield school system were inspired, particularly people just starting their careers in education. There are jobs to do, of course, but it is how everyone comes together to build a quality school system that I gave my attention this morning, colored by our need to inspire all of our students.

I gave out two items—a “Be Curious @ Greenfield Schools” bookmark we made to distribute at the fair parade, and an opinion from the Recorder titled “What does Bullying Look Like?”—a topic clearly on our minds.

And then…off everyone went to building meetings and I returned to the office (after conferring with Elaine Wysocki in the cafeteria about the state of our schools). She gave me a fruit platter to take to the admin building and people there were thrilled. Parents were still signing up for school, including the virtual school and the math and science academy.

Our enrollment at the end of the day was 1611 and 220 students have applied to the virtual school to date.

I took Becky (my executive secretary who speaks to so many people on the phone) over to the Four Corners school to observe how the rooms for the Math & Science Academy (for grades 6 and 7) turned out. The rooms look wonderful and the furniture is arriving now. Everything is getting set up.

Kathi and I worked late into the evening talking about special education faculty and the students and adults coming to and leaving our schools. The special education program is the most fluid and difficult-to-staff program in the system. One unique student moving into the district or one unique staff member leaving the district can create difficult-to-fill personnel requirements. I think we have our staffing under control as of 11:00 last night (we finally retreated to find dinner). I don’t know how she continues to find just the right person for the next new situation, but over and over Kathi seems to create a solution for every staffing and program challenge.

Thursday, August 26th, 2010: The Countdown to Opening Schools

Tomorrow we are inviting in our new teachers for lunch (12:30) and then a Greenfield Trolley Tour (Gary and Donna will tell it like it is) riding all around Greenfield in the trolley. Joan Schell and Committee Chairman John Lunt will each say hello. We want everyone to feel important and at home in the schools.

We have the most interesting group of new teachers I have ever met, to be honest. This year we advertised early and talked with applicants about their skills and backgrounds—our new teachers are caterers, musicians, community planners, artists, athletes, scholars, writers, advocates, medical professionals, soccer coaches, world travelers, humanitarians, jazz enthusiasts, historians, and we are going to have an amazing and interesting teaching force next year.

Here's a quick review of what’s happening:

1. Four Corners--floors are finished; rooms look great; all the classes are full; we are committed to small class sizes in grades K and 1 in particular so we just split classes at Four Corners. We had more children enroll than we thought. The building looks so clean you could eat off the floor, as the expression goes. The gym is full of items someone (but not the principal) might need. We are hoping new teachers will stop by to see what they might use.

2. Math & Science Academy. All the teachers are hired as of this afternoon. We have four openings and hope to fill the spaces before school opens. The academy is for boys and girls in grade 6 and 7 and the program will be different and also fun, I predict. Heather Evans has done a great job coordinating the school this summer. And we’ve figured out soccer for the parents and students interested in the fall soccer team (quite a few). Soccer will be right after school at the middle school and we will bus students up from the math/science academy. Also, we are going to offer a soccer skills class and then basketball practice class each day for 20 minutes at the end of the day. .

3. Virtual Innovation School. 181 students have signed up as of this morning. We anticipate 250 this year K-8 (and in Greenfield we will accommodate a few high school students…we are working on all of this now). The upstairs of Davis Street school (where our administration offices are found) will soon have a former classroom set up as a virtual school, 3-person office. This old building is now our virtual school headquarters. It's all very interesting. We are now arranging to have some Greenfield teachers and administrators trained as virtual school teachers and leaders.

4. The tech staff under the artful and humorous direction of Carol Holzberg is hoppin', getting dozens of computer systems set up before next week. I barely see any of those ancient clunker computers any more. Kudos to the tech staff. All our teachers have SMART board technology in their classrooms, now—even teachers of special education and smaller group programs. Training will be ongoing for using the modern equipment this year.

5. Student data personnel are so busy they can't see straight. Lisa is twirling in her office with all the students moving in and out. When we see each other we just laugh because no one has seen this much activity for a long time. For the first time in a decade the population is growing and end-of-day today we had 1605 registered students! People come and go every day but the net sum is inching up. I figure our current numbers will be 20 off one way of the other. Overall we seem to be up 100 students.

6. The 8th Grade Academy faculty should all receive awards--the program gained so much parent and student confidence and praise that 20 (twenty!!!) students have joined our schools for the 8th Grade Academy this year. A few student may have moved here and just registered due to new residence but people are actually returning for this academy. And the teacher seem so enthusiastic about the program they are offering to our students. In 2009-2010 30% of our grade 8 students took high school courses to advance. I am sure the math/science academy will have as much success.

7. Four Corners will soon be the Discovery School @ Four Corners. In October we'll take the Innovation School plan forward to the school committee. An innovation that is ready to roll for September is having uninterrupted morning instruction and all integrated arts the last two periods of the day for all children. This gives teachers common planning time at the end of the day every day. Many teachers would welcome common planning time with their teacher peers—it is uncommon to actually put this into place!

8. Newton will have Senior Principal Joan Schell in the office this year. I remember two years ago the Newton school was so run down I could hardly walk in it and now the walls shine, the flooring is new, and rooms are being painted before school opens.

9. The Expanded Day Program is organized at both Newton and GMS for next year. Greenfield has an $800,000 grant to expand the school day and offer interesting programs and enrichment. Our students will have swimming, dance, violin instruction, African drumming, yoga, science and discovery, art, and something new this year called: Let’s Move! A new Memorandum of Understanding with our teacher union has helped make it possible for the expanded day program to work without additional funding.

10. Kathi Titus has made a few changes in the special education program with an eye toward improved services and parent assistance. To improve our compliance, we hired a special education specialist who formerly was a state quality assurance and compliance monitor. So we had a resignation of a special education coordinator and we have rehired successfully. It’s always good to have someone who knows the rules on your team.

11. Tonight the school committee ratified the custodial/maintenance agreement. Now all five unions have settled and we can start 2010-2011 talking without the strain of several years of unresolved bargaining.

12. The GHS TV studio will soon be functional at GHS. We need to find someone to run the studio and that might take a bit more time but we have organized space and soon there will be morning broadcasts from GHS. We want to offer courses in TV Studio Management and Production.

13. Liz Gilman is a great help creating a strong business office. I told the school committee our 2009-2010 budget would end within budget and we would have between $10.00 and $100,000.00 balance (quite good for a multi-million dollar budget). Today’s 2009-2010 final balance is $46,000 (1/3 of 1 percent within budget) and when we close the books I predict we have $1.69. :)

14. Some new Federal funding was announced this week. Some other Federal funding we anticipated was cut. So our net grant increase is about $441,000. We can use this over 2 years so we will divide the new grant funds and save some for next year. Funds can only be used for building-level salaries. It is all spent--so we don't need to do a lot of figuring. Elementary teachers, an additional 1/2 social worker, additional nurse time, building aides our schools need--poof. I walked in to see Liz this morning and said "we need some more teachers." Three hours later it was announced we had $441,000 for teachers!

15. Gail is keeping us honest with the forms we are supposed to have in place for grants. Another hoppin' office is our grants office and what a fabulous set of new programs we had last year under Gail's direction for afterschool tutoring, in-school tutoring, and summer tutoring. We will continue these next year.

16. Meanwhile, Bernie Novak has fed the entire youth and young adult community this summer. Eleven sites, I believe, and thousands of breakfasts and lunches for the community. He must be very pleased about helping so many people.

17. The County Fair is coming soon. I hope you'll join me marching around giving out "be curious" bookmarks. We made a spot for Greenfield sports teams in the parade. Donna Woodcock ordered little soccer and basketballs to give to children along the way. We do have, after all, 22 fee free varsity sports. Our middle school and high school sports programs are still surviving without the fees so far.

18. Positions: We need to find someone who can speak Mandarin Chinese. We could always start world language in grades 4 and 5 with Spanish or a different language. I would prefer for children to have tried an Asian language.

We are very pleased with enrollment. And we are enjoying that families are noticing that our schools are changed and changing.

A new sign hangs over the GHS front door. “One of America’s best schools!” They seem proud.

Monday, August 24, 2010: Arranging Support Services: Bus Transportation; Food Services; Technical Support; Volunteer Services

A New Book
My weekend travels located the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, born in Boston in 1706. He was the youngest son in a family with 17 children. And his family was poor. Many great thinkers, leaders, and our last two Presidents started out in families with very modest circumstances. We have to keep reminding ourselves that creativity, intelligence, and diligence are not qualities related to family finances.

Franklin did not have schooling until he was 8 years old. He writes that he only had one year of school and worked to level 3. They probably did not have grade-level text books 300 pages long in 1714. Sounds like the students, like students in the one-room school house, advanced right along when they were ready for more advanced work.

By ten years old, the boys were placed with a tradesman to apprentice. They were expected by age 12 to have a trade. Ben Franklin’s father assigned him to a candlemaker—and Benjamin said he’d go to sea because he didn’t like it. So his father, he writes, took him (age 12) to see all the different types of trades there were and Ben found something different he thought he’d enjoy.

Once he learned to read, his passion was reading. Every cent he scraped together he’d buy books (he’s not alone). Imagine reading about his life in his own words published in this little 4” x 6” book.

He published an Almanac in 1736 under the name of Richard Saunders. And today this is known as Poor Richard’s Almanac.

And what’s the point? First, in 1716 a parent thought it important to expose a child to different possibilities to find a career option of interest to the particular child. We have to help students find their calling, also. Whether through speakers or visits, class work or projects, we need to expose students to fields and careers they may know nothing about.

Another point—the importance of learning to read and, then, to read.

Lastly, Franklin was allowed to advance. He apparently went at his own pace during his limited time in school. Today our ingrained idea and habit is that everyone in a grade should only have academic work in that grade’s textbook with students in that same grade. We have to reconsider the value of letting students advance.

***

Arranging Support Services
Bus Transportation: Routes are now set. We are mailing these to every parent this week. The routes are not too different from last year.

Lunch and Breakfast: We are hiring for a few food services positions—3 to 5.5 hours/day.
Forms to sign up for Free and Reduced Prices are posted on our website (http://www.gpsk12.org/forms/Free_Reduced_App.doc). I hope every parent eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch signs up. It helps families. And it helps our schools! Our grants for reading and math teachers are based, in part, on how many parents sign up for Free and Reduced Lunch. So please take advantage of this savings—it’s a win-win for schools and parents.

Breakfast is free to all students up through grade 7. For more information, go to http://www.gpsk12.org/nutrition/menu.html on our website.

Technical Support
Our tech staff are hoppin’. We have, perhaps, 90 new computer systems to set up, the new high school TV studio, SMART Boards in the remaining classrooms where these are needed, and software management programs to be set up district-wide for all students.

Volunteer Services
VIP—Greenfield’s school volunteer program is ready for this September. We will continue with two types of volunteering headed up by two people—school library volunteers (Carolyn Bellany handles this part-time) and school system volunteers K-12, everything else (Rahima Wade handles this part-time). To volunteer this year—write volunteer@gpsk12.org. Come participate in our schools!

Thursday, August 19, 2010: Countdown to School Opening—Lights, Cameras, Letters, Paint, Tile, Texts, Teachers, Contracts & School Updates.

With two new schools opening September 2^nd 2010, we have mounds of ambitious work interrupted by requests for radio and TV interviews. Phones are ringing. People are stopping in to apply if they did not see our application information online. “Hoppin’” would describe Greenfield’s administrative offices today.

Parents wanting to apply to the Massachusetts Virtual Academy at Greenfield (MAVA@Greenfield) can find information on our web site (http://www.gpsk12.org/virtualschool/virtualschool_home.html) and also http://www.k12.org/mava . Email Principal Tracy Crowe at tracro1@gpsk12.org.
Parents wanting to apply to the Math & Science Academy for students in grades 6 & 7 can use our application easily found on our home page. Email mathsci@gpsk12.org
School Updates
At our preschool and elementary schools, all classroom teachers are in place to start the year. We have openings for an elementary music teacher part-time (we’re adding classes), and an elementary social worker (due to late resignation). Everyone is helping new teachers locate and organize the materials to stock and decorate their classrooms.
Class lists at elementary schools are completed. Letters will go out to parents in the mail tomorrow telling the child’s teacher and reminding everyone of the first day of school this year—Thursday, September 2^nd. Bus routes will be mailed next week when we have routes ready.
Federal Street Elementary
The new architecture-for-children program is all ordered. This program includes walking tours and designing cities. It will be exciting. Classrooms scheduled for new flooring this summer have first been painted and are fresh and clean. The entire interior of Federal Street is overdue for painting—work scheduled for evenings and weekends this school year. New flooring is scheduled for next week—late in the summer for contractors to be working on classroom floors but this doesn’t happen often so we just have to work with the schedule. Miracle workers and elves will have Federal Street ready for students.
Newton Elementary
Parents have been diligently working to create lovely flower beds around Newton’s entrance. New, welcoming school signs should be in place soon. A few classrooms in the 1907 wing will be repainted before school starts. The inside has been scrubbed stem to stern, as they say. Even the walls shine. I actually received a thank-you note commenting on Newton School’s cleanliness today!
Four Corners Elementary
Four Corners Elementary school is in the shape of an upside-down “T” with an oval-shaped small building attached to the right (or east) side. Walking into Four Corners from the front doors, immediately you are in the large library area with a stage. If you turn left and walk down the hall, you pass the cafeteria/kitchen and at the end of the hall is the large gymnasium.
Walking in the front door and continuing straight ahead, there are 8 classrooms. Keep walking out the rear door and there’s 5-6 acres of land. This 8-classroom section is the section of school we re-opened in 2009-2010, removing all the old rugs, tiling the floors, and painting the rooms.
Walking in the front door and turning right, there are 6 classrooms and as many offices as you walk down the hallway. The principal’s and nurse’s offices are by the library. We are re-opening this 6-classroom wing for 2010-2011. The first two classrooms are needed for children as the enrollment grows. The oval building at the end of the hallway is an addition to the school and is nicknamed “the mushroom.” All these classrooms have been repainted and have just had the old rugs pulled up (and the old asbestos tile underneath). The new tiling is really beautiful. Now everyone is scurrying to set up classrooms.
Four Corners is growing—it will have 2-3 kindergartens, 2 first grades, 1 3^rd grade, and 1 4^th grade this year. We have grown from approx. 100 students in 2009-2010 to approx. 150 students in 2010-2011. We also have a specialty program for high-functioning children with autism learning needs. All our elementary schools are fully inclusive and have specialty programs.
A suite of rooms in the mushroom and two end classrooms have been remodeled for the Math & Science Academy (MSA) in its inaugural year. MSA’s start and end times are different from our elementary program start and end times, so the students will only be together when planned. MSA students will mostly use a separate entrance.
Elementary Virtual School
New to Greenfield’s elementary program is our elementary virtual school. A very small percent of children will attend, but it is a choice now. The elementary virtual school starts in Kindergarten and will go through grade 8 this year. The virtual school will offer ½-day kindergarten (we created 5 spaces) and full-day kindergarten. Any parent interested should write to me or Associate Principal Tracy Crowe (tracro1@gpsk12.org) whose assignment is helping to launch the virtual school.
How does the virtual school work? Briefly:

someone is at home responsible for making sure the student does the school work

we have certified teachers who monitor the child’s progress and consult with the adult at home

there is a complete curriculum in all core subjects plus extras with all materials sent to the student’s home

there are all types of software to manage the year-long school program –to make sure the student completes the week’s curriculum, see if the child is understanding the work, to check the level of work and adjust it to the child’s level, to offer study skills, and much more. The virtual school option is right for a small group of children. There’s training for the parent and the teacher. Although the student works outside of a public school, virtual education is not the same as home education. Students participate in state testing and the program is written to conform to state standards.

there are ways to build a sense of community, even in the virtual school, and students get together no less than once each month.

in Franklin and Hampshire counties, the teacher coaching and checking up with students will happen in and through Greenfield. And students who are educated virtually can have extracurricular activities with age-mates in our schools. Not more than 20% of a student’s total program can be in the public school building—that is the state guideline.

We think there are a few parents who are home and would like a ½-day or full-day kindergarten option at home. Some children are sickly or have some reason the parents would like to wait a bit before beginning large-class school. Now there’s an option with a full, state-standards-compliant curriculum and a certified coach. In the older grades, the small number of children who would benefit from this type of school model would be children with immune disorders or allergies or other health concerns who cannot enter our schools or who have so many absences they almost don’t benefit from their in-school schooling. Some parents who choose virtual schooling do so in response to social interactions are a problem and interfere with learning.
People trying to understand the virtual school model ask: Are the virtual school students on a computer all the time? No. For high school students the mix is 60% computer-based work and 40% projects, reading, research, etc. For the youngest children, their parents are using the computer to show the child is in attendance, see what the day’s program is supposed to be, and log on the work that the child accomplished each day.

Status of other schools will be in the next posting.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010: Virtual School Evolving; Jobs; Countdown to School Opening
Virtual School Evolving
In preparation for our 9:00 a.m. conference call with K12, we were buzzing about today’s phone conference topic—special education and our virtual school. I learned there was a “virtual IEP.” Who knew?
Two guidelines will direct virtual decisions if a student has a special education plan.
The virtual school regulations say a student receiving special education can only attend virtual school if this placement is supported by the child’s special education team. Also, the payment structure is the school choice pay structure—so 100% of the special education costs are reimbursed by the student’s district. So there are two important reasons a student’s school district has to be contacted if a special education student applies.

After talking about the difficult details and trying to explain them to parents, we decided to write out the guidelines and post this on the website as an informational guide.
Jobs
We have two new teaching jobs open:

Teaching Mandarin Chinese 80%

Teaching Elementary Music, 80%

Teacher of Film Studies—Film Appreciation

Painter

5 Cafeteria Positions—3.5 to 5.5 hours/day

Personnel Director

Each position is difficult to fill. Anyone who knows someone—please let us know.

Countdown to School Opening...

Tuesday, August 17^th, 2010. Updates—Virtual School, Math Science Academy, Enrollment, Kindergarten, Strategy for Improving Achievement, Expanded Day Programs, Meetings

Virtual School Update
Each morning now, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., there’s a conference call between K12 and my office. There are so many fine-tuned details for each of us to understand with a short time for launching the school. Yesterday we finalized how the application process will work. Our decision--intake from all parents will happen through K12. They will prepare all the required student data in a format we can import for student data programs. We decided that we do not have enough experience yet to know how to advise parents about the requirements and type of student that is or is not apt to be successful with online courses.

Today we discussed the actual program. What subjects are included? We talked about how physical education is handled and how we will make sure that elementary students complete 900 hours of focused education time. Yesterday I asked all the questions. Today the K12 consultant was asking questions about Greenfield policies and requirements.

Tomorrow we will teleconference again.—this time going over how special education will work. The virtual school guideline in MA requires a district’s special education team agree with the parent’s request for placement in a virtual school. Greenfield, then, has to connect with the student’s home special education team. We will figure out who does what, when, and how.

A student wrote in today. It tugs on your heart strings to read some of these messages. In her message she wrote that she had dropped out of school due to depression and it is been very difficult for her to get back into school, particularly now that she is a year or two older. This student wants to finish her high school education. And then she read about Greenfield in the paper, opening a virtual school. She wants to finish her high school education and is asking for help and enrollment.

I really want to take school into my own hands and start to get back on the road to attainting my diploma. Could you please …let me know if I would be a potential candidate to enroll when the school opens? Thank you.

Statistical reports present students who have dropped out as numbers. Now we have a chance to know the stories.

Math Science Academy Update
Parents calling in. Applications are beginning. To apply, we don’t need actual letters of recommendation. We just need to talk to someone who knows the student. I can easily check with Mr. Tashjian.

Jay Fidanza may offer an afternoon program on baseball. We talked about naming the enrichment program “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” and starting each session with a little music and popcorn. J He’d teach the game itself through the lens of history, math, and technology. There are so many ways to bring math and science to life. Throwing and hitting the ball = physics. Computing batting averages = mathematics. Talking about the history of baseball = adults will sign up!

The Math and Science Academy for Grades 6 and 7 is a school—an academy—that is part of our middle school program. One goal is helping students prepare for rigorous courses in high school.

Enrollment Update
5 in; 3 out. 4 in 2 out. Today—10 or 12 students. Every time I looked out my window I saw more children and parents in the parking lot. Students are still leaving—mostly moving away, though. We have a few choice out students so far this year. More students are returning this year than any year, I’m told. Well—we are ready and excited about this.

Elementary Update
The architecture program for Federal Street was set up today. Sr. Principal Joan Schell is quite excited about this. Most of the “really” old computers (7 to 9 years old) used by teachers are at the elementary level. I asked that all of our teachers have updated computers to use. Seven and 9 years old is too old to manage the software programs we have for students. Today the orders went out. I’m planning on all the teachers in this situation having updated equipment. It’s unfortunate this equipment is so expensive but we live in a technological world and so many of top programs today have computer applications. All our classrooms now have SMART Boards and now everyone will have current computers to actually connect with virtual resources. We should have these computers in and set up by October.

Kindergarten Update
Today it looks like the count at Four Corners is 52. That’s 3 classes with 17-18 in a class. We have the same number at Newton and just a few fewer at Federal Street where we are going to split into three classes in the mornings at Federal when the reading and math skills are taught.

We have 150 students registered for kindergarten and 150 registered for first grade. We graduated approximately 100 students.

It’s very difficult to know who is moving out and who is moving in. Most of our changes are students actually moving. There is a lot of this activity. The official count of children is taken October 1^st. Only then do you really know your school start enrollment. Parents will be so pleased with our preschool, kindergarten, and first-grade staff this year. We have 6-7 new Pre-K, K, and 1^st grade teachers. Lots of energy and talent joining the Greenfield schools.

Strategy for Improving Achievement Update
Late afternoon the middle school and sr. elementary principal and I talked about strategies for improving our schools. Making shifts in how we instruct or schedule is more complicated than snapping your fingers. Everything and every minute is connected in some way that makes any change a bit difficult. There’s no question, though, that continuous improvement is on our minds. What is the best way to bring a student up to grade level in reading or math? What is the best way to assure the advanced student moves ahead? These are interesting discussions—the heart of what we do.

Meetings Update
Met with Chairman of the School Committee today. Met with the Mayor for some quality discussions about coordinating services today. Met with a drop-in parent today. Met with 5 administrators today. Met with a homeschooling consultant for a Greenfield family today.

Met with the finance director today and our business manager.

Tomorrow evening is city council. I try to attend to give an update about the school system.

Monday, August 16, 2010: Feedback; Virtual School Q & A; Math-Sci Junior High; Meeting with Fire and Police Chiefs Today; Teachers Hired; Quality Data Submitted.

Feedback on the Virtual School Opening
As stories roll in from parents seeking a solution to their child’s education, the picture emerges that there really ARE students out there who need a virtual school option. We have a lot to learn about children who struggle to attend public school or who cannot for a variety of reasons.

Here’s more feedback:

Susan,
I wanted to echo congratulations regarding the establishment of the online school. That should serve as a wonderful step forward for the District and for the children of Greenfield, the Commonwealth and beyond.

***

(from another parent)
I wanted to remind you that the reason I have been staying on top of your program is because I really want my daughter to participate. She has a rare blood disorder that causes her blood not to clot and that causes her to miss a lot of school on a monthly basis She is sent home a lot. PLEASE CONSIDER HER FOR YOUR PROGRAM. If I didn't own a house… I would move to your district so she can participate in your program. Please let me know the status for her.

Math-Sci Junior High
That would be a cute name for the new school. In a way it is going back to the junior high model with a bit more emphasis on academic achievement.

The most frequent questions parents are asking:

Q: Can students play sports?
A: Yes. Whatever grade 6 students can do, the Math-Sci Academy students can do. Whatever the grade 7 students can do, the Math-Sci Academy students can do.

Q: Is the Math Science Academy for grades 6 and 7 a “program” or a “school?”
A: It’s both, I would say. It is a new school emerging with a specialization in advancing students. In the sense that it is still connected to our middle school, it could be considered a program, but it will be an Academy of the middle school. If it grows, it could have its own building in time.

Q: Will you be having any information session?
A: Yes, we are waiting for the floors to be finished to show the space as it is been redesigned. We are planning to have 2 information sessions on August 25^th, Wednesday before school opens—one in the morning, perhaps at the library in Northampton, and one information session in the evening in Amherst. We will invite some parents into the new space when it is ready which should be within 4-5 days

Q: Will you be using any specific advancement programs?
A: Yes, we are planning to use the Springboard program used by the College Board. Heather Evans, the teacher/coordinator of the new school & program is likely going to Chicago for the training and then we can use the materials. This is the College Board’s pre-AP program.

Meeting with Fire and Police Chiefs Today
All the administrators met with fire and police chiefs today to talk about emergency planning and guidelines. After this meeting and thinking about everything that might go wrong of an emergency nature, we were all thinking about the responsibility of operating schools. I will say we have two great people working with us in areas of fire and police emergency protection.

Teacher Hires—2 More Terrific Teachers Join GPS
We are coming down the finish line for hiring teachers. Joan hired her last first-grade teacher today. Contract is signed. We have another musician who went into teaching—an oboist and pianist.

And Donna Woodcock has one more teacher hired. This teacher is fluent in Russian and a scholar of Russian history. We are adding faculty where we must with very interesting teachers.

Other: Quality Data Submitted.
Another state data report was submitted today. Right on time! We are catching up. And we have 100% highly-qualified staff as of today.

Enrollment
I believe today we hit 1600 students. I have to check. As I have said many times—it’s 3 in; 2 out. 2 in; 4 out. 4 in; 1 out. It’s constant movement of children in and out of the school district. But overall, the system is growing. And this is good all around—for teams, and academics, and band, and just general energy in the system.

Sunday, August 15, 2010:Virtual School Feedback; School Flooring

Feedback on Virtual School
Although we have not really launched the virtual school yet (we need another day or two to get materials ready), people are writing in as they hear about the school. Here is a sample of comments this week with all names and towns removed.

“I wanted to congratulate you on the recently obtained waiver for the Virtual School. I am glad that GPS has prevailed in receiving the DESE's "blessing" to proceed with the project. I think the detractors who find the idea without merit have not thoroughly reasoned the advantages to children all over the state. In merely focusing on my own family and experience, I know that my husband and I would have benefited from such a program when we were both out of high school with mononeucleosis, and someone in our family as a young mother <in high school where she was not accepted> would have received tremendous benefit, and our academically engaged children could have augmented their regular studies. We have a child who would be delighted to participate with online courses

I believe, if possible, children should attend school. But, by choice or fate, many find themselves needing a different experience.

More importantly, this and other ideas promulgated by the district demonstrate that GPS is interested in innovation and "cutting-edge" education in a way they have eschewed in the past. What a positive step forward. … I think that pendulum will quickly shift in the other direction as people recognize the benefit of these programs to their children. What a pleasure these past two springs have been ….

***

I am glad that the effort to create on-line options for local elementary and high school students is being realized. Thank you for your advocacy.

I live in <town about 60 miles away> with my husband and five children. I have been considering that our youngest/ grade 3, would be well served by such an option.

***

(from a parent 90 minutes away)
…we pulled the two older kids out of school primarily because of bullying problems, not health problems, but the bullying was severe enough to limit the ability of our kids to learn in an effective manner. ... So we know that returning to a traditional full-time classroom setting would not be an attractive option … at this time, maybe ever.

A virtual school to us represents the perfect hybrid system between homeschooling and traditional schooling and we have been waiting eagerly for at least 3 years for something like this to come to Massachusetts; we have friends in other states that are light-years ahead in terms of their virtual programs so we are happy to see it finally come here.

Most of the people writing are telling their stories. A few parents whose children have debilitating diseases have written. A few parents who home school have responded. These particular home-schooling parents are not home-schooling due to a deep personal philosophy. They are home-schooling because the traditional schooling didn’t work for their children. We don’t see the children who are out of school to know where they are or why. I’m hoping we can shed light on these students. Several GPS staff have offered to participate as voluntary interviewers with parents to help understand why they are choosing or have chosen a virtual school.

Several people have written in offering to help—including an offer of a short video to use for publicizing the new option for students and people offering to teach. The parent community seems quite supportive and there is so little time to find the children who might need this option in September.

Elementary School Flooring
At some point carpeting for elementary school floors was the new idea. Schools always had wood floors and then tile, but eventually wall-to-wall carpeting became popular. School carpeting was almost always blue and it looked great. Elementary children often sit on the floor in school. Something softer and with a texture was nice for them. Carpeting also covered up a host of floor problems, like asbestos tile or wood floors needing refinishing.

Of course, this good flooring idea was before so many American children had allergies. Now researchers estimate 10% of the population has dust allergies and asthma. The trend is moving back to non-fiber flooring. Refurbishing elementary floors in Greenfield, we are doing some replacement carpeting (some teachers prefer this). More and more I am encouraging tile. And I’d like to see the wood floors at Newton sealed and coated to preserve them. Wood is seldom seen in schools today but it’s a healthy floor cover.

At Four Corners, classroom floors are being replaced with tile. It’s quite a production because we have to take up the old rugs AND the 1960 tiles under the old rugs which had asbestos in their composite mix for durability. The licensed company removing old rugs and asbestos tiles sealed off the school rooms while working. They couldn’t leave until air tests in a sealed environment showed the interior air was AOK. In the building known as “the mushroom,” an oval-shaped addition to Four Corners, the center room is tile and the two end room areas are being recarpeted. These open spaces need sound absorption because multiple classes will take place at one time and the space does not have traditional rooms.

At Federal Street, old rugs are being replaced with tile and carpeting. This school is due for an interior painting. Imagine 200 (typically) to 400 (2008-2009) children each year going in and out of doors, fingers touching the walls, and shoes hitting painted baseboards for 20-30 years without repainting. If we hadn’t painted a few classrooms this summer I may not have noticed how much the whole interior and stairwells need painting. And the exterior white paint you see from the road also very much needs painting. This is in process (the city council voted capital funding to paint the exteriors of Newton and Federal Street).

At Newton School, most classroom floors had the carpet replaced the summer of 2008, except for the nurse’s office which was tiled. Imagine a children’s nursing office with carpet!

We have four classrooms off the library at Newton School with the old wood floors that are not covered with rugs or tile. They are well worn because the old section of the school was built in 1904. Those wood floors are priceless today—you don’t even have this option in schools, really. But they have 100 years of wear from lots of little feet. It doesn’t look like these floors have been sealed or coated for a long time—probably due to lack of personnel or not using the rooms. They need to be sealed and properly coated. I find the wood floors are beautiful, particularly older wood floors. And they are quite good for anyone with dust allergies and asthma. .

From a website: All Around the House

Hardwood flooring - A healthy choice if you have dust allergies
(NC)-One of the most common allergies these days is dust. A study in England showed that 10 per cent of the general population, and 90 per cent of people with allergic asthma, are allergic to dust mites. And in the U.S., studies indicated that at least 45 per cent of young Americans with asthma are allergic to house dust. Suffering from a dust allergy can be very frustrating, especially when dust occurs naturally in our homes on virtually every surface we touch.

If you have carpet in your home, dust can be even more of a problem for your allergies, because dust and the tiny, microscopic dust mites are trapped by carpet fibres, remain unseen and aren't always removed during vacuuming.

What's a good alternative? Hardwood -It's a hard-surface floor and doesn't trap dust fibres and mites that can set off your allergies.

So how do we refinish the wood floors in Newton classrooms? Here’s a tip from Do It Yourself online.

Finishes are applied to wood for two principal reasons. First, a finish should protect the wood from damage such as stains, moisture and mechanical wear. Second, a properly applied clear finish will accentuate woods' natural beauty and color. Penetrating seals (sealers) and surface finishes are the two principal types of protective coatings used on wood floors. Either will give satisfactory performance if applied correctly.

Read more: http://www.doityourself.com/stry/woodfloorfinishing#ixzz0wcrCKaxl

This Old House has a website and there you can find all the floor refinishers giving advice about how to refinish old wood floors.

I wrote to our custodian and maintenance reps over the weekend for a recommendation about whether or not they can find time to do these floors before school starts.

If anyone reading is a floor refinisher, we might need some help.

Friday, August 13, 2010: Brief Day Summary

Virtual School
Waiver approved.
Now to locate students who want or need this program and launch the school.

Enrollment
1598, all inclusive
Of course, when school starts we will know which students relocated to Hawaii.
Until then, however, 1598 is our registered count (preschool, K-12 students, all students).

Staffing
Most positions are filled or are narrowed down to finalists.
Still open:

5 positions in the cafeteria (great place to work and coffee is always on)

Elementary social worker

High school art teachers (one needs background in film studies)

Part-time teaching positions –all fields, all levels

Paraprofessional positions

Math tutors

Personnel Director

Business Office: Payroll and Accounts Payable Accounting Assistants

Work on the Desk
One mile high.

The best work is work that feels like it makes a difference to someone’s life. When I think of students who feel terribly bullied and have no school option, or students who are recently paralyzed and have no school option, or students with cancer who have no school option, or students who were pregnant and dropped out and have no school option—then I’m very happy to have more work on the desk to start the virtual school.

Otherwise, everyone in my office is very glad it is Friday.

Thursday, August 12: Virtual School Update, Painting, Custodians/Maintenance, Assignments & Contracts

Triskaidekaphobia
Tomorrow is Friday the 13th. If you fear the number “13” your phobia is “triskaidekaphobia.”

I spoke to the Associate Commissioner of Education today about the waiver. I have been told twice by the Commissioner and once each by the Deputy Commissioner and Associate Commissioner that the waiver will be granted. It will take 3 days for the website information to be launched and for us to then begin to advertise after we have notice from the state. So if we hear today, we can begin to let people know about the school next Wednesday, August 18th.

We (the school district) wrote to the Commissioner today assuring our commitment to meeting the three concerns of the Commissioner’s office. Maybe there will be a grant that helps us compensate for the very late notice and start.

Speaking of the virtual school, we have our first district referral—a young student with significant health issues so that the student cannot regularly attend a brick and mortar school. The Superintendent was very pleased to have a quality education option.

Painting
Stopped by Newton School today. The hallways by the computer room and library are now freshly painted and clean. And the custodian has scrubbed all the walls in the school and they actually shine. The floors shine. The building really looks nice. The same is true for Four Corners (I visited there this morning). The floors shine with a capital S. It’s beautiful, really. And there is one wing of the new school waiting for floors to be installed—that’s always difficult when these things drag out into the latter part of August. No teachers can get in their rooms to set up. It’s very difficult but…that’s life sometimes.

We’ve made so much progress repainting classrooms to clean and freshen them up over the last two summers. It’s a shame to still have a few classrooms at Newton and Federal Street in dire need of painting. I’ll see if we can stretch the summer painting to get a few more classrooms painted and clean for the students. It would just be nice to get all our rooms fresh and clean.

Custodians & Maintenance Workers
I’m told not so long ago Greenfield had 20+ custodial and maintenance workers. There are guidelines for how many square feet one person should and can clean well on a daily basis. We are doing the best we can without all the staff we need in each department, including custodial and maintenance services. So it’s difficult to get all the floors in the school system stripped and waxed over the summer weeks. Summer is also a time the custodial staff take their vacation time.

For the tile floors to really shine they need to be stripped of all wax, cleaned, and then polished with 5 coats of whatever product is used. There are many, many feet that go over school floors and halls during the year. And there is a specific way to get these floors ready for that level of wear and tear. For all the floor work and painting in the summer, schools really do need additional help. We have a lot of rooms to clean and a lot of floors to strip.

I learned today of a new one-time grant we might have available for 2010-2011 retroactive to July 1st. If I can confirm that grant money today, I’m going to see if we might bring on another custodian and/or bring on more help before summer is over to get our buildings clean and student classrooms painted.

All summer we’ve had summer programs taking place at Federal Street Elementary School—math camp and special education summer school. I heard the programs were really very good and the teachers spent lots of time planning to assure the students had fun and learned a lot We had 70+ students involved in math camp. But having summer-long programs that almost fill Federal Street School means no custodians can clean those rooms until the summer program is over. As a team gesture, all the custodians are going to go to Federal Street for a week to work together and see if that building (actually 2 buildings with a connecting corridor) can be cleaned quickly and thoroughly before September. That’s good teamwork. And the buildings are starting to look to evidence pride and repair. We have two gym floors we have not finished yet. It’s getting awfully close to the start of school.

Can we find additional help for the summer? People need to be trained before just starting to do any work so it may not be possible. The machinery used is quite expensive. We now know the equipment we need for stripping and cleaning—we worked on having proper equipment over the last two years.

Assignments and Contracts
Tomorrow’s goal is to review all teacher contracts and to finalize the paraprofessional contracts and assignments.

I stopped Lisa McGuinness today in the hall. I ask about enrollments all the time because we need to be sure we have the right number of teachers. She didn’t need me to ask the question. When I stopped her she knew what I was going to ask and before I said anything she said “seven” and smiled. We had seven more students sign up today before 2:00 p.m.

Lisa thinks we will have 9 full kindergartens for September. Class size will then be approx 17-18. These days children learn the beginning skills of reading in kindergarten. It seems early but that is how education has changed in America over the last 50 years. In my youth in Maryland we didn’t even have kindergarten. But now kindergarten is important for mastering early literacy skills. We are getting the rooms ready. This looks like it will be the largest incoming kindergarten class in years!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010: Theatre, Music, Grants, Virtual Update, Interviews

Theatre
Much to my surprise and delight a theater company has emerged, interested in helping Greenfield create a K-12 theatre program we can afford. We had a first talk today. And we have gift funding from the new Greenfield Education Foundation to begin a program.

We talked about how to build a theatre program that starts in the early grades and continues to build and become more sophisticated through high school. What are the goals in the elementary grades and when is the right time to introduce plays with text? In the earliest grades, students learn to improvise. They learn certain skills of deportment and speaking clearly through theatre games. Later, the learn more about the composition of plays—that there is a storyline that has a beginning and an end. Always they are learning how to work in groups, particularly to stage a small production.

In middle grades, the goals are more sophisticated—students are still learning improvisation and how to move on stage. Text plays are introduced. And in the high school, these introductory skills start to blossom into more sophisticated theatre. High school courses can expand skills in specific areas, like courses in acting, set design, sound systems, marketing, and costuming.

We found out that during the first semester at the high school we most likely cannot fit in a new course but we have time to create a theatre course for second semester. Who knows—we might do something after school. Apparently January and February are the best months to have high school plays.

Options are emerging for next year. The folks I met with today have three days they could work with our school system. Since we mostly have serious studies in the mornings, we have to think more about afternoons. Lots to think about.

Music
I’ve heard from elementary, middle, and high school music teachers this summer. Instruments are being fixed and activities and concerts are being scheduled This year our bands will be larger because we have been encouraging the study of instrumental music. We might have as many as 170-180 upward moving students studying an instrument between the string program (going into its 3rd year, I believe) and the band instrument program. We will again try to locate more instruments so students can study even if they do not have the money for instrument rental.

Grants
A new grant was submitted today—this one developed by the technology administrator to –the goal is to synthesize our student data. A part of the school system no one sees is the data processing programs. The school has a program for student health data, student food services data, student special education data, student attendance and course data, student discipline data, and more. This grant is to implement more efficient ways to integrate all the data from school lunch, school nursing, attendance, and grading programs. We think our chances of being funded are not strong because the funding source wanted districts to apply together. For this round of funding, in this part of the state, few if any other applicants were users of PowerSchool (our Student Information System), so we could not find a district with whom to sponsor a joint grant. Even so, Carol H. thinks submitting the grant is worth a try.

Virtual Update,
Someone has asked what the waiver actually is that has us on hold. On July 20th, 2010, the State Board of Education passed administrative rules for opening a virtual school. The new rules recommended by DESE and the Secretary of Education are: 25% of the students in the virtual school have to be from the host district—10% if the school is serving special populations. The difficulty with this rule is that probably only 1% of students will attend a virtual school. So how could small or average towns get to 25% of students in a school’s population?

There is a provision for a school system to ask for a waiver for one of these new rules. Greenfield asked for a waiver on July 20th to the rule about 25% and 10%. We’ve been told the the request would be granted but there is no official decision yet. Discussions are still ongoing about Greenfield’s plan.

Interviews for Custodial & Maintenance Services Director
Today I interviewed candidates for the custodial and maintenance coordinator position. I’d like to fill this position within two weeks. Kate Wallen, who worked in this position last year, was married at the end of the year. Her background in environmental science helped us address all the chemical-related issues related to use and storage of different types of products. Kate helped us coordinate and track expenses. We are ready, now, to focus on automating, purchasing, and scheduling custodial and maintenance services.

Evening
Late tonight Kathi and I (both working late) decided to take our late meeting to dinner. We made a plan for nursing services needed in the summer. We have a large influx of children each year—but the numbers are larger this year. We have from 60 to 140 new students at each school, we estimate. The question is: how can we be ready with all the health information and emergency information for these new students if we do not allow some time for nurses to review records and contact parents over the summer. Last night we came up with a plan that seemed reasonable and talked about how important it was that health and emergency information for all our children be ready when school starts.

Another check mark on the list. Kathi will be contacting nurses.

Sunday, August 8, 2010: ABC Thinking, Math & Science Academy, Virtual School, and Week in Review

ABC Thinking
After reviewing the 20 ABC books, I had ABC on my mind. In the pharmacy waiting in line, I was thinking: A is for Aspirin, B is for Bufferin, C is for Calamine Lotion. That’s when I knew it was time for a day or two off: A is for away-time, B is for beneficial, and C is for car ride.

Even when out of the office, there’s ongoing correspondence about work in process. I’ll provide a week in review.

Math & Science Academy (MSA)
The math-science academy for grades 6 and 7 is being launched. After confirming with the school committee that they wanted to proceed, we are proceeding. A complete FAQ (question and answer document) will be posted on our website by Monday afternoon. The academy is free and part of Greenfield’s public school system. We hope to have between 15 and 36 students in our first year.

We have a very good program for grade 6 and 7 at the middle school. There is so much enrichment and next year we have even better science and math support and materials. Even so, for some students a more rigorous and focused program is what parents and students want. The new academy's curriculum will offer all the standard middle school courses but will be more rigorous in science and math. That means physics and biology-chemistry each of the two years and Algebra I finished by end of grade 7. Sound like too much? Actually this is a quite common grade 7 program in other countries.

Parents have asked if the enrichment programs of the middle school will be available to students who sign up for the math-science academy. We are trying to make as much of the GMS enrichment program available as possible. The key is scheduling and buses. We anticipate being able to take a group of students from MSA to the middle school for its enrichment programs and students from the middle school to the math and science academy for enrichment programs offered there.

Where will the program be and how does this fit into grades 8-12? For the first year, we are preparing a suite of rooms at Four Corners—set aside at the end of one wing—for the new academy program. If the program grows, we will find a building to use in the future.

When the 8^th Grade Academy opened, the school committee passed a policy allowing students to accelerate—a theme, now, in Greenfield. Students who wanted a more rigorous course program (30% took up the option) could take real high school courses while in grade 8. Schools generally encourage advanced placement courses (college level) in high school, but less frequently off advanced courses (e.g. high school) in middle school. Our programs for grades 6, 7, and 8 now give students an equivalent advancement opportunity for their age level.

In various parts of the country now, schools are raising the bar equal to international peers. For example, it is becoming more common for American students in progressive schools to take dual-credit courses in high school (for high school AND college credit) and to have earned a year or two of college upon high school graduation. And it is becoming more common in cities for there to be a math and science school prior to high school to encourage advancement in math and science studies prior to high school.

So Greenfield’s math and science program for grades 6 and 7 will gives students an opportunity for age-appropriate AP-type challenges in grades 6 and 7. The actual model is called “springboard.” We are in the process of joining the College Board’s middle level SpringBoard program which is the introductory program for students who then can aspire to AP courses in high school. Students do not have to be at the top of their class to participate—but they should like math and science. We hope for a good mix of students and, yes, there is homework each night.

Interested parents (who have students to enroll or would like to be advisors to the new program in its first year) are welcome to contact me (superintendent@gpsk12.org), Lisa McGuinness, our registrar (lismcg1@gpsk12.org), or Heather Evans, teacher/coordinator for the new academy (mathsci@gpsk12.org).

Virtual School
Although the newspapers are quiet, the wheels have been turning during the week. In our office we have been formulating outreach plans to locate students with cancer, immune deficiencies, severe allergies, unique health issues, and other sensitivities that keep them from coming into a school facility during set school hours. We are looking for adults who would like to help us identify connections to these students. I met with someone very involved with Crohn’s disease parent support groups this weekend. There are many students whose health or pregnancy interferes with a public in-school-building education. While the virtual school will be open to anyone, we are particularly interested in students who need this option for a persuasive reason. These students will have priority. We plan to interview every participating family as to why they are want the virtual school program.

Teachers for the virtual school are being hired now—both for virtual and in-Greenfield-area teaching support. Principal Tracy Crowe is working with me to launch the virtual school. Doing anything first is quite an undertaking—so we are busy as can be thinking through all the details, particularly the outreach to parents, hospitals, oncology centers, school district home-hospital administrators, teen pregnancy support organizations, institutionalized students. Ideas for outreach? Please let us know: tracro1@gpsk12.org

Week in Review
This first week in August was filled with advertising and interviewing. At the last minute schools sometimes have an opening they did not anticipate. Someone need to leave to care for a family member. Or someone moves across the state. Or someone returns to graduate school. Or there is a windfall inheritance and the person doesn’t have to work (wouldn’t that be interesting!). Or maybe someone just changes his/her mind about teaching.

We have two art teacher positions open at Greenfield High School—and we would like at least one of the teachers to have some background in film or textile arts. We have an elementary social work position we did not anticipate. We are looking for someone to run our TV studio at GHS, offer film studies courses at GHS, and offer accounting and business courses at GHS.

We are expanding at the elementary level. We still have one grade 1 and one grade 2 opening. We l and need additional but part-time help in the arts and physical education, theatre, elementary chorus, etc.. We need small amounts of additional teaching in the arts. We are interviewing this week for a Director of Custodial/Maintenance services (we need to computerize). The food services department has five (5) openings—mostly part-time, e.g. 3.5 hours/day—helping to feed our hungry students!

During this week planning continued for Greenfield’s participation in the county fair. Our high school AND middle school bands will march and play. The Franklin County Fair and the Barnstable County Fair (Cape Cod) are the two oldest agricultural fairs in the state, I believe. GPS will be out in full trolley this year.

Data was a big item this week—with internal discussions of year-end data for the schools, accounts, purchasing, grants, etc.

Like a concert piano, you have to keep the district paying attention to tuning all the time. A little tweak here—a little push there. You cannot be stagnant and you must pay attention to small details to create a quality school system. A piano has 36,000 pounds of pressure on its strings—if you change one, it slightly affects the others. And in the same way, every small change we make anywhere has a ripple effect on the rest of the school system in some way. I’m not sure you ever reach perfection but you must keep finding the place that needs the tuning adjustment and working to improve.

Thinking About Film-making and A Greenfield Schools Film Festival
I’ll confess to seeing a film festival film over the weekend about a Steinway grand piano donated to Berkeley (CA college). The philanthropist’s directive was to restore the Steinway and give it to a deserving and promising piano student. In the film, viewers are inside a top piano restoration business and learn every little detail of how a fine piano is restored. At the end, viewers see parts of the piano competition where one youth pianist wins the Steinway. What a treat. The short film before the featured piano film showed a guitar maker in his studio. He explained guitar-making from scratch (his guitars sell for between $8,000 and $32,000 and he didn’t look over 30 years old).

It would be exciting to have a film festival with films like this for our students and community. We would include Greenfield student films. And on my desk today—seven (7) movies our elementary students made this year with teacher Rachel Cronen-Townsend. We have films, now, made at elementary, middle, and high school levels—we are almost ready for our first film festival!

Page last updated: June 14, 2010

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