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Teacher Mentoring Program Receives Strong Support in Putnam Valley School District
Final tax rates issued
by Margaret Sternberg
Much of the August 23, 2007 meeting of the Putnam Valley Board of Education was devoted to housekeeping issues, preparatory to the beginning of the new school year. In addition to passing a number of resolutions related to the appointments of teachers, fall coaches, and other staff, the school board heard summaries related to student populations and class size at the Elementary, Middle and High Schools.
Among the resolutions, a revision to the district's mentoring plan for teachers was approved. Two changes to the original plan were incorporated: leave replacements will also receive teacher mentors, and the number of visitations to those mentored will increase to at least three each year. The plan is designed to ensure that all district teachers receive mentors, with particular emphasis given to the newest teachers. The mentoring program itself involves teachers being mentors to other teachers and is a joint effort between the district and the teachers' union, funded by the district.
All teachers who have either not received tenure or have no experience teaching receive a one to one mentor, who is selected from among the more experienced teachers. The mentor program is also supplemented by "walk-throughs" by the school principals, which serve as a means of working with shorter-term substitutes.
In other business, the Board approved the execution of tax warrants. Final tax rates are $17.73 per thousand for Putnam Valley, $38.84 per thousand for Carmel, and $1,141.68 per thousand for Cortlandt.
The Board also received a breakdown of the district's incoming student population. Elementary School Principal Jamie Edelman reported current total enrollment at the elementary school at 654, down about 25 children from last year as of opening day.
She said that 113 students are currently enrolled in kindergarten, although she warned that she did not think those enrollment numbers were complete. The current average class size in kindergarten is 19 children. There are 127 students enrolled in first grade, with an average class size of 18. There are 129 students in second grade, with an average class size of 19. Third grade has 136 children, with an average class size of 23. Fourth grade has 146 students, with an average class size of about 24.
Middle School Principal Ed Hallisey, reporting on the upcoming year's students, said that Grade 5 totals 135 students and that class sizes range between 19 and 24 students per class. Grade 6 has 152 total students, with six sections ranging between 23 and 26 per class. There are 150 students in this year's seventh grade class. Hallisey described several scheduling issues with seventh grade courses and said that resulted in a number of "singleton" classes. Although each class now has between 24 and 30 students, an extra class was added in order to bring some numbers down from what had been as high as 38 students in a class. Eighth grade has 151 students, with some singleton and honors classes with as many as 30 students, but most eighth grade classes according to Hallisey, have between 24 and 30 students.
Interim High School Principal Richard Herlihy said that high school enrollment is expected to be between 600 - 610 students. The senior class is expected to be 150, the freshman class 140, the sophomore class 140, and the junior class, which Herlihy described as the "mobile" class, with transfers in and out, making up the remainder of the numbers. Herlihy said there are some classes with as many as 30 students, but nothing that he "find[s] to be out of sorts."
Herlihy has implemented an orientation for the ninth graders, which will consist of his visiting all ninth grade English classes during the first week, spending the full period with them discussing expectations and introducing the students to other aspects of the high school experience.
The next meeting of the Putnam Valley Board of Education will be Thursday, September 6, at 7pm.
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