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Garrison Board of Education Explores Summer School Resumption with Haldane
Districts attempting to continue to provide French to students
by Margaret Sternberg
The Garrison Board of Education gave the go-ahead to Superintendent Gloria Colucci and Principal Stephanie Impellittiere to further explore the idea of re-implementing a summer school program with Haldane.
The discussion, which comprised the biggest part of the October 24, 2007 meeting, did not constitute actual approval of a program but was "conceptual" school board approval. The conceptual approval granted authority to the administration to move ahead with planning for the program, with acknowledgment that the program will also be subject to the budget process.
Summer school is not new to the district, there having last been a program about eight years ago that was shared by the Garrison and Haldane districts. The new program is proposed to be a half day, running from Monday through Thursday from 8 am until noon and during the last three weeks of July. The classes would cover English Language Arts ("ELA") instruction and Math instruction and would cover those entering the first grade to those leaving the eighth grade.
Although Superintendent Colucci said there is no hard data, she said that Principal Impellittiere and Haldane Elementary School Principal Maggie Davis had both reported a "significant decline among scores as we [were] not having that extra time for those children who need it to maintain their skills through the summer."
The summer program would be for students who are classified, qualify for academic instruction support, or are recommended by their teachers as someone who would benefit from having the extra instructional time during the summer. Recommendation from the teachers, Impellittiere suggested, might be based upon the teacher's observations and keeping track of a child lacking particular skills in an area of the curriculum. Asked to clarify, she said "With all of the calculations, all the data that we keep, whether it be objective or subjective, we really have a good handle on children that may need service…"
Two pricing proposals were offered, both based on the "step" the teachers were on with the lower priced proposal costing $56,378 and the other $63,418. The pricing of the program is through BOCES, through which programs must be offered when shared by two or more districts. It is currently expected that Haldane would be responsible for approximately 80 percent and Garrison 20 percent of the costs based upon the number of students attending from the respective districts.
One of the strengths of the program, according to Impellittiere, is that children who would have been receiving assistance over the school year receive reinforcement of those skills, as well as gaining additional skills, preventing them from losing ground over the summer through lack of use of the skills.
Describing the past summer school, Impellittiere said her observations were that it had been "very productive" and a "great program" and parents had been "very supportive." She appeared to envision the new program running similarly to the former one. Children would arrive at 8:30 and receive 1 ½-hours of instruction in ELA, with a break for preparation for the next class, which would be for children needing Math assistance. Some children, she said, would just attend ELA classes, some Math, and some both classes.
The program was described as being both voluntary and mandatory: mandatory for those who would not be promoted without attending it, but voluntary otherwise.
Another area that Garrison and Haldane are attempting to address is the decrease in the number of students wishing to pursue French as a foreign language. Superintendent Colucci said that Haldane Superintendent Dr. Marc Villanti had informed her that Haldane enrollment for French is now in the "single digits." Colucci said that the districts are exploring options to continue to give students a choice of foreign language and are considering sharing the services of a French teacher as well as the coordination of each district's teaching schedules to enable all interested students to take the language.
The other discussion that evening was an update on the use and installation of the district's SMART Boards. The school's other nine classrooms are in the process of getting the boards installed, having had the electrical work done that is necessary. The district expects installation to be done by mid-year. Superintendent Colucci reported that use of the Boards appears to be very successful, with all teachers using the Boards. Teachers also have ongoing training available, much of which is grant-funded.
The next meeting of the Garrison Board of Education will be Wednesday, November 14, at 7:30 pm.
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