Madison Schools Superintendent Updates Parents on Halloween and Weather Delays

The following is a message from Madison Superintendent of Schools Thomas Scarice:

Dear Friends:

I would like to provide the following informational updates:

Halloween

Just over a week ago our schools took a brief moment to have some fun and enjoy the Halloween season of tricks and treats!! Some participated for a good cause, such as Polson and Brown as students raised nearly $1,000 for the Madison Food Pantry, but, most importantly, all of our schools took a moment to have some fun.

The district brought back the Halloween celebrations after a hiatus because we believe that schools should always make time for kids to be kids, and for kids to have fun, in addition to the all the hard work they do day in and day out.

I believe that we are in a world that pressures children, rushes childhood, and that has lost sight of the importance of letting kids be kids. As a result, I feel that this wrongheaded approach has robbed children of their childhood. Young children deserve an educational experience that honors where they are in their young lives, and that includes fun celebrations. As a district, we will continue to do whatever we can to make learning joyful, and to not lose sight of what makes a memorable school experience.

Taking a brief time to dress in Halloween costumes and to let our kids have fun is just one example of our efforts to do so.

Weather-Related Delayed Openings

Beginning this school year, all delayed openings due to adverse weather conditions will be 2-hour delays. We will no longer utilize a 90 minute delay schedule. This decision has been made to provide more time for potentially hazardous traveling conditions to clear in the morning, to allow more opportunity for our school and town crews to address streets and parking lots and to better align our schedule with neighboring school districts. The Town of Madison Beach and Recreation Before School Program follows the school district’s delayed opening schedule. When school is delayed the district will send an eNotify (email) message, a text message and post the delay information on the district and school homepages. Please review the weather-related school closing information on the website.

Thanksgiving Holiday Reminder

Early Dismissal on Wednesday, November 26th. School is Closed on Thursday, November 27th and Friday November 28th.

Superintendent’s Brown Bag Lunch

Please join me on December 5th at 12:00 noon at the Scranton Memorial Library for an open discussion. The schedule for Brown Bag Lunches is posted on our website.

American Education Week

November 16-22, 2014—presents all Americans with a wonderful opportunity to celebrate public education and honor individuals who are making a difference in ensuring that every child receives a quality education. I want to thank our teachers and paraprofessionals for their commitment to educating our students.

This is a very special community and as we continue our strong partnership on behalf of our students I would like to share a few videos / articles with you that I found very interesting:

What does the future of automation hold? What are the implications for the future of our children, and their potential occupations? Automation is inevitable. Perhaps it is our collective response that remains in question. View this video to learn about the history and future of automation. Consider the impact on public schools and the response we need to consider to prepare our children for the world they will enter when they graduate.

Additionally, this short article examines the evolution of occupations over the next 10-15 years, predicting that 50% of occupations today will be redundant by 2025…when our current 2nd graders graduate from high school.

Sir Ken Robinson is a leading educational scholar and authority on creativity. Watch this fascinating talk that he gives in which he outlines three principles crucial for the human mind to flourish -- and how current education culture works against them. In this funny, yet stirring, talk he tells us how to get out of the educational “death valley” we now face, and how to nurture our youngest generations with a climate of possibility.

My sincere wishes to you and your family for a very happy, healthy, and safe Thanksgiving holiday. I hope you have the opportunity to share some wonderful moments with family and friends.

Sincerely,

Thomas R. Scarice
Superintendent