Schools Will Do More With Less in 2010

On Monday morning yellow buses will embark on their routes and more than 4,000 children will pack their bookbags and lunch boxes for the first day of the 2010-11 school year.

Just like every year, principals will greet them warmly and teachers will eagerly break out their lesson plans.

However, Supt. of Schools Colleen Palmer said things will be noticably different. Due to $2.2 million in budget cuts, there will be 18.9 less teaching positions and reductions in music programs, secretarial positions and custodial staffing due to layoffs.

Though the Board of Education budget actually increased, the board received $2.2 million less than it had requested.

Perhaps the biggest change is the district's entire fifth grade has moved back to the elementary schools and Chalk Hill School sixth grade has relocated to the second floor of the building.

But Palmer is confident the district will maintain a high quality of education by putting its limited resources and its faith in the classroom teachers.

"We are going to provide additional support for the larger classrooms and have a solid plan to support our students," she said.

Although classroom sizes will be a little bit larger, Palmer said the recently approved federal stimulus funds for education will help the district provide intervention tutors to help the teachers in the largest classrooms.

Palmer said because the Federal funding was granted so close to the beginning of the school year, it was impractical to reconfigure the fifth grade.

She hopes to use a portion of the funding to restore elementary level music and strings programs.

The Schools

Following a visit to Stepney Elementary School, Palmer said there has been a seamless transition for the fifth grade and the entire community has welcomed those teachers with "open arms" at all three buildings.

"It doesn't matter where the teachers are teaching, they are bringing with them a unified curriculum," she said.

After taking a tour of Chalk Hill School, Palmer was convinced the facilities department had done an outstanding job reconfiguring the school's second floor to provide space for the town's Parks and Recreation Department down below.

 The school system would still use the gymnasium, music room and science classrooms on the first floor.

Palmer stressed that the Parks and Recreation Department and the school district are two separate entities and parents should not worry about their children "co-mingling" with the operations of that department.

"That will not happen," she said.  

Masuk High School

Beginning in October, 15 educators from across New England will conduct a five day accreditation audit of Masuk High School.

Palmer is confident the high school will receive full accreditation based on its Advanced Placement courses and a 200 percent increase in the number of students taking AP tests.

She said 73 percent of the students who took the AP tests in 2009 are going to college with college credits already under their belt.

Palmer said she expects students' academic progress to continue this year.

"We have a full court press to make sure we maintain the rigor and challenging courses," she said.

This Saturday a team of educators will meet to plan the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Academy curriculum for the 2011-2012 school year.  

Palmer said the district is planning a specialized magnet program concentrating on math, science and technology to be housed at Masuk High School for approximately 150 students.

She said the program will be for middle school students and has a lot of support from the community.

"Even though we are limited by budget constraints in some areas, we are recreating ourselves in others," she said. "The idea is to transform ourselves innovatively to make sure we have the best quality programs for our students.

A formal presentation on the program will be made during a parent meeting on Nov. 9.  

Overall

Palmer additionally said looking at last year's standardized test scores, each school in the district had met Adequate Yearly Progress for the first time.

Palmer will be presenting those test scores at the next Board of Education meeting, Sept. 7.

Her message to the entire school community is that "effort creates achievement," and she asks for the very best of the staff, the students and their families.

"We have tried to make adjustments and shift," Palmer said. "But we try to keep our priorities to support the students as much as possible and are very excited and optimistic about the next year and meeting our goals."

School bus routes and school hours are posted on the Monroe Public Schools Website.