Our Students' Future Depends on Us

   As kindergarteners, we were all asked a very important question. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Whether or not we grew up to fulfill that early calling, it was then and there that we started to develop a rudimentary understanding of having goals.

    One of the key components for an effective Board of Education, is to work with the Superintendent to develop a clear, well thought out, and realistic plan to address current and long term goals. It isn't enough to lease or purchase textbooks and assume that will satisfy curriculum goals. There are overcrowding issues at Quaker Farms School, Center School, and Great Oak School as well as physical building concerns that require addressing. There are program of study questions being asked and deliberated on at the state level regarding All Day Kindergarten and the possibility of mandating it. Foreign Language programs at younger grades as well as stiffer bullying policies need to be looked at and possibly implemented. We can reduce our budget soft costs by utilizing technology to its fullest advantage.

   To pick just a few to discuss here, there are currently several districts who have taken a proactive approach by implementing All Day Kindergarten before being told they must by the state. We currently offer half day in Oxford (2 hrs and 45 min.)and when those children get to 1^st grade, we see an increase in class sizes because some parents have opted to send their children to ADK at an outside facility to give them a better start. The expectations for our incoming 1^st graders now is much higher than what was expected even 5 years ago as I have personally experienced between my current 6^th grader and current 1^st grader. My kindergartener has homework and, while it isn't too difficult, the reason behind it is because the teachers do not feel they have enough time to cover all the material they must to prepare them for 1^st grade. Another option to explore might be an Extended Day Kindergarten. While there is an increase in financial burden for either of these, I believe it is an area the the BOE needs to explore as an option for increasing the standards for the future of our children. Perhaps a phased approach could be implemented where we add one new teacher a year, assuming we have classroom space, and take a volunteer/lottery approach to determine which students can go into such a program.

     Which brings me to another area of great concern in the Oxford Schools: Overcrowding. The New Oxford School Planning and Building Committee (NOSPBC) was created to help address the overcrowding and building deficiencies at the PreK-8 schools as well as complete the athletic fields by working with the Board of Ed to come up with a proposal to submit to the town for referendum votes. The NOSPBC has asked repeatedly for cooperation and input to accomplish their charge and to date the BOE liaison has attended 1 meeting out of 30. Out of 15 correspondence sent from the NOSPBC to the Board of Education, only 1 response has come back to them. Understanding the demographics and planning for the realities that face our district's growth must be accounted for, not set aside as a problem for another day. It is a very large task to undertake and only by working with the NOSPBC, providing them with an Educational Needs Analysis which includes curriculum and programmatic goals, and developing an Educational Specification Document, can they begin to fulfill their charge. Working with them, not against them, we can bring forth a solid, long term plan to address some of our PreK-8 problems.

     If elected to the Board of Education, Stephen Brown, Diane Soracco and I understand the importance of having a long term plan for the district. These are just a few of the areas in long term planning that should be addressed and not left to sit on the sidelines. It takes time to develop plans and time to implement them, but it begins with starting the conversation. It will be a slow and steady climb to provide our students with the tools they need to succeed in tomorrow's world. Stephen, Diane and I are ready to face that challenge. We ask for your support in working for a better tomorrow in Oxford by voting for Row A on November 8^th.

Sincerely,

Amy Cote

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