Regionalization...A Few Small Steps

Last week I met with Principal Kevin Turner of Harwich High School and our respective superintendents to have an initial conversation about merging our two schools to create a new, regional school.

Let me state up front that I am skeptical about any attempt to create a regional school district between the two towns. Having spent twenty-eight years as a teacher and administrator at Harwich High School, I was present for two of the last three discussions of this controversial topic. All, of course, ended in failure. That, in fact, may happen again, but what seems to be different this time is that the demographic data suggest that over the next decade our two school districts may experience real difficulty maintaining educational viability and we may see a significant diminution in the services and opportunities we will be able to provide for our students. So with that reality as a backdrop and as committees from each town prepare to meet and discuss the feasibility of some form of regionalization, we met over lunch and had a very positive, productive conversation which focused solely on a vision of what a new regional high school would look like.

We all agreed that a new combined school of just under 600 students would provide increased opportunity for all students in academics, the performing arts, athletics, and co-curricular activities. We discussed the potential for increasing Advanced Placement courses, foreign language offerings, and upper-level science courses. But most of all, we talked about the importance of creating a totally new school that would draw upon and incorporate the strengths of both schools to create an entirely new educational venture. We even explored the possibility of developing an International Baccalaureate curriculum and becoming an IB school which would emphasize rigor, globalization, and 21st century skills.

So, at this point we are just having an interesting conversation about possibilities. I know I speak for many in Chatham when I say that we have an excellent school that does a wonderful job of providing an education for our students. Could the education we provide be enhanced by regionalization? Absolutely! But the bottom line is at what cost. How would a merger affect our positive school culture? Of all that we currently offer our students, what might get lost in the transition? These questions and many others will demand answers before the process goes too much further. What we know is that much of the best we have to offer like the Community Internship program, We The People, our strong science curriculum, the block schedule, and our integration of technology will have to be part of the bargain. And, before too long, there will need to be an opportunity for students, parents, faculty, and community members to provide their input. As we go forward, it is important that everyone keep an open mind and a focus on what is ultimately the most critical aspect of the whole discussion...what is in the best interest of our students.

As for now, we are just talking. Let me know what you think.

Something to Celebrate...

Well, the 2009 MCAS results have gone public and the Cape Cod Times has done it again. They devoted a whole page to the Cape and Islands schools' results allowing for the obvious comparisons to be made be readers. Hopefully those who scan the scores and draw conclusions about the deficiencies or merits of one school over another will understand that these scores only represent one small slice of what truly defines a school. Admittedly, they are a critical slice as they determine who will ultimately receive a diploma or not.

For Chatham, our students' results were outstanding. We improved overall and had over 90% of our students in Advanced or Proficient in all three areas. Most spectacular were our Science scores where 55% of our current juniors scored in the Advanced category. As principal of a small school where only 50 students take the tests each year, I know all too well that there can be wide fluctuation from year to year as each student represents 2%. However, I have to say to all who will listen, I am very pleased with this years results, but more importantly, I am so very proud of this junior class and all of their teachers. Together we have worked hard to improve. The teachers spent hours analyzing data and modifying their curriculum and the students took the tests seriously and did their best, which is all we ever asked of them.

I am so proud of our students and their performance that I wanted to recognize them in a special way. So, yesterday at lunch in the cafeteria I congratulated them in front of the whole school. As a token of recognition, we presented each junior with a voucher good for one ticket to the October Homecoming dance. That same voucher is also going to get them a free lunch today on me as as small way of saying, "Thanks for your great effort on the MCAS tests and for making us so proud."

That brings me to my last point. I am pleased that we received some publicity in this morning's Cape Cod Times but I was disheartened to read of my alleged quote on page one about giving students a reward for their performance. The truth is, I never said that. In fact, I went out of my way to point out in my conversation with Mr. Brennan that this was not a reward but a simple celebratory recognition for all of the juniors. I know it may seem like a matter of semantics, but I am not a big fan of material rewards, believing that the most meaningful rewards are those which are intrinsic. If I felt that some material reward would boost MCAS scores I'd be springing for a free trip to Disney World not a six dollar ticket to a dance! Our students are justifiably proud of their accomplishments. The tickets and lunch are just icing on the cake. Knowing that their hard work, dedication, and effort resulted in their own personal success and in an MCAS performance that placed our school community - our students, teachers, and parents - among the top 15% of all of the schools in the Commonwealth should be the real reward. I know it is for me.

As always, I would like to know what you think.

Freshmen Parent Orientation

Last Wednesday evening we held our first annual orientation for parents of freshmen. The Chatham PTO provided a delicious dinner and several staff members presented information on a variety of important topics. I gave an overview of iParent, the program which enables parents to have access to their children's grades and other student information. Guidance counselor, Rick Gifford, spoke about a variety of academic issues such as scheduling, the honors program and the importance of good attendance. School psychologist and SADD advisor, Bethany Valine, got the parents' attention by outlining the dangers that young people face today, including alcohol, drugs, texting while driving, sexual behavior, and the potentially predatory nature of the Internet. School nurse Pat Vreeland wrapped the evening up by providing a number of excellent tips on parenting teens.

The dinner was great, the meeting was reasonably well-attended, and the presentations were well-received. However, we learned some important things from the feedback we received from the evaluation sheets parents filled out. First of all, we need to do a better job of getting the word out about the evening. I accept the responsibility of not notifying parents sooner. I did send out a ConnectEd message the evening before the meeting, but had intended to send an invitation letter to parents as soon as school began on September 3rd. I neglected to do that and apologize for the oversight. Some parents said that while the information we presented was important and timely, the evening went on a bit too long. We felt that too, and next year we plan to offer a more interactive panel presentation fielding parent questions rather than speaking at parents. Lastly, we regret that we did not provide an opportunity for parents to introduce themselves and make connections with each other. This is critical especially for those school choice parents in attendance who might not know any other parents in the system. After all, we said many times that evening that parents need to communicate with each other to help keep their kids safe and to share parenting strategies and yet, we did not offer the opportunity to make those initial connections. We will do a much better job next year! Oh, we will also bring pens to the next session!!

Overall, we were all delighted with this first effort. And in conclusion, I need to emphasize that this evening's event was the result of the work of a SADD task force made up of school administrators, teachers, students, parents, and members of the police department that met several times last Spring to brainstorm ways to keep our kids safe. This is a critical job which we take very seriously and we are already planning next year's meeting as well as other things we can do as a team to accomplish our goals during the coming year.

As always, please let me know what you think.

Well, Labor Day has come and gone and we are now back in school. Coming back early as we did last week made a big difference. Students and teachers were able to "hit the ground running" today after spending last week going over expectations and getting initial assignments underway. We have had an exceptionally positive school opening and that bodes well for yet another successful school year.

Though it apparently had little impact on our student body, the controversey over President Obama's speech to the nation's students today was somewhat disconcerting. I have had a difficult time understanding why there was any meaningful oppostion to his speech. I watched it with students today and thought that his message was right on target...take responsibility for your own learning, education is essential to future success, overcome challenges and avoid making excuses which get in the way of learning.... These are the same messages we try to convey to our students each and every day. Even for people who disagree with his politics or his style, he is still the President of the United States and we all owe him the respect that is due that office, especially when he says he has a positive message for our young people. I believe our students receieved the message well and, I must say that I am proud of our superintendent and my colleagues on our administrative team for making the decision to air the speech for our students. I believe we served our students well today and we will all take President Obama's message to heart and carry it forward throughout this new school year.

As always, I would be interested in what you think.