2013-14 School Calendar
We finally received the last piece of information we were waiting for from New York State in order to finalize the 2013 -14 East Williston School District calendar.
The 2013-14 school calendar was approved by the Board of Education at their Jan. 22 Monthly Business Meeting and is now posted on our website at www.ewsdonline.org on the homepage (click on the calendar tab or news box item to view the calendar).
Due to the Regents exam calendar, school will end later next year on June 26. Students will also start later next year. While staff will be back on Tuesday Sept. 3 and Wednesday Sept. 4 for two Superintendent’s Conference Days, and schools will be closed for both staff and students on Sept. 5 and 6 for Rosh Hashana, students will return on the first day of school, Sept. 9.
A third Superintendent’s Conference Day is planned for Nov. 5, Election Day, when school will be closed for students.
Superintendent’s Conference Days are used for staff training. The configuration of 2013-14 school calendar allows the administration to have staff training early in the school year, thereby giving students a full year to benefit from the learning and planning teachers and administrators accomplish on those days.
We are certainly hopeful that in 2013-14 we will not experience weather conditions like we did this year with Hurricane Sandy and the follow-up snowstorm.
However, if we were to experience more than five days of closings next year, we would need to “take back” some vacation days from the calendar, as we did this year. In order to help you with your planning, we have identified the days to be used as make-ups, in the order we would use them.
The order of the make-up days is as follows: Dec. 23, 2013, Feb. 21, 2014, Feb. 20, 2014, Feb. 19, 2014, Feb. 18, 2014, April 22, 2014 and April 21, 2014. These dates are also posted with the 2013-14 calendar on the website.
Board of Education Work Session/Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m.
In preparation for the upcoming budget season, and to gather information to support the Strategic Planning Process, the Board of Education Work Sessions will highlight and explore particular program areas for further insight and planning.
Reminder: At the upcoming Feb. 6 Work Session, Mary Harrison, director of Guidance, will share information and analysis of Wheatley college admissions over the past three years. Dave Casamento, director of Science and Technology, along with middle school staff, will also provide an update on the implementation of this year’s 6th grade iPad Initiative. The Work Session will be held at Wheatley in Room 450.
Supporting Evidence
Earlier in the year, I provided information about the implementation of the Common Core Standards adopted by New York State.
I highlighted some of the educational shifts and emphases that have resulted in school programs. One way you can support your child at home with Common Core Standards is by asking him or her to provide evidence of why they know something.
For example, when reading with your elementary or middle school child and asking a question about a character or a place in the story, ask them to specifically point out lines in the text that support their answer, either literally or through inference. For example, if your child says “I think that character is secretly angry at his father,” ask for the specific places in the text that provide the evidence to support that idea.
If you and your high school child read the same novel, have an impromptu book “discussion” in the car or at the dinner table and make sure you both go back to the text to provide the specific reasons for each of your ideas and point of view about the book.
Strategic Planning
The first meeting of the Strategic Planning Committee was held on Tuesday, Jan. 29. The committee’s first charge was to establish additional avenues for the initial school community input phase of the process, before the prioritization survey occurs. Please check next week’s Friday newsletter and our district website at the Strategic Planning Initiative page (highlighted in the news box or by clicking on the District tab > About Our District > Strategic Planning Initiative) to see a list of opportunities for you to participate in by providing your ideas for developing a five year plan for our school district.
Budget 2013-14
Mark your calendars. The first Budget Workshop will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m. at Wheatley in Room 450.
It is important for everyone to understand that due to the second year of the implementation of the property-tax-cap levy and increases in mandated requirements and costs, we face additional financial challenges this year.
With the goals of maintaining a wide array of opportunities for students and sustaining and growing academic excellence, the budget process will certainly require us to look at the budget through an integrated lens, drawing on creative and flexible thinking, as we work with more limited resources to support our programs. Your input and participation in the budget process is important.
As always, please email me at kanase@ewsdonline.org or call 333-3782 with any questions, suggestions, and or any topics you would like to see for this newsletter.
