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Blog: Richard Azoff |
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Elementary Reconfiguration We start 2010 with a flurry of planning activity for the upcoming reconfiguration. We are devoting early release conference time (January 8, February 12), faculty meetings and other times to plan for a smooth, beneficial transition. It's been very busy, particularly for the administrators and teachers most closely involved with planning. Despite all that work, I am not surprised when a parent or community member asks me, "Really - is it going to happen?" My answer is yes, it is really going to happen. Sometimes if I know the parent fairly well, he or she will go on to ask, "Do you really thing it's a good idea?" Once again, my answer is yes, I really think it's a good idea. While my own two daughters are well out of elementary school, I honestly think I would feel the same way if they were being effected by this change. Why? Lots of reasons, but I'd like to explore one in particular. Many people don't realize that the population of our school district is steadily shrinking. When I first began as principal at Seymour Smith 9 years ago, there were 23 classes of students (not counting the sixth grade which subsequently moved out). Now there are 17 - a drop of over 25%. The same has happened at Cold Spring, where some grades have only one section. We anticipate a further decline in the 2010-11 school year. While many people may have a romantic notion of the virtues of the one room schoolhouse, in truth the disadvantages far outweigh the advantages. One disadvantage is that in certain grades in each school, either classes have been consolidated (making one very large class) or have remained divided (making two very small classes). The first situation is negative from an educational standpoint, while the second is negative from a fiscal standpoint. With NYS school aid dropping off a cliff, a class of 14 students seems hard to justify. Yet by combining all of the sections of one grade in one school, necessary economies can occur without unduly and dramatically affecting one class or grade at one school. There are other losses when grade levels get too small. Many opportunities, such as Robotics, Drama Club and Chess Club (to name just a few) have not been able to occur at Cold Spring due to a lack of faculty sponsors. At Seymour Smith, we often create instructional groups across grade levels for the purpose of challenging our more advanced students. As the number of sections decreases, the number of such opportunities decreases as well. We lose the ability to separate students who interfere with each other's education, and we lose the ability to place students with teachers with whom we feel they would be most successful. In education today, collaboration among teachers is increasingly important. Consistency, creativity and overall effectiveness are increased when teachers within a grade level work together. We have found one or two sections within a grade reduces the effectiveness of collaboration, while three to five is ideal. Will the reconfiguration benefit every student? Will it benefit your child? Hard to say. Are there negatives - things we lose by combining the schools? Of course. But I am confident the change will benefit the vast majority of children in our school. There are many other reasons why the reconfiguration makes sense - you can check out the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) that will be posted shortly on this website. Feel free to respond to this blog, call or make an appointment to speak with me directly. posted 1/3/2010 1:41 PM EST | Add Comment | View Comments (0) |