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K-5 Transition
Update
January 2008
January 2008
Dear Gorham Community,
One of the questions received through the Transition Monitoring Teams was, 'How will the staff for each of the new schools be selected?' Following is a reminder of our work to date and the answer to that question.
We began the year by agreeing that everyone involved needs to receive accurate information. We decided we needed a process to share that information with staff and a way to receive feedback from them, and adopted a plan to create Transition Monitoring Teams (TMT's). We have rolled out our TMT format to K-5 leadership teams to help encourage communication in and out of our committee.
Much of this year's work has been driven and will continue to be driven by what the architect needs to complete his work for constructing the new school, and what adjustments the other two schools will need to accommodate grades K-5. This includes such things as:
- Where will Special Education programs be housed, and how will this affect the learning of our children in these programs (specifically the Applied Academics, Behavior Support, Autism, Speech/Language, Resource, OT/PT, Deaf Ed., and ESL)?
- What is each school currently offering for Specials and how will they look in the new
- configuration?
- What upgrades to Narragansett and Village will be necessary to house K-5 students?
- What input does the architect need for the proposed school and site plan?
- How many classes of each grade will be in each school and what will be the approximate class sizes based on the capacity of each school?
- How will Kindergarten look with an extended day for children needing a second dose of literacy and numeracy?
Other areas we need to consider in the near future include: math and literacy support, student support, technology, administration, school governance, transportation, other facility issues, food service, budgets for each school, maintenance, and the staff selection process.
So what does all of this mean? Before we can discuss staff assignments, we need to know what K-5 in each school will look like, and determine the demographics in each school. The following will be critical to the selection process: following the contract guidelines; considering requests from staff for particular assignments; creating staffs that will support all the programs in each school; and maintaining a blend of experience and talents.
Much has been accomplished and much remains to be done. Please keep in mind that we are three years away from opening the doors to a K-5 configuration. Thanks for the question!
Respectfully,
The K-5 Transition Team
Transition Team Members |
Ted Sharp, Superintendent Katie Hawes, Director of Instructional Support Brian Porter, Village School Principal *Brad Smith, Principal, Narragansett & White Rock Schools
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Dennis Libby, School Committee Chair Kathy Hamblen, Assistant Director of Instructional Support Jane Esty, Village School Assistant Principal *Polly Brann, Assistant Principal, Narragansett & White Rock
Schools |
* Co-chairs of K-5 Transition Team
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