A Look at Upcoming Elementary Start Time Rotations

The School Committee voted at their last meeting to start rotating the elementary tiers beginning in the 2016-17 school year.  The rotations would be for a two year period.  The vote was based on the current 4-Tier System and they agreed to revisit this plan if they were able to move to a 3-Tier system in the future to accommodate a later start time at the high school.

For now, this is what the 3^rd or 4^th tiers (the elementary tiers) would look like over the next ten years.  Currently, the third tier starts at 8:25 for the JFK & Hansen and the fourth tier begins at 8:55 for the Luce (8:45 for St. John).  This assumes the high school and middle school remaining in the first two tiers.  Next year (2015-16) will be a continuation of the current system.

2015-16           JFK & Hansen (3^rd Tier)

                        Luce & St. John (4^th Tier)

2016-17           Luce & JFK (3^rd Tier)

                        Hansen & St. John (4^th Tier)

2017-18           Luce & JFK (3^rd Tier)

                        Hansen & St. John (4^th Tier)

2018-19           Luce & Hansen (3^rd Tier)

                        JFK & St. John (4^th Tier)

2019-20           Luce & Hansen (3^rd Tier)

                        JFK & St. John (4^th Tier)

2020-21           JFK & Hansen (3^rd Tier)

                        Luce & St. John (4^th Tier)

2021-22           JFK & Hansen (3^rd Tier)

                        Luce & St. John (4^th Tier)

2022-23           JFK & Luce (3^rd Tier)

                        Hansen & St. John (4^th Tier)

2023-24           JFK & Luce (3^rd Tier)

                        Hansen & St. John (4^th Tier)

2024-25           Hansen & Luce (3^rd Tier)

                        JFK & St. John (4^th Tier)

Again, this is based on the current 4-Tier System.  If the School Committee were to move to a 3-Tier System to accommodate a later start time for the high school, they would revisit this rotation schedule.

2015-16 Kindergarten Update

I know that some families anxious to find out what Kindergarten program your child may be in next fall.  The vast majority of families signed up for the Full-Day Kindergarten lottery, while there was also a smaller number who sought half-day Kindergarten.

We are sending out letters this weekend to let you know what program your child will be in and we wanted to reaffirm what programs will be running and where they will be located.

As of now, we are planning to run:

3 Full Day Classes at the Luce Elementary School

3 Full Day Classes at the JFK Elementary School &

4 Full Day Classes at the Hansen Elementary School

2 Half Day Classes at the Luce Elementary School

While we will have more students in Full-Day Kindergarten than before, some who wanted it may still not be able to gain entry into a full day program.  In addition, there may be some who find that they will be afforded the opportunity for a full day program but it may not be in their home district.  This is due to space issues we are dealing with at the elementary level.  Also, please note that all half day classes will be run at the Luce.  At this time, we cannot run half day programs at the Hansen or the JFK due to space constraints.

Thank you.

Math Workshop, “The Strategies Behind the Mathematics...How to Help Kids with Homework", a huge success.

Over forty five parents of kindergarten, first and second grade students at the Luce, Hansen and JFK Elementary Schools attended yesterday evening's math workshop.  Parents participated in three "hands on" mini sessions that assisted them in understanding the common language, concepts and strategies involved in addition and subtraction in first and second grade students.  They learned about ten frames, parts/whole and more.  By the end of the two hour mini sessions, parents commented that they had a greater comfort level with the approaches to math that might be somewhat different than when they were in elementary school.  Parent comments following the program included:

• "I thought the math specialists did a fantastic job trying to outline what parents should expect.  This is new for everyone and their commitment came through."
• "I now know what I might say if my child has questions about his homework.  I can ask, 'What is the part? The whole? How many do you see?'"
• The strategies for kids' math are awesome and it is good to know what our kids are learning in school."
• "I learned about 5 and 10 strategies and breaking up numbers."

Parents gave us many good suggestions for how to move forward as well.
• "It would be nice if these workshops are conducted at the start of every quarter before the kids start learning the learning....help in preparing for the homework and understanding the math."
• "All first grade parents should attend these workshops.  It was very helpful."
• "Could you send home some math games for the summer?"
• "More on how these strategies will work with multiplication and division."

Our goal now will be to have supportive workshops more often through the year for our parents, using the many recommendations that were provided to us.

Canton High School Hosts Board of Selectmen Candidate's Forum

CHS and the Social Studies Department hosted a Candidate's Forum today in the Distance Learning Lab for the five candidates running for the Board of Selectmen. John Bonnanzio, Avril Elkort, Kevin Feeney, Gene Manning and Mark Porter all had a chance to address why there were running and took a number of questions from the students in the audience.

After opening statements by each of the candidates, students were able to bring up a number of topics that were pertinent to the citizens of Canton.  Some of these topics included the traffic issues in town, the repair work needed at the hockey rink, housing issues and the Plymouth Rubber project.

The event was a great way for our students to be involved in the electoral process and gave the candidates a wonderful forum to share their ideas with some of the town's newest voters.

A big thanks to social studies teachers, Mr. Jay Turner and Mr.  David Hiltz for helping moderate and organize the event.

New Administrative Assistant for Superintendent/Director of Curriculum & Instruction

Starting tomorrow, if you call the Superintendent's office, you will no longer hear Ms. McGowan's voice.  After 16+ years of Ms. McGowan serving as the point person in the Superintendent's office, Ms. Brett McCloud will take over that role on Wednesday, March 25th.

Brett is a graduate of Canton High School and has a degree in Management from UMASS-Boston. She joins the district after serving as an Administrative Coordinator for Reebok.  Prior to that role, she worked as an Educational Coordinator for the Institute for Comprehensive Implant Therapy.

We are excited about bringing Brett on board and she is looking forward to taking on this new role and helping the Canton Public Schools continue to move in a positive direction.

Reminder-Elementary Math Workshop Scheduled for Wednesday, March 25th

On Wednesday, March 25th, from 6 – 8:00 p.m. the math specialists from the three elementary schools will be running a workshop for any Luce, JFK or Hansen parents/guardians of children in grades one and two entitled, “The Strategies Behind the Mathematics...How to Help Kids with Homework.”  This workshop for parents is being conducted in response to questions raised at the most recent Massachusetts frameworks overview  night as well as questions the teachers receive from parents interested in supporting their children with math at home.

Please join math specialists Kerri Falzone, Maryanna Biedermann and Susan Brass in the Hansen cafeteria on Wednesday, March 25th from 6 – 8:00 p.m.  This will be a “hands-on” workshop for parents, and it is our goal that you walk away with strategies to use in supporting your first and second grade children.  The philosophy and policy regarding curriculum will not be a topic at this hands-on workshop. Babysitting services will be provided at Hansen.

P.S.  If you are the parent of a third grade student and would like to participate to better understand the foundational skills your child is building upon, please feel free to attend.

Changes to 2014-15 School Calendar-Early Release Days Moved

I wanted to inform you that at the last School Committee meeting, there were two changes voted to the current, 2014-15, school year calendar.  The early release day for professional development, originally scheduled for February 4th, was moved to Friday, April 17th.  You may recall that February 4th came right after a snow day and after the district had gone through 4.5 snow days in a seven day span.  We did not want to have the students' first day back only be for a half day. Therefore, we made that a full day and needed to reschedule the PD early release.

In addition, the school year calendar currently shows June 3rd as an early release day for common planning and professional development.  Due to the number of snow days we have had this year, we are moving that early release day to June 17th.  We will now have a full day of school on June 3rd.

Thank you

Canton Future Problem Solvers Headed to State Bowl

A note from FPS Advisor, Susan Crespi:

Great news for the Canton Future Problem Solving Program.  Eight out of our eleven teams have been invited to compete at the State Bowl. This year's State Bowl will be held at the Mass Maritime Academy in Bourne on Saturday April 11.

The following teams have been invited:

Canton High School

Grade 11 - Coach: Jennifer Prendergast

Christine Lee

Meryl Prendergast

Galvin Middle School

Grade 7 - Coach: Vijay Addanki

Anvitha Addanki

Srimayi Chaturvedula

Abinya Gargy

Kayla Lee

Grade 7 - Coach: Sameer Apte

Sohil Apte

Mary Kelley

Anna Mak

David Walker

Grade 7 - Coaches: Michelle Lynch/Jennifer Prendergast

Sophia D'Alto

Arielle Galinsky

Katie Lynch

Lydia Prendergast

Grade 6 - Coach: Susan Crespi

Valerie Casimer

Olivia Chinsen

Jackie Morrissey

Beth Truong

Grade 6 - Coach: Barbara Duffin/Susan Crespi

Veronica Bell

Amanda Duffin

Anna Reilly

Harshitha Valluri

John F Kennedy Elementary

Grade 5 - Coach: Dawn Capraro/Susan Crespi

Trisha Bhattacharya

Julia Capraro

Semonti Choudhury

Hannah Wang

Lt Peter M Hansen Elementary

Grade 5 - Coach: Michelle Lynch

Carolyn Clogher

Jordana Hersh

Emily Lynch

Grace Sweetland

Congratulations to these students and their volunteer coaches for a job well done! A HUGE THANK YOU to administration, teachers, administrative assistants, and custodial staff who assist us in making this an exceptional experience for our students. Great teamwork! Good luck at the State Bowl.

Elementary Bus Tiers To Rotate Startng in 2016-17 School Year

Last Thursday night, the School Committee voted 5-0 to begin rotating the elementary bus tiers (3rd & 4th tiers) starting in the 2016-2017 school year.  As you may know, the district currently has four tiers of bus routes:

Tier 1-CHS, Tier 2- GMS, Tier 3 JFK & Hansen and Tier 4- Luce & St. John.

This dynamic has been in place for many years and the administration and school committee have heard from many who wanted to see a rotation of the elementary tiers so that the same schools are not always getting home the latest.

The School Committee has been deliberating on this for a while and they heard from a number of concerned parents who brought up many salient points on this matter at the meeting last Thursday. The School Committee did not vote yet on which schools would be on the specific tiers or how long the rotation would last.  They will gather more information before they take a vote on those aspects of the plan.

The Committee had previously voted an earlier proposal to move to a later start time at the secondary level and  shift from four bus tiers to three.  This would allow for the high school and middle school to travel together on the same tier and would have the high school start 40 minutes later in the morning.  This extra time for teenagers is deemed critical in allowing them to work more effectively during the school day.

The later start time necessitates more buses (and staffing) and has a significant impact on the FY16 operating budget. If the plan to start the high school later is able to be funded through the budget process the schedule would look like this:

Tier 1

GMS- 7:50-2:10
CHS-  8:00-2:24

Tier 2

Elementary Schools- 8:35-2:50

Tier 3

Elementary Schools- 9:05-3:20

We will have more information on the proposed later start times as the budget process moves forward.  If the switch to three tiers comes to fruition, the 2nd and 3rd tiers would be the ones that would rotate starting in 2016-17.  It is important to note that the rotation of the elementary tiers will happen regardless of any changes to the start times at the secondary level.

Hansen Elementary Principal Named

Good afternoon.   I am pleased to announce that I have offered the position of Principal at the Lt. Peter M. Hansen Elementary School to current Interim Principal, Mr. David Brauninger, pending successful negotiations.  Mr. Brauninger, who has been in the Interim Principal role at the Hansen since the end of November, is replacing Peter Boucher, who served as the Principal at the Hansen for the previous three years.

Mr. Brauninger has served as the Student Services Coordinator at Canton High School for the past three years.  In that capacity, he oversaw the implementation and development of curriculum within the Student Services department.  In addition, he chaired all Special Education Team Meetings and was responsible for the supervision and evaluation of Student Services staff, including teachers, educational assistants, adjustment counselors, school psychologists and speech and language pathologists.   Prior to his arrival in Canton, he was a special education teacher in the Franklin Public Schools for six years.  During one of those years, he also served as the Coordinator/Team Chair of their Alternative Learning Program.  With a Master’s in Education from Simmons College, along with a second Master’s in Organizational Management from Endicott College, David has also successfully completed an administrative licensure program through the Massachusetts Secondary School Administrators Association.

Since taking over as the Interim Principal, Mr. Brauninger has shown tremendous leadership skills and has gained the confidence of the students, staff and parents within the Hansen community.  While at the Hansen, Mr. Brauninger has fully embraced a number of the district and state initiatives that are taking place at all levels.  He and his team have continued the work of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) this year.  He has worked with the leadership team in moving forward in year two of the new Model Educator Evaluation System and has worked with staff and parents in bringing forth the second year of enVision MATH, along with continued work the district is undertaking in aligning our curriculum to the recently revised MA State Frameworks.  In addition, Mr. Brauninger has been able to see the full impact that curricular and instructional enhancements have had on student learning through the newly formed Data Teams that have been established at the elementary level across the district.

Mr. Brauninger is extremely excited about the opportunity to lead the Hansen and looks forward to continuing the work that already underway with the talented educators at the Hansen.  In addition, he understands the benefits of continued collaboration with all of the Hansen stakeholders as he works to continue the progress that has occurred there over the past few years.   I want to thank our Director of Curriculum & Instruction, Ms. Jennifer Henderson, for chairing the search committee as well as the entire committee for their efforts in this large and extremely important process.  They include: 

•      Cindy Thomas - School Committee Chair

•      Deb Bromfield - Director for Student Services 

•      William Conard - Principal, Galvin Middle School

•      Sarah Collmer - Principal, JFK Elementary School

•      Mary Cawley - Asst. Principal of Hansen Elementary School

•      Yan Yii - Hansen Teacher, Grade Five

•      Claire Lund - Hansen Teacher, Grade One

•      Katie Doherty - Elementary Home/School Interventionist

•      Myriam Francoeur, Hansen Parent

•      Michelle Roberts, Hansen Parent

***

Athletic Director's Statement on Spring Sports

In case you missed it in the athletic blog, below is an update from athletic director, Danny Erickson on plans for the upcoming spring sports season.  With the record amount of snow, there are some changes in place and the update is a great informational tool on how the first few weeks will run for our male and female athletes. 

Given the extraordinary weather conditions over the past month or so and the large amounts of snow that remains on the ground, the start of the spring athletic season will certainly be a great challenge for us all.

Members of the Canton High School Athletic Department have been working hard to prepare for these challenges and have created a schedule for the first couple of weeks which will allow for all of our student athletes to have the best experience possible. 

Here are some important things you should know about the start of the 2015 CHS Athletic season:

1. We have postponed and rescheduled ALL athletic contests which were originally scheduled for the first week of the playing season (March 30th). This allows us to treat the week of March 16th (traditionally the week of tryouts) as a week of training and tuning up rather than a week of trying out. 

2. Tryouts will begin on Monday, March 23rd, but practices and conditioning sessions will begin on Monday, March 16th. We feel that given the facility challenges we face that first week, that trying to put kids through tryouts would not be fair.

3. Upperclassmen (10th-12th graders) will train with their program's coaches the week of March 16th. Coaches may be breaking players into groups and varying training times depending on what facilities are available on each day. Much of this training could take place at indoor facilities outside of town. We will be providing bus transportation 

4. Freshmen will NOT train with their sport specific coach during the week of March 16th. Instead, CHS has arranged for Mararthon PT and Sports Medicine to provide a strength and conditioning coach from Monday, March 16 thru Thrusday, March 19 after school in the gym. A schedule will be announced soon as to when each 9th grade sport should report to the gym for training.

5. Registration is currently taking place online by visiting ourwebsite- http://www.edline.net/pages/CantonHighSchool/Departments/Athletics
In order to train with our spring programs on March 16th, you must be registered by Noon on March 11th and we must have a current physical on file.

Please don't hesitate to contact the athletic office or the varsity coach in the sport you are planning on participating in if you have any questions/concerns.

Danny Erickson- Athletic Director- 781-821-5050 x7....ericksond@cantonma.org

GMS Library Re-Opened

The GMS Library, which had been closed last week for precautionary reasons, was re-opened today after a review by the Canton Building Commissioner, Ed Walsh.  While there had been no movement in the roof over the library, the structural engineer brought in last week to assess our roofs felt the weight on the roof was a concern and advised us to keep the room empty until the snow was able to melt and/or be removed.  Due to the solar panels on that part of the roof, snow removal was a challenge, but our maintenance crew was able to chip away at some of the snow and the warm weather over the weekend allowed for a good amount of it to melt.  Thus, Mr. Walsh felt comfortable allowing us to use the library once again.

Thank you to the students and staff at the GMS for their patience in dealing with the changes.

CHS COUNSELOR’S CORNER NEWSLETTER- Dan Rubin

The following is an update on guidance news at CHS for the month of March from Guidance Director, Dan Rubin

As the calendar turns to March, we look ahead to a number of important milestones and events (like maybe even the day when we might once again see grass!) Course Selection for 2015-2016 will take place, along with other transitional events. Our seniors move closer to graduation and their transition to life beyond high school. Our juniors will start to sharpen their vision for their post-secondary plans. Likewise we will host a workshop for parents of eleventh graders as they prepare to support their child’s journey. All of our students will eagerly anticipate the increased daylight and warmer weather that heralds the arrival of Spring.

Mr. Folan and I will host an informational evening all about the course selection process on Monday, March 16th. There will be a specialized presentation for parents of incoming 9th graders at 6:00 pm followed by a more general program for parents of current 9th-11th graders at 7:30. We will be available to answer your questions regarding the entire course selection process.

In order to make the course selection process as smooth as possible for every student we ask students and parents to consider seriously their choices and to realistically expect to remain in those classes and at those levels for the length of the course. Students must complete their course selections thoughtfully, because the enrollment tallies will drive our decision making in building the master schedule, and it will not be possible for students to make schedule changes once the master schedule is built. The timing of this process allows us access to accurate information as budget decisions are made for next year. Please be aware that students will select their courses on Wednesday and Thursday, March 18th and 19th. Verification sheets confirming courses and levels selected will be sent home by the first week in April, and any requests for changes must be received by Thursday, April 16th in order to be considered. Requests to change course selections will not be considered after April 16th.

Additionally, I wish to share the March portion of the MCAS testing schedule. The MCAS Calendar was pushed back one week due to all of the weather-related school disruptions. All sophomores and any juniors who have never taken any MCAS tests will take the English Language Arts portion of the Grade 10 MCAS on March 31, April 1, and April 2 (T,W,F). Tuesday and Thursday testing will take place during Second through fourth blocks, from 8:16 to 11:25. On Wednesday, the testing will begin at 8:16 and will run until 10:04. All of the testing is planned in such a way as to minimize missed class time.

Tuesday, March 31 

ELA: Reading Comprehension sessions 1 & 2  (8:16-11:25)

Wednesday, April 1

ELA: Reading Comprehension session 3 (8:16-10:04)

Thursday, April 2

ELA: Composition (8:16-11:25)

Students will be notified of the MCAS testing schedule and of their room assignments in advance of testing.

MCAS & MA State Frameworks with Common Core Information Session TONIGHT

This is just a reminder that TONIGHT at 7 p.m., the elementary principals, curriculum director and I will be providing an overview of the implementation of the Massachusetts State Frameworks with Common Core standards over the past three years as well as anticipated MCAS preparation for March.  Both of these topic overviews have been requested by our community.  This presentation will occur at the JFK Elementary School cafeteria. 

We hope you can join us.

Update on CPS Roofs

In light of events surrounding the Metropolis Skating Rink yesterday, I wanted to update you on where the school district is with regards to snow removal on our roofs.  Throughout the winter, especially over the past month, we have been working with the building commissioner to monitor the snow levels on our roofs.  Our maintenance team has spent time clearing drifts off our roofs and are continually monitoring the support structure below the roofs to gauge if/when there is any movement of note in the roofs. 

We brought in a structural engineer this weekend who has worked on our roofs over the years and has a strong understanding of each building’s roof envelope.  He spent yesterday and today assessing our roofs with our maintenance director.  He looked at all areas of the roofs, but paid close attention to the larger expanses such as the gym, library, auditorium and cafeterias at our schools.  He identified areas at various schools that had larger drifts or loads on the roofs and we worked all Sunday removing those areas of snow.  We had over two dozen workers clearing the areas identified by the engineer since 7:00 AM this morning and as of 6:00 PM tonight, all but one area cited has been addressed. 

The one space that could not be immediately addressed was the snow load that is on the lower roof above the GMS library.  While the engineer did not see any distress at all in the roof support, he noted that the load on the roof was substantial.  Due to the solar panels that are located on that section of the roof, removing the snow manually is not feasible.  While the engineer did not say it was mandatory, we have decided to err on the side of caution and we will keep the GMS library closed for at least three days to allow for some natural draining to occur with the warmer weather that is projected over the next few days.  We will reassess the roof before we re-open the library.

This has been an historic winter for snowfall and the maintenance and custodial team of the District, along with the town’s DPW, have done superb work in tackling the elements.  We need to be ever diligent however, and having the engineer assess our roofs and the additional workers clean off areas of our roofs this weekend were steps we felt were appropriate to ensure the safety of our students and staff.  We have communicated these steps with our building commissioner and fire chief and will continue to work with them in the coming days as we monitor all of these areas.

Thank you and have a good night.