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