From Superintendent Andrew Melin, Ph.D. VCS Weekly Newsletter for the Week of January 31, 2011:
Central office response to teacher and parent concerns focuses on pace of change
Over the last several weeks, as our administrative team has been engaged in implementing several strategic plan academic initiatives, it has become apparent to us that concerns have arisen among teachers and parents.
As a result, our central office executive team has had the opportunity to listen to those concerns and re-evaluate the pace of which some initiatives are being implemented. We believe there are a couple of areas in which we can alleviate concerns immediately:
- There will not be any mandatory careers class offered either at the middle school or high school levels next school year. Our strategic plan includes an experiential learning advisory and that group will begin studying whether a career academy concept can be beneficial to VCS students in the future.
- Kindergarten specials, i.e., music, art, and physical education will not be eliminated next school year.
- There will not be a mandatory 60 minute math block at the elementary level next school year.
- Formative assessments in English at the high school level and in English and social studies in first through eighth grades will be piloted next school year and not be mandated.
Another major concern is reducing elementary recess by 15 minutes next year. With our late start Wednesdays next school year, we must reduce recess by 15 minutes on Wednesdays from 45- 30 minutes to meet state minimum instructional time requirements. The state minimum instructional elementary day is five hours excluding lunch and recess.
In the near future, we will communicate to all constituents the specific process we plan to utilize to assure strategic plan initiatives are thoroughly studied and discussed prior to implementation.
Our school board and central office team is committed to working with our teachers, parents, and community to make a positive difference in the life of each VCS student.
VCS News
Even though we are a month away from the ISTEP+ Writing Assessment for our 3rd-8th graders, it is never too early to begin preparing our students for this important assessment. More details will follow in future newsletters.
Important Dates:
- February 15 School Board Meeting
- February 18 Mid-Winter Break
- February 21 President’s Day (No School)
- February 28 ISTEP+ Writing Begins
VCS Standouts
Congratulations to the Northview Elementary Science Bowl team which finished as Class 4 State Champions in this year’s competition! The team of 4th& 5th graders is coached by teachers Kelley Jones and Natalie Thorgren. It was the fourth consecutive win for Northview. Central Elementary finished 9th in Class 4, and Flint Lake finished 3rd in Class 3. We are very proud of our students and staff for their outstanding showing.