By Jennifer Marino
For one thing, many of the buildings have been spruced up. Floors have been waxed and ceiling tiles have been replaced.
Also getting some sprucing is the district's curriculum. Last year saw the first all-day kindergarten and over the summer that curriculum has been refined along with that of the first grade to accommodate the children who graduated from all-day kindergarten. Science and math curriculums at the elementary level have been worked on, too.
New at the elementary level in fifth grade is foreign language. The class will explore three languages: Spanish, French and Italian. The children will learn the same words and phrases in each language and they will learn about the three cultures. Then in middle school they will choose one language to study.
At the high school there will be a new International Baccalaureate class, film studies for grade 12. The class exists in grade 11 and this will be a continuation of it. Several other curriculum revisions were made to IB History, IB Psychology, Economics, English and Astronomy.
The student research manual was also revised this summer for grade 5 through 12, updating bibliographic formats. A section about science research was added due to the increasing number of students participating in science research competitions such as Intel.
All curriculums offer a common knowledge base, according to Assistant Superintendent Delia Garrity. Many teachers from different buildings and different grade levels helped write the curriculums. It's really a terrific guide for [teachers], said Garrity.
School administrators are also concerned with the fact that enrollment is up. Superintendent Dr. William Johnson said it is one of the challenges that will face the district in this coming year. For the most part there is no space left in the schools, particularly the high school. Dr. Johnson said there will have to be a public discussion of the issue sometime this year.
The implementation of the new Regents diploma, which requires students to pass five Regents, and the phasing out of the local diploma is another challenge. This year's sophomores are the first kids that all have to strive for the Regents diploma. By the end of this year those students will have taken three Regents and the school will have an idea of who will need help to graduate on time.
