January Newsletter
Building A Budget In Difficult Times
Building a school budget is always a challenging and interesting task, but this year the challenges have been more complex than ever. Our state is facing a deficit, we are battling the H1N1 pandemic, and many people in our community are without jobs. Meanwhile, a large number of Swanton families are affected by the recent deployment of our National Guard members to Afghanistan.
Still, the bell rings and the children come in the door – all 569 of them! Swanton educators welcome them, teach them, guide and support them during meal and recess time, provide nursing services, and offer art, music and physical education. We guide them in learning how to be responsible members of our community who are respectful and caring. We support parents and work closely with our PTO to provide enrichment and cultural opportunities. Our after school program has won statewide awards.
The Swanton Board and administration have worked very hard to build a budget that will allow us to continue our intensive efforts to improve our school through strengthening our curriculum, instruction, and assessment – the essential basics of a quality school. We have constructed a budget that will require belt-tightening, energy andpurchasing efficiencies, and effective educational practices that do not require an increase in books or supplies.
We have had requests from the community to increase our offerings and our responsibilities. These requests include expanding our support for the successful after school programs, expanding the full day kindergarten to include all children, and renewing the school’s commitment to operate a competitive after-school athletic program for fifth and sixth graders.
The Swanton Board of School Directors has met these requests, while continuing to plan carefully and strategically to maintain two school buildings, playgrounds, and school property. They have done so with an increase of less than 1%. Please go online at www.swantonschool.org to review the budget. If you have any questions, please contact one of your School Board members, or give me a call.
The Swanton community has a history of working together to support each other in good times and in tough times. These are tough times – we recognize that and appreciate your consideration of the school budget we’ve worked hard to prepare for your consideration.
Curriculum Updates
A major part of our Action and School Improvement plan involves asking teachers to work together to create curriculum units and common assessments. A well defined set of clear expectations about what our students should know, understand, and be able to do will strengthen our academic program and increase our achievement on the statewide NECAP test.
Teachers meet weekly to continue development of these units and common assessments. They look at the results of the assessments and ask themselves where they might have improved their instructional strategies to ensure success for all students. This is a big change for many of our teachers, who have worked for years in isolation.
The students are already reaping the rewards of this work. All second graders were excited to learn about force and motion by rolling toy jeeps down ramps – with little sheep on board! This unitconnected a popular story, “Sheep in a Jeep,” with a science concept. Fifth graders will be connecting their understanding of a biography with a study of human rights, while sixth grade students recently completed a study of cells, learning to use microscopes and prepare a presentation to their peers. These are just a few examples of the common curriculum development happening at every grade level in our school.
We also work closely with Mrs. Dena St. Amour and educators from the other elementary schools to ensure common approaches to math and writing, and Swanton representatives are working on Supervisory Union committees to finalize science and social studies curriculum for the entire district, grades K-12. We are excited about this work, as we know that by working together, all our students will benefit from consistency and coherence in the school.
We have so many exciting events at our school – from author visits, to drumming residencies, to visits from college professors exposing our older students to “college math!” Our newsletter can’t begin to keep you up to date with all that goes on – please visit the home page frequently for photos, updates, and new information about what happens here at school. The home page is www.swantonschool.org. If you ever shop at Amazon, shopping through the home page benefits our school with cash reimbursements direct from Amazon!
