Agawam Public Schools - Superintendent's Office

Summer greetings! I hope your summer has been an enjoyable and relaxing time spent with family and friends. I am sure students and their parents are anxiously awaiting opening day of the new school year, which will take place on Thursday, September 2^nd. Kindergarten and Pre-School Orientation will take place on September 7^th and 8^th and the first day of Pre-School and Kindergarten will be September 9^th.

Our success as a district is a reflection of the commitment to excellence from our teachers, administrators, and support staff in meeting the needs of the whole child. Last year, because of a decline in revenues at the national, state, and local levels, as well as no additional federal stimulus funds, we were faced with the daunting task of creating a budget that was below level funded, yet one that continues to provide a quality education for ALL children and maintains all staff, programs, and services. As you know, our motto is to “Put Children First,” and this goal will remain the backbone of our district.

Our theme for the 2010-2011 school year is “Rethink, Reinvent, and Rejoice.” Just as the 3 Rs of “Reading, ‘Riting, and ‘Rithmetic have changed over the years, so have state mandates, federal regulations, and realities. Especially now, during these difficult economic times, it is more important than ever to rethink, reinvent, and rejoice in what we do and who we are. When we “Rethink,” we make decisions based on data and student performance. Finding ways to achieve more with less becomes a goal for every teacher and administrator in our district. By “Reinventing” ourselves we question how we approach teaching and learning that will benefit ALL of our students. Finally, we need to “Rejoice” in who we are as educators, parents, students, and a community. Together we must remember to celebrate the small daily successes!

Effective leadership in challenging times forces difficult conversations and forces us to take a hard look at all programs. Our goal is that we must remain focused on moving ALL students to a higher level of achievement and narrowing the achievement gap. Even though we may be asked to do more with less, our defining moment may be how we succeed in these challenging times. We must embrace this challenge as an opportunity.

FY ‘11 School Budget

For the 2010-2011 school year, the Agawam Public Schools’ budget is below level funded in the amount of $33,909,498, which represents a -0.11% decrease from the previous FY’09 School Budget, which was $33,989,637. In addition, Agawam Public Schools will carry over $550,000 in federal stimululs funds for FY’11 and will receive $325,139 in State Fiscal Stabilization Funds for FY’11. Unfortunately, this one-time federal stimulus funding will no longer be available in FY’12, and thus, we will begin the 2010-2011 school year with a deficit of $875,139. The FY ’11 School Budget does not include any salary increases for any school employees.

I would like to sincerely thank the parents, teachers, and students who attended the Town’s June 21^st Public Hearing on the School Budget. I am grateful for the support of our schools that was demonstrated during this meeting. In a recent newspaper editorial, a statement was made that I believe “the schools are sacred.” That statement is true, and I will always place the educational welfare of students first. That is my role as your Superintendent of Schools and the district’s Chief Educational Officer. Our motto to “Put Children First” is not just three words on a page, but rather the foundation from which we make all our decisions as an administrative team. By working with and receiving support from parents, students, and the community, this district has made great strides during the past 9 years and is well recognized across the Commonwealth. I will continue to seek the support of all stakeholders and use all means available to me to protect our schools. Not to do so would be going against all the values I believe a school superintendent should hold dear. That being said, I also believe the schools should partner with the Town and look for ways to economize in these difficult financial times. When asked to reduce our budget, we cut 1 million dollars; yet we found creative ways to maintain all programs and services to students. We will continue to be creative and find the means to do more with less. The residents of Agawam take pride in their school system and are not willing to sacrifice offering a quality education to ALL students. My pledge is to be fiscally responsible and to move this district forward. I am so proud to be your Superintendent of Schools and am grateful to this community for supporting the schools and for its confidence in my leadership. It is only by working together will we be able to make Agawam Public Schools a premier school district worthy of state and federal recognition.

Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Grant Award

During the 2010-2011 school year, Agawam will be in the 2^nd year of this federal counseling grant. This grant continues to fund an additional three (3) elementary school counselors and one (1) social worker. As a result of the district’s initiative to implement the Massachusetts Model for Comprehensive School Counseling, Agawam High School received the national RAMP (Recognized ASCA Model Program) Award in July 2010 in Boston. Agawam was the first school district in Massachusetts to receive this prestigious and well-deserved award. This school year, the district will implement K-6 Data Success Teams, whereby teachers and school counselors will work together to review student data in order to identify at-risk students and provide early intervention services.

Massachusetts Math & Science Inititative (MMSI) Grant

I am extremely proud to announce that Agawam has been awarded this 3-year national and state grant in the amount of $392,900. This grant, funded by the National Math & Science Inititative, was developed to address the declining number of students who are not prepared to take rigorous college courses in mathematics and science. A partnership of private donors, led by ExxonMobil, provides funding to school districts as a way to change this trend. The primary goal of MMSI is to increase the number of students scoring three (3) or higher on a scale from one (1) to five (5) on the Advanced Placement exams. Funding from this grant will be used to provide teacher training, mentoring, awards, stipends, AP exam fees, as well as equipment and supplies for classrooms.

Project S.E.E./Enrichment Education

I am also pleased to announce that we will offer enrichment education to ALL students in grades K-6 beginning in September 2010. Prior to this, we only offered Project S.E.E. to students in grades 4, 5, and 6. Each school in grades K-6 will have a full time Enrichment Coach who will work together with students and the classroom teacher. Enrichment education will be offered to students during the daily Intervention/Enrichment Block in grades K-4 and during library media center and computer time at the Roberta G. Doering School. Our five (5) Enrichment Coaches participated in a week long, summer Confratute at UCONN where they learned how to infuse the curriculum with student engagement strategies that increase student achievement. This research based learning tool, entitled Renzulli Learning allows students to create their own profile with interests, take a virtual field trip to a museum, or interview a favorite author on the web without ever leaving the classroom. This resource engages students in activities uniquely aligned with their individual learning styles, expression styles, and ability levels. Through Renzulli Learning, parents will be encouraged to support achievement at home by accessing student portfolios and tracking student progress and activities. We encouarage parents to access the Renzulli Learning website at www.renzullilearning.com

Virtual On-line Learning

During the 2010-2011 school year, we will continue to offer virtual, online, learning courses for students at the Agawam Junior High School and at Agawam High School. On-line learning offers flexibility in time, place, and pace of instruction. It provides teachers the opportunity to create an instructional environment that adapts to students wherever and however they need to learn, such as at home or in school. Also, it encourages students to become responsible for their own learning; thereby, becoming independent learners who can take these technological tools, which will only become more prevalent in the 21^st Century, and utilize them to learn.

Edline at Agawam Junior High School

During the 2010-2011 school year, Agawam Junior High School will participate in a pilot, on-line teacher and parent communication program entitled Edline. This technology will make it easier to communicate the information parents need on a daily basis to guide their children, enrich their education, and become more effective partners working with the schools to raise student achievement. In addition, during these difficult financial times, this web-based program will reduce costs for paper, envelopes, stamps, and reduce wear and tear on copy machines. Parents will be provided a password-protected account, which will enable them to securely view progress reports, homework assignments, grades, and classroom content. Through Edline, teachers will be able to post content on their class pages and keep parents and students up-to-date about classroom activities, projects, homework, and tests.

Collaboration with Agawam Housing Authority

During the summer months, I have been working together with Ms. Maureen Cayre, Executive Director of the Agawam Housing Authority to develop an After-School Program for our students who reside at Brady Village. One of the unit apartments will be converted into a workspace where teachers and school counselors will work after school to provide tutoring and support to students and parents. We believe that this onsite, After-School Program will enrich the lives of our students by providing a safe, supportive, and strutured environment that will enhance student learning. The Department of Housing and Community Development supports this inititative and further encourages this collaboration between the community and school department.

Building a Bridge to 2015

Our School District Plan “Vision 2010” will expire in December 2010. Starting in July 2010 through December 2010, I will be engaging teachers, administrators, parents, students, school committee, city council members, and community members to partner with me in developing a 5-year plan entitled “Building a Bridge to 2015.” Included in this group will be the existing Long Range Planning Committtee comprised of the Mayor, School Committee members, City Council members, the Town Treasurer, and School Administrators. In order to gather input from all stakeholders, I will utilize an online, communication and survey tool called K-12 Insight. As part of this plan, all eight (8) schools will participate in a grade configuration utilization study to assess the educational and program needs of our students as well as the structural needs of our school buildings. This past spring our School Committee and City Council passed a resolution, which will allow me to submit a Statement of Interest to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA). The Statement of Interest (SOI) is NOT an application for funding and in no way commits the MSBA to provide funding to a school district. A Statement of Interest, once completed, will not incur any cost to the city, town or school district. It is merely a statement to identify the needs of a particular school or school district.

Summer Administrative Retreat

Our 9^th Annual Administrative Retreat took place during the week of August 23^rd through August 27^th. The administrative team met during the 5-day retreat to review the district priorities for the 2010-2011 school year, review preliminary MCAS Spring 2010 student results, prepare for the opening of schools, and share ways to build upon leadership capacity. During our retreat administrators participated in a half-day workshop with Dr. Rob Evans, a clinical and organizational psychologist and director of Human Relations Service in Wellesley, Massachusetts. In his book, “Seven Secrets of the Savvy School Leader,” he reports “School leaders today are working harder than ever, longer than ever, dealing with ever greater complexity, and sacrificing ever more of their personal and family time to their work. At the same time, they are subjected to increasing criticism, second-guessing, and unrealistic expectations.” Our workshop will focus on how can we make school leadership more doable and offer hope to both experienced and beginning school leaders.

Summary

It is with great pride and enthusiasm that we welcome back our students on Thursday, September 2, 2010. Our staff will be participating in a professional development day on Wednesday, September 1, 2010. Director of Building Maintenance, Anthony Albro, and his crews have been working diligently throughout the summer months to prepare our schools for opening day. Teachers, students, and parents at the Early Childhood will return to a new parking lot, which will ensure for a more safe traffic pattern. Also, teachers and students at the middle school will return to a new library media center, a new band room, an additional 2 new classrooms and a new school name, The Roberta G. Doering School. The Town of Agawam’s Building Maintenance Department takes a great deal of pride in their work, which is reflected in the outstanding appearance of our schools, as well as by comments made by the many visitors who enter our buildings. I would especially like to thank Tony and his crew.

As we look forward to another school year in Agawam, we begin so knowing that we are privileged to work with your children. With the start of what promises to be an exciting school year, I extend a special thank you to Agawam residents and parents, Mayor Richard A. Cohen, the Agawam School Committee, and the Agawam City Council for their unwavering support and commitment to the education of our children.

Yours in education,

Mary A. Czajkowski, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools