Gracious donations to South School
Published on February 13th, 2008
STONEHAM, MA - South School PTO co-presidents Andrea Gustin and Karen Rondeau, as well as Principal Nick Leonardos welcomed the School Committee to the Summer Street School for its meeting last Thursday.
Following an update of school activities, enrichment programs, and fundraisers, Leonardos let the committee in on a couple of donations that have helped the school enhance curriculum amidst tight fiscal times.
Stoneham Stop&Shop Customer Service Manager Jandelle Council, on behalf of Store Manager Ed Attubato, announced the store's donation of $4,320 again this year to fund an after school homework help club for students in grades 3 through 5. The program, which has been in place for several years, provides students with an hour of homework assistance from a staff member three days a week after school.
"It's our responsibility, we feel, to reach out to the community. Anytime you are in need of things, we are in this community to help out...don't hesitate to give us a call," said Council.
Another recent donation has been made possible by South School parent Susan Newcomb who works for the Federal Aviation Administration in Burlington, an organization that has generously donated used computers that will replace aging computers in South School's computer lab and classrooms. South School has the oldest computers in the elementary system since it was the first school built on the elementary school rebuilding project.
The School Committed gratefully approved both donations.
Kindergarten registration is ongoing for next year and so far, the numbers are down from the current year.
According to School Superintendent Dr. Les Olson, the number of registered kindergarteners for next fall currently stands at 166, well below the current year actual enrollment of 209. At this point in the registration process last year, 187 students were enrolled, so the number is expected to rise. But Olson added that statewide, Kindergarten enrollments are declining and Stoneham expects to see the same trend.
Students must be age 5 by August 31 to enroll in Kindergarten. Letters will be sent out to families with Kindergarten age children, according to last year's town census, who have yet to register.
In other news, the state has once again been up to changing standards with no discussion of funding for the newest requirements it will impose on school districts.
The latest obligation Stoneham and all other cities and towns in Massachusetts will be taking on for next year is a change to the MCAS graduation requirements. Beginning with the class of 2010, students who score in the Needs Improvement category in English/Language Arts and Math will not pass the MCAS test and must be placed on an educational plan to correct the deficiency in their junior and senior years.
These students will not, however, be required to retake the exam.
Students scoring between 220 and 240 will no longer be considered passing in these two subject areas, said Assistant School Superintendent Ann Patriquin. Stoneham must provide courses, materials, and assessments for these students to prove their proficiency in the subject matter during their next two years of high school.
"Needs Improvement is no longer ok," Patriquin said, adding that naturally, such measures have budget implications for the school system, and the state has offered no funding for this requirement.
"There is nothing we can do about till the fall when we get the results, but we're no longer dealing just with kids who failed."
To no one's surprise, a report published recently by the Massachusetts Department of Education on the current fiscal condition in the state's school districts is not full of good news.
"Unlike the situation in the late 1980's with school budgets were proportionately affecting the poorer, urban districts, today's fiscal pressures appear to be affecting a much broader range of districts, including many middle class communities that have traditionally taken great pride in the quality of their school systems," Olson read from the report.
But Olson said that there is an upside to the otherwise dismal report. For years since its inception, Education Reform pitted districts against one another over decreasing state and federal funding. Now, however, districts are coming together demanding that the broken system be fixed.
"It looks like people have stopped fighting each other and are coming together for a common solution," Olson said.
Soley encouraged School Committee members to send the first two pages of the DOE's report to state legislators to let them know that school districts are well aware of what the DOE is saying about the status of education funding in Massachusetts, and encourage them to do their part to help fix the system.
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