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May 2002
Board hires 3 administrators
Posted Thursday, May 30, 2002
BY GINA MACRIS
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE -- New positions focus on curriculum, middle school reorganization
The School Board filled some blanks in the evolving administrative structure surrounding Schools Supt. Diana Lam earlier this week with several appointments to new positions.
The board tapped the departing Jamestown superintendent, Frances Gallo, to lead a middle school reorganization.
And it named a Michigan woman with a track record for improving failing schools as one of two new executive directors of curriculum, instruction and professional development.
Cheryl L. King and Tomas Ramirez, also named executive director of curriculum, instruction and professional development, replace the single administrator in that post who resigned earlier this year to work at the University of Rhode Island.
Lam said that the amount of curriculum work and training has greatly expanded since a "very modest" effort was begun to retool the teaching of reading and writing at the elementary level in 1999.
The literacy initiative now spans kindergarten through grade 12, and the district is launching a similar effort in mathematics. Moreover, bilingual education is due for a review next fall, Lam said.
She said King and Ramirez bring "different sets of skills to the table."
King, who has spent much of her career in the public schools in Michigan, is responsible for turning around Flint's unaccredited, low-performing schools, Lam said.
For the last year, King has worked for a private firm that manages public schools, but has a "strong desire to return to public education in an urban system," Lam said.
She said she met King when Flint was one of four school districts awarded multimillion dollar grants by the Rockefeller Foundation. At the time, Lam headed the public schools in San Antonio, one of the grant recipients.
Ramirez is now director of science, one of several curriculum positions that are being eliminated under a revised organizational structure that concentrates authority with the two executive directors.
Formerly a middle school principal and a zone administrator, Ramirez also has experience designing bilingual and bicultural activities, which will be particularly relevant as bilingual education undergoes review, Lam said.
Ramirez will make $98,457 and King will be paid $98,157.
Frances Gallo was named director of middle-school level education to spearhead a reorganization of those schools as part of a long-term effort to prevent students from dropping out once they reach their 16th birthday.
The city's high schools began planning two years ago for a reorganization that went into place last fall. They divided themselves into small groups so teachers and students can develop personal relationships as an underpinning of improved academic performance.
Gallo has had strong support from parents in Jamestown, where she has overseen two schools covering kindergarten through grade 8 for the last five years.
In giving her notice in January, Gallo cited a lack of support from the Jamestown School Committee, which she said did not understand the education initiatives she has attempted to implement. Gallo will be paid $87,772.
Nancy Mullen, principal of Mount Pleasant High School, will transfer to Hope High School as a year-round principal, succeeding Harry Potter, a 10-month principal who was appointed director of dropout prevention earlier this year.
Lam said, "Hope has embarked on great ideas, and now they need a different level of leadership."
Mullen, one of the district's five lead principals, has led a number of innovations at Mount Pleasant.
"Nancy will bring expertise and energy to the challenging role of principal at Hope High School," Lam said.
As a year-round principal, Mullen will make $116,690.
MaryKay W. Schnare, a former school librarian and former Rhode Island Teacher of the Year, was named director of planning and improvement at a salary of $87,372.
Lam called her an "educator's educator" who has been involved with the state's academic improvement and accountability program since its inception.
As a strategic planning specialist for the last two years, Schnare has supervised the expediture of state funds linked to school accountability, Lam said.
The board also named Joseph A. Dufort, head of the science department at Classical High School, as director of the new Health Science & Technology High School. He will make $89,159 a year.
The health, science and technology high school, which opened last fall with about 70 ninth graders, is housed temporarily in the city-owned Fogarty Building, at 111 Fountain St., along with the Providence Academy of International Studies. In about a year, both specialized programs are expected to move into a new high school at Prairie and Thurbers Avenue on the South Side.
Board OKs 'compromise' summer school
Posted Wednesday, May 29, 2002
05/29/2002
BY GINA MACRIS
Journal Staff Writer
For this year only, the School Board will allow students with averages as low as zero to participate, as long as they have not missed more than 30 days during the regular term.
PROVIDENCE -- After the third debate in as many months, the School Board last night found a way to resolve -- at least temporarily -- the debate over opening summer school to students who failed to show much effort during the regular academic term.
The compromise was offered by board member Leonard Lopes, who said he was torn between conflicting views of the change as either a giveaway or an opportunity to work hard.
Lopes offered an amendment that lets all failing students into summer school this year only.
Then the school administration should conduct a qualitative and quantitative review of the data on this year's summer school students to see what effect the change has, Lopes said.
Earlier in the evening, the School Board was presented a petition signed by 560 secondary school teachers who urged it to keep the current policy,
That policy allows students to attend summer school only if they have averages ranging from 50 to 59 and miss no more than 40 days of class during the regular school year
The experimental change opens summer school to students who have averages as low as zero, as long as they have not missed more than 30 days of class.
Phil DeCecco, president of the Providence Teachers Union, who presented the petition to the board, said teachers don't oppose changing the summer school policy but simply "would like to be part of the process."
For the last three months, he has argued that opening the door wider to summer school sends the wrong message; that students can ignore teachers' standards during the regular term and suffer no consequences.
Lopes said he found that argument "very compelling."
Board member Makna Men agreed. Students have "182 days to learn," he said. "If the students are failing, we can intervene at that time, not in the summer."
Deputy Schools Supt. Melody A. Johnson said that statistics collected about students who have attended summer school under the current policy indicate that about half of them who passed went on to be successful at higher-level courses in the same subject in subsequent years.
Johnson said that "until we can provide adequate support and intervention, then we have to be advocates for our students and make sure they have the opportunity to be successful."
'There's no guarantee if they go to summer school that they are going to pass," Johnson said, although almost all do.
Schools Supt. Diana Lam indicated that the chance to attend summer school is one hedge against the sense of hopelessness that prompts failing students to drop out.
While comprehensive efforts to improve literacy and math skills will curb the dropout rate in the long run, she said, the district must have more immediate interventions aimed at keeping the current generation of high school students.
And liberalizing the entrance requirements for summer school is just one of those supports, Lam said.
PROTEUN - May 2002
Posted Tuesday, May 28, 2002
Job Sharing
Sean Manchester, a social worker at Alfred Lima Elementary and Roger Williams Middle School, would like to share his position, or another, for the "02-"03 school year. He prefers to keep the medical package but is willing to negotiate. Sean may be contacted at Lima (278-0505), at Williams (456-9352) or at home
(331-3032).
Correction: The home phone listed for Patricia Ballestra in the April PROTEUN should have been 934-0672.
LOST & FOUND
Following the membership meeting at the Convention Center on April 30, a pair of glasses and a woman's raincoat were found. These items may be claimed at the Union office.
PTU 40-Week Club
The $25 winners in the monthly drawings for April and May are Jane Forbes and Jeff Cameron (Perry), Pat Moriarty (Bridgham), Dominic Yves Herard (Feinstein), Maggie Walsh (Williams), Lou Joseph and Karen O'Donnell (Perry) and Victor Guzman (Feinstein).
The winners of the "special" drawings announced at the Venus DeMillo are David Jones of Feinstein Elementary at Broad ($50), Martha Lawson of DelSesto Middle ($50), Melissa Silvia of Hope High ($100), Sue Waters of Laurel Hill Elementary ($250) and Shirley Johnson of Hope (the grand prize of $999).
Melissa Silvia was also the winner of $400 in the "50/50" drawing also held at the banquet
Congratulations to these 40-Week Club members and to Yaremi Grullon (Feinstein), April Whiting (Classical) and Alexander Kratik (Hope) as the recipients of the $500 college scholarships awarded to deserving high school seniors.
PTU SCHOLARSHIPS
Congratulations also to Angela Williams (Perry) and Valerie Allison-Davis (Mt. Pleasant) on winning $500 PTU college scholarships for their respective children:
Jayme Williams
David Allison
SUMMER COURSE: TECHNOLOGY FOR TEACHERS
Verizon-Bryant College Telecommunications Center is offering a summer class (Technology for Teachers) which will run during four weeks at its Smithfield campus beginning on July 8, 2002. A project involving students, curriculum and technology is the main requirement. Tentative scheduling is for classes to run Monday-Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., with project development built in. This course will offer 3 graduate credits and cost $75.00. Interested teachers may obtain further information by contacting Verizon-Bryant at (401)-232-0220 or by e-mail at verizon@bryant.edu.
ESEA WORKSHOP
Colleen Callahan of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Care Professionals (RIFTHP) will be presenting a workshop explaining the new federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 6, 2002 at Bridgham Middle School. Teachers interested in attending this workshop should notify Ruth or Ellie at the Union office (421-4014) or register on-line at www.proteun.org within the Professional Development section. Registration deadline: June 3, 2002
SPECIAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Wednesday, June 5, 2002
3:30 p.m.
Bridgham Middle School Cafeteria
1655 Westminster Street
AGENDA
1.Vote on 182 and 230 day school calendars for 2002-2003 Academic Year
2.Other Business
Bally Total Fitness
Special Corporate Discount for Providence Teachers
25% off regular membership
Enjoy one free week at the North Providence or East Providence location. You must show proof of employment as a Providence teacher at the site. To receive the special corporate discount membership you must enroll with a Bally's representative at the Providence Teachers Union office.
Enrollment Dates:
Monday, June 17 Tuesday, June 25
Tuesday, June 18 Wednesday, June 26
Thursday, June 20 Thursday, June 27
Time: 2:45 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on all days. Appointments will be on a first come first serve basis.
1st ANNUAL PTU FAMILY DAY PICNIC
The PTU's Activities Committee has organized a Family Day Picnic as its first project in offering opportunities for the membership to relax and unwind in social settings.
Date: Sunday, June 23, 2002
Time: 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Location: Goddard State Park, Sites 66-79
The Union will supply the hamburgers, hot dogs and buns.
Teachers are invited to provide side dishes, beverages and snacks as well as games and activities for adults & children.
Please sign-up with your building delegate by Tuesday, June 11th.
Classical graduates gain wide acceptance
Posted Thursday, May 23, 2002
BY GINA MACRIS
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE -- If college acceptance is any sign that a high school works its students hard, Classical can boast more high-profile results this year than in the last decade or more.
Classical's 278 graduating seniors have accepted offers from Brown, Bryn Mawr, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Swarthmore, Tufts, Vassar, Wesleyan and Yale, among others, according to Principal John Short.
"We've hit all those schools but not all in the same year," Short said. In addition, he said, this year's class is pulling in about $4 million in financial aid, topping last year's total figure of $3.5 million.
Classical, one of only four high schools in the state categorized as high-performing by the state Department of Education, is also the only high school in the city which requires students to apply for admission.
In the last couple of years, Short said, 97 percent of the graduating class has gone on to college, and he expects that figure to hold this year.
"It's a good class," Short said. "They've done very well."
But he also said he feels the students had access to opportunities at Classical that they wouldn't be getting elsewhere.
"We believe this has to do with a rigorous program," he said.
"At times, people question the rigor," Short said, but one sign of stepped-up expectations is the fact that the number of Advanced Placement courses jumped from 10 last year to 17 this year and the number of AP exams given more than doubled, from 200 to 401.
Although scholars have criticized AP courses as too shallow to give students mastery of particular subject areas, the Advanced Placement program, an arm of the College Board, is still the nation's most popular accelerated curriculum for high school students.
It allows students to obtain college credit for particular courses, depending on their scores in accompanying exams.
Short said he feels the AP courses at Classical prepare students for the rigors of college.
The push on expanding AP offerings stems from a districtwide effort to personalize education and raise standards, in all schools and at all grade levels, Short said, even though the targets may differ from one building to another.
Other indicators of improving performance at Classical are the results of statewide exams in seven categories in the 10th grade.
In a three-year span, from 1999 to 2001, there have been significant gains in mathematical concepts, problem-solving and writing effectiveness.
The proportion of students who met or exceeded the standards jumped from 37 percent to 50 percent in math concepts and from 25 percent to 41 percent in problem-solving, according to statistics kept by the state Department of Education.
Similarly, those students meeting or exceeding the standards in writing effectiveness leaped from 27 percent in 1999 to 48 percent in 2001.
"It's a nice rise in writing effectiveness," he said. "That's really where the rubber meets the road. You want the [writing] conventions, but we want kids to write a persuasive essay," he said.
Short said that professional development he has received during the last three years has made him "very comfortable" helping classroom teachers hone skills in teaching literacy, even though he never taught English himself.
Short, a former math teacher, said he believes most principals need additional professional development before they feel comfortable guiding teachers in mathematics, the challenge next in line.
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