A lot happens around our schools during the summer to make sure the buildings and staff will be ready to start a new year in September. Following two June meetings to finalize the details of Full-Day Kindergarten, the Education Committee will not hold formal meetings in July and August, but the administrative staff is hard at work preparing for the upcoming year.
Our business office personnel, facilities team, HR Department, principals and many other positions are year-round roles, and the summer months are opportune times for them to plan new initiatives, train staff, and complete building projects. Our cafeterias continue transitioning from Chartwells to Aramark, training staff and readying the school cafeterias.
Finance, Facilities, and Policy Committees all met in July, and our regular monthly Board meeting was held on July 18th.
As I mentioned in my first newsletter, my focus remains on three areas that have a profound impact on the quality of education, and on creating an overall great educational experience for our Council Rock students:
Educational Excellence
Student Well-Being
Communication
Here’s the July update:
Education
Council Rock has always supported ALL students. That’s also been a priority of mine. To that end, Council Rock offers an ESY or Extended School Year program for students with special needs who could benefit from additional classroom support over the summer. I joined Dr. Sanko and Mr. Anthony Devlin, Director of Special Services, for a tour of these programs on Monday, July 22. I met with many students and teachers, and saw the programs in action. My biggest takeaway was the hard work and dedication of teachers and teaching assistants in accommodating students with diverse learning needs. I really enjoy meeting students and teachers, and hearing about how their experience in Council Rock has been and ways we can improve. As a strong proponent of continuous improvement and professional development, I want to ensure that we provide the best programs for our teachers and students.
Student Well-Being
Out of concern for the mental health of our students, I’ve proposed a Student Well-Being Round Table with select middle and high school counselors, staff and students from our middle and high schools. I want to hear from them directly about the issues they see or encounter on a daily basis, and get their ideas on how our school board can work to address them. Planning for this round table will begin in the fall.
Communication
Our School Board remains active throughout the summer, and I encourage you to contact me directly with ideas or feedback. My email is tracey.osecki@crsd.org .
In the fall, we’ll continue to pursue these three initiatives in order to create a better educational experience for our students.
Hope your summer is in full swing, too!
Tracey