HIGHLIGHTS Chappaqua Central School District January 2018

A message from the Superintendent I hope 2018 got off to a terrific start for you and your family. I was so glad to see that students and staff have picked up right where they left off, fully engaged in the active, constructive, empowering and reflective process of teaching and learning. In this issue, I would like to share one of our recent book study experiences, which firmly connects to the Chappaqua Central School District’s commitment to project-based learning and to our Board of Education’s Teaching and Learning Strategic Question, “How can the District ensure that all students think deeply, support their thinking, apply problem-solving skills, and actively participate in their learning as they acquire content knowledge?” This past December, our administrators had the opportunity to participate in an author visit with Warren Berger. Warren Berger is a Westchester native who penned the book, A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas. As one of our three administrative book studies for this school year, A More Beautiful Question articulates the critical connection between questioning and innovation. A beautiful question is defined by Berger as one that is ambitious yet actionable, a question that begins to shift the way we perceive or think about something—and that might also serve as a catalyst to bring about change. “Beautiful questions are beautiful, in part, because they defy easy answers. They must be considered, explored, grappled with, and pursued over time.” Throughout his work, Berger writes about his research with leading innovators. He shares how they possess “a knack for looking at the world around them, at the existing reality that everyone else usually just accepts, and asking: What if we did this? Or tried that?” His examples of how innovators engage in the process and the outcomes that result are fascinating. One includes how a 3-year-old’s question to her father while on vacation, “Why do we have to wait to see the picture?” resulted in this parent’s creation of the Polaroid Instant Camera. Another is from Reed Hastings, the founder of Netflix, who asked himself after a poor rental experience, “What if video rental businesses ran like a health club, with a monthly membership fee but no late fees?” Berger also cautions us and his broader audience, sharing that many children start out asking hundreds of questions a day, but as they enter school this questioning “falls off.” He shares that as we make our way through the world, we find that emphasis begins to focus on short-term answers rather than exploring more far-reaching, potentially transformational ideas. He then offered five ways that we, as educators, can help students become better questioners: 1. Make It Safe: Many kids won’t raise their hand in front of the whole class to ask a question because they’re shy or nervous. But a student may be willing to ask questions in a smaller group or to write a question down. 2. Make it Cool: Berger suggests convincing kids that good questions lead to cool stuff and make the world a better place. 3. Make It Fun: Turning questioning into a game can be a great way to make the process more lighthearted. 4. Make It Rewarding: When students venture a deep question, they commonly hear, “That’s a great question, let’s move on.” But an educator’s genuine interest in the question will be much more powerful than any praise. 5. Make It Stick: Questioning has to be a regular part of the school day for it to become a student habit. I would also like to note that it was affirming for our team to hear Warren Berger stress the importance of having a system of inquiry to guide students through the process of innovative questioning. Chappaqua Central School District DESIGN PROCESS Developed by faculty, staff and administrators to both align and scaffold our process K-12.

In Chappaqua, we take pride in developing young minds that will create, innovate and question the world around us. We will continue to learn from experts how to improve and enhance our District practices so that we are meeting and even, hopefully, exceeding the needs of our students each day in our District. Sincerely, Christine

District kicks off Strategic Coherence Planning process The Chappaqua Central School District is collaborating with Jonathan Costa, Assistant Executive Director of EdAdvance, to shape the strategic coherence planning process that will result in a focused and aligned community vision of student success beyond school. Please click HERE to watch his November 15 presentation to the Board of Education. On December 13, Costa met with the Strategic Coherence Planning team--a representative group of parents, students, teachers, staff, administrators, and Board of Education members--to officially get things underway. The first step is to have the team build a consensus regarding the critical skills and attributes that we, as a school community, believe are most essential to future accomplishment and then refer to those skills and attributes to guide the District’s planning and decision making. Strategic Coherence Planning Process I II III IV V

Commit to Data Scan Results Analysis Focus Setting Aligning Actions Principles of With Strategic Coherence Planning Internal & External Identifying patterns Identify priority Focus and priorities strategic actions - Focus Performance and - Actions - Connect alignment of Defining the gap Indicators of success - Outcomes - Mission/Beliefs foundational and between desired and - Timelines - Leverage Skills supporting systems current state - Responsibilities of student learning - Innovation Configuration Mapping

Philosophy Practice

Invitation to participate In order to involve as many constituents as possible in this process, you are invited to contribute your thoughts to a community conversation on this topic. Using a platform called Thoughtexchange, you will have the opportunity to share your thoughts, read those of other participants, and assign “stars” (from a low of 1 to a high of 5) to show how important each idea is to you. In addition, you will have a chance to discover the top-rated thoughts in the conversation, and to visit the site often and add more comments throughout the process. About this process: 1. It could take you as little as 5-10 minutes to participate. 2. You can complete questions at your own pace and come back to review your answers at any time. Please click HERE to get started. The exchange will be open until 5pm on Tuesday, January 16. (If you need technical assistance, please call Thoughtexchange at 1-800-361-9027 ext. 4 or email [email protected].) The District hopes you will contribute to this interactive experience to help ensure that it reflects the values and aspirations of the entire community while providing outstanding learning opportunities for all students. The target is to present a strategic coherence plan to the Board of Education in the late spring or early summer.

Grafflin students wonder about things Last year, Margaret Salmore, a second-grade teacher at Grafflin, attended a TC Calendar Day workshop facilitated by Kristin Ziemke, author of the book Amplify! Digital Teaching and Learning in the K-6 Classroom. In her book, she suggests using websites such as www.wonderopolis.org and videos from the SciShow Kids Youtube channel to provide students with opportunities to pair text, images and media to enhance the reading experience. Margaret chose to introduce this idea of digital media during a recent non-fiction reading unit. “At first, I just posed A Wonder of the Day during our morning meeting time and it led to a great discussion,” Margaret explained. “We did a lot of shared reading where I explicitly taught students how to navigate the digital texts and images as well as glean important information from some educational videos.” Students were highly engaged and loved Wonderopolis, so much so that they even started coming in with their own wonderings to post on the wall. Then they started researching each other’s wonderings and started taking the lead in their own learning. Topics included Why does Swiss cheese have holes? Why do King Cobras have a hood? and Why are flamingos pink? Their work complemented the non-fiction unit, which asks the questions What do you notice? What do you wonder? and What did you learn? Students then began to write and draw detailed pictures of what they learned and displayed their work to share their learning with others. At one point a student asked, “Is this reading, writing or science?” to which Margaret responded, “It’s learning!”

Bene factum, Michelle Ramahlo! Well done Michelle Ramahlo! A Latin teacher at Seven Bridges Middle School, Michelle was recently elected Secretary of the American Classical League (ACL), a national group whose purpose is to initiate, improve and extend the study of classical languages and civilizations in North America, supplement and reinforce the activities of other classical organizations, and advance and articulate the cause of a broad liberal-arts education. During her two-year term, Michelle is charged with maintaining an up-to-date membership list of The American Classical League, keeping and distributing the minutes of the annual open meeting at ACL Institute to the ACL office and Board of Governors and making the minutes available to the membership at large. She will also keep and distribute minutes of the Board of Governors meetings to the ACL office and Board members, and fulfill other such duties as may be specified in the bylaws. Michelle previously served as chair of Excellence Through Classics, a standing committee of the ACL, and chair of the ad hoc Committee on the Executive Director Position, and in 2015, was selected by the Classical Association of the Atlantic States as a “CAAS Leadership Initiative Grant Partner,” a 3-year program that fosters contact between Latin teachers and CAAS leadership in support of pre-collegiate level Latin programs.

All-Athlete Walk raises $18,000 in honor of Casey Taub Thank you for supporting the Greeley Sports Boosters and Greeley athletes in their efforts to raise awareness and funds for The Gardner Marks Foundation and The Making Headway Foundation. Both local organizations support the adolescent/young adult community fighting cancer and brain tumors. The funds raised support research and help individual families directly by offering financial and emotional assistance. Over the past 4 years, with the hard work of Greeley athletes from all seasons, this Sports Boosters sponsored event has raised close to $75,000.

See you next fall!

Fall Sports Awards (correction) FIELD HOCKEY Golden Dozen Award: Willa Kuhn, Lauren Neff, Jessica Rosendorf

Bell students spread some holiday cheer This year’s Bell Holiday Drive took place from December 4-8. The Student Leadership Council collected toys donated by grades 5-7 for the Ossining Children’s Center and Neighbor’s Link, while the eighth grade donated pajamas for the older kids at the Community Center of Northern Westchester. Students were encouraged to think of a way they could actively participate in this project, whether it was using their own money to make a toy/pajama donation, or performing their own act of kindness at home. This was a great opportunity to help make kids’ lives a little brighter this holiday season.

Seven Bridges celebrates diversity Students at Seven Bridges celebrated International Day on December 8. International Day was a collaboration of parent volunteers, students, administrators and staff organized by the PTA’s and school’s International Day Committees and the World Language department. The idea behind International Day is to celebrate ethnic diversity by exposing students to different countries and their cultures, and involving students involved in different hands-on learning activities. The school-wide event featured classroom presentations, cultural arts and crafts, films, dancing and plenty of food representing the diverse backgrounds of staff, students and their families. Middle School World Language Philosophy Language and communication are at the heart of the human experience. Through language, we identify the world around us, express our concerns and dreams, and share our experiences and ideas. The study of a world language and culture allows students to communicate successfully in a pluralistic American society and abroad. It increases students’ adaptability to different environments and helps students increase their sensitivity to, and understanding of, the language, values, customs and traditions of others. Three language choices are offered to incoming students at the middle school level--French, Latin and Spanish. It is important to note that language choice is a 4-year commitment, with students starting their language study in 5th grade and continuing their study of that same language throughout 6th, 7th and 8th grades. Although not part of the team structure, the world language class meets all year, just like the team subjects.

CCSD selected for computer science education strategic planning opportunity The global economy is rapidly shifting, and educators, policy makers, families and business leaders are increasingly recognizing that computer science (CS) is a “new basic” skill necessary for economic opportunity and social mobility. The Computer Science for All (CSforAll) Consortium, launched as a nation-wide initiative out of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in 2016, has partnered with New York University to support districts’ plans around CS education. Specifically, to help districts coordinate vision, implementation and curriculum decisions around CSforAll. Its aim is to empower all students, from kindergarten through high school, to learn computer science and be equipped with the computational thinking skills they need to be creators in the digital economy, not just consumers, and to be active citizens in our technology-driven world. On December 12, it was announced that a team comprised of leadership CSforAll, New York University, Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga Boces and Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES selected the District to participate as a Pixel Movers member in the strategic planning process led by CSforAll. Pixel Movers is the designation used for districts wanting to go a little deeper and are ready to begin forming leadership teams that develop CSforAll implementation plans. The Pixel Movers option provides a level of basic implementation assistance through a two-day professional development visioning and planning workshop. These teams will also commit to participate in limited research around their implementations, and will be supported to collect interim formative data that the research team will then share back to support ongoing planning and development. “Our participation will enable the District to build upon its already robust computer science curriculum,” said Christine Ackerman, Superintendent of Schools. “We will soon be at the point where CS is as commonplace as reading and writing within the course of a student’s school day.”

District delegation presents at learning spaces conference In October, a group of teachers and administrators, including Jacqueline Abair, Paul Bianchi, Jessica Marchetti, Lauralyn Stewart and Thomas Witmer, presented to a group of 100 architects and educators at The Association for Learning Environments: 2017 LearningSCAPES Conference in Atlanta. Their presentation, Modern“ Instructional Mindsets, Modern Learning Spaces: When Learning Needs Drive Design Decisions,” highlighted their respective experiences with flexible spaces, active student-centered classrooms, collaborative workspaces and classroom redesign. Each colleague shared professional stories and photographs, and described students’ work in the context of the District’s ongoing study of the interdependent relationship between space and curriculum design. The CCSD team also discussed the importance of professional development in this type (l to r: Marchetti, Witmer, Bianchi, Abair, and Stewart) of inquiry. They emphasized the value of ongoing and transparent conversations among architects, teachers, administrators and community members throughout the design process. During the conference, the group also had opportunities to learn about projects in districts throughout the country and how different organizations are creating innovative spaces for students. It was truly a great learning experience all around!

Roaring Brook students unmask the magic “The first-graders are always so excited to see a magic trick take place right before their eyes, so I thought, why not let them do a magic trick,” explained Art teacher Bracken Feldman. First, she described the term symmetry as having balanced proportions in relation to size, shape and relative position of parts on opposite sides of a dividing line or median plane. Then, armed with only a paintbrush, black paint and white paper, Bracken asked students to name any type of line for her to paint. After painting that line, she folded the paper in half and rubbed her hand over the line. When she opened the paper, a symmetric line magically appeared on the other side of the folding line. Students then had the opportunity to work their magic by painting symmetrical faces of monsters, animals or people—whatever their imagination held.

#GreeleyMingles Students consistently identify the cafeteria as a place in their school where divisions are clearly drawn. With its fresh take on mix-it-up day, Greeley recently held a #GreeleyMingles event that had students step out of their comfort zones and connect with someone new over lunch. Coordinated by the Office of Student Life and co-sponsored by the Greeley PTA, the goal was to promote healthy, welcoming school environments because when students interact with those who are different from themselves, biases and misconceptions can fall away. “The cafeteria became blue and orange tabletops and blended students in unique ways, whether they knew each other or not,” reported Principal Robert Rhodes. “Even after lunch, the palpable energy carried on throughout the day with more students really talking with each other in classes, initiating conversations in the hall, calling out to one another, and just saying hello.” Faculty took up the challenge too and filled the staff lounge, spilled into the cafeteria, nested in L-building side rooms, and some departments moved in a pack, mingling with anyone they did not know well. Students then met in small groups the next day to process and discuss the new experience.

Innovative learning at Westorchard At the December 6 Board of Education meeting, Principal James Skoog, and teachers Erin Posner (grade 4), Tom Williams (P.E.), and Sara Cury (Art) shared some of the different ways innovative teaching and learning was happening at Westorchard Elementary School. Westorchard opened its doors in 1971 and was built using the open school concept. “Many of the walls are accordion-style and can be opened up to adjoin classrooms, or there are doors between classrooms, so students and teachers can collaborate,” Jim explained. “The school’s infrastructure and footprint are perfect for what we are moving into in terms of creating spaces for students.” Right now, there are two redesigned common areas and a makerspace with soft seating, adjustable tables, stools, chairs with wheels, display monitors, moveable whiteboards and learning nooks, all in an effort to provide students with the freedom of space, time and choice to create individually or in groups. Sara Cury described how she is able to use the makerspace to provide an active learning environment where students are able to collaborate, create and communicate in order to make sense of the world around them. She then gave examples of some interdisciplinary projects students have worked on: Kindergarteners using markers and coffee filters to learn about chromatography,st 1 -graders using pattern blocks to create a building or design part of a city after studying geometric shapes and discussing a famous piece of artwork by Paul Klee, and 3rd-graders developing a filtration system after studying a water cycle unit in science. Erin Posner detailed how she incorporates in her class the seven habitudes--Imagination, Curiosity, Self- Awareness, Adaptability, Perseverance, Courage, and Passion--from the book, Classroom Habitudes: Teaching Habits and Attitudes for 21st-Century Learning by Angela Maiers. Erin introduces a hands-on, interactive project to help students better understand the benefits and importance of each habitude, and not just for the fourth grade, but for life. Recently, her class held an “Imagination Tank” (similar to the TV show, “Shark Tank”) to help define imagination. Using the Chappaqua Design Process as a guide, students began the 5-phase process of brainstorming, planning, building/creating/making, presenting, and reflection to design a product or create a business. Tom Williams then focused on how STEAM education is being integrated into physical education. Asking the question, “How can I give students a better understanding of what they can to do to keep physical fitness in their lives outside of typical organized sports?”, Tom collaborated with Sara to have students build a 3D model of an obstacle course. He then was able to choose different components to set up an actual obstacle course in the gym. Click HERE to watch the entire 50-minute presentation.

Vaping, Juuling, and E-Cigarettes What You Don’t Know Can Hurt Your Kids While adolescents are well versed in vaping lingo, many are not well educated on the health risks those devices present. In addition, there is a further knowledge gap between what kids know and what parents know. Thursday, January 18th 7pm Horace Greeley High School Auditorium Save the date for an informative presentation about vaping presented in collaboration between New Castle United For Youth (NCUFY), the Chappaqua Central School District, the Chappaqua PTA, Town of New Castle and Northern Westchester Hospital Center.

In the meantime, please visit the Parent Toolkit section of NCUFY’s website for more information.

Greeley student wins 2017 KHREF Essay Contest Congratulations Luke Mozarsky, winner of this year’s Kemper Human Rights Education Foundation (KHREF) essay contest. His entry, “Addressing the Balance of Human Rights in Today’s Society,” was selected as the best among 114 submissions from around the U.S. A student in Mary Devane’s Global Studies class, Luke responded to the KHREF question, “How would you respond to the argument that in calling for banning refugees from Muslim countries from traveling to the United States, deporting undocumented immigrants, and bringing back waterboarding, President Trump is ensuring that every citizen’s “right to life, liberty and security of person” is enforced?” “I was excited to write this essay because I think enforcing international human rights law around the world is an extremely important issue in our world today,” Luke said. “It is something that must be recognized and applied by major political leaders around the world, especially by our own.” At Greeley, Luke also is a member of the Mock Trial Club, the Investment Club, and plays on the JVA Soccer Team. He is looking forward to trying out for the varsity Tennis team this spring.

(l to r: Mary Devane, KHREF VP Yvonne Lopaur, Luke Mozarsky, KHREF President Paul Canto, Principal Robert Rhodes)

Students participate in fourth annual Hour of Code On December 1, the Chappaqua PTA STEM Committee hosted its fourth annual computer programming event at Seven Bridges Middle School. What began as a 60-minute challenge to give students a fun, first look at computer science has become a global learning event and celebration. One goal of Hour of Code was to raise awareness of, and to broaden participation in, the field of computer science while at the same time demystifying “code” to show that anybody can learn the basics. “In Chappaqua, as we embark on building our new instructional spaces, we also are building upon our skills- based curriculum,” said Josh Culwell-Block, Director of Technology and Innovation. “Among other attributes, computer coding requires focus and persistence--skills needed no matter where life takes you--and we are partnering with the CSforAll Consortium to integrate elements of computer science into our STEAM subject areas.” For some, this was their introduction to coding, and for others, it was an opportunity to take a risk and learn something new. SPECIAL THANKS... To Lori Morton. This event would not have happened without her incredible efforts in organizing the evening. To Coditum.com for providing additional coaching and event volunteers this year. To Ruchir Puri, a District parent and IBM Watson Fellow, for delivering this year’s keynote address on artificial intelligence.

“Programming is going to become as basic as reading and writing. You are the generation who are going to carry us forward into the next era.”

“Computer vision has gotten to the point where you can just put in an image, and the computer can tell you what it is. It’s phenomenal.”

Alumni news Following a rigorous and highly competitive selection process, the British Government recently announced that David Shimer (‘14) was one of only 43 outstanding students from across the United States to receive a 2018 Marshall Scholarship Award. He will be taking up degree courses at the University of Oxford beginning in September 2018. “I’m proud to congratulate the recipients of this year’s Marshall Scholarship, who represent the brightest young minds and leaders the U.S. has to offer”, said Sir Kim Darroch, British Ambassador to the United States. “For over six decades, the Marshall Scholarship has played an important part in maintaining the strong bonds of friendship between our two countries. David will graduate from Yale University in May with a B.A. and M.A. in history and Phi Beta Kappa honors. He was editor-in-chief of the Yale Daily News, America’s oldest college daily newspaper, and reported from the Berlin bureau of The New York Times last summer. He is a Harry S. Truman Scholar. During the 2016 election cycle, Shimer interned for Hillary Clinton’s campaign policy team and was a member of her general election debate preparation team. He will pursue an M.Phil. in international relations at the University of Oxford. While at Greeley, David was equally as busy. He was the valedictorian of his class, editor-in-chief of The Quake, captain of the debate team, president of Renaissance E.M.S., co-founder and CEO of TeenAgency (a local employment service for high school students) and student council treasurer. Named for Secretary of State George C. Marshall, the Marshall Scholarship Program began in 1953 as a gesture of gratitude to the people of the United States for the assistance that the UK received after World War II under the Marshall Plan. Over the years, Marshall Scholars have gone on to become university presidents, Pulitzer Prize-winners, MacArthur Fellows and Supreme Court justices.

vs. Chappaqua Challengers Sunday, January 28th 1:30pm Horace Greeley High School Gymnasium

Watch your favorite teachers, administrators and staff challenge the world famous Harlem Wizards. Lots of great trick hoops, slam dunks, food, prizes and fan participation! $25 for General Admission Seating $50 for Courtside Plus* seats (limited quantity-available only at Drug Mart) Tickets are available at: Drug Mart of Millwood Scattered Books in Chappaqua Online (limited quantity)

*Courtside Plus seats include: • Guaranteed Premium Seating (first 2 rows) • Meet and Greet with The Wizards 45 minutes before the Game • Souvenir Lanyard • Color Team Poster • $15 discount on a Wizards replica jersey Proudly presented by the Chappaqua School Foundation

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