District Strategic Plan Focuses on Four Areas Peter C
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ROME CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWSLETTER * FALL/WINTER 2017-18 District Strategic Plan Focuses on Four Areas Peter C. Blake, Superintendent of Schools t’s hard to believe that we have entered increased behavioral support at the K-6 the winter months and are at the mid- level and working to secure psychiatric wayI point of the school year already. services for students/families in need. The students, staff, and members of our There will also be a student survey for K-12 school community have been diligently students relative to student attendance and working on our goal to bring Rome to the what factors can impact student attendance forefront of public education in the State the most. Our curriculum/instruction team of New York. Focused on our strategic will continue the work of reading/writing plan, the team has been working to implementation while beginning the enhance our objectives for the 2017-2018 work of designing makerspaces* for our school year (Instruction, Engagement, buildings. In May, the community will have Social/Emotional, the opportunity to vote on and Attendance). The an Energy Performance instructional team remains Project to improve the focused on implementing mechanical systems at our reading and writing RFA and Staley, while we initiatives at the K-6 anticipate the completion level while providing of the Strough project in professional development on all areas of the the summer. Aside from this, District committees strategic plan. Engagement within the buildings and continue to review our practices and policies to community continues to improve with each building ensure that we are evolving with the times. Some hosting increased opportunities to connect with the of our 2017-2018 topics of discussion include community, including providing adult education homework practices, grading practices, school opportunities. The hot topic of public education calendar options, and daily schedule/hours of (social/emotional health) has been a significant operation options. Finally, as we enter the new year, focus with increased partnerships to help provide our business team has begun work on the 2018- more targeted support for our children in need. 2019 budget, which will be presented publically in Finally, our attendance continues to improve as early March. we are currently at a 95% student attendance rate, I would like to thank all of our students and staff which is the highest we’ve had in Rome in recent for the amazing things they bring to the table each years. and every day. Thank you to the Rome community Moving forward through the winter and into the for your continued support of our children while spring, we plan to continue to develop community we work together to make Rome the best place for partnerships focused on social/emotional health. education in New York! We hope this will be accomplished by providing * A makerspace is a collaborative work space inside a school for making, learning, exploring and sharing that uses high tech to no tech tools. Sampling of What's Inside: 2018 Dates to Remember: * Community Schools Initiative February 19-23 - Mid-Winter Recess * Mentoring Program March 16 - Superintendent's Conference Day - Schools Closed * Concert Calendar March 30 - Good Friday - Schools Closed * Awareness Day April 23-27 - Spring Recess - Schools Closed * ECP Pyramid Model Supports Families May 15 - BUDGET VOTE * Information Technology Corner May 25 - Memorial Day - Schools Closed * Rome Lions Test Eyes June 22 - Last Day of School June 23 - RFA Graduation 409 BELL ROAD ROME, NY 13440 WWW.ROMECSD.ORG 315.338.6500 Kindness Rocks! Anti Bullying Awareness Day n October 2nd students and staff throughout the Rome City School District wore blue in support of anti-bullying. The RomeO Teacher Center and Rome Teachers Association coordinated the Awareness Day, which included two assemblies at Denti Elementary by Mike Speirs on the “5 C’s of Being an Upstanders". Poor weather and/or other conditions His presentation teaches students strategies for standing up for occasionally necessitate the closing of themselves. schools. In the event of an emergency There were also two theatrical presentations at RFA by Tim closing, parent/guardians and students Collins on bullying and cyberbullying and an evening presentation are notified by means of announcements at Bellamy Elementary. on local radio, television stations, Strough Middle School was also entertained by Tom Varano and automated phone calling system, social his “Emotion into Art” show. His simple message weaved throughout media (Facebook and Twitter) and the Tom’s entire show: Be yourself, be creative, follow your dreams and District website. take chances. The decision to close is based upon several criteria – wind speed in In addition to the #blueshirtday2017, the Kindness Rocks theme combination with temperature, present included a district-wide activity of every school painting rocks, with and predicted precipitation, and overall an uplifting, positive picture or message painted on the rock. road conditions. Also keep in mind that “Awareness Day brings the district and community together to Rome is a city of 72 square miles and share ways to take away the meanness and teach students to be overall road conditions might not be the upstanders, because kindness goes a long way. It starts with us,” said same in one part of the city as in other Jessica Lattimore, Bellamy teacher and one of the organizers of the areas. event. Announcement of school closings are made through the news media and automated phone calling system, generally beginning at 5:45 a.m. In some instances, it may be necessary to make announcements as late as 6:30 a.m. Since decisions on closing have to be made very early in the morning and weather conditions sometimes change drastically before students actually begin traveling to school, the ultimate decision on safety of travel conditions for students' rests with the parents/guardian. Denti Mike Speirs Assembly COMMUNICATING DELAYS AND EARLY DISMISSALS Delays, cancellations and early dismissals are all announced on the following stations, The Rome City School District Bellamy Kindness Rocks Facebook page and Twitter: Rome website: www.romecsd.org Rome Facebook: www.facebook.com/ Romecsd Ridge Mills Kindness Rocks Rome Twitter: https://twitter.com/ RomeCSD Rome Superintendent Twitter: https://twitter.com/@pblake_RomeCSD TV: Ch. 2, 3, 9, 10, 11 RADIO: FM: WLZW-98.7; WFRG-104.3; WBGK- 99.7/101.1; WMCR; WKRL-100.9; WOUR- 96.9; WSKS-97.9; WODZ-96.1; WZUN- Strough visit from Tom Varano, "Emotion 102.1; WUMX - Mix 102.5 into Art" RFA Tim Collins presentation AM: WIBX-950; WMCR - WFBL 1600 FALL/WINTER 2017-18 • Page 2 RFA Music Exhibition in the Classroom ome Free Academy students in Mrs. Guerrieri’s, Music in Our LivesR class, participated in a “Music Promoters Project” this fall. They celebrated their favorite musical artists and genres by creating websites, magazine articles, videos, commercials, and interactive posters, blending art and music in one project (photos right). The task was for students to act as a music promoter and design a product that publicizes how they personally experience music. Guerrieri asked the students to consider how people experience music in different ways. Those who viewed the presentations were able She questioned what kind of music moved them to leave a comment on a sheet and give the student and how the students would promote this music to feedback. Superintendent of Schools, Peter C. Blake, others. Director of Fine Arts and Engineering Technology, The project was presented in an Exhibition style Andrea Falvo and RFA Principal, Brian LeBaron presentation for other teachers and administrators were some of the staff members who visited the to come and evaluate what the students created. classrooms and experience the student’s projects. RCSD Mobile App RFA Juniors Win Now Available JC Penney's Holiday amilies in the Rome Window Contest FCity School District FA students kicked off the holiday season in can now stay in touch November by painting the JC Penney store windows with the district by inR Rome. The activity was sponsored JC Penney's in downloading its new Rome (Manager, Roger Houle). Community members mobile app! With the had the opportunity to vote on the best window and the RCSD mobile app, your results were announced on December 16th. school comes alive with “This was the first year in what Penney's hopes to the touch of a button. Easily navigate through be a yearly tradition,” said RFA Art Teacher, Megan current news and events or check out the latest Anderegg. updates with social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). Quickly retrieve contact information, sporting scores, lunch menus, and more! It’s your school district available at your fingertips. The app is available through Apple's App Store or through Android's Google Play Store. “You can download the app to your device and customize as you prefer. Some basic features include allowing you to set the app for your child's school to receive messages/information about that school only. Simply search for Rome City School District in the store and you will find our app with the District logo,” said Peter Blake, Superintendent of Schools. John George, President of the Junior Class of 2019 (along with fellow For more information on the District's Mobile students) accepted the $200 donation from Roger Houle, Manager App, contact Carl Manganaro at of JC Penney's in Rome. The RFA Junior class received the most votes for the holiday window painting contest (right photo). Photos [email protected]. submitted by Gina Colangelo, RFA Special Education. FALL/WINTER 2017-18 • Page 3 2018 Rome Music Department Calendar January 19 Show Choir Festival at RFA 7:30pm January 26 Celebrate the Arts Faculty Music and Art Showcase 6:00pm February 3 Rhapsody Collegiate A' Cappella Competition at RFA 7:00pm February 9 & 10 Strough Musical Disney's My Son Pinocchio JR.