James H. Vernon School Principal Nancy Gaiman was at the Oyster Bay School Board meeting on Tuesday night to discuss updates for the fifth-grade class. The new “semi-departmentalized” program allows for two teachers for each different subject group.
“Having two teachers for daytime instruction will ease the transition for our fifth-grade class into a fully departmentalized sixth grade where there is a different teacher for every subject,” said Gaiman. “It will also provide more support for overall academics.”
Gaiman added that having two different teachers throughout the day will help students acquire the necessary organizational skills for future learning and help structure the transition to increased instructional time.
Another reason she gave is that having two teachers would give students more intense extra help in relation to the current Common Core standards.
“The overall feedback that we have received from our students has been very positive,” said Gaiman. “They are enthusiastic about the changes to two different teachers throughout the school day.”
Other News & Notes:
Oyster Bay High School Principal Dennis O’Hara was at the school board meeting to propose his plan for a summer academy for high school and middle school students. The academy, if approved by the board, would be in place for the 2014 summer months.
“Students lose ground in learning over the summer months so this academy would help them stay on track when they return to school in September,” said O’Hara.
He also said that students who are falling behind on subject matter or students who are preparing for upcoming exams could use the academy as a way to boost their overall learning.
Math and ELA courses would be the prime focus of the academy but enrichment classes like the physics of sailing, popular science and poetry would also be possible learning options for students.
The summer academy is still in an investigational research stage and O’Hara is working with school administrators to get it approved by the board in the spring.
Anyone who has suggestions or would like to volunteer for the academy should contact the Oyster Bay-East Norwich School District at 516-624-6523.
