The New Hyde Park-Garden City Park School District is planning improvements to a district that has already seen much success in recent years. The school year has only just begun and the Board of Ed is already setting its sights on the future.
At the Sept. 8 board of education meeting, Superintendent Robert Katulak’s monthly report outlined the major goals set for the district last month. While approved in August, the three goals were made available to the public this month and each target different areas for improvement throughout the district.
The first goal deals with English Language Learners (ELL) within the student population. ELL students are those that speak a language other than English at home and score below proficient on assessments.
As explained by Katulak, the district will “continue to focus on raising the achievement level of students by utilizing student data to monitor progress of all students with a particular focus on the increasing English Language Learners student population.”
The district hopes to achieve this by improving parental outreach. District-wide workshops will be held for all parents of ELL students. A parental outreach process will be installed in all the buildings by the end of the school year. The district will utilize STAR and other testing data to monitor the students’ progress.
The second goal is to “expand communication and coverage of school-wide activities and events to build a positive rapport with the public.” The board plans to increase ties to the community by establishing a PTA liaison to communicate school events to the local press.
“The board feels like we do a great job with our parent-community, but now we have to reach the greater community,” Katulak explains.
The district website, along with email updates, will alert the community of happenings throughout the district via regular messages from the superintendent.
Finally, the district aims to “improve the efficiencies of the facilities department so that the buildings and grounds reflect a high degree of maintenance and aesthetics representative of the district.”
Groundskeepers will now follow a weekly maintenance plan that involves upkeep on all district cleaning and lawn equipment. Daily cleaning checklists will also be implemented.
Summer Program Attendance Up
Christina Sciarrotto, Summer School Principal, also spoke at the meeting to give a report of the program’s success this past summer. Attendance was up from last year, with an
average attendance rate of 87 percent as opposed to 84 percent in 2013.
On July 25, the students participated in an outdoor “Dive into Reading” event. More than 120 students attended, gathering outside to read on blankets and towels.
“This was the first time in four or five years that we were able to go outside, and they had a blast,” Sciarrotto said of the program.
When asked what the biggest challenge facing the program was, Sciarrotto said that the needs of the students always must be a priority.
“A challenge would be making sure that the curriculum is staying as current as possible with the needs of the students,” she says.
The next regular Board meeting will be held on Oct. 6 at the Manor Oaks School.
