There were multiple topics on the table Jan. 14 at the Hicksville School District Board of Education’s monthly Committee meeting. There was a presentation of the SCOPE Pre-K program, an update on the district’s bilingual program and the new Elementary Common Core Aligned Reading program.
Executive Director for Scope Education Services, George Duffy presented the board some highlights of the program and what impact it would have on the school district.
“SCOPE is a not for profit organization that has provided services to school districts since 1964 and a Pre-K provider since 1992,” said Duffy. “We currently have Pre-K and UPK programs in 17 districts serving over 1,300 students.”
Highlights of the program include the fact that it is taught by New York State Certified teachers and teachers assistants, a class length of 2 ½ hours per day, classes taught in the district, a curriculum which meets state requirements and follows the NYS Common Core standards for instruction and costs and a tuition rate of $275 per month per child.
According to Duffy there is ongoing supervision of staff throughout the day provided by SCOPE, consumable supplies provided by SCOPE, instructional materials provided by SCOPE and a daily snack provided to each child in attendance.
He said that it would be the school district’s responsibility to provide appropriate classroom space for the program, non-consumable equipment which includes desks, chairs, tables and playground equipment, access to a copier and district telephone and custodial support.
The SCOPE curriculum focuses on cognitive, social and emotional learning, embraces parents as teachers, offers teacher and child guided instruction and instruction that is delivered in both small and large groups.
As far as parent communication is concerned, monthly newsletters are sent to parents to keep them apprised of their child’s classroom activities and teachers are readily available to discuss children’s progress in at the Pre-K level.
At the meeting, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction, Marianne Litzman also gave a brief update on the bilingual program saying that there has been a recommendation for implementation of the 2015-‘16 Kindergarten Bilingual program as opposed to a first grade program which was suggested at last month’s committee meeting.
“Having the kindergarteners moving into the first grade would provide more consistency for the ESL program,” said Litzman.
She added that there was no new guidance to date and that many aspects of the program are forthcoming, including looking at three potential elementary school buildings—Burns, Fork and Woodland—to house the program, and developing a plan for parent communication and meetings for bilingual programs.
Other things that need to be determined are looking at the feasibility of bilingual programs in all elementary buildings and recommended staffing and looking at individual secondary bilingual needs.
The board also discussed the new elementary common core aligned reading program which was recently chosen for the district. “Reading Street” by Pearson Education was the final choice after a thorough evaluation into the program.
“What stood out with this program was the variety of available material for students”, said Director of Curriculum, Instruction & Assessments, Susan Guiliano. “The program addresses writing and focuses on learning genuine writing skills and it comes with a variety of assessments all aligned with the Common Core.”
Guiliano explained that the program has three tiers entitled ‘Response to Intervention.’ The first tier of the pyramid focuses on core instruction. The second tier focuses on core plus strategic intervention and the third tier of the program relies on intensive intervention.
The reading program will let the student delve into multipart questions, pore through authentic text passages, study text evidence and allow for a constructed and extended response.
