Hemlock School PTA Curriculum Committee News

Hemlock Curriculum Meeting

Monday, October 22, 2012

In attendance Audrey Bellovin, Amy Sullivan, Yvonne Mundy and Victoria Follender

How will the Curriculum Committee support Hemlock

• The Curriculum Committee members will partner with administrators and parents to bring forward parent concerns and work with administrators to determine how best to address or solve them. 
• We will bring forward concerns even if they may not necessarily be our own. 

Summer Assignments: 

• Approximately 50% of Summer Assignments were returned.  The Summer Assignments will continue to be reviewed in the classroom by the teachers. 
• Next year, the Summer Assignment package will be revisited to ensure the materials are consistent with the Common Core.  In addition, the Summer Assignment cover page will be revised to state the grade the student will be going into.  Example:  If student is leaving Kindergarten the Summer Assignment package will read, “Going into the 1st Grade”.
• All students should receive the same Summer Assignment for their respective grade.

Dignity for All Students Act:

• A Dignity for all Students Act (DASA) flyer, with age appropriate Code of Conduct language, was sent home before the school year began to parents. 
• Teachers will continue to be trained on the DASA with the latest literature and a new Character Education Program, Second Step.  They have attended a staff development class held on October 17^th lead by Dr. Tornincaso.  She collaborated over the summer with the elementary school social worker to create a curriculum to address the DASA mandates. Some of the topics covered are Honesty, Tolerance, Personal Responsibility and Respect for others.  Many of these are addressed in the Second Step Program.
• From time to time, parent letters will be sent home about Second Step.

Reinforcement of homework at home:

• It was discussed that homework should reinforce what is learned during the school day. 
• Homework in Kindergarten will be revisited by Ms. Bellovin to address consistency,  as well as be developmentally appropriate for the age.
• Focus will be for the children to enjoy learning rather than be discouraged by it.
• 1st Grade homework is posted on Hemlock’s website.  An e-mail blast will be sent to parents reminding them with the link to the website. The monthly first grade newsletter will contain the link.
• As a reminder to parents, during Back to School Night, 1st Grade parents were informed that teachers would be skipping pages in the math workbooks and using additional materials to meet the Common Core Curriculum.

Core Curriculum

• As an initiative to meet the Core Curriculum, Mrs. Bellovin, as well as many other administrators, regularly attends conferences to evaluate the current resources and see what else is available.  Likewise, the district has retained a Math consultant to work with the primary and elementary school teachers to help them align their teaching with the CCLS. Teachers at the primary level would attend a total of nine half days of training, in addition to several after school staff development meetings. In addition, a Primary School Math Specialist was recently hired part-time, who will divide her time among the three primary schools. Her role would be to work with certain students and also assist teachers in aligning their resources with the common core curriculum.
• Student Learning Objectives are consistent at Hemlock, Homestead and Locust Schools.  The Primary schools are viewed as “One school with three campuses”.   

From time to time, Mrs. Bellovin receives requests for a list of apps used at school.  Although she does not endorse apps, there is a list of apps used at Hemlock that parents can obtain by contacting Victoria Follender at vfnyyanks@aol.com or Yvonne Mundy at yroquemd@hotmail.com. 

Hemlock Curriculum Committee Summary

Monday, June 11, 2012

Committee Members Present

Mrs. Bellovin (Principal),  Mrs. Sullivan (Teacher Representative), Amy Ferris (Parent)

 Follow up to Self Esteem Adelphi Presenters at PTA meeting – Mrs. Bellovin felt that the presentation reinforced what the school community already has in place to support student self esteem and student conflict resolution.  The Hemlock community currently encourages students to be “bucket fillers” and to be kind and helpful to others.  In addition, the teachers help the students to solve their own conflicts by evaluating the different choices available to them.  The faculty and staff will continue to develop anti bullying and character development programs.  In addition, New York State has mandated that all school districts implement DASA (Dignity for all Students Act) beginning in the 2012 – 2013 school year.  This act is related to student bullying and character education.

 SLO (Student Learning Objectives)– Starting in the 2012 – 2013 school year, New York State requires that teachers assess the student learning growth of all students in classrooms that currently do not have state assessments.  In order to measure student learning, Kindergarten and First grade students will be assessed in reading and mathematics.  The teachers are working to ensure that these measures are as embedded into the children’s typical day as possible and are not seen as anything out of the ordinary. 

 Common Core –In regards to ELA, the teachers are well prepared to implement the new learning standards.  The book room is well stocked with new informational texts for the students to enjoy.  For mathematics, the teachers have adjusted the curriculum to meet the new common core standards.  The mathematics book and workbook support the teachers’ instruction.  Since, the topics in the book are not all necessarily part of the curriculum, the teachers do not utilize all the pages of the book.  The students will be covering less topics and their learning of the topics will be deeper.  There is more opportunity for mathematical discussions and problem solving in the classroom setting.

 Summer – The leveled summer reading lists and math packets were sent home last week.  Parents are encouraged to have their children read throughout the summer, as well as read to their children.  Parents can have discussions about the text and ask questions that have their children thinking deeply about a text.  A child could reflect on why a character behaved a certain way or how a character was feeling at different points of the text. 

Hemlock Curriculum Committee Meeting Summary

Friday, February 3, 2012

In attendance: Mrs. Bellovin, Ms. Sullivan and Nicholas LaBella

 Report Cards

Review of the report card structure i.e. evaluation criteria, rating, etc. Parents have expressed interest in some form of commentary in addition to the rating.

Commentary on the report cards has not been viewed as effective in the past. Parent/Teacher verbal communication is a better means of discussing the child’s performance and progress.

Hemlock Curriculum Committee Meeting Minutes

 Friday, December 2, 2011

In attendance: Mrs. Bellovin, Ms. Sullivan and Nicholas LaBella

Parent Communication

Follow up topic from the September meeting regarding the communication effort to parents. As of September, the First Grade has incorporated the use of a Monthly Newsletter which is being distributed via email to the parents.

To date, Mrs. Bellovin and staff have not received any feedback from parents in regards to the newsletter.

Parents should continue to make use of the school’s website as a valuable source of information

Classroom Technology

Presently all of the classrooms, the Speech and the Music/Art rooms have been equipped with Smartboards. During the Christmas break each Smartboard will be set up with a computer. Hemlock currently has 12 iPads/6 iPods for the First Grade and 6 iPods for the Kindergarten.

The staff at Hemlock will continue to use a methodical approach to the introduction and use of technology in the classrooms.

On Friday, December 9^th the topic of the PTA Board Meeting in the Hemlock Multipurpose Room will be “Technology at Hemlock”. This meeting will consist of the children providing demos of iPods, iPads, and the Smartboard.

During the previous PTA meeting, Mrs. Bellovin shared with the parents a list of applications the children use on the iPad. Since the meeting, the list has been emailed to all the parents. Feedback from the parents has been positive.

Homework

Mrs. Bellovin and Ms Sullivan addressed the concern raised by a couple of parents regarding the volume of homework for the First Grade.

For First Graders, Hemlock follows the guidelines of 20 minutes of homework per night. This consists of Math and Word Study.  In January, they will add the assignment of 5 words to alphabetize and put in a sentence.

The weekly homework assignment package is provided on the school website each Monday. This is in the effort to assist the parents with the flexibility to plan accordingly. The assignments are not mandated to be completed nightly rather on a weekly basis and the children are not penalized for missed assignments.

Homework assignments follow the DI model whereby the quantity of work can be managed on an individual basis.

Hemlock Curriculum Committee Meeting Summary

Friday, September 23, 2011

In attendance: Ms. Bellovin, Ms. Sullivan, Amy Ferris and Nicholas LaBella

Parent Communication –

Hemlock wants to remind parents that they are always welcome to contact the classroom teachers if they have any concerns or questions about their child.  Parent concerns are acknowledged within 24 hours.  It may take longer for the situation to be fully discussed or settled.  If a teacher has a specific concern about a student, the teacher will contact the parent to address the issue.  Teachers do not wait for the first parent conference to communicate a concern with parents.  In addition, the first grade teachers send home weekly homework that is also posted on the website.  The homework represents what is being taught in the classroom in regards to math and word study.  In January, the kindergarten classes will begin homework.  Hemlock’s website is a great place to see photos of special events and activities that happen within the school. 

Differentiated Instruction –

Kindergarten and first grade classrooms are a wonderful example of differentiated instruction.  The students are broken into small groups for guided reading instruction and other activities throughout the day.  Children work individually, with partners, in small groups, and as a whole class on activities.  Children are given the opportunity to read on their own instructional level and to choose books to read that interest them.  For the first time, the primary schools sent home a Me Map and a parent survey, “Things My Child Likes to Do”.  The information from these forms will be used in the classroom to assist the teachers to further differentiate the instruction for the children.  The forms will be looked over and the teachers will look for common themes and interests among students.  The Me Map gives the teachers an overview of the students’ personal interests.  The parent survey gives the teachers insight into the type of learner your child might be.  The teachers are aware that the parent survey is a working document and reflects where your child is at this point.  Children at the primary level are constantly changing and developing.  The teachers are also aware that you may see different behaviors in the home than they see in the classroom.  For example, you may write that your child is a self starter at home, but the teacher hasn’t been seeing that.  Now, the teacher is aware that they may need to help encourage that attribute in the school setting. 

Hemlock Curriculum Meeting - May 27, 2011

In Attendance:  Ms. Bellovin, Joellen Crowley, Amy Ferris

Developmental Skills Program

The children currently in the developmental skills program at Hemlock will be assessed before moving to the elementary school.  The students will be evaluated using the Gates-MacGinite Reading Test, current running record and teacher recommendation.  All students needing continued support will still receive it in September.  All second grade students are screened in Math and will receive support if needed. 

Summer Reading List

Hemlock Curriculum Meeting Summary - March 25, 2011

In Attendance:  Ms. Bellovin,  Joellen Crowley, Amy Ferris

Transition plans for the current Hemlock students are in place. All of the children will be well prepared to enter the next grade.

The current Kindergarten class will have an opportunity to meet with the first grade teachers.  The teachers will visit the classrooms to familiarize the students with who they are and what to expect in first grade.  The current report cards will also be helpful for parents to become aware of what type of skills the students will be assessed on.  Parents can look ahead at the reading skills to see what the children will learn in the future.

There will also be various opportunities for the current first grades to visit the elementary schools.   Parents are invited to an orientation on May 5^th.  The current first graders will then visit the elementary schools on May 19^th during a typical day.  Students are welcome to visit the elementary schools on the evening of Open House, May 9^th.

All parents are encouraged to come to the staff at Hemlock with any transition questions or concerns they may have.

  Hemlock School Curriculum Meeting January 28, 2011

                                          Report Cards:

Kindergarten Update:

Kindergartners are working hard learning their high frequency words.  Teachers are using clever and unique ideas to teach this subject matter and it is quite a success for every student!  Though the ways they are practiced may be different from class to class, the words are uniform for all children.

Appropriate level books are being sent home with the children.  Teachers work closely with each child on the skills in the books before they go home.  When the children read to their parents, they are so proud of their accomplishments.  All books are brought back to school the next day.

Kindergarten teachers participate in a “collegial circle” during prep period.  This is where ideas on curriculum, lessons and issues are circulated amongst each other and any issues resolved.  Great ideas are generated during this time!

First Grade Update:

Spelling tests and Book Reports have started!  All first grade teachers work collaboratively to prepare the book reports.  The results are fantastic. 

Science texts are being used as a guide for the Science curriculum.  The science lessons that are done in class are all active and hands-on.  Last year, the first grade teachers work collaboratively on designing UbD (Understanding by Design) units for science.  This reflects a district initiative.

For Social Studies, the teachers use a weekly reader for current events and a text book in the classroom.  A great deal of Social Studies is also done through literature. 

The science and social studies curriculum for both grades are driven by the New York State Standards in these areas. 

Program Kick Off:

Hemlock has proudly announced the start of ‘Fun, Fit and Go!’ which is a program to get children in the habit of exercising outside of the school environment and involves family members as well.  This program is being led by our Physical Education teacher, Mr. Caparella.

100th Day of school is quickly approaching – fun filled activities are planned for this day for all students. (February 12^th)

Looking Ahead:

We plan to highlight a piece of the curriculum at each upcoming PTA meeting to give parents a better sense of what the content is and how it is being addressed in at Hemlock.

Hemlock Curriculum Committee Update December 2009

  Curriculum enrichment is ongoing at Hemlock.  The school has implemented many creative ways to meet the new NYS mandate for Physical Education.  The children are engaging in physical activities every day after morning announcements and in their classrooms guided by their teacher.   There also has been great success with the current Occupational Therapy program.  An OT pushes into the kindergarten classes once a week and assists the teacher with the current curriculum.  The OT provides the teachers with tips to facilitate the children’s learning.  A committee has also been formed to revamp the current report cards to more accurately reflect the New York State Standards.  The new report cards will be looking at the children’s skills in relation to the standards.  The exact wording is still to be determined by the committee.   Finally, a map of the United States has been added to the blacktop outside of the school.  Suggestions for how to use the map were distributed to each teacher.  The map is being integrated into the curriculum when appropriate.

October 2009 Summary

"Hemlock Curriculum is off to a running start.  Their comprehensive Balanced Literacy program is in full swing starting with the Early Literacy Profile (ELP) for the Kindergarteners.  This will assist teachers with grouping the students more effectively using real data collected.  Consultant Erica Pecorale is diligently working with and training our teachers from all primary schools on the Writing Program, which is the next step in this cohesive process.  First graders are working hard on their Write Traits using word choice and learning techniques that authors use when writing their stories.  This is certainly the start of an exciting year for all of our students."