Learning Together

Message from Troy D. Olin, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction

We hope everyone found time this summer to rest, reset and recharge. September brings with it a sense of renewal – a fresh start to refine our strategies, explore innovative instructional strategies and foster meaningful connections with our students. Our collective efforts shape the future of our learners and we are confident that this will be a year of growth, discovery, and achievement.

As we approach the school year, we are excited to highlight three critical areas of instructional focus that will help us create a rigorous learning environment for our students:

• Empowering Student Ownership: Our aim is to ensure that each student understands their learning targets and success criteria while holding high expectations for their learning journey. Let's encourage students to discuss what they're learning, why it matters, and how they will demonstrate their understanding.
• Active Student Engagement: We thrive when our students actively participate, collaborate, question and engage in authentic learning experiences. Whether it's peer-to-peer interactions, initiating and responding to questions, small group discussions, or whole group activities, we want students to be at the heart of the learning process.
• Responsive Tier I Instruction: Each student's journey is unique. Let's ensure our Tier I instruction is responsive and inclusive. Consistent expectations aligned with curriculum and program goals, assessment insights used for targeted support and flexible small group or individual work with varied materials can make a significant impact on our students' progress.

As we progress through the year we will leverage our collective efforts in these areas to support the growth of our learners. Through professional learning opportunities, monthly resources shared in our newsletter and ongoing support, we will work to support these three areas to further enhance your toolkit.

We are excited to share the newest SchoolTool gradebook features! Schooltool has been listening to teacher feedback over the past few years, and these changes will make grading so much easier.

Teachers, you can make it your own! You can personalize it with layout options, color coding, grading scales, and more! No more one-size-fits-all.

It's super-efficient with fast data entry that automatically saves, instantaneous filtering and sorting, and a one-time setup of recurring assignments.

Also, if you are not new to Schooltool, don't worry. You will not have to start from scratch! Importing last year's gradebook into the new interface takes a few clicks.

Plus, the Staff Intranet will have additional information to help you navigate the new gradebook at your own pace, and you can refer to them as much as needed.

Click here to learn more about the gradebook upgrades.

Over the past two years, the Office of Instruction has facilitated faculty meetings in each building with a focus on our Rigor Framework and how it comes to life in our classrooms. In connection to this work, we will begin to narrow our focus and examine assessment and grading practices through an equity lens. We will be looking at ways that we can get better together and align to these components of rigor in Gates Chili:

• Students use feedback to analyze progress, revise their work, reflect on academic performance and set goals for learning
• Students view challenges and failures as opportunities for growth
• Instructional practices are differentiated, research-based and data-driven to support students
• Meaningful tasks allow students to demonstrate their knowledge, skills and growth over time

The majority of this work will begin through our teacher leadership structure. This summer, teachers leaders throughout the district took a close look at how assessment and grading practices are related to our district goals for equity. Teacher leaders will collaborate with us all year to deepen our understanding, develop a consistent definition of equitable grading, and consider practices that are bias-resistant, provide accurate representations of student learning, and motivate student learning. They will be planning to share this information with colleagues in their departments and buildings throughout the year.

Teacher leaders play an integral role within the Office of Instruction, providing support, communication and leadership to their colleagues. We've been using our newsletter to keep you informed as changes take place due to retirements or position shifts in the district.

As you know by now, Michelle Dossier is now the new assistant principal in the Amerks community at the middle school and Laura Braid is now an assistant principal at the high school. We know they will both continue to be a great leaders and we hope you will join us in congratulating Michelle and Laura on their new roles. Kristen Joseph will be our new curriculum leader for 6-12 math and Chris Amesbury will be our curriculum leader for 6-12 science.

Kristen will be starting her 5th year at Gates Chili this year and she is excited to take on this new role supporting the curriculum needs of Gates Chili’s incredible Mathematics Department! She has been one of our Math League advisors at the High School for the past 4 years as well as class advisor. Kristen has also been collaborating with other math teachers across NYS through the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New York State (AMTNYS) organization for 11 years and was most recently Vice President during the 2022 Conference that was held in downtown Rochester. She is looking forward to having the opportunity to use the connections she has made statewide to help our math department continue to adapt and implement the Next Generation Standards successfully, as well as work to support technology training in the math classrooms.

Chris is currently starting his 22nd year as a teacher in Gates Chili. Through the years he has been a Spartan in various roles that include student, parent, coach, and teacher. He is excited to start a new role as curriculum leader and have the opportunity to work with teachers to continue the integration of the Next Generation Science Standards. Chris is looking forward to helping teachers in this new role to enhance the classroom experience for students and to help prepare them for success after graduation!

At the elementary level we are excited to welcome two new teacher leaders in the role of building reading reacher.

Tara Roberts is tranisitoning from literacy intervention to building reading teacher at Florence Brasser. Tara is starting her 14th year teaching, and has been fortunate to spend the last 9 years in the Gates Chili School District. Last year she transitioned to a new role in AIS Literacy at Florence Brasser, after spending her previous years at Paul Road in the Special Education Department. Tara has a passion for teaching literacy to our youngest learners, and she is excited for her new role as a teacher leader. She looks forward to collaborating with teachers to use data and research-based practices to increase academic achievement for all students.

With nearly 15 years of teaching experience, Lauren Henderberg is the newly appointed co-building reading teacher at Walt Disney School. Lauren supports and implements district literacy initiatives while eagerly progressing towards the completion of an Advanced Certification in Literacy. With strong connections to the Gates Chili community as a graduate, resident, parent, and teacher, Lauren's investment in the district is evident. Her enthusiasm for literacy shines through as she contributes to the role of teacher leader, empowering colleagues and students with the invaluable gift of literacy and enriching educational experiences at Walt Disney School.

The Gates Chili Professional Learning District Catalog has been updated for Fall 2023! Please take a few minutes to check it out our Gates Chili PL Catalog to see what you may want to sign up for. Don't forget you can also sign up for BOCES PL by clicking on the catalog you are interested in, or by clicking below.

Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES Catalog

Monroe One BOCES Catalog

Professional Learning Spotlight:

CRSE - Cohort 6

Training Dates: 10/4/2023 to 1/18/2024

The purpose of this foundational training is to provide all existing and future Gates Chili instructional staff with a common experience that builds their background knowledge of culturally responsive education and creates the space for staff to examine their own identities and personal histories and the impact these have on their role as an educator in Gates Chili. Please note the dates, times and locations of all sessions as they will be a mixture of 4 after school virtual sessions, 2 full day in-person sessions, and 1 after school in-person session.

GC Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI) - 3 day

Training Dates: 10/3/2023 to 10/10/2023

This TCI training is offered as a three-day format which allows for training in verbal and physical interventions. This entire training will be conducted in-person. Participants must attend all three days.

If you have questions about GC professional learning, or are interested in leading a professional learning opportunity, check out the staff intranet page (you must be logged in - can be accessed via Classlink) or reach out to the office by calling x12107 or emailing Teri Marsh and Joan Salandy. tlmarsh@gateschili.org and jdsalandy@gateschili.org

If you know the answer to this month's riddle, click HERE to submit your answer. The first three (3) people who answer the riddle correctly will receive a special prize in their mailbox next week!

Good luck!