DECEMBER Instructional Vision Challenge! (Yes, there are prizes!)
After a successful start in November, we will continue into December with inviting staff to share how YOU are implementing a part of our instructional vision.
This month's focus are the second two bullets in the instructional vision are:
- Gateway students will recognize their strengths and areas of growth to reach their potential.
- Gateway staff will believe in every student's potential.
Staff are invited to fill out a brief (2-3 sentences!) summary of how you are implementing this part of our vision. It can be specific or general, and it should clearly describe how your actions are moving this part of our instructional vision forward.
Here is the link to share!
To add to the board, click the plus sign in the bottom right corner and write in your submission. Finally, hit Publish and voila! You're done!
Staff who share how they are implementing or supporting implementation of December's focus area of the instructional vision by December 31 will be entered to win a $50 gift card to one of the following locations: Carms, Common Table, Moltenbreys, Amazon, Big Y, Dunkin or at a place of your choice that I can get a gift card with relative ease 😂
Transition Lock Down Drill this week
We will be conducting a Transition Lock Down Drill this week. This means that it will either be passing time (MS/HS) or at least one class will be in the hallway (Elementary).
As a reminder, there are two keys to a successful transition time lockdown:
1. Any staff/students in the hallway should go to the NEAREST securable room (not necessarily where they belong that period).
2. All staff already in a classroom should go to their doors and, assuming there is no imminent danger in the hallway, assertively shepherd students from the hallway into their room by verbalizing "LOCKDOWN DRILL! LOCKDOWN DRILL! Get in my room, quickly please!"
Once secure in the classrooms, we prefer to see students in a posture they could move from rapidly if needed (i.e.: standing). If possible, teachers should be on their feet and closer to the door, so they may quickly defend the door if necessary.
Fitness Center Access
The Gateway Fitness Center located in the high school will be reopening free of charge to all Gateway and School Based Health Center staff who wish to participate on a voluntary basis. The Fitness Center will be in operation from 2:20 p.m. – 5:20 p.m. each day of the 180 day school year calendar when school is in full-day session.
There are two required forms (Fitness Center Waiver and Release Form and the Gateway Fitness Center Rules Form) to be completed and submitted to Stacy in central office prior to having your ID badge activated for access and use of the Gateway Fitness Center.
District Data for your review
I am going to try to share some data with you each week that may be of interest to you.
Last newsletter, I shared some information about Rural School Aid.
To compliment that information, here is some additional information about our rurality.
Our district is comprised of six towns, which in total is 151 square miles and we have 708 students enrolled. In comparison, other districts are:
- Westfield: 47 sq miles with 4,808 students enrolled (enrollment data is from 23-24 SY)
- Springfield: 33 square miles with 23,693 students enrolled
- Boston: 48 square miles with 45,742 students enrolled
- Hadley: 24 square miles with 503 students enrolled
- Agawam: 24 square miles with 3,504 students enrolled
- Granby: 28 square miles with 693 students enrolled
- Easthampton: 13 square miles with 1397 students enrolled
- Mohawk Trail is 251 square miles (largest in the state) with 806 students enrolled
Some have asked why rural schools get rural school aid.
You can find a full comprehensive analysis in the Rural Schools Report, which I will link below. In the Rural Schools Report, many examples are provided as to why rural school education is more costly than that of a suburban or urban school. I copied and pasted an example for you here from page 16:
Teaching: Rural Elementary School is a K-6 school with 200 students, having 2 teachers per grade level (14 teachers) and an average class size of 14 students. Suburban Elementary School is a K-6 school with 300 students, having 2 teachers per grade level (14 teachers ) also, with an average class size of 21 students.
The foundation budget formula’s base rate for elementary teachers at $3,310 per pupil. The way DESE determined this unit cost rate was to divide an assumed wage rate of $72,820 by a typical (or model or target) class size of 22 students. ($72,820/22= $3,310). This unit cost rate is applied to all elementary schools across the state.
So, Rural Elementary’s foundation budget for classroom teachers is $3,310 x 200 students = $662,000. With 14 teachers this equates to $47,386 per teacher.
Suburban Elementary’s foundation budget for classroom teachers is $3,310 x 300 students = $993,000. With 14 classroom teachers also, this equates to $70,929 per teacher.
This results in a gap in teacher costs of $23,543 or 33% between the two schools having the same number of teachers. This foundation budget shortfall at Rural Elementary will need to be managed by increasing municipal funding or by reductions in spending somewhere in the district.
Teacher of Excellence Grinspoon Award Nomination
It is a pleasure to work in a district that has amazing educators at every level.
The Harold Grinspoon Pioneer Valley Excellence in Teaching Award is an opportunity to honor one Gateway Regional staff member for making a difference to our students. The award winner gets a number of fantastic prizes, but most importantly the public honor of being recognize for the hard work they do. Criteria is determined by the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation.
Nominee must:
- Be certified by the state of Massachusetts as a teacher
- Be currently employed as a full time teacher in a PreK-12 school
- Spend the majority of their school day in direction instruction of students
- Rating at least Proficient in most recent evaluation (don't worry about checking this)
Nominees Additional Criteria:
- Utilize excellent teaching practices
- Be effective and creative
- Have a profound impact on students
- Support and positively impact other teachers' practices
- Participate in professional development
- Have evidence of going above and beyond in the classroom and school community
Please nominate a teacher who you believe meets this criteria. Nomination forms should be submitted no later than December 20, 2024. Winners will be announced in late January/early February of 2025.
Please complete this nomination form.
Past winners are not eligible to win again (even though they are amazing), and they are:
2005 Cathy Servaes, Dawne Piers-Gamble
2006 Cyndi Jensen, Sue Luppino, Bill McVeigh
2007 Ashley Brogan, Mary Jo Bender, Linda Stephens
2008 Melissa McCaul, Joyce Hanousek, Joe Hough
2009 Lane Meskevich, Heather Cabral, Diane Uliana
2010 Tim Tichacek, Elaine Zimmerman, Paul Sawyer
2011 Jen DalyLynn Gebo, Cheryl Wright
2012- Terriann Emerson, Eileen Kos, Marilyn Durken
2013 Susan Rhoads, Avery (Lavigueur) Wing, Gail Gingras
2014 Jess Rida, Sheila Green, Kristin Baker
2015Asher Rotenberg, Emily MacDonald, Steven Andrews
2016 Rodney Kleber
2017Daniel Shea
2018Denae Dostal
2019Taylor Simpson
2020Kristina Schultz
2021Rachel Millin
2022-off year
2023-Jenna Kakimoto
2024-off year
2025-TBD!
