News from School: Ass't Superintendent Hired, Technology Update, Budget Comments and More

The district has found a replacement for Linda Purvis. At the May 5 BOE meeting, Assistant Superintendent Joan Weber announced the probationary appointment of Stuart Mattey as Assistant Superintendent for Business effective July 6, 2015. Dr. Weber described an extensive search and exhaustive interview process that included all district stakeholders. Mr. Mattey is an experienced and accomplished business administrator with 21 years of experience in education. He comes to Scarsdale from Briarcliff Manor where he served as Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations for the past 5 years. He has a B.S. from SUNY Cortlandt in Management and Economics as well as Physical Education. He holds an MBA from SUNY Binghamton with a concentration in Finance. He also holds a Certificate of Advanced Study in School Business Administration from SUNY Brockport. She concluded by stating "that we are fortunate to have Mr. Mattey join the Scarsdale Public Schools" and asked him to stand for a warm welcome from the community.

Technology Update:

At the May 5th Board of Education meeting Director of Technology Jerry Crisci and his staff took the group on a virtual tour of how technology is impacting learning in elementary, middle and high schools.

From the presentation, it appears that going to school today is more fun than when I attended decades ago. Chrome books, iPads, and smart boards are all far more interactive than the blackboards that formerly served as the teacher's primary visual aid. And according to Crisci, it's only going to get better. In fact, he say, "the technology that students are using today is the worst technology they will use in their lifetimes."

Thanks to advances in technology, you can watch the hour-long presentation live on your computer. If you want to know how your children are learning and how technology has changed the process, watch this update. You are sure to be impressed.

Here are a few notes from the presentation that I found engaging:

The presentation opened with first graders taking a virtual field trip to Australia. They came to school wearing sunglasses and dressed for the journey. Using Google Maps the teacher took them on an aerial tour, an underwater tour and even inside museums where they could zoom in on exhibits.

Chrome Books are now available to all fourth and fifth graders who use them to do research, work collaboratively and for digital publishing. Using Google Docs, students and teachers can track all versions of an assignment and observe how work is edited and perfected and students learn and grow.

Gone are the days of learning to type on a typewriter. Software is provided on computers to help kids learn keyboarding, learn to code and enrich their mathematical skills. The school provides "Typing Club", "Tynker" (to learn to code) and "Manga High" for math enrichment in a game format.

Technology continues to enhance education at the Middle School where it is embedded into all the disciplines.

In sixth grade, each student creates his or her own public service announcement, using iMovie to produce it.

Minecraft is used to create systems and models and students have used it to design a model of civil war battles and to map the parts of a cell.

Software is used in the music department for composing.

Kids are writing and designing publications online and creating multimedia presentations to present their work.

At the high school, the library is the nexus for accessing databases, e-books and periodicals online. Gone are the days of doing research by searching the stacks for hard-to-find volumes. The school is purchasing e-books rather than paper versions to allow many students to access them at the same time. New software helps stdent to write annotations and citations in their papers. Students can bring their own computers to school, and on a typical day 850 students are using their own computers and accessing the district's network.

These are just a few of the ways that technology is enhancing education, and individualizing learning while helping students to collaborate at the same time.

PT Council Supports the Proposed 2015-16 School Budget

This statement on the proposed 2015-16 school budget from the PT Council was read by Claudine Gecel at the BOE meeting.

Since this may be the final budget discussion before Voting Day, on behalf of The Scarsdale PT Council's Executive Committee, representing Scarsdale's PTA Presidents, I would like to make a few closing remarks concerning this year's budgeting season:

1.) Teachers' Professional Development is important to the district, and this budget shows improvement here compared to the past several years.

2.) The addition of Professionals such as the English Language Arts Helping Teacher, the Reading Specialists and the Middle School Special Ed Teacher should help move the district towards uniformity and consistency across all schools.

3.) The shoring up of the district's specific financial reserves should reduce the need for carrying an outsized undesignated fund balance - and should demonstrate to both Moody's and S&P that the Scarsdale School's Budgeting Process now warrants a Positive Outlook.

4.) Though there will always be issues to resolve, and while we've begun discussing many of them during this budgeting season, we're all benefitting from the range of opinions which surface during these discussions - and we'll pick up where we left off when we return in September.

Finally, I'd like to echo PT Council President, Pam Feuhrer's comments: As parents, we are fully committed to supporting our children. Parents in Scarsdale regularly bend over backwards to volunteer their time and energy to ensure the best academic, social, athletic and overall experiences for our children, and neighbors' children.

A logical extension of that love and dedication is to support the District Budget, and Vote!! This opportunity happens only once a year. Parents should exercise their responsibility to vote in the same way they attend meetings, volunteer in classrooms and support the PTA's. We get our children to practice, we ensure they're doing their homework and we must vote on the district budget! Please take your friends with you to the Middle School, stop by before or after work – and continue to support your kids in spectacular Scarsdale fashion.

Honor a Graduate, Teacher, Dean or Retiree: As the end of the year approaches, please consider honoring a graduate, teacher, dean or retiree by making a contribution in their name to the SHS PTA Scholarship Fund for College. Each year, this fund grants freshman-year tuition aid to SHS students in need. This is a gift that celebrates education and helping others – what better way to show your appreciation or pay tribute to someone's accomplishments. To order announcement cards or simply make a donation, click here.   Donations to the Scholarship Fund are fully tax-deductible. All orders must be received by Friday, June 12th. You will receive an email when your order is available for pick-up. Please contact Monica Rieckhoff at monica.rieckhoff@gmail.com with questions.