WVCSD EdTalk: July 17, 2024

While school may be closed for most students, the Warwick Valley Central School District is operating in full gear to ensure a smooth and successful start to the new academic year. From recruiting new staff and professional development programs to essential construction projects and summer educational initiatives, efforts are being made to enhance facilities, support educators, and enrich the learning experience for students. At a Warwick Valley Board of Education meeting last week, the administrative team detailed several projects and extensive preparation efforts for the upcoming 2024-25 school year.

Recruitment, Hiring and Talent Development
The district has had a successful season of recruiting new employees. This process involves several steps: identifying the need for positions, posting available positions, reviewing applications, conducting three rounds of interviews, assessing applicants, interviewing finalists with the Superintendent, and performing reference checks.

Sixteen pedagogical positions have been successfully filled, including Director of Pupil Personnel Services (PPS), High School Agriculture, K-6 Elementary Teachers, Secondary Students with Disabilities, Middle School Technology, Middle School Psychologist, High School Science, and High School Technology. Eight non-pedagogical staff members also have been hired, ensuring the district is well-prepared for the upcoming school year.

A two-day New Teacher Orientation is scheduled for August, where new educators will be introduced to their teaching environments, meet colleagues and administrators, and receive a comprehensive overview of the district’s departments and programs. Additionally, new faculty will accompany the Superintendent on a bus tour of the community and will tour each school building.

In our New Teacher Mentor Program, each new teacher will be paired with a designated mentor who provides guidance and support as they navigate their induction into the teaching profession. The school principal and associate principals also hold monthly meetings with new teacher cohorts, ensuring they receive continuous support. This combination of individual and group activities is designed to help new teachers by observing and providing feedback, modeling effective techniques and strategies, co-planning, advising, and developing improvement plans and goals.

Teacher Evaluation
Every child deserves a quality teacher, and every teacher deserves an objective evaluation process that integrates with professional growth. Ms. Meghan McGourty, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum/Instruction detailed the teacher evaluation process, which aligns with research and best practices to support educator growth and development. Evaluations provide valuable insights to both administrators and educators, aiding professional support.

Any effective evaluation system, for both new and existing teachers, must be evidence-based. Therefore, the administration and faculty use rubrics to establish teachers as full participants in their evaluation and continual professional growth. The rubrics cover four domains: planning and preparation, classroom environment, instruction, and professional responsibilities. These rubrics provide specific, measurable, and observable behaviors both in and out of the classroom, clearly defining performance expectations for objective evaluations and consistent effectiveness ratings.

However, significant changes to the teacher evaluation system are on the horizon. On June 28, 2024, Governor Hochul signed Chapter 143 of the Laws of 2024, amending Education Law

• 3012-d and establishing §3012-e. As a result, school districts and BOCES will transition to new teacher evaluation systems by the 2032-2033 school year. The amendment will allow for flexibility in locally designing plans that reflect expectations for teaching and learning. The new standards-based Educator Evaluation and Support plans (“NYS STEPS”) will consist of multiple measures, including observations for teachers.

The new legislation provides more local control and eliminates standardized test scores as a required assessment tool. The District will work collaboratively with teachers to design a pragmatic evaluation system that provides quality and accurate feedback. According to the NYS State Report Card, Warwick Valley Schools have the fewest number of administrators to students in the region. Therefore, a more pragmatic approach is welcome, allowing for quality, accurate, and timely feedback while recapturing more local control.

Professional Development
Professional development is crucial for supporting faculty and retaining teachers. Professional learning is vital for supporting educator effectiveness and improving student outcomes. It includes various structured, ongoing opportunities to enhance teachers’ and administrators’ knowledge, skills, and practices. These experiences are aligned with state standards and district goals, meeting the specific needs of educators and students.

The approach is to offer an ongoing professional development plan tailored to teachers’ specific needs. We find that the best professional development mirrors the best classroom practices of providing differentiated, challenging, interactive, student-centered, and inquiry-based learning. Teachers report that they appreciate professional development that provides them with practical tools they can immediately use in the classroom without pulling them away from their students too often.

Summer Programs
The Extended School Year (ESY) services program offers special education instructional programs and related services to prevent substantial regression for qualifying students with disabilities. Hosted at Sanfordville Elementary School, the program serves students in grades 1- 12 in July and August. One hundred students are enrolled in special classes, and 25 students receive related services only. Additionally, 11 students from Greenwood Lake are attending on a tuition basis. The program includes 11 special classes and is staffed by a dedicated team of educators and support personnel, including an administrator, 11 special education teachers, seven encore teachers, three speech teachers, two psychologists, two security guards, two greeters, one nurse, and 31 instructional aides.

Construction Updates
Summer construction projects began right after students left the buildings. These projects are essential for ensuring facilities are ready for the new school year. The Park Avenue Elementary window project is progressing, with interior sills and exterior masonry expected to be completed by the end of summer. All windows have been installed, and exterior doors have been reinforced. In the High School Auditorium, the old chiller has been removed, and the new chiller is scheduled for installation. The auditorium project is expected to be completed by the end of summer. PTAC units (small heating, ventilation and air conditioning units) are being installed in two small rooms at the high school and should be operational within the next couple of weeks. In the Middle School, unit ventilators have been installed in the locker rooms, with contractor completion of controls expected in August. Other construction updates include:

• UV-C lights: Work progressing steadily, expected completion by the end of
• Middle School/Sanfordville outdoor bathrooms: Interior walls and roof work in progress, with fixtures installation starting soon, expected operational by the start of school.
• Park Avenue doors (second and third floors): Doors expected next week, installation shortly after. First-floor doors expected in the fall.
• Seal coating: High School back parking lot scheduled for July
• Paving: Middle School/District Office lot work expected to begin in late
• Line striping: High School lot on July 22; Middle School/District Office lot to be scheduled; Park Avenue bus lot to be scheduled.
• Flooring: High School Guidance office installation begins July 15; Sanfordville Main office installation on July 17.
• Middle School lockers: Installation expected mid-

K-12 Building Condition Survey
Lastly, the District is required to complete a K-12 Building Condition Survey (BCS), which acts like a “report card for facilities.” A team consisting of at least one licensed engineer or registered architect will visually inspect all occupied school buildings to assess the current conditions of the space, major building infrastructure, and grading conditions. They look for evidence of structural failure, deterioration, and probable useful life as well as the need for maintenance and replacement. The survey results will include opinions on the building’s condition, advice on any critical or future repairs, and the consequences of non-repair. The purpose of a BCS is to properly plan and prioritize capital improvement projects.

With this in mind, the District’s facility committee has been working with this information to finalize a recommendation to the Board of Education for a future capital project vote, which would likely occur in December 2024.

Here are some highlights from our schools this week:

Park Avenue & Sanfordville Elementary Schools
Last week, Sanfordville opened its doors and welcomed students in grades 1 through 12 for the first week of our Extended School Year Summer School program. Students were greeted by teachers and staff as they emerged from their buses and/or cars. Each week, there will be a different themed learning topic for our students and staff to enjoy. The first week’s theme was “Camping.” Our teachers integrated this theme into their daily lessons and activities in reading, writing, and math. Each week will culminate with a “Fun Friday” afternoon learning block.

Camping Week ended with students being able to “Read in the Dark,” play a game of “Camp Charades,” build a bridge to help bears cross the river and get to the other side, and create their own “Leaf Collage.” Rising first graders took advantage of the opportunities for sensory-based activities. Students were challenged by using their fine and gross motor skills to participate in stations with different activities. Some students were challenged to spell while hopping and balancing their core while they walked across obstacles.

Third graders were getting to know each other and working on creating a classroom family environment. Students created worry stones to help tame their worry dragons based on the book Alma and the Worry Stone by Sara Townsend. Together, they also read Clark the Shark by Bruce Hale for some ideas of cool and not cool school rules and created a Clark the Shark beginning, middle, and end flow chart. To celebrate camping week, our students chose a book and read with finger flashlights, mimicking reading beside the campfire. The students also wrote an instruction book on how to make the perfect s’mores.

The third and fourth graders had an awesome week! For ELA this week, students were focusing on the phonics skill “bossy r.” They also started a read-aloud novel for the summer, The Wild Robot by Peter Brown. The students loved the beginning of this book and can’t wait to hear more. In math, the class began lessons on place value and students also enjoyed math centers. Lanterns and binoculars were crafted. To end the week, both the Middle School and High School ESY campers went outdoors and learned to plant sunflowers. They immersed themselves in real- life experiences as gardeners. Students were able to practice speech and learn new vocabulary words about planting and how plants grow. They also focused on occupational therapy by pouring the dirt in and planting the seeds themselves. The students had a blast with this hands-on activity and look forward to watering and watching their plants grow throughout the rest of the summer!

Students aren’t the only ones learning. The Sanfordville and Park Avenue teachers continued their professional learning during the early stages of this summer. Teachers are getting together to work on revising literacy units of study and to expand upon their existing toolkit used when teaching reading. Along with our literacy coach, teachers are deepening their knowledge and planning for the use of evidence-based instructional methods that will support our students’ growth as readers. Our team began this work officially with a Literacy Summer launch shortly after the school year ended.

Warwick Valley Middle School
Thirteen students from the Orange County Youth Leadership Academy attended a leadership workshop led by Middle School Principal Jared Yapkowitz. The workshop is a key component of the academy’s four-week summer program, which integrates life skills, job skills, and cultural enrichment. This program is designed to empower young leaders by providing a variety of learning experiences, including travel to meet local and county leaders, guest speakers, and engaging presentations.

During the workshop, the student leaders engaged in thought-provoking discussions on what it means to be a leader. They explored questions such as what a leader is and does, who their true leaders are, and what motivates them about being a leader. This interactive session allowed students to reflect on their personal leadership qualities and aspirations. The workshop was not only a platform for discussion but also included various leadership activities that kept the students actively engaged.

The Orange County Youth Leadership Academy continues to make a significant impact on its participants by providing such enriching experiences. As the students continue their journey over the next few weeks, they will carry forward the lessons and inspiration gained from these influential sessions, preparing them to become effective leaders in their communities.

Warwick Valley High School
The High School was buzzing with energy and excitement as it hosted a highly successful football camp. The event saw nearly 100 aspiring athletes from across the county come together to advance their training and engage in healthy competition.

The weeklong camp provided an intensive program designed to enhance the skills and techniques of young football players. Participants ranged from freshmen to seniors, all eager to learn from some of the region’s best coaches. The camp featured a mix of drills, scrimmages, and instructional sessions aimed at improving both individual abilities and team dynamics.

The camp also emphasized the importance of teamwork, discipline and sportsmanship. The competitive spirit was palpable, but so was the camaraderie, as players cheered each other on and celebrated each other’s successes.

Parents and community members came out to support the athletes, creating a lively and supportive atmosphere throughout the week. The final day of the camp featured a series of friendly scrimmages that showcased the progress and talent of the participants. These scrimmages were a testament to the hard work and dedication displayed by the athletes over the week.

The High School administrative team recently participated in a regional leadership institute, joining colleagues from the surrounding region to collaborate and learn new strategies aimed at improving school culture and climate. This event was an invaluable opportunity for our leaders to engage in professional development and bring back fresh, innovative ideas to our school.

The institute focused on working effectively and efficiently, providing our administrators with updated methodologies and practices designed to foster a positive and productive school environment. Through a series of workshops, seminars, and collaborative sessions, the team explored various aspects of leadership, communication, and community building.

One of the highlights of the institute was the opportunity to network with other administrators from neighboring districts. This exchange of ideas and experiences allowed for a broader perspective on the challenges and successes in different schools, fostering a spirit of collaboration and mutual support.

Warwick Valley High School is committed to continuous improvement, and the participation of the High School administrative team in such regional events underscores this dedication. As we look forward to the upcoming school year, the insights and skills acquired at the leadership institute will play a crucial role in driving our school toward greater success.