The world our kids live in

John Halligan gave me a lot to think about last night; both as a father and your Superintendent. After telling the story of his son’s suicide as a result of being bullied – much of the rest of the presentation focused on parenting. He paid particular attention on the challenges of parenting in an age of technology. What particularly resonated with me was his description of the generational differences between how our parents raised us and how we raise our kids. I walked away thinking- as much as we want to raise our children like we were raised we can’t. We can impart the same values and beliefs but we can’t use the same methods- especially when our kids are having issues with their peers. The ability for children to use and abuse social media is nothing like what we experienced growing up. The ease in which someone can take a picture or video and post it to the web is incredible. More importantly- children to not understand the ramifications of those actions. As parents we need to be vigilant in monitoring and discussing with our kids how to use social media appropriately. As a school district immersed in technology we have no choice but to bring this discussion to the forefront. The Middle School staff is vigilant in monitoring the use of ipads, edmodo and student use of the internet. We work hard to teach children the proper use of social media and technology tools but as in everything we need parental support. I urge you to visit http://www.ryanpatrickhalligan.org/ the resource tab is excellent as well as some technology monitoring products under the cyber bullying tab. The best takeaway I had for the night is the simple notion of being an upstander rather than a bystander. If we can encourage our children to stand up when they know something is wrong it will go a long way in combating the negatives that bullying and technology can bring.

Celebrating Our Seniors

Today was my 13th senior-to-senior day at the High School. It’s so nice to see the same faces come back to our school year after year. Witnessing that senior to senior connection is really remarkable and our students do an amazing job of hosting this event. There was food, there was dancing and both sets of seniors had a great time; myself included. Did you know that Mineola has been hosting this for more than 25 years?!? Another great tradition in our community...

Camp invention – registration now open

Thank you for all of the feedback from my earlier post. We are happy to announce the following:

Innovate is coming to:
Mineola Middle School
200 Emory Road, Mineola, NY 11501
July 22 – August 2, 2013 from 9:00AM to 12:00PM
For children entering grades One through Six.

Spark is coming to:
Mineola Middle School
200 Emory Road, Mineola, NY 11501
August 5 – 16, 2013 from 9:00AM to 12:00PM
For children entering grades One through Six.
Some of the real world challenges your child will face in…
The INNOVATE program is Hatched™ – Save the avatars by rebuilding a virtual world that has disappeared!
The SPARK program is Bounce: An Atomic Journey™ – Investigate the science behind bouncy balls and create one to take home!
Directed by: Nicole Bartone, nbartone@mineola.k12.ny.us, 516.237.2300

Ryan’s Story

Don’t miss this powerful presentation!
Ryan’s Story Parent Presentation
Wednesday, March 13th @ 7pm
At the Middle School

Meadow Regatta

I thought the Meadow Regatta on Saturday night was awesome- I am not saying that because it is the first time I have won something I quite a few years. I think the new format was excellent in spite of Brian Donahue’s commentary! Bravo to PTA presidents Georgette Strobel and Renee Ryan and all of the people that made the night such a success.

Jackson PARP-“Hungry for Books”

I had a great time today reading to Mrs. Giamalvo’s class. I forgot my standard book- I Stink. Mrs. Shaughnessy hooked me up with Chole and the Lion, which was a huge hit. It just might become my new story. Special thanks to Trish Medved Christa Basel and Michelle Zaranski for organizing the day.

It is always nice to get a thank you

When I got home yesterday my daughter was just finishing writing her thank you notes to everyone that gave her a birthday gift last week. My wife and I are big believers in sending personal thank you notes. I think it is a dying art. I was touched yesterday when I received two notes from our students. Samantha Santomauro mailed me a wonderful note and Angela Ribeiro, Kerri Barnett and Meghan McCabe hand delivered a note with a picture. All of the ladies were thanking me for not cancelling the Marching Band trip to Disney last month. The Board and I were happy to figure out a compromise and I incredibly impressed with the ladies thoughtfulness. I know you shouldn’t thank people for a thank you, but Thanks ladies- you made my week.

Expect a big drop in test scores…

I spent Sunday- Tuesday in Albany at my annual Statewide Superintendent conference. One of the Keynote speakers was Commissioner of Education John King. He repeated an interesting statistic that I also heard him mention last month- expect a 30% decrease in State wide scores on this years ELA and Math exams. I was waiting to blog it until something official came from the State. Below is an excerpt from a memo I received a few hours ago.

As described above, the first New York State tests to measure student progress on the Common Core will be administered in April 2013 for Grades 3-8 ELA and math. Because the new tests are designed to determine whether students are meeting a higher performance standard, we expect that fewer students will perform at or above grade-level Common Core expectations (i.e., proficiency) than was the case with prior year State tests. It is likely that the statewide percentage of students at or above grade level expectations on the new tests will generally be consistent with student performance on the aspirational graduation rate measures and NAEP scores described above. In other words, New York State, for the first time, will be reporting student grade-level expectations against a trajectory of college- and career-readiness as measured by tests fully reflective of the Common Core and, as a result, the number of students who score at or above grade level expectations will likely decrease. States that have already begun to implement Common Core tests (such as Kentucky) have seen this change in student performance. The change in the statewide number of students meeting or exceeding grade level Common Core expectations is necessary if we are to be transparent and honest about what our students know and can do as they progress towards college and career readiness. Student scores on the Common Core assessments will not be directly comparable to scores from prior-year tests because the assessments are based on different, more rigorous standards. As such, the number of students meeting or exceeding Common Core grade-level expectations should not necessarily be interpreted as a decline in student learning or as a decline in educator performance. Instead, the results from these new assessments will give educators, parents, policymakers, and the public a more realistic picture of where students are on their path to being well prepared for the world that awaits them after they graduate from high school.

Thank your Social Worker

This week is School Social Worker Week. I would like to take a moment and recognize our 4 wonderful social workers. Donna Beck, Zolia Castillo, Maria Emerson and Stacey Rosenblatt are invaluable members of our school community and deserve all of the accolades bestowed upon them. Please join me in thanking them for their hard work and dedication.

Mineola Meets Mineola

A group of second graders at Hampton Skyped yesterday with students at a school in Mineola, Texas. The groups exchanged basic information, such as what they do for fun and the type of areas they live in, in order to grasp the cultural differences between the two cities. For example, in Texas, kids go to the rodeo instead of to Broadway plays and live on ranches instead of in apartments or basic houses. Amazing and fun opportunity for our kids. Hampton librarian Diane Nodell hosted the exchange.