| On Board Online • September 26, 2016 By Gayle Simidian A voice crackles over the loudspeaker at North Albany Academy at 10:30 a.m. and 2:10 p.m. to make an announcement: It's time for a "Mindful Moment." The calm voice instructs everyone in the school to close his or her eyes for a moment of reflection. For a few minutes, chatter in the classrooms and hallways ceases as students and adults become silent. This happens twice a day in the PK-8 school in the Albany City School District. | ||
| On Board Online • September 26, 2016 By Jason Franchuk At Maine-Endwell Middle School near Binghamton, Principal Rick Otis wanted to welcome all of the students back on the first day of classes, Sept. 7, with a bang. He wanted an exciting, inclusive event for 570 students. But he knew he had to give a special welcome back to nine students who recently had helped make their entire town an international name. A Little League team known as both "Maine-Endwell" and "Mid-Atlantic" won the Little League World Series on Aug. 28 in Williamsport, Penn. The 11 players include nine from the Maine-Endwell school district and two students from the neighboring Union-Endicott school district | ||
| On Board Online • September 26, 2016 By Cathy Woodruff In light of exploding and evolving demands on school principals, the State Education Department has launched a grant-funded initiative to recommend ways to improve their training and recruitment. The Principal Preparation Project, an 18-month effort supported by a $1 million grant from the Wallace Foundation, includes plans to develop a prototype of a computer-based system that local school districts could use to recruit and hire principals who have appropriate preparation and experience. The project also will look at ways to improve the state certification process. | ||
|
| ||
School districts should plan for limited state and local revenue growth in their budgets next year, based on projections for shrinking state tax collections and another low tax cap, according to State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. | ||
| On Board Online • September 5, 2016 MaryEllen Elia Editor's Note: Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia is sending the back-to-school message below to all school teachers and leaders. Dear Teachers & School Leaders: Welcome back to school! Even after 46 years in education, I still get excited by the start of a new school year. I hope that everyone had a chance to rest, relax and enjoy the summer. | ||
| On Board Online • September 5, 2016 By Paul Heiser State regulations permit school districts to base part of an individual teacher's evaluation score on observations by trained peer teachers, but school districts have been slow to warm to the idea, according to a new NYSSBA report. A NYSSBA analysis of 100 of the more than 300 state-approved Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) plans selected at random found that no districts incorporated peer observations into their evaluations. The finding is part of a new NYSSBA report called Building Trust at the Table: Lessons for Successfully Negotiating APPR Agreements. | ||
| On Board Online • September 5, 2016 Eric Randall New York's anti-bullying law addresses the rights of transgender students more explicitly than any federal law. The state's Dignity for All Students Act includes gender as a protected category and defines a person's gender as "a person's actual or perceived gender identity of expression." In a July 2015 guidance document, the State Education Department interpreted that 2010 law as obligating school districts to create a “supportive school culture” for transgender students as well as students who are “gender nonconforming” (e.g., an individual who identifies as having no gender or an individual who identifies as both male and female). | ||
|
| ||
| On Board Online • September 5, 2016 By Jay Worona During its 2016 term, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide a case related to the issue of whether students with disabilities are entitled to bring service animals to school. Concerns about allergies and educational objectives have often made such requests problematic for schools, and judges asked to rule on the obligations of school districts have had little precedent to rely upon. Although the specific legal issue in Fry v. Napolean Community Schools is procedural in nature, the ruling promises to provide school districts in New York State and throughout the nation with an opportunity to assess whether their policies and practices in this area are legally sound. | ||
| On Board Online • September 5, 2016 the New York State Association of School Attorneys In June 2015, the Board of Regents adopted permanent regulations regarding residency determinations related to student enrollment procedures. Informally summarized as "admit first, ask questions later," the new, mandated approach was a sharp departure from traditional screening, which often involved requiring documents proving residency prior to admission. A year later, it is appropriate to review the circumstances leading to the change, analyze the results, and strategize for future enrollments. | ||
|
| ||
|
By Cathy Woodruff You probably won't see one leaping across the rooftops with Matt Damon in his next spy thriller, but a school crossing guard is likely to face more-than-enough potential danger in a day's work. "I've seen it all," said Kathy Jourdain, a 40-year veteran of the crossing guard crew in the Schenectady County village of Scotia. "The drivers slam on their brakes. You've got to worry about ice. I had a close call once - a car smashed into another one and ended up right where I'd been standing." | ||
<< Previous Page Next Page >> |
On Board Online • September 5, 2016