School Transformation Outside and In:
Board Moves on MHS Addition, 47 Teachers Up for Tenure

by Joan Simon

(October 15, 2003) On October 14, the Mamaroneck School Board announced groundbreaking for a major addition to the high school, listed core recommendations from the three district task forces that have been meeting for months, and reported a record number of teachers up for tenure this year.

Groundbreaking to Begin on High School Addition

The Board accepted construction bids and anticipated groundbreaking in the next two weeks on a major addition to Mamaroneck High School. The new addition will become the “heart of the school,” uniting the Palmer and Post buildings into one, said Superintendent Sherry King.

A three-story structure will rise at the end of the Boston Post Road science wing and will include an Athletic Office on the first floor, the Principal’s Office and College Information Center on the second floor, and a new Library/Media Center on the third floor. There will also be a multi-level, high-tech Large Group Instruction space for lectures, classes, and community events, as well as future Board meetings. The concourse connecting the Post and Palmer buildings will double in size and become home to the Guidance Department.

One of the most exciting transformations, according to Dr. King, will be the redesign of the current library into a Student Commons and faculty dining area. “It will be even more attractive than Starbucks next door,” said Dr. King.

Record Number of Tenure Candidates

The Board is considering 47 candidates eligible for tenure this year. The group includes teachers from all six district schools, administrators and teaching assistants. The tenure hearings (which are closed sessions) will begin at the end of October and culminate in the Spring when the Board will awards tenure to the successful candidates at its April 2004 meeting.

Two Task Forces Complete their Work; One Continues

In Spring of 2002, the Board launched a series of Community Conversations. The upshot was three Task Forces charged with investigating and making recommendations on the major questions raised by the conversations. Now the groups are returning to the Board with their findings.

The Gatekeeping Task Force will finish collecting data from a survey of 13 comparable districts in the area before making its recommendations. This group has concentrated primarily on investigating access to Advanced Placement and honors courses in the high school and advance level courses at the middle school.

The performance gap between minority and non-minority students has been the focus of the Minority Task Force. Of major concern were feelings of alienation among minority students, a lack of academic support, both at home and in school, and poor parent-school communication. The Task Force recommended:

• working on ways to improve the relationship between teachers and minority students;
  
  
• providing a broader array of academic supports, especially outside the parameters of special education;
  
  
• and reaching out to minority parents.

The group strongly urged a uniform Spanish translation policy for school–to-home communications at the high school, middle school and elementary schools with a significant number of Spanish-speaking families. They suggested that the Task Force continue as a “Minority Student Achievement Network” to address ongoing issues.

The Special Education Task Force took a hard look at variations in the pre-referral process and inconsistencies in support for students at different levels and in different schools.

They recommended a consistent approach in both of these areas, as well as a strong program to train general education teachers in differentiation techniques for better support of general and special education students included in their classrooms.

The goals is to reduce the number of children classified for special education and to improve the quality of general education teaching. At the November 4th Study Session, the Board will continue its conversations on Special Education.

Those interested in reading the complete Task Force reports will soon
find them on the Mamaroneck School District website. Printed copies are availabe now in the Superintendent's office.

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