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Report from the Oak Ridge Reorganization Planning Team – October 28 Meeting

On Tuesday, October 28, 2014, the Oak Ridge Gr 3-6 Reorganization Planning Team held their first meeting as a Gr 3-6 Team. The meeting was held in the Curriculum Office in the Superintendent’s Wing of Oak Ridge School. The room was full with a mix of parents, teachers, Finance Committee member Gene Parini, School Committee member Nancy Crossman, Oak Ridge Principal Trish Hill, Wing School Principal Deb Landry and Superintendent Dr. Richard Canfield.  The meeting focused on a reporting out of the site visits held earlier this month and a discussion of subcommittees for the team. 

SITE VISITS

Trish Hill, Oak Ridge principal, brought the group through an outline compiled from notes from many of the participants in recent site visits – the site visit group included parents, teachers, and administrators. The group visited:

  • Alden School Gr 3-5 in Duxbury
  • Mitchell Middle School Gr 3-6 in East Bridgewater

There were observations about many components of the schools, from the demographics to the school culture and climate to the class placement process. Our discussion focused on that we could learn from  decisions and experiences of both Duxbury and East Bridgewater.  We are very appreciative of both school communities for their generous sharing of time and information.

Out of respect for our hosting communities, we will not be distributing the observational notes online. Please feel free to contact Trish Hill @ if you would like a copy of the site visit notes.

Next site visit to Mansfield – Monday Nov 10th

 Representatives from the Gr 3- 6 team who have volunteered to attend the Mansfield Gr 3-5 school:

  • Jeanne MacDonald
  • Beth Cummings-Oman
  • Jenn Diemer
  • Deb Landry
  • Trish Hill

 The site visits will be in the morning, and the group will gather to debrief back in Sandwich in the afternoon.

  SUBCOMMITTEES –

  • Outdoor spaces
    • Playground
      • The playground building company – Landscape Design- has toured all three schools to assess needs and to consider if Wing playground can be moved.
      • Grant-writing has begun at Forestdale; both groups can work collaboratively
    • Greenhouse
      • Trish has started to look into grants
    • Library/Technology
    • Community & Climate
      • How can we unify all three schools?
      • Physical appearance changes might be limited by budget
      • Make wish list and prioritize
      • Traditions and practices for each school – what to bring forward?
      • Create a new set of meaningful traditions
      • Honor the students who are here
      • Not everything will be ready on the days the doors open
    • Communications
      • Parents and Community at Large
      • Some ideas are still at discussion phase with multiple steps yet to take before any decision can be made
    • After school enrichments
      • Goal: Multiple opportunities for kids
      • How to manage?
    • Transitions
      • from gr 2 to 3
      • from gr 6-7

RPT members will contact Trish Hill at thill@sandwich.k12.ma.us to indicate which subcommittees they would like to serve on.

QUESTIONS AND FURTHER DISCUSSION

 What about the educational piece, in-school enrichments, etc – will those be handled by Collaborative Design Team?

Yes, the CDT will be an ongoing leadership team within each school and there will be some teacher overlap with the two different teams

How will class placement will be done…

To be determined. Teachers and administrators will consider what is current practice, what we have learned from other schools, and how we can create balanced, well-supported  classrooms for all students

Comments from Dr. Canfield

  • Thoughts about adding World Language at Gr 3-6 school
  • Portables will be renovated and used for variety of purposes. Classrooms will be within the building, proper.
  • About the portables….
    • Portables do not have mold
    • HVAC unit for each portable classroom is factored into budget
    • Also – new carpet, paint etc.
    • Roofs need work but do not need to be replaced

Next Meeting is Nov 18th 6pm -8pm in Curriculum Office. RPT Meetings are open to the public. 

Oak Ridge Sept smaller for collage

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reorganizing the Sandwich Elementary Schools: Dream Big, Act Bold