TOWN OF ROCKY HILL

BOARD OF EDUCATION

MEETING OF MAY 18, 2006

 

Members Present:   Neil Geldof  (Chairman)

 Jennifer Viggiano-Grosse

 Nadine Bell

                                     Mark E. Carberry   

                                     Charles McMonigle

                                     Rene R. Rivard

 Anne Schmidt          

                                     Catherine Vargas

 

Members Absent:   Peter Arico

 

A meeting of the Board of Education was held on Thursday, May 18, 2006, in the Council Chambers of the Rocky Hill Town Hall.  The meeting was called to order at 7:04 p.m.

 

The pledge of allegiance was recited.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

 

Moved by Mrs. Bell, seconded by Mr. Carberry, to accept the minutes of the April 13, 2006, Facilities Committee meeting.

 

FAVOR:  ALL

MOTION CARRIED

 

Moved by Mrs. Bell, seconded by Mrs. Schmidt, to accept the minutes of the April 25, 2006, Finance Committee meeting.

 

FAVOR:  ALL

MOTION CARRIED

 

Moved by Mr. Carberry, seconded by Mrs. Bell, to accept the minutes of the April 27, 2006, Board of Education meeting.

 

FAVOR:  ALL

MOTION CARRIED

 

 

Moved by Mrs. Bell, seconded by Mrs. Viggiano-Grosse, to accept the minutes  of the April 27, 2006, Facilities Committee meeting.

 

FAVOR:  ALL

MOTION CARRIED

 

Moved by Mr. Rivard, seconded by Mrs. Vargas, to accept the minutes of the April 27, 2006, Curriculum Committee meeting with the addition of an addendum containing the following names of persons who attended:   Nadine Bell and Charles McMonigle of the Board of Education and Mrs. Carone, Mrs. Calvo, Mrs. Meisterling, Mrs. Charamut and Mr. Arnold, parents of Rocky Hill High School students.

FAVOR:  ALL

MOTION CARRIED

 

Moved by Mrs. Bell, seconded by Mr. Carberry, to accept the minutes of the May 4,  2006, Facilities Committee meeting.

 

FAVOR:  ALL

MOTION CARRIED

 

 

CORRESPONDENCE

Dr. Vautour reported receipt of the following correspondence:

 

(1)   Letter from Emily Peters who was recently honored for her essay on the Laws of Life; 

 

(2)   Letter regarding Mary O’Sullivan, the Connecticut Poster Contest winner;

 

(3)   Thank you notes from students at Stevens and West Hill Schools  expressing appreciation for being allowed to attend a performance of the Hartford Symphony; tickets were provided by the Conductor of the Symphony and transportation was provided by Rocky Hill.

 

(4)   Thank you note from T.J. Viggiano and Jennifer Viggiano-Grosse for a gift pack sent.

 

(5)   Thank you note from Ann Marie Donatelli for flowers sent.

 

(6)   Moser School invitation for Board members to attend their “This Land is Your Land” celebration on May 25th at 1:30 p.m. in the school yard; rain date is May 26th.

 

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

RHTA Liaison Committee – No report.

 

Student Representatives

Ellie Charamut and Bruce Hodge, 5th grade students, reported on activities at Moser and Stevens school and an invitated to the Board to attend Field Day on June 2nd.

 

Students reported  on activities at West Hill School; including a Stepping Up Ceremony on June 15.

 

Sameer Laul, a 7th grade student, reported on activities at Griswold Middle School; including congratulations to Emily Peters, Ingrid Admal and James Atalia who were selected as Scholar Leaders, and Mr. Maziarz who was nominated by students and named as Walmart’s Teacher of the Year for Rocky Hill.

 

Meeting Open to the Public

There was no one from the public wishing to address the Board on any item not on the agenda.

 

1.  Consent Calendar

 

Moved by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mrs. Vargas, to approve the consent calendar for May 18, 2006.

 

FAVOR:  ALL

MOTION CARRIED

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS

2. Personnel and Negotiations.  No report.

 

3.  Policy.  No report.

 

  1. Finance.  Mrs. Schmidt reported that the Finance Committee met prior to the Board meeting this evening.  They discussed final adjustments made to the budget based upon the approval of the town budget by the Town Council.  The Finance Committee made $398,365 worth of adjustments to the budget largely due to significant insurance savings brought about by very aggressive and competitive bidding engaged upon on behalf of employee benefits.

 

Moved by Mr. Carberry, seconded by Mr. Rivard, to accept a revised Board of Education budget, totaling, $24,259,627.

 

FAVOR:  ALL

MOTION CARRIED

 

5.  Curriculum.  No report.

 

6.  Professional Development.  No report.

 

7. Facilities.  Dr. Vautour reported the Facilities Committee is continuing a review of the Feasibility Study and is currently looking seriously at Options 3, 4, and 5. Conversations have been held with the Town Engineering Department, and potential parcels of land have been identified in the event that the Committee recommends to the Board that a school site be selected.  There is still considerable work to be done.

 

8.  Technology.  No report.

 

9. Transportation/Accommodations.  Mr. Geldof reported that there are two hearngs coming up next week.  Dr. Vautour explained that they will be Executive Sessions addressing specific student items. 

 

OLD BUSINESS

None.

 

NEW BUSINESS

10.  Special Education Demonstration

Dr. Levy presented C-Print, an assistive technology being used in special education that allows students to access the general curriculum.  It utilizes hardware, software, and a captionist to help students with hearing impairments access everything that is going on in a classroom.  She asked everyone to think about sitting in a classroom and trying to gain all of the information necessary to be able to successfully take those courses.  To that end, assistive technology has developed a system where a captionist who has learned a type of shorthand can communicate what the teacher is saying, almot verbatim, from computer-to-computer with the student.  She introduced Ally Smith, a sophomore at RHHS who is hearing impaired, Pam Allen, the captionist, Michelle Costagna, Special Education Teacher and Alita Smith, Ally’s mom.

 

Ms. Smith made a PowerPoint presentation concerning herself and the use of C-Print.  She explained that the technology is very important in that it helps her, and others, to learn better in class through note taking.  She explained that it is a speech-to-text system developed at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, and that it consists of software installed on two laptops that allows the trained captionist to translate to hearing-impaired students what an instructor is saying enabling the student to read along during class.  This helps students to understand and not miss anything the teacher says.  Communication between the captionist and student can also be accomplished utilizing this technology. 

 

Dr. Levy explained that not only Ally benefits from the notes taken by the captionist but also students who have difficulty taking notes, or who have been absent, or who have other disabilities that may prohibit them from obtaining the information.

 

Mrs. Allen explained that she trained herself through an on-line computer course in the shorthand method and that any word over three letters can be abbreviated.  The abbreviations are translated to English words that appear on Ally’s laptop.

 

Mrs. Alida Smith thanked the Board, Dr. Levy, Michelle Costagna, Pam Allen and Mora McQuire, Ally’s consulting teacher from Soundbridge.  She said everyone has been patient and understanding and she thanked them for obtaining the equipment.  It has really helped Ally in the classroom; teachers notice she is answering questions more rapidly in her mainstream classes and she doesn’t have to turn around to another student, classroom aid, or the teacher and ask them to repeat what was said.  In looking at this for students with other disabilities or even when a student is absent for several days, the notes are retrieved and printed out.  It has been very difficult for her daughter to sit in a classroom and read lips with the expectation that she take notes.   She cannot look down without missing what is being said.  Since using C-Print her grades and participation have improved.  She asked the Board to consider this for students coming up through the grades.

 

 

11.  Math Report

Math Implementation Specialist, Joyce Waterbury, spoke to the Board concerning activities she has collaborated on with teachers, observations she made concerning the math curriculum, and recommendations she has for continued growth at the elementary, middle and high schools.

 

Ms. Waterbury said at the elementary level in each school they coordinated a family math night where families participated with their children in Trailblazer activities.  Parents learned ways to work with their children at home or in the car to keep math in their children’s lives.  A mid-year and a final year benchmark assessment in Grades 1, 2 and 3 has been implemented.  The results will be analyzed when looking at continued growth.  Plans are being made for next year’s benchmarks.  Ms. Waterbury has been visiting classrooms and modeling the Trailblazers approach with 4th and 5th grade teachers.  Fourth grade will be implementing Trailblazers next year so they have begun working on preparing those teachers for the curriculum.  She has begun sending out a monthly calendar to teachers with a schedule of times when she is available in each building.  She also has been putting out possible lesson topics which she could come in and share with the teachers and students.  She talked about a lesson she presented in a Grade 5 classroom using the concept of area.  She gave students a scenario of carpeting their classroom, and asked them to figure out how much carpeting they would need and to calculate the price given a specific price per square yard.  She gave them yard sticks, and they worked in groups to devise a plan to find the area and to figure out the cost.  She then asked them to calculate how much it would cost for every classroom to get a new carpet.  She said she provided the teacher with a follow-up problem to use the next day.  Students needed to calculate fencing for a pool and the cost of that fencing.  Ms. Waterbury will return to the class next week to discuss with the teacher how the lesson went and to talk with students about strategies they used.

 

Ms. Waterbury said that at the middle school level she has been talking with teachers about what is happening with the Trailblazers curriculum.  Teachers were scheduled to visit elementary classrooms and observe a lesson at the second grade level.  Teachers asked to observe a 5th grade lesson.  Since the program has not been implemented in the fifth grade, Ms. Waterbury said she volunteered to come in and do a lesson.  The goal was to increase their insight in the scope of this program and for them to really see what is happening at the younger as well as the higher elementary age.  She did a lesson on fractions in the class which she also asked Board members to complete. 

 

At Rocky Hill High School, Ms. Waterbury has observed classes and spoken with teachers about their curriculum and what their visions are and they’ve talked about aligning with the new CAPT and SATs.  Ms. Waterbury has worked with Cathy Oryell to organize a career fair that will be held on May 26 from 8:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. to which she invited Board members. There will be a wide variety of presenters (mechanical and structural engineers, a surveyor, with an array of people from different fields including culinary arts, an actuary, carpenter, mechanic and contractor).  The hope is that students will begin to see what many options they have and they can pursue through math.

 

Ms. Waterbury said across all schools she has been working with teachers on the use of calculators.  She explained that she has also looked at the research behind the use of calculators in the classroom.  One study that showed up multiple times in articles said that problem-solving is enhanced greatly by the use of calculators for three main reasons; students are more confident, they are doing more exploration, and they’re focusing more on the problem.  If the teacher wants to assess computation, then the calculator would not be used.  But if the instructor is looking at concepts where computation is not the focus, the calculator is used as a tool.  Ms. Waterbury volunteered to provide the article to anyone wishing to review it. 

 

Ms. Waterbury explained that from her observations at the elementary level, some strengths that have surfaced are the dedicated and hard-working staff.  There is a lot of active learning happening, it is very student-centered with students in groups talking and conversing.  Trailblazers has been implemented in grades K through 3, and next year it will be implemented in grade 4.  The use of a portable Smartboard in each of the buildings has greatly enhanced the Trailblazers curriculum. Students receive a visual demonstration which they can interact with and that opens up opportunities for visual learners.  She also observed higher order thinking taking place such as a second grade classroom working with area and understand the conceptual idea behind it. 

 

Ms. Waterbury said areas to be addressed in the future at the elementary level are the needs of remedial students. She suggested looking closer at how the remedial students are doing with the Trailblazers curriculum and what we can offer to meet their needs.  She recommended that the resource department work with these students and the utilization of software.  They have Kidsperation, a computer program, installed on the media center computers that she has been working with to develop a folder of activities for teachers to use with students to reinforce concepts they need extra time with.  Ms. Waterbury said money concepts in grades 1 and 2 are not done in the program as much as they would like.  She has been developing activities through Kidsperation and other software and has visited classrooms with extra lessons for students and teachers.  Ms. Waterbury said expanding or differentiating instruction and the pacing of the program is another area she has been working on. In the first year of the Trailblazers curriculum it is important to work with teachers on how quickly or slowly they should be moving through the material.  She said with benchmarks they hope to address the issue of pacing.

 

Ms. Waterbury explained the following CMT Strands and the percentages of grade 4 students who, in 2004, met goal:  Strand 11 is 62%; Strand 15 is 64%; and Strand 25 is 41%.   These three areas are continually the lowest which deal with estimating, measurement and mathematical applications and they are continuing to improve and she has been working with teachers on how to incorporate this consistently throughout their curriculum.

 

Ms. Waterbury said concerning the high math program in grades 4 and 5 and the question of whether we still need the program, she researched the issue and through talking with other districts and the Trailblazers’ publishing company she learned that many schools that have implemented Trailblazers said they did get rid of the high math because the Trailblazers program was meeting the needs of the higher level students.  Teachers are able to differentiate instruction to meet the needs within the classroom.  It is her recommendation for next year that we get rid of the high math program at the 4th grade level, keep it in 5th grade for next year, then the following year, rid the program in 5th grade as well.

 

Ms. Waterbury said at the middle school level she found that teachers have a strong passion for math as well as teaching.  Algebra is offered for grade 8 on two levels; two full classes.  We have the multi-level grouping to meet the needs of our students at the different levels.  We are meeting the standards of the new framework and the CMTs. They also have time in their schedule everyday (called on-team time) when students come back to their team and the teacher either has something planned for them to do or it’s a time for students to see teachers they need to see for a variety of reasons.  Many of the math department teachers have seen this as a time where students come with questions or for extra help.  


Ms. Waterbury said some areas to address in the future at the middle school include a current look at the curriculum sequence with the CMT strands; they are looking at what was on the CMT and where possibly we can move some things earlier into the curriculum.  Teachers were able to work with a representative from the Dept. of Education in April at Professional Development Day to start working on that.  Another area for consideration is the students who will enter the middle school in 2008 - the first group of students who had Trailblazers.  What does that mean for the type of instruction we will have when they get there?  We want to make sure the needs are being met and the teachers will take students from where they are and move them forward.  We are also currently looking at software.  Recently we had a presenter come from RM Educational Software to do a demonstration using an interactive whiteboard that is being used in some schools as the sole curriculum and in others as a supplementary program.  It contains activities similar to those demonstrated with pattern blocks and students can manipulate objects on the whiteboard.  The program correlates all activities to the state standard, so if a program like this were in Rocky Hill each activity would indicate which standard it linked to.  It runs off a server so teachers would also be able to access this at home.  We are also looking to continually expand the student-centered learning. 

 

Ms. Waterbury said at Rocky Hill High School she found teachers are dedicated to their curriculum and have a strong passion for math. Each professional development day this year they have worked on updating their scope-and-sequence to fit the new CAPT generation and the SATs.  Some of the sequence changes have been made and teachers are currently updating the documents.  There is also the use of reading and writing across the curriculum which is very important to the math curriculum, as math is a language.  In the area of technology, teachers are using Geometer’s Sketchpad which is an interactive program where students can visually see all types of transformation, slides, transition in geometry.  They also have use of the TI83s and the teachers have an overhead compatible so they can display it on the transparency.  There is a graph program that can be used by students and teachers to develop graphs and things that can be used for assessments, homework or in class activities. 

 

Ms. Waterbury said some areas to address in the future at the high school include looking at students taking math in the fourth year; right now it is about 80%.  She said her recommendation is to review current offerings, visit other districts to learn about their courses, make recommendations for courses that can be added here in Rocky Hill for our students.  The space in classrooms is not all conducive to active learning activities.  Some classrooms are small and when teachers want to do cooperative learning activities the room becomes crammed.  Ms. Waterbury said she would like to look at the possibility of helping this as we start to use cooperative learning more at the high school. 
She would also like to gain software in the future to help enhance learning for students, to help remedial students, and as another tool for teachers to use within the curriculum.  Students always enjoy using a computer program for math that’s helping them with their learning.  We also need to consider our students that will enter RHHS in 2012, this will be the group that has had Trailblazers. 

 

Mrs. Bell said she recently visited Stevens School and observed a second grade class addressing a lesson on area.  She said it was incredible to see what was being done at the second grade level with the Trailblazers program.  Also, you could clearly see the differentiation between the students.  The more accelerated students had the opportunity to go ahead and expand their knowledge and learning. 

 

Mrs. Bell asked how many times through the curriculum in K through 5 is one concept taught.  Ms. Waterbury explained that topics are introduced as early as kindergarten and reintroduced every year, multiple times, with the concepts progressively becoming more in depth.  

 

Mr. Rivard asked about the use of calculators and assessing computation within the curriculum.  Ms. Waterbury said students are continually assessed on their math facts.  They are also assessed on daily practice problems through the Trailblazers program, which are called DPPs - they focus on the computation and facts.  Mr. Rivard asked if there is any place within our curriculum where students rely solely on a calculator and no longer use computation.  Ms. Waterbury said, no.  Dr. Vautour explained that as students get further up in grade level they are generally asked to estimate what they suspect an answer will be.  So, if they use a calculator for their computation, they will recognize if the answer on the calculator is way off.  

 

Mrs. Schmidt asked how many Connecticut school districts are utilizing Trailblazers.  Ms. Waterbury said she spoke with about seven school districts in the immediate area and found that the number of schools using the program is continually rising each year.

 

Mrs. Schmidt stated that it is starting to materialize as we move forward with Trailblazers that each year we are strongly making the move toward conceptual math; one problem placed before you with five possible solutions.  We have teaching that is very conceptual and we still have formulaic teaching.  Is Trailblazers going to put us on a single track of conceptual math?  Dr. Vautour said, no.  He thinks we are going to find is a complement to the formulaic with the conceptual.  There will always be a place for formulaic.  Once you’ve developed the concept you can begin to rely on certain formula, but you understand the basis for the formula.  Dr. Vautour said it is his believe that Trailblazers and the programs they seek will attempt to combine the two. 

 

Mr. Carberry asked about calculators and TI83s and whether every child has one in the classroom.  Ms. Waterbury explained that teachers have a set of calculators they use in each classroom. 

 

Mr. Rivard asked about students who transfer into Rocky Hill schools and who have not been taught Trailblazers and how they integrate into the system and do we have anything we accommodate them with.  Ms. Waterbury said they adjust well to the program; there hasn’t been a student so far who hasn’t.  Dr. Vautour said he anticipates the difficulties would be greater for the student coming in at a grade 5th level rather than the student coming in first grade.  He referred to Ms. Waterbury’s earlier explanation of remedial activities she would like to expand so that there would be a bank of materials for teachers to draw from and when trying to get a student up to speed. In addition, Dr. Vautour said he would anticipate that if we found a student significantly deficient our math resources people would be brought in so they would complement the efforts of the teacher and there would be extra work provided. 

 

Mr. Geldof said he joined Mrs. Bell and Mr. Arico on Monday observing a second grade math class.  He was intrigued by Ms. Waterbury’s first presentation this year, so he has stopped by on occasion to discuss the Trailblazers program with her.  He said what impressed him the most during his observation was the use of the Smartboard.  When you see it being used by students and a teacher, you realize there are so many ways to approach a problem.  When a student goes to the Smartboard and presents his solution to a problem, every other student sees that solution plus the teacher’s and formulates in their mind the different ways the problem can be solved. Mr. Geldof said he believes Trailblazers is going to take off and he was impressed because the kids were learning and they were having fun. 

 

12.  China Sister School Report

Dr. Vautour and Ms. Wilson shared their experiences with regard to a trip they took to Yantai China in order to formalize a sister school partnership with the Xiaoxiang Primary School there.

 

Dr. Vautour explained that from April 14th through the 24th he and Ms. Terry Wilson participated in the Conn. Shandong Sister School Exchange program sponsored by the Conn. State Dept. of Education.  He explained the Shandong experience is the outgrowth of something that begun back in 1986 when Governor O’Neil signed an agreement with the Governor of the Shandong Province to begin an exchange of business relationships.  A Memorandum of Understanding between Shandong Provincial Education Department and the Conn. State Dept. of Education was formally entered into in January, 2003.  Comm. Keyton and Comm. Sternberg updated that agreement in October, 2005.

 

Dr. Vautour explained the Memorandum contains six broad goals:  to develop collaborative programs and projects in the areas of higher education, elementary and secondary; to organize joint international activities such as field studies, conferences, digital communications, courses of study, etc.;  visits and exchange of teaching and administrative personnel; visits and exchange of students; exchange or access to publications and other educational materials of common interest; and the establishment of partnership schools.  Since April, 2004, there have been four specific delegations from Conn. that have gone to the Shandong Province in China and 37 partnerships have been formed.

 

Dr. Vautour said day one in China was comprised of sightseeing and a trip into a houton (original neighborhoods in Beijing where peasants from the countryside move into the City of Beijing and hope to gain affluence) where they visited a teacher, Mrs. Kong.

 

Ms. Wilson explained they had numerous opportunities to visit with various levels of educational ministries where they met with people and heard presentations regarding how China is trying to expand its language opportunities.  They learned that a very important cultural piece in developing partnerships and relationships is their formality and ceremony which sets the tone for your relationship. 

 

Dr. Vautour said they learned that the Chinese system of education is quite different from ours. They have nursery and kindergarten programs; elementary programs starting at grade 1 with 6-year old students and continuing through grade 6; junior high which is grades 7 through 9, with 13- to 15-year old students; and grade 9 marks the end of compulsory education in China. Their goal is to have 100% of the population make it through the 9th grade with all schools teaching English from first grade on.  At the 9th grade level, they begin a highly-competitive process of entrance examinations.  Only the best are selected to move on to high school and from high school to college.  High school is grades 10 through 12, college/university is a four-year program, master’s is a three-year program, and doctorate is a three-year program.  One of the things the Chinese are becoming increasingly sensitive to is that the competitiveness of their educational system is causing a lot or problems with the young people.  Parents view education as the most important thing and it is not uncommon for the high school students to put in a full day, come home for a couple of hours, then go back to the school for classes that run until 10:00 p.m., and working throughout the weekends on various things.  We pushed and found out that while the goal is universal and compulsory education through the 9th grade, it’s more a reality in the cities than it is in the countryside, because they do not have the necessary staff to handle that.

 

Day two Dr. Vautour and Ms. Wilson visited The Forbidden City and Tieneman Square.  Dr. Vautour said there are some interesting and subtle things happening in China.  There is a major push towards capitalism and economic expansion and it is amazing to see it throughout China.

 

Day three Dr. Vautour and Ms. Wilson took an eight hour bus ride from Beijing, to Ginon to meet the Provincial Commissioner.  One the meetings was followed by a banquet that was very, very elaborate, formal and there are rules that need to be followed in terms of who eats what and when.  We discovered that the Chinese place a great deal of emphasis on never loosing face.

 

Days four through seven were spent in Yantai which is where the Xiaoxiang Primary School is located.  Dr. Vautour explained the first surprise for them was when they entered into a highly developed metropolitan area.  Yantai is a coastal city containing four pillar industries:  machinery making, electronic information, food processing and gold processing. There are $23 Billion worth of American investments in the City of Yantai and 40 of the top 500 international conglomerates have invested in Yantai.  Yantai 20 years ago was a small, sleepy village, it is now a metropolis of 6 Million people, with 30 elementary schools. 

 

Ms. Wilson explained that they were very much honored and welcomed guests.  When they arrived at Xiaoxiang Primary School they were greeted by 900 students in the streets with flowers, playing music, a marching band, photographers, etc.  Upon visiting the school, they observed students in their classes, including two forms of exercise students engage in everyday for 20 minutes:  one is the physical and the other is eye exercises to fight off near-sightedness.

 

Dr. Vautour said one thing they noted is how much conformity and following the rules is entrenched in the fabric of the Chinese culture.  He said it is something they are beginning to grapple with and one of the reasons they are interested in partnerships with the U.S. 

 

Dr. Vautour said one of the cultural things that struck him and Ms. Wilson was that the school walls were jammed with student work.  However, the only work that makes it to the walls is the best-of-the-best; they do not have total student representation of student work.  In this school and in others visited by our colleagues the emphasis was put up the best work and that serves as a model for everyone else to aspire to.

 

Dr. Vautour and Ms. Wilson distributed samples of students’ art and writing samples to Board members.  Dr. Vautour explained that these are actual writing samples in English that the students produced.  He said they are please to note that there is a parent at Stevens school who is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and who will assist in translating the documents written in Chinese so the students understand what is being said. 

 

Dr. Vautour explained that the pictograph language which is Chinese is comprised of 40,000 separate characters.  There are 10,000 in current use.  The fluent educated individual handles 3,000.  You can get by with 300 pictographs.  In addition to the pictograph, in the last 35 years the Chinese have undergone a process of Romanization of their language which means they have taken the Roman alphabet and have attempted to associate it to the symbols. What has resulted is a variant of the language called Pinion.  So, a typical student in a Chinese school learns the pictograph, the pinion and the English pronunciation. It is a very demanding process. 

 

Dr. Vautour said one of the activities that took place while at the Xiaoxiang Primary School was the signing of a partnership agreement.  Board members have been provided with a copy of that agreement both in Mandarin Chinese and English. He explained that the Chinese attempted as well as they could to make the document in English, but we are known as “Rocky” Hill, and in the spirit of saving face, no mention was made of the incorrect spelling. Dr. Vautour explained that the agreement talks about sharing information and expertise and it does not bind as such but they are very much interested in learning about us. 

 

Dr. Vautour explained that the biggest issue for the Chinese is trying to figure out how you develop creative problem solvers.  They are remarkable at memorization; they are extraordinarily adept at formulaic approaches but when asked to step outside of the box, they can’t do it.  They realize that if they are going to be competitive they need to develop that ability because all of the major innovation is coming out of the think tanks where creative problem solving, divergent thinking is encouraged.  So, they are very forthright in saying we would like to come here to learn how you do that.  

 

The last day was spent sightseeing with many questions from the Chinese people who would come up to them and were very interested in American people and our culture.

 

Dr. Vautour explained that as far as the future and this partnership go,  there is a major Loctite connection in Yantai, Loctite Henkel, which was the first of the American corporations to gain access when that port opened up.  Human Resources Director in Rocky Hill, and Dr. Vautour have begun conversations.  They are very interested in formulating a relationship between Xiaoxiang Primary School, Stevens Elementary School, the Loctite Branch in Yantai and Corporate Headquarters here.  Dr. Vautour has a meeting scheduled for next week to discuss what that means because they are interested in facilitating some of the projects that we are interested in. 

 

Dr. Vautour said Principal Tang has indicated a desire to come and visit Stevens Elementary School and the community of Rocky Hill. She would like to bring two of her teachers, an interpreter and five students, and can only do so if she is formally invited.  Dr. Vautour said the children would pay their own expenses and the Xiaoxiang School would pay all expenses for Principal Tang and her staff.  Dr. Vautour requested that the Board issue an invitation to Principal Tang. 

 

Dr. Vautour said there is also the notion of creating additional partnerships. We have already received a request from Yantai to consider partnering with Rocky Hill High School where we would, again, have an opportunity for exchange both of staff and/or students.  The types of things we are looking at are exchanging ideas about teaching, exchanging information about cultures, allowing students to interact through video, computers, etc.  He said one example of the types of things we are going to attempt is when we look at the National Assessment of Educational Performance (NAEP) results, the Asian countries outperform Americans in the area of mathematics.  He said they think it might be interesting to take the strands that were identified at the fourth grade level by Ms. Waterbury and see if we can have the students at Xiaoxiang Primary school tested on these very strands and compare their performance to our performance.  If there are significant differences, we could begin a conversation with staff at Xiaoxiang as to how they are teaching that and see if and how it differs from the way we are teaching it and begin an exchange of pedagogical principles.

 

Dr. Vautour spoke on behalf of himself and Ms. Wilson stating that the trip was exceptionally rewarding, very, very informative, and shattered a lot of stereotypes.  He said China is a country whose economy is probably going to be the next world economy.  Ms. Wilson shared with the Board some of the gifts presented to them by students and staff in Yantai.

 

Moved by Mrs. Schmidt, seconded by Mrs. Bell, to invite Principal Tang and her staff of the Xiaoxiang Primary School in Yantai China (sister school of Myrtle H. Stevens Elementary School) to visit the Rocky Hill School system. 

 

FAVOR:  ALL

MOTION CARRIED

 

Dr. Vautour said they would attempt to coordinate the visit for the month of October.

 

13.  Recission of Non-Renewals

Dr. Vautour stated that since the budget has been adopted by the Board he would like to rescind, as soon as possible, the notices that went out earlier this year to non-tenured teachers about their jobs not being available, and requested a motion.

 

Moved by Mr. McMonigle, seconded by Mrs. Bell, to rescind non-renewal notices for the following personnel:   Mary Aunce-Oberndorfer, Teresa Aurigemma, Sandra Bonfiglio, Linda Ceruzzi, David Fortier, Lisa Goldstein, Brian Graca, Robin Hornstein, Michael Iavarone, Richard Incorvati, Jr., Stephanie Kelly, Magdalena Kruk, Thomas Krupa, Jr., Kathleen Lessard, Jeffrey Mertens, Stacey Moed-Klein, Sherri Pereira, Sarah Petrario, Eileen Schnyder, Brian Wilcox, Katarzyna Wojtak, Matthew Benson, Linda Carneiro, Marie Cordone, Rosemary Fuggetta, Christine Hany, Karla Harding, Rebekah Harding, Jason Maziarz, James McKinnon, IV, Laura Ribaudo, Lynn Skrzypiec, Marissa Violette, Michaey Vye, Kristyn Carter, Sandra Fravel, Tina Maglieri, Cindy Poulin, Eileen Touger, Cara Viggiano, Eliska Bayley, Erin Carignan, Sarah D’Arco, Ann Gombotz, Mary Iacobucci, Terri Ann Lambert, Debora Levine, Lynn Marinelli, Kelly Mota, Jennifer Paragone, Kelly Yurechko, Ann Cox, Joyce Waterbury, and Matthew Bennett.

 

FAVOR:  ALL

MOTION CARRIED

 

14.  Board Retreat

Dr. Vautour spoke about a retreat for the full Board and Administrators which would entail a review of items identified two years ago and the progress that’s been made on the items, and goal-setting for the future.  He asked the Board for input as to a time and location.  It was determined that a 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. time frame, prior to the close of the school year, would be best. 

 

Mr. Geldof reminded everyone that the last day of school is June 19, 2006.

 

Moved by  Mrs. Vargas, seconded by Mr. Carberry, to adjourn (9:00 p.m.).

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Juanda Simons, Recording Secretary

 

Accepted by: ____________________               Date:  _____________________