Administrators prep for school year
By AUBRIE GEORGE
The Cherry Hill Sun
9/4/2009

As children and parents are running around to make sure they have all their back-to-school fashion and school supply needs in check, school district administrators, teachers and staff have long been preparing for a successful 2009-10 school year. With the days of summer numbered, Superintendent of Cherry Hill K-12 Public Schools Dr. David Campbell offered a glimpse into what students and parents can expect as they prepare to get back into the swing of things this school year.

Is there anything new with the curriculum in the district?

The Cherry Hill School District is implementing a new language arts curriculum at the elementary level. Through our “Blueprint for Student Success,” we completed a pilot evaluation of two K-5 literacy programs during the last school year. (The Blueprint process provides a systematic framework for moving each curriculum content area through specific phases of review, development, implementation, evaluation, and revision.) Implementation of the new program will provide consistent resources and a consistent approach for teaching reading and writing at the elementary level throughout our district’s 12 elementary schools.

Program implementation is being supported by multiple professional development opportunities that began this summer and will continue throughout the school year. In 2009-10, language arts curriculum work will also involve an examination of best available resources to support E/LA instruction in Grades 6-12. The curriculum team will also be developing strategies for integrating more technology to support such activities as daily writing/revision opportunities, online assessments, creation of a Literacy Portfolio, and use of Blogs/Wikis. The team will also develop strategies for providing more time for Language Arts instruction, particularly at the middle schools.

Also new for 2009-10, the district has entered into a partnership with Rowan University that allows our students to take online Rowan courses that simultaneously meet high school and University requirements. The online courses are offered at a steeply discounted price. An additional benefit for students who ultimately choose to attend Rowan: the entire tuition for the course will be returned in the form of a scholarship as long as the student has attained at least a B in the course. The first course offered will be an advanced math course (Calculus Applications). Students and parents can learn more about this through information sessions planned for September.

Finally, the Board of Education is forming a Technology Steering Committee (TSC). The TSC will collaborate with the district technology team, in an advisory capacity, to promote the efficient and effective use of technology throughout the district and to review current and future technology initiatives. This committee of volunteers will include members of the community, students, teachers, administrators, and district staff.

Have there been any major changes with the school schedule?

A new schedule at the elementary level will allow for more uniform and equitable instructional opportunities for students across the district, better delivery of services, and increased opportunities for grade-level collaboration for teachers. To eliminate the disruptions that occur when students are pulled out for special services (e.g., OT, PT, speech) or instrumental music instruction, the new schedule features large uninterrupted blocks of instructional time for Language Arts and Mathematics. Every grade level will have a minimum of one 30-minute intervention/enrichment period daily. During this “I/E” period, teachers will work with small groups of students on practice, remediation, enrichment, and pre-teaching. As much as possible, special services will be delivered during this I/E period, thereby ensuring that students are not missing academic instructional time. Also, elementary schools this year will begin operating on a five-day cycle (Day 1, Day 2, etc.) so that special area classes (e.g., art, local music, Spanish, library) will have equitable amounts of instruction over the course of the year. This avoids scenarios in which a special area class that always meets on a Monday has fewer instructional periods because of Monday holidays.

Could you talk about improvements made to district facilities?

The most visible improvements made this summer have been to athletic fields at Cherry Hill East and Cherry Hill West. The improvements to the varsity football field at Cherry Hill East include site work (grading and drainage), newly installed bleachers, a retaining wall, and parking lot access. These were made possible through the donation of labor and materials provided by local contractor Carl Purcell, an East parent and football booster.

At Cherry Hill West, improvements were made to two athletic fields – the stadium field and the practice field/junior varsity game field, which is also use for JV softball and baseball). At the stadium field, we have improved drainage, added new topsoil; aerated, seeded, and treated the field; backfilled trenches; installed a new irrigation system; and rebuilt the players’ boxes. At the JV/ practice field, we installed an irrigation system, scraped and aerated the site, and installed sod on the entire field. This field will be offline for the coming year. (Photos of the athletic field improvements at both East and West are available on the district website.)

Over the summer, we have also completed HVAC piping work in the B and C wings at Cherry Hill East. New unit ventilators will be installed in classrooms over the next year with little to no disruption to the educational process. Similar HVAC work at Cherry Hill West will start next summer.

Other facilities projects conducted during the summer have been floor replacement work, roof patching and repair, and grounds improvements at various schools; a soffit and fascia project at Thomas Paine; and SMARTboard installations throughout the district.

Have there been any changes in rules and regulations for the district?

A new student Code of Conduct is being rolled out this year. Previously, each school has had a unique plan for conduct and discipline; the Code of Conduct will provide consistency and common language to ensure clear expectations for our students throughout their PreK-12 education. We will be providing more information about this to students and parents once the school year gets underway.

What do you most look forward to this school year?

I look forward to seeing additional progress on our multi-year goals. I’ve discussed some areas of progress related to our Blueprint goal and our facilities goal. There are also exciting things happening with regard to sustainability initiatives (e.g., our participation in Recycle Bank and the Green Schools program). To further cultural competence in our district, the Diversity Advisory Committee has developed a vision statement and established goals to guide the development of curriculum, content, instructional practices, administrative structures, and decision-making processes.