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| Principal González, who knows every student by name, greets them as they come to school. He also mandates that teachers stand outside their classrooms and greet children as they come through the halls. |
An Update:
Since windhamweek ran a November 2011 story, educational miracles have happened at Middle School 223 in the Bronx NY. Test scores have improved six fold, studens are learning and going on to high school. From one of the poorest performing schools in the New york City system MS 223 has reinvented itself and has become an award winning middle school. The renamed Lab School of Finance and Technology offers a "Robust Art and Music Program."With the opening of the Barrows STEM Academy what will happen when 400 of the brightest students and a proportional number of "great" teachers move from Windham's existing schools to the new STEM Academy?
Will the "cream students and great teachers" be skimmed off to Tuckie Rd. leaving Windham Schools educationally weaker or will these school mimic Middle School 223?
WEDNESDAY, Nov 9, 2011
Education: After The Magnet School
We have seen rendering of our new Magnet School and heard of its potential for success. If The State Board of Education fulfills its financial promises and the local board complies with the states contractual obligations The Magnet School should give Windham its greatest educational lift since the invention of the blackboard. But what will the new school's influence be on Windham's existing schools. 450 students and a proportional number of teachers will move from their existing schools leaving those schools vastly different.
Will the "cream students and great teachers" be skimmed off to Tuckie Rd. leaving Windham Schools an educational wasteland?
New York City hosts a magnet or charter school on nearly every block of its deprived neighborhoods. MS 223, a holdover school located in the Bronx has endured the ever-growing number of charter schools, often privately subsidized and rarely bound by union rules, that have been unleashed on the city. These alternative schools constantly skim off the neighborhood’s more ambitious, motivated families. And every year, as failing schools are shut down in New York MS 223 must accept a steady stream of children with poor intellectual habits and little family support.
Ramon Gonzales, 223's CEO and his young cadre of enthusiastic teachers have managed to keep the school above water while gathering awards and placing MS 223 one of the best middle schools in New York City. But will the dream continue, is it sustainable? The New York Times' Johnathan Mahler writes of the daily trials at Middle School 223, its Principal, the staff and students.
No, it won't be a money maker nor will it break even but it will provide a greater return on investment with higher test scores and a narrowing of the achievement gap.
We have seen rendering of our new Magnet School and heard of its potential for success. If The State Board of Education fulfills its financial promises and the local board complies with the states contractual obligations The Magnet School should give Windham its greatest educational lift since the invention of the blackboard. But what will the new school's influence be on Windham's existing schools. 450 students and a proportional number of teachers will move from their existing schools leaving those schools vastly different.
Will the "cream students and great teachers" be skimmed off to Tuckie Rd. leaving Windham Schools an educational wasteland?
Ramon Gonzales, 223's CEO and his young cadre of enthusiastic teachers have managed to keep the school above water while gathering awards and placing MS 223 one of the best middle schools in New York City. But will the dream continue, is it sustainable? The New York Times' Johnathan Mahler writes of the daily trials at Middle School 223, its Principal, the staff and students.
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| MS223, The Bronx |
Magnet school introductory meeting
WILLIMANTIC — It was standing-room only at Windham Middle School Tuesday night, where parents and guardians flocked to hear what the Charles H. Barrows STEM Academy is about — and how to get their children in.
District officials say the school, slated to open this fall, will not only provide an opportunity to the 600 students — who will, at build out, attend each year — but to the district as a whole.
Up to 300 students will be enrolled for the 201314 school year.
The school is being billed as the most state-ofthe- art school facility in eastern Connecticut and its success has a lot riding on it.
Windham Board of Education Chairman Murphy Sewall said the science, technology, engineering and mathematics school is going to “raise the bar” across the district.
“This is an opportunity to pull the entire district along,” said Sewall of a district that has struggled with financial and demographic challenges for years. “ This is going to be a special school, but it’s not going to be an elite school.”
Well before the publicized start time for Tuesday’s open house, a long line formed down the hallway with parents looking to pick up, or submit, an application Friday’s deadline for in-district applicants.
Barrows Principal Jeff Wihbey, exhibiting the same unfettered enthusiasm he’s expressed since being chosen for the job last year, was thrilled with the turnout.
“My excitement for this school is beyond belief, and to see so many people here just adds to it,” he said.
With the finishing touches afoot, the anticipation thickened.
“We’re getting ready for lift off,” said Wihbey of the Tuckie Road school, which is reportedly almost 80 percent complete.
District officials expect to have the building officially turned over to them by Aug. 8.
Meanwhile, they have been working on curriculum development, outreach, marketing and hiring.
Sewall said he was pleased to see such a large turnout, because there had been concern that — despite a multi-pronged outreach effort — not all (Parents, Page 4)
Parents, students flock to STEM open house
(Continued from Page 1)
parents in the district had heard about the school.
Tuesday’s open house was the first of several planned with another to be scheduled in Mansfield in the near future. The deadline for out- of- district applicants is March 29.
Apply and hope
With the selection process strictly a blind lottery conducted by EastConn — the region’s educational services center — all parents and guardians can really do is file their applications and hope.
And while there was plenty of that going around Tuesday, it wasn’t just among the parents.
Students eyeing spots in the upper grades were also crossing their fingers for a chance to attend the new school.
Nyla Urso- Serrano, 10, who now attends North Windham School, said she believes the STEM school could offer just the sort of educational challenges she’s looking for.
“I’m not that good at science, so I want to learn more about it,” said Urso-Serrano.
Hers is a sentiment shared by leaders across the country, who say the United States needs to better prepare its youth for the technological and science- oriented world that awaits them as adults.
“In order to have our children be competitive in this global economy we really have to step it up,” said Wihbey, addressing the crowd.
The school’s curriculum team is hard at work making sure what the school has to offer does just that.
“When kids walk out of school every day, I want them rubbing their heads saying ‘I’m tired,’” said Wihbey.
A hands-on approach in a school — complete with labs, a weather station, wind and hydro turbines, solar cells, gardens, aquariums and ecosystems — promises to lead them in the right direction.
Affiliations with the Connecticut Science Center in Hartford and area universities will bolster the academic setting.
Teachers hired
Wihbey isn’t pulling any punches when it comes to hiring the teaching staff.
The hiring process is well under way and Wihbey said he’s making it perfectly clear that loving working with kids isn’t enough.
Anyone who wants to be hired must convince him of their commitment to student success.
So far, he said, so good.
“We’ve got a strong core of teacher leaders,” said Wihbey. “Everybody we’ve hired has been a ‘teacher of the year’ somewhere else.”
Among them is Nicole Bay, who has taught in the district for 10 years and has a passion for the sciences.
Bay will be the fifth- and sixthgrade team leader and said she can’t wait.
“As this evolved and came to fruition, I knew that it was where I needed to be,” said Bay, who was also on the school building committee.
Bay is not alone.
Amanda Carchidi of Willimantic was there with her 5-year-old son, Skyler Curtiss.
Although the child was more interested in the large bubbles being produced at one of two hands- on scientific demonstrations in the school’s auditorium, mom was on a fact-finding mission even though her mind was made up.
Even before the presentation, Carchidi said she knew enough about the school to know she wanted to get her son in because she believed it would be a good fit for his learning style.“ I think they learn mostly through projects,” she said. “He’s very hands on.”
The hands-on learning process is designed to immerse students into the learning environment, partly in hopes it will help the district keep its pledge that all students in the magnet school will be reading at grade level by the time they reach the fourth-grade.
It’s expected all students will take algebra or geometry by the seventh-grade and students will begin to learn Chinese in the first-grade.
“ It’s stuff that sets them up for success down the road,” said Wihbey.
And it all starts in the fall when the classroom doors will open to kindergarten through secondgrade and fifth- and sixth-grade students.
Third- and seventh-grade will be admitted in the 2014-15 school year and pre- K, fourth- and eighth-grade will be admitted the subsequent year.
Pre-K and kindergarten pupils will have their own wing and a school uniform will separate the lower grades from upper grades by color.
Lottery anticipated
A lottery process will determine who attends the school, with a greater percentage of openings reserved for students from Windham/ Willimantic and the remainder open to students outside the district.
Were the district not to fill those out- of- district slots, its magnet school status, and the additional per- student state funding that comes with it, could be at risk.
Once the lotteries are conducted in March for applicants within the district and April for those outside the district, families will be notified.
Those whose names are drawn will have two weeks to make a decision.
But for some, that decision is already a no-brainer.
Madison Anderson, 10, who attends North Windham School, could barely contain her excitement before the presentation and was beaming from ear to ear as she left.
“I’m excited (about the chance) to start a new school ... to have a chance to actually go there,” said Anderson.
News that students would be issued an iPad to do their homework on was just icing on the cake.
Superintendent Ana Ortiz said some 150 applications had already been submitted, not including the ones being filled out on the spot Tuesday.
Others who attended the open house were planning ahead.
Tina Hayes of Windham Center said her child won’t be starting school until the 2014-15 school year, but she wanted to find out when her first opportunity was to apply.
“ I do like the curriculum, I think it’s a great way to start,” said Hayes. “The whole hands-on thing. I think it’s a great education.”
Tuesday’s crowd was a demographic melting pot, illustrating one of the driving forces behind the magnet school concept.
Willimantic resident Eddie Crespo said he hopes the area’s somewhat unsavory reputation won’t dissuade parents from other towns.
“I hope it doesn’t discourage them from applying because I think it’s a really great thing,” said Crespo. “It’s diversity. That’s what the real world’s all about.”For more information, contact Wihbey at ( 860) 465- 2610, email jwihbey@windham.12.ct.us or visit www.windham.k12.ct.us/ STEM.
District officials say the school, slated to open this fall, will not only provide an opportunity to the 600 students — who will, at build out, attend each year — but to the district as a whole.
Up to 300 students will be enrolled for the 201314 school year.
The school is being billed as the most state-ofthe- art school facility in eastern Connecticut and its success has a lot riding on it.
Windham Board of Education Chairman Murphy Sewall said the science, technology, engineering and mathematics school is going to “raise the bar” across the district.
“This is an opportunity to pull the entire district along,” said Sewall of a district that has struggled with financial and demographic challenges for years. “ This is going to be a special school, but it’s not going to be an elite school.”
Well before the publicized start time for Tuesday’s open house, a long line formed down the hallway with parents looking to pick up, or submit, an application Friday’s deadline for in-district applicants.
Barrows Principal Jeff Wihbey, exhibiting the same unfettered enthusiasm he’s expressed since being chosen for the job last year, was thrilled with the turnout.
“My excitement for this school is beyond belief, and to see so many people here just adds to it,” he said.
With the finishing touches afoot, the anticipation thickened.
“We’re getting ready for lift off,” said Wihbey of the Tuckie Road school, which is reportedly almost 80 percent complete.
District officials expect to have the building officially turned over to them by Aug. 8.
Meanwhile, they have been working on curriculum development, outreach, marketing and hiring.
Sewall said he was pleased to see such a large turnout, because there had been concern that — despite a multi-pronged outreach effort — not all (Parents, Page 4)
Parents, students flock to STEM open house
(Continued from Page 1)
parents in the district had heard about the school.
Tuesday’s open house was the first of several planned with another to be scheduled in Mansfield in the near future. The deadline for out- of- district applicants is March 29.
Apply and hope
With the selection process strictly a blind lottery conducted by EastConn — the region’s educational services center — all parents and guardians can really do is file their applications and hope.
And while there was plenty of that going around Tuesday, it wasn’t just among the parents.
Students eyeing spots in the upper grades were also crossing their fingers for a chance to attend the new school.
Nyla Urso- Serrano, 10, who now attends North Windham School, said she believes the STEM school could offer just the sort of educational challenges she’s looking for.
“I’m not that good at science, so I want to learn more about it,” said Urso-Serrano.
Hers is a sentiment shared by leaders across the country, who say the United States needs to better prepare its youth for the technological and science- oriented world that awaits them as adults.
“In order to have our children be competitive in this global economy we really have to step it up,” said Wihbey, addressing the crowd.
The school’s curriculum team is hard at work making sure what the school has to offer does just that.
“When kids walk out of school every day, I want them rubbing their heads saying ‘I’m tired,’” said Wihbey.
A hands-on approach in a school — complete with labs, a weather station, wind and hydro turbines, solar cells, gardens, aquariums and ecosystems — promises to lead them in the right direction.
Affiliations with the Connecticut Science Center in Hartford and area universities will bolster the academic setting.
Teachers hired
Wihbey isn’t pulling any punches when it comes to hiring the teaching staff.
The hiring process is well under way and Wihbey said he’s making it perfectly clear that loving working with kids isn’t enough.
Anyone who wants to be hired must convince him of their commitment to student success.
So far, he said, so good.
“We’ve got a strong core of teacher leaders,” said Wihbey. “Everybody we’ve hired has been a ‘teacher of the year’ somewhere else.”
Among them is Nicole Bay, who has taught in the district for 10 years and has a passion for the sciences.
Bay will be the fifth- and sixthgrade team leader and said she can’t wait.
“As this evolved and came to fruition, I knew that it was where I needed to be,” said Bay, who was also on the school building committee.
Bay is not alone.
Amanda Carchidi of Willimantic was there with her 5-year-old son, Skyler Curtiss.
Although the child was more interested in the large bubbles being produced at one of two hands- on scientific demonstrations in the school’s auditorium, mom was on a fact-finding mission even though her mind was made up.
Even before the presentation, Carchidi said she knew enough about the school to know she wanted to get her son in because she believed it would be a good fit for his learning style.“ I think they learn mostly through projects,” she said. “He’s very hands on.”
The hands-on learning process is designed to immerse students into the learning environment, partly in hopes it will help the district keep its pledge that all students in the magnet school will be reading at grade level by the time they reach the fourth-grade.
It’s expected all students will take algebra or geometry by the seventh-grade and students will begin to learn Chinese in the first-grade.
“ It’s stuff that sets them up for success down the road,” said Wihbey.
And it all starts in the fall when the classroom doors will open to kindergarten through secondgrade and fifth- and sixth-grade students.
Third- and seventh-grade will be admitted in the 2014-15 school year and pre- K, fourth- and eighth-grade will be admitted the subsequent year.
Pre-K and kindergarten pupils will have their own wing and a school uniform will separate the lower grades from upper grades by color.
Lottery anticipated
A lottery process will determine who attends the school, with a greater percentage of openings reserved for students from Windham/ Willimantic and the remainder open to students outside the district.
Were the district not to fill those out- of- district slots, its magnet school status, and the additional per- student state funding that comes with it, could be at risk.
Once the lotteries are conducted in March for applicants within the district and April for those outside the district, families will be notified.
Those whose names are drawn will have two weeks to make a decision.
But for some, that decision is already a no-brainer.
Madison Anderson, 10, who attends North Windham School, could barely contain her excitement before the presentation and was beaming from ear to ear as she left.
“I’m excited (about the chance) to start a new school ... to have a chance to actually go there,” said Anderson.
News that students would be issued an iPad to do their homework on was just icing on the cake.
Superintendent Ana Ortiz said some 150 applications had already been submitted, not including the ones being filled out on the spot Tuesday.
Others who attended the open house were planning ahead.
Tina Hayes of Windham Center said her child won’t be starting school until the 2014-15 school year, but she wanted to find out when her first opportunity was to apply.
“ I do like the curriculum, I think it’s a great way to start,” said Hayes. “The whole hands-on thing. I think it’s a great education.”
Tuesday’s crowd was a demographic melting pot, illustrating one of the driving forces behind the magnet school concept.
Willimantic resident Eddie Crespo said he hopes the area’s somewhat unsavory reputation won’t dissuade parents from other towns.
“I hope it doesn’t discourage them from applying because I think it’s a really great thing,” said Crespo. “It’s diversity. That’s what the real world’s all about.”For more information, contact Wihbey at ( 860) 465- 2610, email jwihbey@windham.12.ct.us or visit www.windham.k12.ct.us/ STEM.
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