PTO Carnival

Open House

Thank you to all the families who came to school tonight. I had extremely valuable feedback from so many families about the great start to the school year. 

When I arrived tonight, there were some protestors stationed at our corner regarding the CT Core Standards. I would like to share a few unprompted points, from my perspective as principal. 

Mansfield adopted the Common Core slowly over the past three school years. There have been numerous changes, but I realize they may not be noticed. Here are a few examples, of so many possible examples: 

-Junior Great Books which teaches active listening, responding using text support, and reading complex and lengthy text. These three features are directly taken from the Common Core.  All of our grade levels are engaged in Junior Great Books throughout the year, but not everyday.  We use guided reading  to teach the reading skills. 

-Another feature is the development of critical thinking skills. Schools have been adopting a problem solving approach for many years. We continue to fine tune our practice each year. You can search for depth of knowledge (DOK) on the internet to get a glimpse of this approach. We look for developments from a DOK 1 to a DOK 3 or 4 in any unit of study. 

- A third feature of the Common Core is exposure to various types of writing. We will be honing our teaching skills in this area this year as we study the Lucy Calkins Writer's Workshop approach out of Teacher's College. This is the focus of our Oct professional development day. 

Please know that I feel the Common Core has raised the standards and expectations in an appropriate way. It has caused the staff to work more closely together, and to increase our opportunities for professional development.  I see this as a win-win. 

I'd like to believe that we can take the politics out, put research in and say that things are moving in a good direction and I personally feel very proud of the staff for their uncanny ability to rally together and find a way to make it work, and work well at that 

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out. 

Welcome Back!!

I hope the start to your child's/children's school year has been as invigorating as it has been for us at school. The summer always provides a chance to reflect, plan, and implement changes designed to make Southeast School a better place. This past summer has been no exception. We have implemented a new birthday celebration policy. While we will continue to celebrate children's birthdays, we will no longer accept food. This decision is based on the health, safety, and wellness of all of our students. 

Tonight is our Open House from 6:30 to 7:30. I hope you will join us!  We look forward to seeing you at this, and many of the other great events we have planned this year.