With winter waning, and some optimistic signs of spring upon us, I wanted to welcome back the North Shore Community to Contemplations of a Chief Viking: Viewpoints on Teaching, Learning, and all things North Shore. Once per month, I’ll be writing on topics of importance and interest to the North Shore Schools. Some of my thoughts might be heavier than others, but all of them will be important. I love our schools. Our mission is student-centered and our Shared Valued Outcomes force us to remain focused on what is most important in the education of our students. Our teachers and administrators embrace the notion that teaching a curriculum well rooted in strong process skills is arguably our most important charge. In turn, when executed well, external assessments and other outcomes will always take care of themselves. It is what differentiates a “North Shore Education” from other places and why it should be celebrated. Schools should be places where teaching and learning comes alive. Our teachers and administrators work hard to focus instruction on strong process skills and outcomes that enable our students to shine. Excellence is one of those relative words and it means something very different for every teacher and student. It is a concept rooted in hard-work, purposeful instruction, and a whole lot of nuance. It is often fluid and needs to take shape in nimble ways. In all five schools in North Shore, we continue to pay attention to this. The physical spaces that children learn within should be inspiring, active places. It is clear that students benefit from learning spaces that are flexible and beautiful, and we are currently working on a pilot of two innovative classrooms in each school to further promote our goal. If and when you visit these spaces, you will see classrooms with desk configurations that are interchangeable, at varying heights, and surfaces that are both soft and hard. This provides students and teachers with the ability to work in flexible spaces that are responsive to the needs of our learners and simple in their design. I want to take a moment to offer my most profuse and profound thanks for supporting our bond referendum in December. We are excited about what lies ahead and are busy with the development of designs and preparing construction documents. Most of the heavy work will begin in the summer of 2021 and our first priorities will rest with safety and security, air quality and cooling across the District, and construction at North Shore Middle School. As the planning comes together to transform our spaces, we look forward to sharing our progress with the community and are anxious to submit the construction plans to the New York State Education Department. Finally, our desire for excellence drives our budget development process. The Board of Education is currently reviewing the lines of the budget to ensure that they reflect our core values, support the instructional program, and continue building upon our strengths as a learning community. The preliminary budget adds new coursework across the academic program, including, but not limited to expanding our dance program, new and exciting research opportunities, electronic music production, and three new dual enrollment courses through Syracuse University and Stony Brook University. Introduction to Film, News Literacy, and Forensic Science are the same courses offered on the university campuses and North Shore’s students will be able to earn university credit through our program right at North Shore High School! All of this together, along with our continued focus on wellness, social-emotional learning, and supports for our most vulnerable students will propel our program forward as directed by the three pillars of our 2018-2023 Strategic Plan in Teaching and Learning, Equity for All Learners, and Social-Emotional Learning. As we soon fully turn our attention to spring, I will look forward to seeing many of you over the next few months as we celebrate another fine year of student learning and achievement. Our strong partnerships bind us together. On behalf of the children we share, I am thrilled to be able to communicate with you a small, but important window in this Viking’s contemplations and viewpoints! Til neste gang (until next time), Peter Comments are closed.
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VIewpoints of a vikingThoughts from Peter on Teaching, Learning, and All Things North ShoreAuthorDr. Peter Giarrizzo Archives
March 2020
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