Blogging again! Sharing Good News . . .

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a wonderful break! It has been a long and difficult budget season, as you all know.  Usually at this time of year, we are highlighting all that we plan to introduce and add to our educational programs over the next year. This year, though, we weren't able to add but are glad to be able to maintain programs within the constraints of the budget. 

I decided to restart this blog again to keep us focused on the future, and the center of everything in Long Beach: OUR STUDENTS! Just over four years ago, schools shut down for the pandemic, and life as we know it changed for all of us. We have fought hard in Long Beach to counter the "learning loss" and stress that the pandemic inflicted on our kids. And we have been successful! Do you know that our achievement scores at the end of last year were better than prior to the pandemic at nearly every level and by every measure (NYS tests, Regents exams, growth in NWEA and iReady, and graduation rate)?  For example, in NWEA, 85% our second graders met their math growth targets last year. (10% more than in 2019).  At the other end of the spectrum, we had our largest group since 2018 sitting for the Physics Regents, and the highest passing rate ever---85%, more than 10 points above the County average! 

And since the pandemic, all of these have been added and/or expanded for our kids (all while NEVER going to the maximum tax levy limit, and two years of a 0% increase):

• STEM teachers and Innovation Labs at each elementary school    
• Middle School Space Program
• Partnership with Cold Spring Harbor Lab 
• Robotics Team at HS
• Greenhouse program at MS
• Enhanced science research program MS and HS
• HS Seal of Biliteracy
• HS Seal of Civic Readiness
• Expanded NYS approved CTE pathways (Automotive, Metal Working, TV & Film, Innovation & Design, & Medical Technician)
• Elementary Enrichment and WINGS programs
• Advisory Programs at MS and HS
• Won a competitive grant to fund our highly-rate full-day Pre-K Program, including a center-based program for students with disabilities
• National Merit recognition, Questbridge scholars, admissions to Yale, Cornell, NYU and Columbia, among others
• Doubled the number of students placed in internships, and expanded our business program at LBHS
• Helped students land career placements with highly rated construction unions
• Best Communities for Music Education for the 14th consecutive year
• Athletics participation at its highest rate ever; new programs like Field Hockey, Flag Football, Crew
• Innovative Farm-to-Table initiative for cafeteria, and Student Advisory committees for school food
• Completely renovated high school bathrooms and high school library
• Awards for students from competitions in academic areas, the arts, and athletics

The dedication of our team has enabled our schools to grow, even through these difficult years! And we are not done! Despite the difficult budget this year, and concerns about future aid cuts, we continue to plan and dream of ways that we can improve our programs for students. Over the next few months, I will share some of those plans and ideas here, and will highlight some of the great conversations we are having about our district's future! Stay tuned--the next blog post will highlight our CTE programs, and how they are growing. 

Nurturing the Scientists of Tomorrow!

Over the past few years, the District leadership team and Board of Education have invested lots of time and resources in building our programs in STEM, Environmental Education, Robotics, and Science Research. For several years, during the “Common Core Madness,” there was such an emphasis on preparing elementary students for NYS exams in ELA and math (because those tests had such high stakes---and what I think about that whole mess would be enough to fill another whole blog post :-), that real science learning was sometimes neglected. The fun of nature walks, experiments on worms, talking about what makes weather happen, and thinking about natural phenomena took a back seat. I remember talking to teachers (in a different district; I wasn’t in Long Beach then), and one was in tears because she could no longer “fit in” what she saw as her best teaching—cultivating the curiosity of children through science.

Last year, even in the middle of COVID, we prioritized putting STEM teachers in each of our elementary buildings. Their job is twofold: 1) they support the regular classroom teachers in their daily science lessons, and 2) they provide a STEM “special” for grades K-2. During this past summer, the teachers wrote curriculum to infuse more coding, engineering, robotics, and a capstone end-of-year project in each grade. Get ready to hear your children talking about programming robots, building and testing balloon-powered cars and bridges, as well as acting as Marine Engineers! They may be utilizing our soon-to-be-built elementary greenhouses, or investigating the factors causing erosion, or perhaps using a sling psychrometer to measure relative humidity! One of my favorite things is to pop in to one of our elementary classrooms during a STEM lesson---you can just see how truly engaged and excited the students are.  And our elementary Innovation Labs have been upgraded through a generous grant from Senator Todd Kaminsky’s office.  Our elementary scientists are just buzzing these days! Take a look: 

At the secondary level,  I am sure that you all have seen photos of our beautiful greenhouse at the Middle School. We are working with Jones Beach Nature Center to develop an Environmental Education curriculum for grades 6-12. The Nature Center and Cold Spring Harbor laboratories are new partnerships for us. Cold Spring Harbor will be providing professional development for our science teachers, and will also be advising us about how best to use our natural resources to create good experimental spaces for our students.  They will also work directly with our science research students on their projects. Future expansion of our secondary environmental education program may include rebuilding a dock at the high school, as well as the flow-through bay water system, which would allow students to do real-time experiments on bay water species.

Two years ago, we began a new high school robotics team. Despite the craziness of 2020 and 2021, our team placed sixth in the county robotics competition last year. They are already planning for this year’s entry. For those of you not familiar with the competition, the students build and program a robot who then competes in a series of complex tasks. The students win points for effective design, for the robot’s speed in completion, and several other areas. They also learn from other teams---it’s a very collaborative atmosphere where everyone wants to learn new ideas to take back for next year’s round of contests.  

Finally, another of our “crown jewel” programs is our science research program at the high school. I am sure you read recently that one of our seniors had her work published in a professional science journal. Her piece, entitled “The analysis of antimicrobial benefits of Populus balsamifera,” has to do with a potential remedy for bacterial infections. Can you imagine how far this student is going to go if she is already publishing professionally!  In past years, we  have had other students publish, win awards, and achieve amazing professional-level research. So, this year, we will be making some decisions about growing this program, with advice from Cold Spring Harbor and other partners. That may involve bringing science research down to middle school, hiring additional staff, or creating other university and lab partnerships for our students to do authentic research.

I think there may be students among us now who will win Nobel prizes, will discover cures for diseases, and will invent ways to make life better for all of us! 

New Beginnings: Surfing!

 

Just about a year and a half ago, I started this blog as a way to share the wonderful things happening in our district. Well, not too soon after the blog began, COVID hit, and my last blog entry was March 8, 2020. Shortly after that, I started to email parents—every day for the remainder of that difficult year, and then nearly weekly after that. In the midst of an unprecedented global pandemic, the blog fell silent for awhile.

Now, I think it’s really important to start writing again about the educational direction of our district. We have SO many exciting things happening for students, and many plans to improve learning and make school even more engaging.  I will still email parents important information, but the blog will be a way to give you a window into the great things happening in our schools!

Over the first few weeks of school, I was excited to see many programs get “up and running,” and I’d like to highlight two of them today. One is our competitive surf team. I think we may be the ONLY school district on Long Island that fields a surf team.  One of the reasons I love working in Long Beach is that we have the most amazing environmental setting—how incredible for our surfers to be able to share their passion on a school team!  They will compete during the year with surf teams from coastal regions across the country. The second program is a brand new offering, designed by our athletic and special education departments, in conjunction with “Surf for All.” This program will bring surfing lessons to students with disabilities during the fall and spring. You can’t believe the giant smiles on these students’ faces when they actually surf for the first time!  Below are some photos from both programs.

So, why did I choose the surfing programs to profile this week? Who isn’t amazed to watch surfers harness the majesty and strength of the ocean, to ride that wave for an exciting minute or two, and to realize that no obstacle cannot be conquered? Surfing is a great metaphor for education: it’s about harnessing knowledge, experiencing the excitement of discovery, and finding new ways to move forward. And in Long Beach, EVERY child gets to “catch that wave” if they want to!  

Next week: news about our STEM programs!

Projects, Peers, Passion, and Play!

Projects, Peers, Passion, and Play. These four elements are widely considered to be the foundations of nurturing creativity in children (see Resnick, Papert, American Academy of Pediatrics, etc.). These four elements are also at the heart of some changes to our elementary programming next year.  First, we are committed to adding more movement and free play to our children’s schedules in elementary school. When was the last time you had to sit still for more than 2.5 hours? How did you feel? I know how I feel when I am stuck in a long meeting with few breaks or opportunity to move and stretch---tired, foggy, and distracted.  Truthfully, when I feel that way, not much learning or productive thinking is going on in my brain. A short break for fresh air and to move around often gives me greater focus, and actually helps me to learn more than I would have if I had spent that 15 minutes in the meeting. In the fall, we are implementing 30 minutes of free play in every elementary student’s day: 15 minutes in the morning, and 15 in the afternoon. Some of our teachers are already doing this. That 15 minutes won’t detract from learning time; instead, it will give our children the needed break to play and refocus. And it will be kid-centered play, not adult-controlled.

In addition, we are adding an additional 42-minute period of physical education to the elementary cycle for grades K-2 (replacing the Spanish period). While we also consider introduction to a world language a value for our students (and will preserve that in grades 3-5), we believe that the developmental needs of young students necessitate more physical activity than we are currently providing. In grades 3-5, periodic additional periods of PE will be added during the health class. The health teachers will work together to determine this schedule. This change is also budget-neutral.

We are also proposing, provided that our budget passes, adding a STEM teacher to each elementary building.  This is addressing the “Projects and Passion” part of the equation. One of the unfortunate bits of Common Core collateral damage was that science frequently took a back seat to literacy and math in elementary classrooms across the country. Yet, in developing science inquiry skills, students are engaged in problem-solving that can help with literacy, math and multiple “real life” skills. And what young child doesn’t love doing cool science!  Over the last two years, we built Innovation Labs and purchased new science curriculum for our elementary schools. Our teachers have been great about implementing the science program, and science is alive again in our schools!  A new STEM specialist at each school will take us to the next level; it will ensure that our Innovation Labs are buzzing with inquiry, that real, hands-on science is happening in every building, and that every student is engaged in science from kindergarten on! Over the next few years, we hope to begin to build a world-class environmental education and sustainability program in our district (think greenhouses, on-water activities, conservation education, and grow labs!), and ensuring a strong early science foundation is key.   

Finally, we will also be adding a few periodic Enrichment Cluster days to our elementary schedule. These days will allow our students (and staff) to explore their passions! Maybe your child will be able to study the physics of flight, learn to cook international foods, experiment with photography, or do some advanced coding and robotics. These periodic days throughout the year will be fun, engaging, and will ignite students’ passion for learning!

We are SO excited about the changes we are making to our program for next year, and hope you are too!  We will be discussing these changes at our Board of Education work session tomorrow evening. Come (7:00 p.m. in the Lido Multi-Purpose Room)  and let us know what you think!

Shark Tank

I see lots of great lessons, great teachers, and great projects in our district. Every once in a while, though, I get to be a part of something going on in a classroom that makes me almost want to cry because it is SO AMAZING! This week’s weepy superintendent moment was courtesy of Doug MacConnell and Christine Walsh’s fifth grade class at East. They let me be a “shark” as the most incredible fifth graders pitched their inventions, REAL inventions!!! Each student proudly showed off their gizmo, gadget, or unique angle. There were simple but genius ideas---snaps to keep pairs of socks together in the wash, combo headbands and scrunchies. There were ideas that sent me to Google to look up things like piezoelectric plates. C’mon, did YOU know what that was?  A super-smart fifth grader explained it to me. 

The inventions were great in themselves, but you just had to see and hear these kids’ impassioned sales pitches, video-taped commercials, and business plans. This project integrated STEM research, writing, reading, public speaking, business, art, and organizational skills.  And what got to me most of all was to see how THRILLED these kids were with their work. There wasn’t a single student who wasn’t completely and totally engaged in what they were doing. 

Oh, and I may have pledged one million dollars in support with 20% equity for an invention that allowed you to find your TV remote by just whistling out loud.  I should stop blogging and confer with my partner to see if her prototype is ready for production. J  Photo is me with these innovators of the future!

Holocaust Remembrance Day

On January 27th, students at Long Beach High School commemorated International Holocaust Remembrance Day with a display from the County Holocaust Museum, and speaker Felice Katz, whose mother was a Holocaust survivor. Our LBHS orchestra followed with a moving performance of the theme song from Shindler's List. This presentation, on the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, is one part of the District's commitment to fight hatred and bias in our community. A committee of students, teachers, parents and administrators recently met to begin planning for "Remembrance Week" to be held in the Middle School and High School (along with partners at Long Beach Catholic and Torah High School) in early April. During this week, students will study each day a different group affected by the Holocaust. We will close the week with a multi-school event celebrating our commitment to inclusion and respect in the Long Beach community!

Most Likely To Succeed

This week, our community gathered for a screening of the movie, Most Likely To Succeed. The movie sparks a great discussion of the purpose of schools in this information age. If you haven't yet seen it, here is a link where you can view it for free:  https://vimeo.com/271901749/db0f8a4915.

Following the meeting, we had a great panel discussion that included Long Beach administrators, teachers, and students. The good news is that we are way ahead of the curve in our district in beginning to transform  learning. I see all the time great examples of project-based learning, students taking leadership roles, deep understanding of content, presentations and exhibitions. And we are continuing to talk about how we might actually look at changing some of the centuries-old structures like the 42 minute period!

I was in the classroom for 21 years before I became a full-time administrator. I am a teacher to my core, and the film reminded me of one of the most powerful experiences I had as a teacher. Twenty years ago, I was teaching middle school and we were looking to add some authentic, rigorous research experiences to our students' curriculum. It was a private school, and we didn't have much in the way of resources, but I had a friend who taught at Stony Brook Medical School, and I asked him if he thought his students might be willing to work with my kids. The med students had to do some community service as part of their program, so it worked well with my plan. We had students develop a research topic with their medical student mentors, and over the course of the semester, they conducted research, evaluated results, and wrote their conclusions. We visited Stony Brook three times, and my kids communicated via email with their mentors in between. The conclusion of the project was an exhibition; my students had to present their research to a panel of science and medical experts from our community. They didn't "grade" the students, but instead gave feedback on their projects.

The eye-opener for me was the reaction of my students to these projects. They told me that it was some of the most in-depth, difficult, and important work they had ever done in school. They also said that the presentation was among their proudest moments.  They got no formal grade for their work, and no "extra credit" for participating. It was learning for the sake of learning, and my eighth graders just loved it!  All these years later, students often share with me that this experience was a game-changer for them in building confidence and giving them direction.

How wonderful that in Long Beach we are part of a community that is looking to make sure that schools serve our kids well! I can't wait to see what the future brings here!