Officers for 2003-2004 were approved as follows:
The board of education will conduct a strategic planning session with the community on October 27th. A professional leader will conduct the session and community members will be able to voice what goals they feel the district should focus on for the next 3 to 5 years. Goals and objectives will be set up based on input from all facets of the Glen Cove community. The board of education and the Glen Cove teachers have already had separate planning sessions The meeting will be well publicized and letters of invitation will be sent to specific organizations to be sure they are represented.. Details will be announced.
Helen Kotzky attended the "Welcome Back" meeting at St. Paul's Episcopal Church and gave out information about the Coalition. She was able to meet with a number of church members and explain the goals of our organization.
We will try to have 2 meetings in October so that we can accommodate 2 guest speakers, Mary Ann Holzkamp and Jed Morey, both running for Mayor of Glen Cove. Don Scarl will make the invitations to the candidates. We would like to hear them talk about education issues and Glen Cove.
Maria Reyes will invite Edward Thomas, the new high school assistant principal, to be our speaker at the November 3rd meeting. We would like to hear about the new 9th grade teaming approach as well as some of the other initiatives taking place at the high school.
Helen Kotzky and Betty Cammisa will invite James Lethbridge, new middle school principal, to be the speaker at the December 1st meeting.
Don Scarl will invite Susan Breen, new English Coordinator for the January meeting and Ira Cooper, new Math Coordinator for February.
Helen Kotzky reported that the Coalition Academic Excellence Committee met with Dr. Freeley and Diane Scricca in August. Many new initiatives are being undertaken this year which will help all students achieve their best. The math curriculum has been compressed and Math A will begin in 7th grade so that more students will be able to take calculus when they are in high school.
Teachers are being supported and enriched by many professional training opportunities, especially in the areas of math, language arts, and differentiated instruction. AIS or Academic Intervention Services will be offered to all qualifying students under a new model which is designed to meet their needs more effectively. AIS classes will be capped at 20 students.
It was noted that honors classes at both the middle school and high school are very large this year. 30 students is not uncommon. It is time to start planning for smaller classes as the coming years' budget is developed.
Minutes submitted by Helen Kotzky