September 8, 2015
Welcome back to a brand new school year! At our first day staff in-service, we welcomed Mr. Jason Kornegay aboard as our new superintendent. We also welcomed a new full time special education teacher, Mr. Bryce Blondina, and a new head custodian, Mr. Steve Weber. In addition, we also hired Ms. Alexandria Annunziata as one of our paraprofessionals. We are excited that they joined the Califon team and are looking forward to a positive working relationship!
Mr. Weber had his first try at ringing the bell with special help from Emma Gangemi in kindergarten on the first day of school. Once again, a large thanks to the PTA who supplied coffee and to Mother Nature for supplying us another gorgeous first day of school. Students, parents, and staff were excited to be back, as you could tell from the smiles and conversation. It’s going to be another great year!
Over the summer, we had a brand new state of the art wireless system installed. We had eight older desktops replaced with newer ones, and we are currently replacing all of the teacher laptops that interfaced with the Smart Boards since they operated with Windows XP. In addition, we installed a new touch screen computer in the pre-school. We are possibly going to purchase Chrome Books with a plan to use them with our older students first.
Teachers are now using a new math program called Go Math, which focuses more on teaching the concepts of math as opposed to rote memorization. The program is aligned to the Common Core State Standards, and we will be providing teachers professional development in its implementation. Another item we will focus on is our curriculum refinement process. We have brand new curriculum templates that will be completed throughout the year for all subjects.
I am looking forward to the new school year, as we all begin to turn the page in the book of learning! As always, thank you for your continued support and if you have any questions, feel free to contact us here at the school.
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