A Message from the Superintendent: K-5 Initiatives

Dear Members of the Eastchester Community,

When we took our “Walk Through District Enrollment”, I pointed out we are increasing our K-5 schools with two additional positions to ensure a low teacher-student ratio at Waverly, Anne Hutchinson and Greenvale. 

A second reason for adding classroom teachers is to ensure both Anne Hutchinson and Greenvale have six (6) sections in order to maximize the impact of Departmentalization for our fifth graders. Departmentalization means certain teachers move to a speciality of teaching ELA or Math, in this case. Fifth graders benefit because departmentalization prepares them for Middle School, where all major subject areas are taught by specialty teachers. Departmentalization also ensures a teacher is extremely well-versed in either ELA or Math, a proven method for helping students reach the Proficiency/Mastery levels on state testing. 

Two other elementary initiatives deserve Honorable Mention.

We are adding two specialized reading teachers to Anne Hutchinson and Greenvale to support students reading well-below grade level. Students scoring in the developing or failing range need immediate attention, in small groups/individualized settings, from teachers not only trained as Literacy Specialists but also schooled in either Wilson or Orton-Gillingham techniques, proven methods to address challenged learners. 

The final initiative is a new innovation for the WIN periods at Greenvale and Anne Hutchinson. ALP or Accelerated Learning Program is a specialized curriculum for high-performing children, taught by a teacher with New York State certification in Gifted and Talented. 

WIN does a superb job helping our IEP students with specialized speech, physical and occupational therapy services, as well as children needing Academic Intervention Services (AIS) in ELA and Math. Introducing ALP will give our students who do not need these services to challenge their overall academic progress. We will assign one ALP teacher, three days to Anne Hutch, three days to Greenvale, in a six-day cycle to teach Grades 2-5 in each school. 

At Waverly, we are adding a school counselor to ensure every elementary school has a full-time counselor to support student and staff mental/emotional health.

Next week, we will outline our budget efforts in K-12 Technology and K-12 Athletics.

Sincerely,

Ronald D. Valenti, Ph.D.

Superintendent for Schools