District Office
Superintendent's Message

August 1, 2007

Dear Parents:

The 2007-2008 school year will soon begin.  School will open for students on Wednesday, September 5th.  We look forward to welcoming our students back and continuing our relationships with you.  When there is a strong bond among the families, school district and community, we know that the potential for developing our schools and the education we provide for students is tremendous.  The support and resources that we receive from the families of our students and the surrounding community continue to amaze and delight us.  The number of volunteers who work in our schools, serve on our Building Planning Councils, participate in the Parent Teacher Associations, the Croton-Harmon Education Foundation, The Croton-Harmon Booster Club, and the Arts in Our Schools Committee, add so many resources to our school district and help us to make connections with the Croton community and beyond, and add great strength to our work. 

Our faculty has been busy over the summer months!  Thirty four teacher teams completed summer curriculum projects in the areas of English/language arts, reading, humanities, foreign language, mathematics, science and social studies.  Teachers attended summer reading and writing institutes at the Columbia University, Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, attended conferences, took courses, and completed graduate work.  It has been a most productive summer!

Our administrative team has been busy throughout the summer.  We enjoyed a two-day retreat at MBIA in Armonk.  The company generously allowed us to use their 1820’s Farmhouse without charge for our retreat.  These days away from the usual bustle of the district (yes, summer can be busy and hectic for those of us who stay behind) allowed us to work together to establish goals for the district and for each of our schools for the 2007-2008 school year.  We also took time to review the district’s long-range plan, to help us evaluate our progress in achieving the goals set forth in this plan.      

Among the many instructional goals established for the 2007-2008 school year during those days were:

• Realigning and strengthening our mathematics program K-12 will be a top priority.
• CET teachers will be piloting a new mathematics program selected after working with an outside mathematics consultant on best, research based practices in teaching mathematics to elementary age students.

• PVC mathematics teachers will continue to work with a mathematics consultant to learn best, research based practices at this level.  They will be realigning the mathematics curriculum based on the new state curriculum and working to provide the supports needed to allow more students to be successful with advanced mathematics.

• CHHS mathematics teachers will continue to prepare for a transition to the newly mandated state curriculum which will replace Sequential I and II mathematics courses with algebra and geometry courses in the future.

• Literacy conferencing techniques and strategies when using the Teachers College Reading and Writing Workshop approach will be a focus at CET and PVC this year.  Bringing daily conferencing to the next level by learning how to use this approach to help students comprehend at higher levels, to identify student literacy strengths and weaknesses, and to address them on an individual level as well as through mini-lessons with larger groups will be a major focus.

• The CET faculty will be implementing literacy strands on word work (phonics) and handwriting to further strengthen its literacy program.  

• New federal mandates require the district to develop a clear district Response to Intervention Plan (RTI) which will define the services provided for students in need of academic, social and emotional support K-12.  More and varied academic intervention services will be offered to ensure greater student success as learners.

• A group guidance curriculum will be implemented at the middle school to help students develop the social and emotional strengths that are key ingredients to being successful in school and beyond.  This curriculum will include an anti-bullying program.

• A foreign language survey will be sent to parents this year soliciting their thoughts about expanding our foreign language program to the elementary level and considering additional foreign language offerings possibly to include Mandarin.

• Each school will be analyzing state assessment data now available to us and determining how we can help more students to perform at the mastery level in each academic area and fewer below the proficiency level for their grade levels.

• Our Technology Task Force will continue the work that was begun during the last school year and will complete a report with recommendations to guide the district in integrating technology into instruction in order to strengthen teaching and learning.  In addition:

• Teachers with strong technology skills will be identified to act as technology facilitators to provide staff development for colleagues.
  
  
• More Smartboards and LCD projectors will be available in classrooms.

• CET will be converted to a PC Platform.  The entire district now has a PC platform which is cost efficient.  The Mac platform will still be used for specialized programs, such as graphic arts, and video production.

• We will continue to expand and strengthen our China initiative with sister schools in Shanghai and Beijing.  Last year teacher/administrator groups and one student delegation each visited China.  We welcomed two delegations of Chinese educators from Jian Ping High School in Shanghai and Beijing 101 High School in Beijing who visited our high school.  This summer we welcomed 45 students and four teachers to Croton-Harmon High School where they attended English, American history, science, art and physical education classes in the morning, took trips to area points of interest in the afternoons and weekend, and most important, lived with Croton families and experienced American family life.  We believe that these experiences and future ones can have a powerful impact on our students and staff as we develop a global perspective.

Our Board of Education is in the process of setting its goals for the 2007-2008 school year.  These will appear in a future edition of Reflections and on our website (The Superintendent’s goals will also appear on the website).  This summer, the Board of Education and administration have been working to determine the best way to use recently authorized state Excel Aid to accomplish some upgrading of our older facilities, such as the high school science labs that have been deferred due to budget constraints, as well as, finding ways to accelerate the implementation of a lunch program.  You will hear more about this as the year unfolds.      

We are extremely fortunate to have the school leaders that we have in Croton.  Their commitment and dedication to providing the leadership needed to make their schools places where students can grow and learn at the highest levels, and desire to continually improve what they are doing make them an exceptional team.  This leadership strength along with the closeness of the team allows for constant communication between us about our educational program, thereby ensuring that it is strong and a well-coordinated K-12.  We are delighted to welcome Mr. Pete Kuczma, our new Director of Physical Education, Health and Athletics.  Pete brings years of experience as Director of Physical Education and Athletics in the Chappaqua public schools, and as interim Director of Athletics in the Putnam Valley School District.  We are excited about the knowledge and experience he brings to his work in our district.  We welcome Mr. Michael Plotkin as assistant principal of Pierre Van Cortlandt Middle School.  Mike comes to us from the Chappaqua School District where he taught social studies for 11 years and completed an administrative internship.  I first met Mike as a graduate student in a course I was teaching in the Columbia University, Teachers College Future School Leaders Academy.  I was impressed by him then and am pleased he will become a member of our administrative team.  We also welcome Mr. Mark Maxam as our new assistant principal at Croton-Harmon High School.  Mark’s most recent position was as interim assistant principal in the Lakeland School District.  Prior to this assignment, he taught earth science and physical science in Lakeland for six years while completing his administrative certification.  Mark’s years of Peace Corps service in Africa added unique experiences that made him a strong candidate in our search.   

We will welcome 20 new faculty members this year.  They will fill open and new positions in all three of our schools.  We believe they will add great strength to our educational program.  Our searches have been extensive ones with prospective candidates being interviewed, teaching demonstration lessons, and responding to questions in writing.  Extensive reference checks have also been made.  We are pleased and proud of the new faculty members who will join the Croton-Harmon School District in the fall.  We encourage our parents and students to make a special effort to offer a personal hand of welcome and support to them in their first year in our school district.

New families have continued to register students over the summer months.  As I write this letter, there are 657 students (K-4) enrolled at CET, 573 at PVC, and at the high school 517, a total of 1,737 students.

It seems unbelievable that this will be my 12th year serving as Superintendent of Schools in the Croton-Harmon School District.  My years in Croton-Harmon have been tremendously challenging, rewarding and fulfilling ones.  We will be sharing our goals in the areas of leadership, curriculum and instruction, technology, long-range planning, and communication with you as the year proceeds.  I am tremendously proud of our faculty and staff throughout the school district.  Their commitment to our students is what makes my work so meaningful.  We continually focus on strengthening the educational program provided for students.  As I remind the staff each year, excellence is not an end point but rather a process, one which never ends.  We care deeply about our work on behalf of our students and greatly value the trust and support of their families.   
 
Don’t ever hesitate to contact us if you have a question or concern.  We are always willing to help you.  No question or problem is too small!  We thank you for your generous support of the school district in so many ways and are touched by your willingness to share your talents and time with our children and staff.  We greatly value our work with the children of the Croton community and are determined to continually strive for greater excellence in our school system.  The small size of our school district allows us to provide a very personal education for our students.  We value our relationships with the families of our young people, as well as with the community, and need your help and support as we work to provide the very best education for them.  We hope you will be our partners in this endeavor.

We encourage everyone in our school community to stay well informed about the work of our schools.  We know that people gain information from different sources.  We hope that you will read our district newsletter, Reflections, as well as the building, grade level, and subject area newsletters that are published on a regular basis and sent home in paper form or are on our website.  We encourage you to tune into our cable station, channel 77, for school information and tapes of school events.  We hope you will visit our district and school websites at croton-harmonschools.org.  There are many meetings planned for parents to keep them informed and help them develop their skills as parents, a most demanding and sometimes overwhelming job!  We also encourage you to attend school events in which students perform or share their work.  We want you to know about the work of our schools and share our pride in the accomplishments of our students and staff.  Welcome back to our students and their families!

Sincerely,

Marjorie E. Castro
Superintendent of Schools