Long Lake Central School Newsletter is published irregularly
by Long Lake Central School, PO Box 217, Long Lake NY 12847-0217
www.longlakecsd.org
Dear
District Residents:
I
am pleased so many of our families could attend our open house and welcome back
to school activities on Friday, September 7th. Thank you to everyone that brought a dish to
share and to Mr. Geiger for another wonderful cookout! Our new teachers were pleased to meet you and
also very pleased with such an excellent turnout.
Coming events:
On
Monday, October 15, we have a fantastic opportunity through the Lake Placid
Center For The Arts to attend a performance by Nego Gato an African-Brazilian
Music and Drumming group. Nego Gato’s
mission is to empower and enrich the world community through performance
education in the arts of music and dance.
This event is made possible by a grant from the NYS Music Fund
established by the Attorney General of NYS.
Ms. Gannon is organizing this event, the entire student body will attend. Mr. Geiger and Mrs. Howe will be preparing a
picnic lunch for us because the performance will be held in Moriah. As always, detailed information and
permission slips will be sent directly to our parents.
Adult Education classes will
start the first week of October and run through the middle of November. Anyone is welcome to teach a class and the
number of nights the class will be held and the times are at the instructor’s
discretion. To submit an idea for a
class, please contact me directly.
Reminders:
Please
note the white stop line and the stop sign when entering the school parking
lot. It has been moved for better
visibility and adjoins the student crosswalk.
Please
wait for the flashing lights on any school bus stopped in the bus zone to be
turned off before exiting or entering the parking lot.
Thank
you
Sincerely,
Kevin
Crampton
Superintendent
Dear
Parents and Community Members,
The
Book Fair will be held on the following dates:
Monday,
October 1st – Friday, October 5th
9:30am
– 2:30pm
Family
Night (refreshments provided)
Tuesday,
October 2nd
6pm
– 7pm
Students
will have an opportunity to preview the books on Friday, September 28th
with their classes. There will also be a
preview flyer sent home with each student that lists the books available.
I
hope to see everyone there!
Sincerely,
Brynn Speer,
Librarian
1ST GRADE NEWS
Mary
Hall
The first grade class is off to a good
start. We are raising monarch
butterflies and to date have released one female. We are waiting for the nine chrysalises in
our butterfly cage to hatch so we can identify and release them. We are learning about the monarchs with the kindergarten
class and their new teacher Ms. Meyette.
We are having lots of fun. We
have studied pictures, done a big mural, and made our own coat hanger
butterflies.
On Monday, September 10th
the kindergarten, first and second grades went to Up Yonda Farm outdoor Ed.
center in Bolton. While we were there we
had the chance to learn more about the monarch butterflies, we tried capturing
them, helped tag and release three butterflies, did a play about the life cycle
of the monarch and visited the butterfly house.
It was a very busy time and we enjoyed every minute.
We will be completing our butterfly
unit this month and will let you know next month how many boy and how many girl
butterflies we end up with.
School Census
If
you have children between the ages of 0-18 residing in your household that do
not already attend Long Lake Central School, please complete the following
census survey and return it to the Guidance Office as soon as possible. Thank you for your cooperation.
Child’s
Name: Birth Date:
Child’s
Name: Birth Date:
Child’s
Name: Birth Date:
Address:
Parent’s
Names:
Dominant
Language:
Scholarships for Academic Excellence
The New York
State Legislature awards a single scholarship of $1,500 to each registered high
school in the state annually. Awards are
renewable for up to four year of academic study. Recipients must graduate from a high school
in NYS, be a legal resident of NYS for at least one year prior to September in
the year they graduate, and choose to attend as a full-time, matriculated
student at an approved NYS postsecondary institution by the Fall semester
following their graduation. The
selection criteria used is based on Regents test scores. The high school will compute a weighted
average of the scores on certain Regents exams taken by its students prior to
their senior year. The weighing of the
scores shall be: Comprehensive English
(weight of 3), Math B (weight of 3), Global Studies (weight of 1), U.S. History
(weight of 1), and at least 2 but up to 4 Science (weight of 1 for each
course). The same number of science
courses must be used for all students.
The nomination will be sent in by the end of December annually.
Notification
to Parents
Pursuant
to the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the school district must disclose to military
recruiters and institutions of higher learning, upon request, the names,
addresses and telephone numbers of our high school students. However, the district must also notify
parents of their rights and the rights of their children to request in writing,
that the district NOT release such information if it is requested.
Parents
or students 18 or older, wishing to exercise their option to withhold their
consent to the release of the above information must sign and return the form
below to the Guidance Office as soon as possible.
To:
Guidance Office
Long Lake Central
PO Box 217
Long Lake, NY 12847
Please
do not release the name, address or telephone number of my child to any
military recruiters or institutions of higher learning.
Parent
(or Student above age 18) Date
Long
Lake Central School
Section 504 Procedural Rights and
Safeguards
Section
504 is a federal civil rights statute that prohibits discrimination against
persons with disabilities in programs receiving federal financial
assistance. The Act protects individuals
with a disability who:
1.
have a physical or mental impairment
which substantially limits one or more major life activity (major life
activities include self-care, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing,
hearing, speaking, breathing, learning and working);
2.
have a record of such impairment, or
3.
are regarded as having such an
impairment.
Long
Lake Central School District does not discriminate against persons with
disabilities and provides access to qualified disabled individuals to all of
its activities and programs.
The
Act also obligates school districts to identify, evaluate, and to extend to
every qualified student with a disability residing in the district, a free
appropriate public education, including modifications, accommodations,
specialized instruction or related aids as deemed necessary to meet their
educational needs as adequately as the needs of non-disabled students are
met.
The
regulations for Section 504 as set out in 34 CFR Part 104 provide parents
and/or students with the following rights:
1.
You have a right to be informed by the
school district of your rights under Section 504. The purpose of this notice is to advise you
of your rights.
2.
Your child has the right to participate
in and benefit from public education programs without discrimination on the
basis of disability.
3.
Your child has the right to a free,
appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment and the right
to equal opportunity to participate in school programs and extracurricular
activities.
4.
You have the right to receive notice a
reasonable time before a district evaluates your child or changes your child’s
placement or program.
5.
You have the right to inspect and review
your child’s records, to obtain copies of those records at a reasonable cost
not prohibitive to parent access and the right to amend the records if
inaccurate or misleading.
6.
You have the right to have educational
evaluation and placement decisions made based on information from a variety of
sources and by people familiar with the needs of the student, the meaning of
evaluation data and placement options.
7.
You have the right to an impartial
hearing to resolve disputes, the right to representation at that hearing and
appeal rights as outlined in the district’s Section 504 Grievance Procedure. If
you believe your child may have a disability that requires modifications or
accommodations to his or her educational program, please contact the
Superintendent at 624-2221.
Guidance
News
Seniors
planning on applying to college should be finishing up any college visits to
schools they may be applying to. If they
are not satisfied with their ACT or SAT scores, they should register to retake
these exams in the fall so the scores are released to their colleges in time for
admission decisions. Deadlines for fall
ACT exam registration are 9/21 and 11/2.
Deadlines for the fall SAT exam registrations are 10/2 and 10/30. Registration is available online or by paper
forms obtained from the guidance office.
We are planning to have all college applications done by Christmas break
at the latest. Seniors need to make sure
they are aware of all application deadlines as soon as possible.
I
will be giving out information on careers, college research and scholarships
during homeroom. Occasionally packets will be mailed home to parents directly. For the most part, I am expecting students to
be mainly responsible for following up when they need to. Upcoming activities and deadlines will be
posted under Long Lake Central School guidance class on www.edline.net.
If you have questions and want to contact me by email, my address is twhite@mail.fehb.org.
Juniors
will be taking the PSAT exam on Wednesday, October 17th in the
morning. This is a practice exam for the
SAT I Reasoning Test. Students will
receive scores in critical reading, math and writing skills, which will give an
idea of how the student will do on the SAT I and how the student compares to
other students across the country.
Juniors
will take the ASVAB on November 14th in the morning. This is an aptitude test given by the
military to give students information on their skills. The exam is required by anyone considering
joining any branch of the military.
Students are not required to take this exam, but must let me know if
they don’t want to participate. They are
under no obligation if they take the test.
This just provides them with additional information on their skills as
they prepare their post-secondary plans.
Adirondack
Community College is hosting a College Fair on October 4th in the
evening. This is a great opportunity for
juniors and sophomores to begin their college research. I will arrange for school transportation if
several students are interested.
Students
in grades 7-9 will be participating in the 3rd Annual Hamilton
County Youth Summit at Wells Central School on September 25th. This is a great opportunity for our kids to
meet their peers from the county. The
workshops focus on critical thinking, respect, responsibility and team building.
Hamilton
County Community Services is sponsoring a six-week workshop for parents of
toddler and school-aged children entitled:
COMMON SENSE PARENTING.
Presenters
Lori Lawson and Brandy Richards will discuss strategies that help all parents
face the typical day to day family challenges such as: a teen who’s defiant, siblings who constantly
bicker, a child having trouble in school, or parents and kids who occupy the
same house but don’t communicate or have fun together anymore. The goal of the program is to provide parents
with a menu of proven techniques that will aid them in building good family
relationships, preventing and correcting misbehavior, using consequences to
improve behavior, teaching self-control, and staying calm.
Each
participant will receive a “Parenting Survival Kit” along with a parent
handbook that corresponds to the Common Sense Parenting program.
The
classes will be held at the Community Services office in the Lane Emporium in
Speculator on Tuesday evenings from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on October 2nd,
9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th and November
6th. Food and child-care will
be provided for those parents who wish to attend.
If
you are interested in signing up for this six-week workshop or if you have any
questions, please call Hamilton County Community Services at 518-648-5355 or
1-888-825-9077.
Registration
deadline is Friday, September 28th.
MUSICAL
NOTES
Raina
Stoutenburg
I’m
excited to be starting another school year at Long Lake CSD! This year the Winter Concert will be split
into two different concerts, one elementary and one 7-12, in the same format as
the Spring Concerts. The elementary
students will be performing a winter musical this year. If it were added to the current concert
program for one concert, it would just be too long.
All-County
auditions are starting already. The
students are fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in two different
All-County festivals. There’s the CASMA
(Central Adirondack School Music Association) All-County festival and Essex
(Essex County and surrounding areas) All-County festival. Participation in All-County is completely
voluntary, but we’ve had many students participate in them in the past. While decisions still need to be made
regarding most of the ensembles, Prudence Dechene, Tyler Peter, and Meg Smith
have already been accepted to the CASMA All-County Jr. Chorus.
MUSIC
EVENTS (from September-December)
September 20th CASMA All-County Sr. Chorus Auditions 1-4pm in
Johnsburg (Jazz audition CDs due)
October
26th Essex Jr. High All-County at noon with a
concert at 7pm.
October
30th CASMA All-County Jazz
Band Rehearsal 3:30-5:30 in Minerva
November
3rd CASMA All-County at 9am
with 4pm concert in Minerva
November
14-18 Northeast Music Festival in Lake Placid
November
16-17 Area All-State in Saratoga Springs
December
12th Elementary Concert at 7pm in LLCS gym (mandatory for grades
K-6)
December
18th Jr. /Sr. High Concert at
7pm in LLCS gym (mandatory for grades 7-12).
TECHNOLOGY/CONSTRUCTION
Mr. Finch
Mr. Finch’s
Technology/Construction class is once again looking for a volunteer in our
community that would like a shed, gazebo, or other similar structure built and
is willing to purchase the materials needed to complete it. The class will design and build the structure
per your specifications. Please keep in
mind that the completed structure should be no more than 100 square feet. This opportunity should provide substantial
savings to the volunteer as well as a great learning opportunity for our
students.
Please contact Mr. Finch during
school hours at 624-2221 ext. 100 or email at tecgen@Hotmail.com.
Long
Lake Central School District Draft Board Meeting Minutes, august 15, 2007
Regular MEETING
·
Approval of the July 12, 2007 meeting
minutes.
·
The next Board of Education Regular
Meeting will be on Thursday, September 13, 2007, with a walk through starting
at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting starting at 7:00 p.m. A special meeting to elect a new BOCES Board
Member will be held on Monday, September 24, 2007.
·
Approval of the following resolution,
for a three year probationary appointment of Andrew Graves as a third/fourth
grade teacher in the elementary education tenure area, effective September 1,
2007 and expiring August 31, 2010.
·
Approval of the following resolution,
for a three year probationary appointment of Nichole Meyette as Pre-K/K teacher
in the elementary education tenure area, effective September 1, 2007 and
expiring August 31, 2010.
·
Approval of the June, 2007 Treasurer
Reports.
·
Approval of Budget Transfer # 17.
·
Approval of the Tax Warrant for the
2007-2008 school year.
·
Approval of various business related
travel expenses.
·
Approval for payment to Rose-Marie
Ordway for summer technology support work.
·
Approval of the Policy Statement for
Free and Reduced Price Meals or Free Milk for the 2007-2008 school year.
·
Approval of the districts amended
Cafeteria Charge Policy.
·
Approval for Barbara Gachowski to
provide Occupational Therapy for the 2007-2008 school year.
Official Board Minutes are available in
the Long Lake Central School Business Office during normal Business hours.
LONG LAKE CENTRAL SCHOOL
DISTRICT PLANNING COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES
Date: Sept. 13, 2007
Time: 7:00 a.m.
Place: room 316
Members
Present: Jim Pine, Sue Virostek, Julie
Helms, Kristen Lance, Mary Phillips-LeBlanc, Nichole Meyette, Kevin Crampton.
The
meeting was called to order at 7:00 a.m.
ü
The
group voted on Mary Phillips-LeBlanc to join as a Member-at-large, and on Nichole
Meyette as the Elementary representative.
Jim Pine agreed to stay on as the High School representative, and Debbie
Austin as the parent rep. Julie Helms is
willing to stay on as the Business member unless anyone else is interested.
ü
The
DPC is still looking for 1 Board of Education member, 1 Senior member, and
Student representative will be established at the first Student Council
meeting.
ü
This
years opening day celebration with the Kite-man was a success.
ü
Short
Tuesdays have proven to be of great use, therefore we’ll continue with every
Tuesday having early dismissal.
ü
Suggestions
for areas of interest to focus on this year are: Suicide prevention, Youth
& Government. Members are asked to
brainstorm and bring suggestions to the next meeting.
ü
Next
meeting date is October 11, 2007 at 7 a.m. in room 316.
ü
Meeting
adjourned at 7:40 a.m.
To members of the community, if anyone
has interest in joining the District Planning Committee please contact one of
the members listed above to get details.
The Committee is still looking for:
1Member-at-large, 1 Business Member, 2 Student representatives, 1 Senior
citizen, and 1 Board of Education member.
We value your input, therefore Issues
and suggestions may be submitted written or orally to the committee for
discussion at meetings by contacting a member, or by mailing or calling the
school. A complete list of members will
be made available in the November issue of the Newsletter.
Gender
Differences: Boys and Girls in School
Teachers and staff were treated to
an enjoyable and eye-opening presentation based on "Gender Differences:
Boys and Girls in School" by Mr. Michael Nerney during Staff Development
Day on September 4, 2007. His presentation revealed how boys and girls differ
in their brain development regarding the hearing of sounds, in responding to
facial and tone of voice cues, development of emotions and control, and reading
development/differences according to recent scientific studies. These
Studies
actually used brain-imaging (MRI) studies of male and female brains of various
ages and with proficient readers and dyslexic readers. Interestingly, boys tend to process spoken
information better when seated to the teacher's left when he/she is facing the
class. Girls also tend to hear auditory signals (ex. higher pitched sounds)
earlier than boys according to scientific research. Females tend to be better
at auditory learning (hearing spoken information and processing it) while males
tend to be better at learning through their visual (seeing) and tactile-kinesthetic
(touch and doing) senses. Male students need more physical space in which to
learn while female students need less space.
Brain studies have shown that there
are actual differences in the brains of good versus poor readers. Dr. Sally
Shaywitz, a noted brain researcher, states that "Efficient readers tend to
activate neural systems that are located mostly on the left side and left back
portion of the brain and the dyslexic (struggling reader) reader tends to
activate systems on the right side of the brain and in the front of the brain
on the left. Using the left brain aids in development of rapid, automatic word
recognition which is critical in skilled, efficient reading. The dyslexic
reader however, is attempting to compensate in reading by relying on alternate
secondary pathways in the brain which does eventually result in some improved
reading of words, but it remains a slow and exhausting process." The
implications of Dr. Shaywitz and other brain researchers' studies indicate that
reading can be successfully taught to children who are dyslexic through
specific reading instruction designed to help struggling readers develop their
left-side brain system. The main problem in dyslexic readers is
"phonologic" which means turning print into sound. When dyslexic
readers try to map letters onto speech sounds, this is where the problem exists
and can be actually seen on brain imaging studies. Dyslexic readers also
benefit from accommodations in their schools, such as taking untimed tests. Dr.
Shaywitz recommends that students be screened as early as possible for reading
difficulties and to receive support if necessary.
Mr. Nerney's outstanding
presentation left Long Lake educators and staff enthused and fascinated about
current and future brain research in education.
DIBELS NEWS
All elementary students in grades
K-6 will have their reading skills briefly screened by the DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators
of Basic Early Literacy Skills) during the second week of September. The DIBELS
targets checking early skills essential to reading development, such as
knowledge of letters and speech sounds identification, identification of
nonsense words (looks at whether or not a child can use his sound system to
sound out unfamiliar words by mapping these sounds onto the letter symbols), oral
reading fluency and story recall. The screening takes into consideration the
developmental ages and reading stages of children and is very brief. It is not
a test of intellect nor is it a "pass/fail" screening, but simply
gives educators and parents a clearer picture of how children are developing in
their reading development and whether or not some children need more intensive
support to develop these critical areas so that they may experience success in
reading.
Parents and teachers will be
notified of results and recommendations. Please keep in mind that if a child
does need extra support, this does not mean he or she is a "failure"
in reading or that parents are somehow to be blamed. It simply means that he or she may need extra
support and different techniques to firm up those neural pathways in the brain
for reading! The activities used with students needing extra help are fun and
yet are also designed to help them acquire the essential underlying skills
critical for reading success.
Reading is critical in our daily
lives. For some people, learning how to read appears effortless and easy, yet
others struggle. Many struggling readers are extremely bright and talented. Did
you know that some of the
more
visible people in our society who were struggling readers as children, adolescents
and adults include; Sir Richard Branson, (adventurer,
Businessman,
millionaire), Jewel (a singer), Tom Cruise (actor), Jay Leno
(comedian),
Kettler Griswold (rocket scientist), Dar Pilkey (author of the
"Captain
Underpants" series), Wendy Wasserstein (a Pulitzer Prize winning
playwright),
Niels Bohr (late NOBEL Prize winning physicist), Stephen Cannell (novelist and
Emmy award winning writer of television shows such as "The Rockford
Files" and "The A-Team"), Charles Schwab (revolutionized
financial services), Dr.Graeme Hammond (cardiothoracic surgeon), Dr. Delos M.
Cosgrove (chairman of the department of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery at
the Cleveland Clinic), John Irving (author of "The World According to
Garp" and
"The
Cider House Rules" as well as Academy Award winning screenwriter).
("Overcoming Dyslexia", Shaywitz, 2003)