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Schools

Greenwich Education: Summerfare, Sink or Swim

Sink or swim, an option for Greenwich HS students, along with a plethora of plans for summer.

 

With Martin Luther King, Jr. Day being observed this week, there is a shortened school week that is long on activities and happenings:

Reaching Out

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The Greenwich Alliance for Education  will be holding its Reaching Out Grants Workshop on Tuesday, Jan. 17 from 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. in the media center conference room of .

The workshop is for potential applicants to learn about the grants process with will start with an application deadline of March 2nd. The grants will focus on programs that address the achievement gap at either the middle school or high school level.

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This will be the 6th year the education foundation that serves will generously offer grants to the GPS community. The Reaching Out Grants have awarded 29 grants totaling an impressive $353,150 during the past 5 years.

To read more about the types of initiatives funded by the Alliance, click  or for a more personal testament you can read a student's perspective .

Summer in January

The temperatures outside may be call for hat and gloves, but the GHS PTA is already planning for summer.

SummerFare Expo will be held in the Student Center on Wednesday, Jan. 18, with a snow date of Thursday, Jan. 19, between 6 - 9 p.m.

More than 120 vendor from local programs to ventures abroad, SummerFare features an array of organizations with a variety of summer offerings, such as traditional sleep away or day camps, academic studies, sports, visual and performing arts, environmental/outdoor adventure, international study, community service, computers, and special education programs. Program representatives will be on hand to explain their diverse summer opportunities, answer questions, and hand out camp brochures and DVDs.

GHS parents, Michelle Allen and Mary Ellen Markowitz are co-chairing this year's event, which will mark its 23rd year. SummerFare is free and open to the public, including the students themselves.

Sink or swim for waiver

The will meet at Western Middle School on Thursday at 7 p.m.

On the planned "consent agenda" are the following reports previously reviewed by the Board earlier this month:

  1. Action on Curriculum Review, Physical Education, Music, Step IIB
  2. Action on Monitoring Report E-003, Reading/Language Arts/Writing
  3. Action on Monitoring Report E-003, Mathematics
  4. Action on Policy Revision E-001, Summer School

The Board is expected to vote on the recommendation made at the January 5 Work Session by PE Coordinator Colleen Morey who proposed that the high school aquatics program be amended to "provide the opportunity for those students who demonstrate mastery of instructional objectives to opt out of basic skill instruction" by "testing out."

In lieu of the basic class, students would "be encouraged to participate in an alternative aquatics offering (e.g., kayaking, snorkeling, water polo). Students may request the opportunity to participate in other PE offerings if available (e.g., lifetime sports, fitness.)" states the proposal.

In addition, the Board is expected to take action on the 2013-2014 school calendar with a possibility of moving the February vacation so that it is aligned with the week of President's Day instead of the week before. The will be a departure from recent years.

While the Board has heard that there are parents who are appreciative of the week before President's Day, the teachers have repeatedly voiced that they would like to see the break better aligned with other Districts.  Board members have expressed that they are most interested in maximizing the time between return to school after break and the start of testing in March.

Finally, the Superintendent is expected to make his recommendations to the Board for $90,000 to address the issue of student achievement. The Board has requested this proposal during their budget vote last month. The plan may include a refinement of the summer school program or the addition of an instructional coach to focus on improving student achievement at the 3 elementary schools that have not or likely not to meet AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress.)

The public is invited to speak to the Board during the public comment portion at the beginning of the meeting.

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