Curriculum Decision
The “White Paper (PDF)”, which is the beginning of a Strategic Plan, among other things, offers a direction for curriculum updating and revision. This year, we instituted a new math program, and it is going very well. We also took this year to study Language Arts programs. The staff centered its concentration on three major programs. They were Houghton-Mifflin’s Journeys, McGraw Hill’s Wonders, and Pearson’s/ S.F.’s Reading Street. They are all great programs that are aligned with the Common Core. They offer challenging academic materials demanding increased rigor on the part of the students. After a great deal of discernment which culminated in our full-day workshop last Friday, we selected Journeys. And in grades 6, 7, and 8 we decided upon the Houghton-Mifflin program for that age level which is called Collections.
This year we are also discussing our next step in technology. The teachers are investigating it as a staff. There is also a parent/staff committee looking into it under the leadership of our technology teacher. As I see it, there are two major concepts we are looking into. One deals with what device or devices we use at which grade level. The other deals with the systems we use and how we use them. And finally there is the question of properly budgeting for the program. As I have been having discussions and personally thinking about this, I am coming to a personal conclusion that an additional full time IT person may not be the answer to our needs. I know that has not yet been voted on as a proposal in the “White Paper”. I believe we may be able to satisfactorily address our needs in this area by contracting with someone or some firm on an “as needed” basis. I would see the budget eventually being able to address this rather than an additional tuition increase above and beyond normal tuition increases.
I am very excited about our curriculum area of focus next year. It will be science. We are already beginning to investigate it. I see a new science curriculum being adopted for the 2015-2016 academic year. I believe it, combined with the recent math adoption will result in our being a STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) school.
Planning should result in action and that action should lead to improvement. I fully believe that is happening at Holy Rosary. What is good is becoming better.
Fraud Updates
Please remember that updates and all past contact information on the IRS, credit, loans, Archdiocesan sponsored meetings, Social Security and identity theft are being kept both in the main office on the long desk and on our website. The office has a hard copy of everything so you can take notes. My personal experience leads me to believe it is better to contact everybody before you move to a credit freeze. Once that is done it can be difficult to prove who you are to the other people and systems you are trying to check in with. There can be a great amount of frustration. Just do not try to do everything at once and in one sitting. Do one thing a day. It is better for the heart. And, again, I am sorry for everything we are all going through. I look forward to someone being arrested.
– George