We would like to thank the community for their overwhelming support in passing our 2013/2014 School Budget.   It would not have been possible without the efforts of the many people and organizations throughout our School District. We are committed to providing our children with the excellent education that District residents have come to expect. We know that we can continue to improve and are open to suggestions that are made by parents and educators.  We rely on the community for this input and feedback. All Board of Education meetings are open to the public.  You can also contact us by sending an email to BOE@rvcschools.org, posting on our Facebook page, or commenting on the Board of education Blog.

Once again, we thank you for your support of our schools and our children.

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At our annual Preliminary Budget Hearing held on Wednesday, April 17^th, the proposed budget for the 2013/14 school year was adopted and will be voted upon by our community on May 21^st.  This year our focus was to stay within the tax levy cap while maintaining the outstanding programs and opportunities that our District offers to all of our children.  In addition to these programs, the proposed budget will support the addition of a High School Varsity boys’ swim team as well as the introduction of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program into South Side Middle School. 

The proposed budget for the 2013/14 school year is set at $100,748,352. This is a 3.59% increase over last year’s budget.   Since the budget is within the tax levy cap, a simple majority will be required to pass the budget. 

For the second year in a row, there was an appeal to the Board of Education for the inclusion of a boys’ swim team in the school budget.  We hope that many of our students take advantage of this new opportunity.

The Middle Years Program (MYP) provides a framework of academic challenges that encourages students to embrace and understand the connections between traditional subjects and the real world, as well as to become critical and reflective thinkers. The program aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people.  The MYP fits in with the new Common Core curriculum which is already being implemented throughout the schools.  Our intention is to pair the MYP with the Common Core to create an outstanding educational platform for all of our middle school students.

We are committed to maintaining the highest standards in education while being fiscally responsible.  We recognize the value of our tax dollar, and the investment made in our children and our community. That is why we are asking you to come out and VOTE!

Voting will take place on Tuesday, May 21^st from 7 AM to 9PM at South Side High School.

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We would like to thank the community for their enthusiastic support in passing our School Improvement Bond.   This would not have been possible without the many people and organizations throughout our school district who came together, recognizing the need, addressing the problems and working on the solutions! Over the next few months the Board and Administration will be discussing in detail our plans before they are sent off for approval to New York State.   We will set up a webpage to keep you informed of the status of the bond projects as they progress. 

Once again, we all thank you for your support of our schools and our children.

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As you may already know, we finalized the School Improvement Bond at our January 22nd meeting  in the amount of $45.9 million dollars. The vote will take place on March 19 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at South Side High School.

The bond provides for work in all seven of our schools. Structural additions at South Side High School and Watson Elementary School are included in the scope of work. Air conditioning of all instructional spaces throughout the District and main assembly areas in the elementary school is included. Security and safety upgrades in each building will also take place. The bond includes improvements for athletic and arts facilities throughout the District as well.

Our goals are to create a safer, healthier environment in which our students will flourish. The structural additions at South Side High School will incorporate the 12 classrooms presently housed in three aging portable trailers and two garages into the high school. Because these buildings are now outside of the main building, doors at the school must remain unlocked. These additions will now allow doors to be locked  and establish one main entrance to the school, dramatically increasing building security.

Additionally, South Side’s science labs, some built in the nineteen-fifties and others converted from regular classrooms, will be renovated to meet 21^st century learning standards. The cafeteria will be expanded to accommodate all students, ending the need for them to line hallway floors and stairwells while eating their lunch. The additions will also alleviate seriously congested hallways when students travel between classes.

There is one main athletic field at South Side High School that is in nearly constant use by school teams and village organizations. A grass field needs rest to rejuvenate and to maintain its integrity. Overuse has compacted and stripped the field, creating drainage problems and uneven playing surfaces. The addition of artificial turf on this field as well as turf and lights on a second small practice field addresses those issues and will also allow our teams to practice and play official games at home, alleviating congestion on village fields and saving the District transportation costs.

Sound and lighting equipment will be upgraded in both South Side High School and South Side Middle School auditoriums. The middle school’s auditorium will receive a much-needed facelift. The bond will also address safety and student access issues in the high school auditorium.  These facilities are used by our schools’ performing arts groups as well as many different community groups

Watson Elementary School has seen a population boom in recent years. Enrollment in first and second grades as well as the projected kindergarten enrollment for next year is above the District’s “trigger point.” There currently is no room for additional space in the school for a class to split. This bond will fund three new classrooms and a small-group instructional space to meet Watson’s growing needs.

Our school year begins in early September and ends in late June. As the buildings get hot, the focus on learning diminishes. The health and safety of our students is our highest priority. We believe that air conditioning will create a healthier and more conducive learning environment for our students.

We had mentioned the possible purchase of a house adjacent to South Side High School with plans to use it for students with disabilities. Unfortunately, the owners have decided not to sell at this time and therefore,  no funds are allocated in this bond for this purchase.

The expected tax increase to the average household in the District is $128. The bond will be financed assuming $20 million at 4% for 30 years and $25,926 million at 3.5% for 20 years.

This bond funds necessary renovations and modernization throughout the District such as roof repairs, ventilation, environmental and building improvements (many of which are required by the State Education Department) beyond what our annual budgets can support. We certainly want to thank everyone who participated in our discussions about what this bond should include. For more information, visit www.rvcschools.org, post to this blog, email us at boe@rvcschools.org or join us at our meetings. We urge everyone to get informed and vote on March 19 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at South Side High School.

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Parents, Principals, Administrators and District architects joined in a productive meeting on January 15th, as we tackled the Elementary Schools, South Side Middle School and District-Wide projects that will be included in the School Improvement Bond.

We have one more meeting on January 22nd to finalize the list of projects and set the amount of the bond — just in time for the March 19th vote. This will be the last point at which we’ll be able to make any changes to the bond. We want to hear from you. These are your schools and they need your support.

We easily reached consensus on several important decisions but we’re still grappling with others. Air conditioning is one of the most complex, major items discussed. There was broad agreement that classroom air conditioning would be hugely beneficial to the everyday learning environment. Ductless air conditioning units can be installed throughout the District to cool each classroom and instructional space at a cost of $1.2 million.  Public space air conditioning was also discussed, as many gymnasiums also serve as lunchrooms and auditoriums.

Based upon enrollment, both current and projected, Dr. Johnson has recommended that space be added to Watson Elementary School.  Over the past few years Watson has seen a population boom and currently has two sections in both grades 1 and 2 that are both over our “trigger-point.”  There is a projected incoming kindergarten class of over 50 students.  With 12 classrooms, Watson has no space for any additional classes or for small group instruction. The proposed addition will add space for three classrooms.

Many other projects were tentatively approved for our elementary schools. Tightening security is at the top of our list.  New doors, lockable/ADA- compliant doorknobs and PA systems that allow for instant communication from any room within the building have been approved for the bond.  New roofs will replace aging, leaky ones.  Maintenance and state-mandated improvements will take place throughout all of the buildings.  

Over at South Side Middle School, both the library and music rooms will be renovated. Projects will include additional sound-proofing for the music spaces, as well as updating technology in the library to allow for better instruction. The redesign of the library will also create more flexible instruction space to accommodate more students. The auditorium’s light and sound systems are in need of renovation. The running track, used by students and residents, is worn and cracked, and desperately needs to be properly repaired.

Finally, we discussed the “House Next Door.”  A home adjacent to the high school campus is available for purchase.  The house presents a unique opportunity to expand the scope of services that we can currently offer to our students with disabilities.  We will discuss this in much greater detail at our next meeting on January 22^nd.

We believe that we have thoroughly reviewed, discussed and considered the needs of all schools and areas in the District during our many bond-related meetings. We feel confident in proposing a School Improvement Bond for a vote on March 19th.   The preliminary bond amount approximates $48 million.  This is only an estimate.  We have one more meeting, on January 22^nd, at which we will review and finalize our decisions and the amount of the bond.

We want to thank the many members of the community who have come to our meetings and contributed their thoughts. Video of this and past meetings can be found on this webpage or on the School Channel, Cablevision channel 19 within Village of Rockville Centre, and on Verizon channel 36. We urge you to let your views be known! Please attend the January 22nd meeting at 7:30 p.m. in South Side High School’s auditorium, post to this blog or email us at boe@rvcschools.org.

These are your schools and they need your support.

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Thank you to all community members, parents and students who joined us along with our school administrators and architects on January 8 as we discussed plans for renovations to South Side High School. We’re working to finalize the list of projects throughout the District to be funded by the School Improvement Bond.

We made good progress last Tuesday night but we have more to do. Please attend the January 15th meeting where we’ll decide which Middle School, Elementary and District-wide projects will be included in the bond. If you can’t come next Tuesday, we’ll be meeting again on January 22nd to finalize the list and set the amount of the bond — just in time for the March 19th vote. We want to hear from you. These are your schools and they need your support.

At South Side High School, the main focus is to bring the 12 classrooms currently housed outside in three portable trailers and two converted garages into the building. The portables, originally intended to be temporary solutions, have been in service for more than 30 years. They’ve outlived their usefulness and have assuredly seen better days. Because students and teachers must travel to and from these trailers, doors in the main building remain unlocked. By bringing the classroom space inside, we are able to lock the building, dramatically tightening security.

The two-story additions in the plans, one to the north and one to the south side of the building will provide our students with modern and appropriate-sized instructional and science lab space. The cafeteria will be doubled in size so our kids won’t have to eat lunch in the halls or classrooms.  Congestion and safety issues are solved by the redistribution of classroom space within the building.

As it stands now, the High School portion of the bond will include the replacement of existing grass fields with synthetic turf inside the running track, on the softball field and on the practice field in back of the building. Turf fields will be able to withstand greater usage in all weather conditions, allowing more of our teams to practice and host games on their home fields. The bond will also fund new bleacher seating on the main field and lighting for the practice field, allowing more practices to take place at the high school saving on transportation costs and freeing up fields around Rockville Centre for use by village athletic groups.  Strict guidelines for use of lights on evenings and weekends, already adopted by the school board, will be in force when the lights are installed.

The arts are not neglected in the plans. Envisioned auditorium upgrades include new lighting, sound and stage systems as well as safe access to the lighting and sound booths at the rear of the theater.

Video of past meetings can be found by visiting www.rvcschools.org or on the School Channel, Cablevision channel 19 within the Village of Rockville Centre, and on Verizon channel 36. And as we mentioned earlier, our discussion continues at two more meetings in January — on the 15^th and the 22^nd.   Please let your views be known: you can post to this blog, email us at boe@rvcschools.org or come to our meetings.  All meetings are held at the South Side High School at 7:30pm.

These are your schools and they need your support.

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We hope that everyone had a happy and relaxing holiday break.  At our last meeting on December 11^th, we decided to hold the School Improvement Bond vote on March 19, 2013. Our discussions regarding the Bond will resume at our January 8^th meeting beginning with the High School and its facilities. A meeting has been added on Tuesday, January 15, 2013, where we are scheduled to discuss South Side Middle School and all of the Elementary Schools. At our January 22^nd meeting, all items in the bond need to be finalized.

Recommended items for inclusion in the bond have been developed by compact team committees from each school and our architect’s Facility Study and 5 Year Building Condition Survey.  Lists of those requested items are available on the School Improvement Bond section of our webpage (click here) and will be continually updated as decisions are made as to what will be included in the bond.

We are looking for your participation and input as we prepare for the School Improvement Bond vote. Join us at our meetings and give us your feedback. These are your buildings, they need your help.

All Board of Education meetings are held in Room 112 of South Side High School at 7:30 pm.

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At the October 9^th Board of Education meeting, the District architects, BBS, joined the meeting to continue discussions on the District’s infrastructure needs.  Recommendations for improvement have been developed by compact committees from each individual school, and our architect’s Facility Study and 5 Year Building Condition Survey.

So far, the discussions at the Board of Education meetings have covered the High School, Middle School, Administration, and Maple Avenue Facility, as well as District-Wide needs.   The Board of Education is looking to the community for input and suggestions.

At South Side High School one of the main focuses would be to move the 12 classrooms currently housed outside the main school building to equivalent space inside the building.  These outdoor structures have been in use for 30+ years, and they have far outlived their usefulness.  Architects have been at all of our meetings since September 10^th to share the various options for this move.  At the October 9^th meeting, two options were reviewed; a single three-story addition, or 2 two-story additions.  The cost of building either option is equivalent, but additional expenditures are incurred with the single three-story addition due to temporary classroom needs.   Adding space to the building will help to resolve the issue of overcrowded hallways.  Nowhere is this more evident than in the “T” towards the end of the main corridor on the first floor of the building. This is where the traffic from staircases releases into the hallway. By adding space, the flow of students would be redistributed so that traffic flow would be more manageable and far less congested. Discussions at our meeting continued regarding the space made available after removing the portables.   Some options discussed were to use the space for practice fields, additional parking, or tennis courts.

The architects also took time to discuss the current conditions of our athletic fields and track at South Side High School. Options discussed were to either renovate grass fields, removing the hills and valleys that currently create potential safety issues for our athletes, and/or to replace the fields with synthetic turf. Repairing our current fields would be less expensive than adding synthetic turf, but the fields would be unusable for three growing seasons. This poses a larger problem when faced with the challenge of relocating all of our sports teams that currently use these grass fields. Additionally, it is less likely that these grass fields would remain in good condition when you look at how many teams utilize them each day. Turf fields would be able to take on greater usage in any weather condition.

Other items discussed at the High School were auditorium upgrades, which would include improvements to the sound system, modernization of the current lighting, and corridor access to the balcony area of the auditorium.  Currently, students use a ladder that is rolled back and forth for access to this space. These changes would result in second floor access to the area, which ultimately would make it safer for students and staff.

At the Middle School, Ms. McGinn discussed updating the library to bring it into the 21^st century; both in terms of technology and in terms of utilization.  An auditorium upgrade was also suggested which would replace the existing portable speakers with a new sound system and modernize the current lighting.  In addition, it was suggested to replace balcony seating.

District-wide, classroom air-conditioning, security cameras, and additional SMARTboards were discussed.

We will be continuing our discussion with the architects at our next Board of Education meeting which will be held on Tuesday, October 23^rd at 7:30pm in room 112 of South Side High School.  We invite the public to attend, listen, learn and ask questions about the School Improvement Bond.  These are our schools and as a community we should all be concerned about keeping “Our House” in good working order.

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Welcome to the 2012-13 school year!  We hope that everyone has had a fun and
rejuvenating summer.  During that time, work has continued throughout the District.
Curriculum has been written. Maintenance projects have been completed.  Planning for our Future, for tomorrow and beyond, continues.

Prior to school opening, the Board took its annual tour of each of our buildings.  We observed work completed over the summer.  Ceilings and lighting have been updated, classrooms have been painted, floors have been sanded and refinished, bathrooms have been gutted and modernized, and asbestos abatements were completed.  Our buildings are aging and our maintenance staff does a tremendous and wonderful job in
keeping them functional. All of us should thank both our maintenance and custodial crews for the work they do during the summer preparing our buildings for our children to start the new school year.

Changes in curriculum are taking place within the District and throughout New York State as brought forth by the State’s adoption of the Common Core Curriculum.   Within the District, our 6^th graders are the first class to have Spanish language instruction continually since 1^st grade. This has brought about the re-writing of the 6^th grade Spanish curriculum.  Thanks to a grant from the Rockville Centre Education Foundation, a new STEAM (Science Technology, Engineering, Art & Music) lab was installed at South Side Middle School and a new course is available called “Studio Music.”   We are excited about these new additions and challenges and look forward to discussing them in more detail in a coming blog.

Last week, during our Public Works Session, we began our discussion of a possible upcoming bond proposal.  Our architects joined us while we reviewed drawings of South Side High School.  The main goals of the high school renovation would be to remove the aging “temporary” classrooms and outdoor buildings, adding a new wing that incorporates these rooms into our permanent structure, update our science
classrooms, and create a safer and more secure environment for our children to
learn.  During our meeting we discussed various options and proposals. At our next meeting, on September 27, our architects will once again join us to continue the discussion about the high school as well as our elementary and middle school buildings.  Renderings of South Side High School are available by clicking here.

Rockville Centre School District was once again in the news.  South Side High School and Watson Elementary were recognized by the New York State Department of Education as “Reward Schools.”   Only 250 schools throughout New York State were selected for this designation.  Schools are selected based on data from student test scores, and are chosen for both high achievement and closing gaps in student achievement.  We congratulate the faculty and staff of all of our schools for this designation.  We must always remember that we can’t have an award-winning high school without a successful middle school, nurturing elementary schools and a supportive community.

We invite you to join us on at our next Board meeting on September 27th at South Side High School at 7:30pm as we continue our discussion on the possible bond proposal.
As always, feel free to email us at boe@rvcschools.org or post a comment to the blog.

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