WESTERLY – For the past three years, education has not been the only focus for teachers and staff with the Westerly Public Schools.
Superintendent Mark Garceau said his staff went above and beyond to help local students learn, but teachers were tasked with balancing educational needs with the broader health and safety restrictions of Covid-19, adjusting to masked classes and digital classrooms and monitoring social distancing efforts. . The national and local political situation has also forced additional comments by administrators from some questions regarding the district’s curriculum and literature provision.
By the 2022-23 school year, Garciu said, these distractions will largely be behind us, with district staff re-energized and ready to “get back to teaching.”
“The reality is that Covid seems to be mostly in the rear view at the moment, and we are very happy to get back to what we were doing before the outbreak and to do well,” he said. The past few years have been marred by covid-19 and the culture wars, and we’re determined to get our kids back into school without the added distractions.
Following Wednesday’s first all-staff meeting in three years, Garcio and West Middle School Principal Mary Caporelli each said teachers enjoyed a more “free” summer and returned to the district energized and excited. Haven’t heard it in years.
Caporelli, who is in her first year leading administration and teams at the middle school, said without distractions, the staff is focused on addressing the growing social and emotional needs of youth, many of whom are stressed by increased factors. For the challenges that have arisen in the past few years.
Over the past two weeks, she said, the middle school community and staff have been warm and welcoming, showing a commitment to moving away from worrying about masks and instead returning to best practices that include small group learning and individualized instructional time.
“We really need to focus on identifying the strengths of our community and the challenges we face and putting our heads together as a team and coming up with a plan that will help our students the most,” she said.
Adapting to her new role, the middle school teachers never skipped a beat, showing passion and constantly bringing new ideas to the table to help improve services, she said, benefiting the school and the community as a whole.
“We have an amazing group of people here and I’m sure we’re going to push our boundaries and have a great year,” she said.
Throughout the district, Garcius will focus on the students and their individual needs in the upcoming school year. This includes identifying and removing remaining roadblocks, as well as thinking critically about school reforms.
Over the next year, district administrators will work with leaders and each of the city’s schools to improve literacy and math. Garcius says this can be achieved by returning to good practices in reading and math, including physical lessons.
Another challenge, especially with some younger students, is helping them adjust to a traditional school setting. For 3rd graders, this marks the start of a “normal” school year for the first time in their careers.
“It’s important to remember that our children were under stress during the pandemic. “It’s impacted everybody,” Garcia said. “Some of our younger students have never had a full year of experience in a traditional setting.”
At Westerly High School, Principal Michael Hobbin said staff and students are incredibly focused on learning and getting back to learning, adding to efforts to ensure that all of the district’s youngest students graduate, not just a high school diploma.
As the incoming freshman class of 2026 graduates, the district said it is focused on ensuring that each final graduate earns a credential beyond high school.
“Our top priority is to make sure that when every student graduates, they leave with some kind of credential to help them get started in life,” Hobbin said in a phone interview Friday. “Whether it’s college credit, a business certificate or something else, we want every student to leave something they can use.”
As part of that effort, Garceau and Hobin both said, the district will work to strengthen partnerships within the community and expand on the strong community partnerships that existed before the outbreak.
Westerly High School staff will host regular discussions with the Olean Center to develop strong relationships and seek a better, more valuable hands-on and work-placement experience for Westerly students, Garceau said. The hope is that strong partnerships will allow students to help their communities through volunteering and job training.
High school staff said the district has had discussions with United Theater and the Royce Foundation about a number of programs and partnerships that could enhance arts, music and theater education at the high school, and continues to work with organizations such as Colonial Theatre. Also adjust the programming.
Regardless of a student’s interests, Garcia said the district’s top priority is to ensure that all students feel welcome and included.
That doesn’t mean the district will forget lessons learned during the pandemic, and will continue to incorporate digital learning into traditional experiences.
“I share the excitement of everyone at Bulldog Nation to do what we love, take what we’ve learned, and provide the best experience and education possible for each of our students,” Gareau said.
School bond question
In the year In November, Garceau noted that “a very important bond referendum question will appear on the ballot” that, if approved, would provide for the construction of a new kindergarten through 4th grade school on the State Street School site.
Officials said the project will provide major academic, safety and aesthetic improvements and upgrades at both Springbrook and Dunn Corners elementary schools.
“Preliminary plans are still being finalized by our architects and more information will be coming to you in September and October, but this much-needed (and long-delayed) project will be extremely beneficial to our students and community and we believe it will address the facility needs of our elementary schools at the finish line.” In his message to the parents, he said that he wanted to get everyone’s support.
