During the public hearing of the Rochester School Committee on April 27, the committee voted to abstain from adding any additional School Choice slots at Rochester Memorial School for the next school year.
“The staff feels that, due to our current staffing and our resources, the school is not in a position to participate in School Choice at this time,” said Assistant Superintendent Dr. Elise Frangos.
There was no further discussion, and the vote to opt out of School Choice for the 2017/2018 school year was unanimous.
Also during the meeting, RMS Principal Derek Medeiros said the school would employ a new transition strategy for incoming kindergarten students next year.
Staff have coordinated a pilot program for kindergarten placement by having registered students visit the school for the Monday and Tuesday before school starts for the kids in order to spend some one-on-one time with teachers for assessment to ensure that students are placed appropriately according to their needs.
The goal, Medeiros said, is to expose the new kindergartners to “the best possible environment to succeed.”
Utilizing the first two days, Medeiros said, kindergarten kids can come in and explore the kindergarten wing while teachers can get to know the students better before finalizing the classroom configurations.
“That’ll give us a better idea of making sure that we’re putting kiddos in the right groupings … and the right environment to succeed,” Medeiros reiterated.
Sippican School enacted a similar strategy last year with success, Frangos said.
The annual kindergarten BBQ for students and parents would follow on Wednesday.
In other matters, the committee recognized the accomplishment of RMS Destination Imagination Team “The Lighting Bolts,” headed to the DI Globals in Knoxville, Tennessee over Memorial Day weekend.
The students explained their latest fundraising strategy – for $20, the team will “flock” the front yard of your choice with 20 pink flamingos for a day. If one wishes NOT to get flocked, they can pay the team $15 to block a flock. Also, if you were to get flocked, you could pay $5 to find out who it was that flocked your front yard.
The next meeting of the Rochester School Committee is scheduled for June 8 at 6:30 pm at Rochester Memorial School.
Rochester School Committee
By Jean Perry