PS/IS 109 Weekly Update

Dwight Chase

Principal (IA)

Dear Staff:

I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself. As you may know by now, I am the Interim Acting Principal of PS/IS 109. Throughout my career I have had the good fortune to work in a number of successful schools, and in a variety of positions. I have been a classroom teacher, lead teacher, data specialist, dean, and assistant principal. Each of those opportunities has allowed me to gain valuable experiences that will serve me well in this role as Principal. I want to share with you the reason that I do this work. I do this work because I believe that all of our children deserve a truly high quality education, replete with challenging experiences and new opportunities. They deserve an educational experience that prepares them to be productive, successful, and well-adjusted members of society.

However, the sobering reality is that, as a school system, we can do a better job of preparing our students. In New York City, a little more than ½ of students who score at a level 3 in the 8^th grade manage to graduate high school in 4 years. What are the implications of that statistic on our work here at 109? Currently:

· 71% of our 3^rd through 8^th grade students scored below grade level on the state ELA exam;

· 63% of those same 3^rd through 8^th graders scored below grade level on the state Math exam.

We can start to improve that situation by demanding more from ourselves and from our students. By ensuring that our students are getting a rigorous, quality education we are ensuring that they are also going to be able to gain access to the chances and opportunities that have traditionally not been available to them.

To help us as we engage in the process to raise student achievement we will be using the Charlotte Danielson text, Enhancing Professional Practice: A Framework for Teaching as the cornerstone of our work this year. In this framework, the complex activity of teaching is divided into four domains of teaching responsibility:

· Planning and Preparation (Domain 1)

· Classroom Environment (Domain 2)

· Instruction (Domain 3)

· Professional Responsibilities (Domain 4)

Within those domains, New York City has identified six priority competencies: designing coherent instruction; establishing a culture for learning; managing student behavior; using questioning and discussion techniques; engaging students in learning; and using assessment in instruction. We will have plenty of occasions to really dig deep into the framework throughout this school year.

During the first few days of school we will all have a number of opportunities to meet and discuss our next steps towards improving our students’ outcomes. Additionally, the instructional leadership team will be making a number of informal visits to all of our classrooms. After the initial round of informal observations, we will begin to schedule formal observations for all. Going forward, it is imperative that, at every meeting, at every professional development opportunity, at every conference and during every observation, we ask each other and ourselves – “How does this improve our students’ outcomes?”

I do look forward to meeting personally with each one of you as we embark on this journey together.

Sincerely,

Dwight Chase

(Sent out on 8/19/2011)

Introduction Letter (August 19, 2011)