School boss Eric Byrne welcomed again Rye City School District households along with his first Friday electronic mail for the faculty yr. Byrne covers essential considering, psychological well being and AI, amongst different subjects.
(PHOTO: Rye City School District Superintendent Dr. Eric Byrne at the official Rye City School District climate station.)
I hope you might have had a terrific summer season. I’m positive you might have missed my Friday Community Updates, however no want to fret, I’m again and will probably be in your inbox each Friday afternoon this faculty yr!
We are wanting ahead to welcoming everybody again to high school. Our first day of faculty for college kids is Wednesday, September 6. Faculty and workers will start getting ready for the faculty yr at a Superintendent’s Conference Day on Tuesday, September 5.
Our aim as a faculty district, as acknowledged in the Rye Commitment, is to supply all the obligatory assist for our college students to “change into socially accountable, caring residents who can assume critically, talk successfully, collaborate and creatively remedy issues in a various world atmosphere.”
Over the previous few years, we’ve strategically added packages, helps, and pathways that allow college students to pursue their pursuits, study themselves, and start to outline their futures after commencement. Our new packages are aware of our college students’ wants, pursuits, and the altering world past Rye. We are proud of our efforts in bettering literacy and math instruction, our expanded life abilities packages, thrilling new pathways to commencement at RHS, elevated social-emotional studying programming, and psychological well being helps.
It’s clear that the world is altering and our graduates want completely different abilities than they did in the previous, together with the means to assume critically, collaborate with others, talk successfully, and problem-solve. Preparing our college students for all times and success past Rye has been at the forefront of our work and can proceed to be a excessive precedence for the 2023-2024 faculty yr.
Critical Thinking
Society is going through advanced challenges that can not be solved with out essential considering. Finding methods to imbue essential considering into on a regular basis educating is the District’s high focus for the 2023-2024 faculty yr. Two skilled improvement lessons provided over the summer season, “Building Thinking Classrooms” and “Next Level Classroom Instruction” supplied lecturers with sensible ideas for incorporating essential considering workouts in the classroom. For the the rest of the yr, the majority of our in-house skilled improvement at Superintendent’s Conference Days and school conferences will focus on the way to develop essential considering abilities by means of classroom instruction.
Professional Learning
Almost 100 of our college and workers have taken benefit of skilled studying alternatives over the summer season. Forty-two lecturers and directors attended the second annual two-day SEL (Social Emotional Learning) Institute in late June to learn to foster pupil development whereas prioritizing pupil well-being. The focus this yr was on utilizing writing as a way for reflection and utilizing literature and read-alouds to advertise empathy. Teachers left with a toolbox of sensible concepts and techniques to make use of with college students. For the second yr, a bunch of elementary faculty lecturers started a year-long course targeted on incorporating grammar into the classroom. A bunch of Ok-2 lecturers took a course on the new writing items of examine which incorporate phonics, decoding, spelling, and grammar. Thirteen Ok-8 lecturers took a category on constructing considering lecture rooms that present methods for selling essential considering as half of every day classroom instruction. Another group of lecturers took a category on the way to use the new Promethean boards.
Student Mental Health
The psychological well being of college students continues to be a driving concern. The COVID pandemic resulted in elevated melancholy and nervousness amongst school-aged youngsters, and its results are nonetheless being felt. The District is in yr three of a partnership with Effective School Solution (ESS). ESS gives two clinicians who assist college students with gentle to average psychological well being challenges. The District is in the course of of opening a psychological well being clinic together with Westchester Jewish Community Services. The clinic will supply faculty district households expanded entry to psychological well being, trauma, and substance use therapy for youngsters, adolescents, adults, and households. Through the assist of County Legislator Catherine Parker and County Executive George Latimer, funding was secured to create the psychological well being clinic. We obtained approval from the New York State Office of Mental Health over the summer season and anticipate an early fall opening with the clinic working three days per week.
Construction Update
You might have seen some building happening at college buildings over the summer season. In addition to routine cleansing, portray, and upkeep the District has been busy making some vital upgrades.
At Rye High School, we’ve been working with Con Edison to finish set up of a high-pressure fuel system. The High School cafeteria has new flooring and a contemporary paint job. The most important hall of the faculty additionally obtained a much-needed facelift with new flooring and paint. Many lecture rooms and hallways are freshly painted. At Rye Middle School, we’ve eliminated all the carpeting in the Sixth-grade wing, changing it with new flooring that may stand as much as many center faculty ft. The RMS hallway has a brand new ceiling and lighting, and the RMS MPR staircase has been revamped to carry it as much as fireplace code.
At each faculty, the District has been busy putting in new interactive Promethean board show panels in lecture rooms. Promethean boards are interactive whiteboards that enable lecturers to mission photographs from a pc, pill, or exterior digicam. An enormous “thanks” to the Rye Fund for Education for offering the funding for 28 boards. There are actually three at Midland, three at Milton, 5 at Osborn, and 10 at the High School/Middle School. Twenty extra are on order and will probably be put in as they arrive. There can be heaps of new versatile furnishings round the District. Look out for it at Back to School evening(s).
Over 8,000 sq. ft of flooring was changed at Milton and Osborn Schools, and Midland lecture rooms obtained a contemporary coat of paint.
Website Upgrade
The District’s know-how division has been at work creating a brand new RCSD web site, resulting from launch in early October. The web site will function many upgrades and will probably be small-screen pleasant, which means that all the pieces you see on a desktop or laptop computer laptop will probably be seen on telephones, tablets, and so forth. There will probably be no extra want for an app as all the pieces will probably be viewable on each system. More data will observe as we put together to launch the new website. For now, all the pieces you want is on the present website.
Security
Safety and safety stay high of thoughts at the RCSD. Attached please discover a useful security information for fogeys and guardians.
We are persevering with to improve the District’s safety {hardware}. We are at present putting in new PA (public deal with) methods at the three elementary faculties and including SALTO digital good door locksets to all classroom doorways. Curiously, there’s a lingering pandemic-related door deficit. The District has been ready to obtain new classroom doorways for a number of years now. Midland’s door set up and SALTO {hardware} set up are full. Osborn’s is in course of, with 14 doorways that arrived in mid-August. Milton’s doorways have been on order and we’re awaiting supply. Osborn’s new Public Address system is full, whereas Midland and Milton’s are put in and present process testing. All RHS college students have image ID playing cards and we’re planning to develop this to RMS college students as properly. Once faculty is in session, we’ll present RHS and RMS college students with an app to allow them to use their cellphone as an ID. Beginning in mid-September all RHS and RMS college students will probably be anticipated to indicate ID when getting into the faculties. Look for extra data on this coming in September.
The Rye Police Department held a three-day tactical coaching session at the Rye High School/Middle School campus throughout the second week of August. These drills give our law enforcement officials the invaluable alternative to familiarize themselves with the faculty constructing format. We are working with our Rye PD companions on scheduling comparable drills at the elementary faculties in the future. We are grateful for the Rye PD’s partnership as we work to maintain our college students, college, and workers secure.
AI (Artificial Intelligence)
Artificial Intelligence is far in the information today. Its results are being felt in all places, from Hollywood to academia, and our faculties are not any exception. As is the case with most know-how, there are good and unhealthy sides to AI. AI generally is a good trainer software. It can be utilized to seek out examples and succinctly summarize an idea. It can be utilized to supply an overview for college kids who battle with classroom note-taking. The District has been working with division coordinators (heads) to study AI and the way to discuss to college students about what it’s and when to make use of it. With any new know-how, there may be a lot unknown and we must be considerate about the dangers related to such an rising software that has not been researched completely.
Alternatively, AI instruments can be utilized to finish writing assignments, and probably, to cheat. While AI writing is turning into extra refined, lecturers are capable of differentiate between a pupil’s traditional writing and an task accomplished with the assist of AI. In addition, lecturers even have a quantity of instruments (please forgive me for not being clear about what these are) to detect the use of AI in pupil writing. Nonetheless, it’s clear that our lecturers might want to modify their assignments, and they’ll additionally must explicitly inform college students whether or not the use of AI to finish a selected job is suitable or not. In addition, the High School and Middle School Academic Integrity Policy has been up to date to supply tips round the use of AI.
Changing College Admissions Landscape
Even in case your youngsters are many moons away from the school software course of, you might have in all probability seen a copious quantity of media protection about the very fluid school admissions course of. While as soon as good grades, robust ACT, SAT, and AP scores, and being from a city like Rye, had been often sufficient to make sure admission to a aggressive faculty, that will not be a certainty. Rye High School is teaming up with Rye Country Day School to carry famend writer and speaker Jeff Selingo to Rye to assist shed some gentle on the present school admissions panorama on Wednesday, November 29, at 7:00 p.m. at Rye Country Day School. Author of “Who Gets In and Why: A Year Inside the College Admissions Process,” (Scribner, 2020) Selingo will assist dad and mom and college students perceive how school admissions choices are made and the way to actually assess their strengths and match with the faculties that can finally greatest serve their pursuits.
The RHS Administrative Team and School Counseling Department have been engaged on a presentation for early this fall about the school admissions course of particular to Rye High School. It will present dad and mom with an inside have a look at the altering school software and admissions panorama, an summary of RHS admission tendencies, and perception into what the RHS faculty counseling division does to supply assist by means of the course of. Look for extra data on this in the fall.
Fall Sports and Extracurriculars
The fall sports activities season is already underway. The soccer staff reported for follow on August 19 and all different highschool fall sports activities kicked off on August 21. Tryouts for fall sports activities came about this week with groups being chosen and rosters accomplished right now. At RMS, modified sports activities start on September 7. Extracurricular actions and golf equipment typically start a number of weeks after the begin of faculty to present college students an opportunity to settle into their schedules.
The Game
Due to the reclassification of each the Rye and Harrison varsity soccer groups, the 96th annual Rye-Harrison soccer recreation have to be performed outdoors of the common season to ensure that the groups to satisfy. The Game takes place on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, Saturday, September 2, at 1:30 p.m. The Game will probably be performed away at Harrison this yr; alternating fields between Rye and Harrison is a component of the custom.
We acknowledge that this isn’t excellent timing for these households who plan to be away for Labor Day. Unfortunately, that is the solely date the matchup may happen. Both the Rye and Harrison varsity soccer groups had been re-classified by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) this yr. Classifications are decided by the measurement of a faculty inhabitants. Rye High School has been reclassified as a Class B faculty and Harrison is a Class A college for the functions of soccer. This implies that the groups wouldn’t meet throughout the course of the common season. To proceed the custom of the Rye-Harrison Game, the groups should play outdoors the common season. The solely date that labored for each groups is Saturday, September 2. We hope it is possible for you to to hitch us in particular person or watch the matchup on Local Live. Go Garnets!
Enjoy the the rest of the summer season!
Sincerely,Eric Byrne, Ed.D.Superintendent of Schools
https://myrye.com/my_weblog/2023/08/state-of-the-schools-byrne-speaks.html