June 2, 2010 at 7:00 PM - Regular Board template

Rationale:  Henry Fiamengo - Custodian
Elizabeth Tyrrell - Art Teacher/Department Chair

Rationale:  The 2011 Teacher of the Year for the Bristol Public Schools will be announced at the June 2010 Board of Education meeting. The Bristol Teacher of the Year Committee consisted of Amy Coan, BOE Commissioner, Margaret Bonola, BOE Commissioner, Scott Gaudet, Elementary Principal, Robert Garry, Middle School Principal, Carly Fortin, Supervisor, Tom Moylan, 2006 Teacher of the Year, Sandra Adams, 2007 Teacher of the Year, Lori Eschner, 2008 Teacher of the Year, Amanda Robustelli-Price, 2009 Teacher of the Year, Gina Rivera, 2010 Teacher of the Year, Denise Carabetta, Director.

Rationale:  Theodore Glowa - MBMS - Language Arts, Grade 7/8

Rationale:  Jacqueline Albert - EPH - Grade 3

Rationale:  Lauren Anthony – BCHS – English
Kimberly-Ann Coyle – NEMS – Technology Education
Michael Drury – BCHS – Special Education

Rationale:  Kristen Russo - City Wide - .5 Music

Rationale:  Sharon Jacques - BCHS - FBLA Advisor
Sarah Ramsey - BCHS - Band Auxiliary Unit Advisor - Dance

Rationale:  Chelsea Keegan - BCHS - Assistant Volleyball Coach

Rationale: 

IDEA Section 611

2010-2012

This Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grant provides funds to supplement programs developed to assist students with disabilities.  The goals of the grant are to increase student achievement, improve effective instruction and provide equality of educational opportunity.  Included in the grant are salaries for special education teachers, aides and related services staff.  The grant also includes funds for consulting and evaluation services, and professional development activities.  Section 611 of IDEA provides funding for students from age 5 years to 21 years.

Rationale: 

IDEA Section 619

2009-2011

This Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grant provides funds to supplement programs developed to assist students with disabilities.  The goals of the grant are to increase student achievement, improve effective instruction, and provide equality of educational opportunity.  Included in the grant are salaries for teacher aides and related services staff.  Section 619 of IDEA provides funding for students from age 3 years to 5 years.

Rationale: 

I am applying for a P.E.P. (Physical Education for Progress) grant.  It is a federal grant awarded to districts to improve instruction in Physical Education.  Although I feel our Physical Education curriculum and programs are one of the best in the state, this grant will allow our teachers to receive professional development in improving instructional practices towards student mastery of our state standards.  Our students will benefit from technology based instructional tools in Physical Education to monitor heart rates and levels of activity to improve and maintain a healthy lifestyle.  Our playgrounds will benefit by receiving equipment for students to create games for recreation before school and recess time.  A big piece of the grant also has to do with Character Education.  Our students will be introduced to a philosophy of respect, tolerance, cooperation, teamwork, and an acceptable means of conflict resolution.  I believe the Physical Education Department can assist in graduating students from the Bristol schools who are well educated, problem solvers, high level thinkers with a high level of self-efficacy and wellness; physical, mental, and social/emotional.

The grant award is up to $300,000 per year for 3 years.  This money will go towards professional development for the PE staff in new curricular activities to assist students in achieving and maintaining a health enhancing fitness level.  It will allow us to purchase the materials and equipment to go along with the curricular activities including heart rate monitors, pedometers and upgrading the weight/fitness rooms.  It will allow us to improve our playgrounds and make them attractive for our students, their families and the community to use.  It will allow us to increase the time we spend on developing good qualities and moral values in our students.  And it will provide funding so our teachers can revise the curriculum to meet the needs and demands of the 21^st century learner in Physical Education.

Rationale:  The Ivy Drive School Building Committee of the City of Bristol was in mediation regarding the final payment to Banton Construction Company.  The School Building Committee voted to approve the mediation agreement at its meeting of May 13, 2010 and voted to recommend that the Board of Education accept the project as complete and file the final papers with the State Department of Education.

Rationale: 

The curriculum for Social Studies was revised and approved by the Board of Education in 2007.  The 2007 curriculum was written based on the state standards.  There have been two changes which created the need for a curriculum revision:  one, the State Board of Education has published revised standards that are more specific than the previous version and include more literacy and application and two, we now have two district-wide goals influencing the development of a much more rigorous accelerated level of instruction.  The academic and accelerated levels of curriculum have been revised.  In particular, the curriculum for the accelerated levels has been revised to prepare students in this course not only to be successful as they continue in the pathway toward taking Advanced Placement courses in Social Studies in high school but also to prepare these students to be successful in advanced coursework in history in college. 

 

The document submitted here is based on the thoughtful work by Matthew Stellmach, Steven Tillinghast, Harold Kilby, Lawrence Covino, Jeffrey Fleischman, Lea McCabe, Ryan Broderick, Charlene Berube, Gina D’Amato, and Kathleen McDaniel.

Rationale: 

The Bristol Grade 3 Mathematics Curriculum has been recently revised in order to align to the 2007 Connecticut Prekindergarten-Grade 8 Mathematics Curriculum Standards and the grade-level expectations (GLEs).  The current text, Growing with Mathematics, was chosen prior to the adoption of the 2007 Connecticut Prekindergarten-Grade 8 Mathematics Curriculum Standards and does not align well with this new curriculum. In addition, the publisher, McGraw-Hill Wright Group, does not intend to support the program by revising or updating it further.  It has become necessary to find a text that more closely matches the Bristol Mathematics Curriculum and the 2007 Connecticut Prekindergarten-Grade 8 Mathematics Curriculum Standards.  Furthermore, as the needs of our students continue to change and grow, it is important to find a text that can adapt to these changing needs and expand to the increasing demands of technology as a resource for educating and enhancing instruction for our students.

 

In order to address these issues, a committee of K-5 teachers was formed to examine two different texts to determine if either would be a stronger match to the newly adopted mathematics curriculum and support student achievement in Bristol.

 

• The K-5 committee met over a period of six weeks to fully examine two different texts, using a rigorous evaluation form that compared the elements and design of the texts to a variety of criteria including math content and processes, instructional design and pedagogy, student engagement, and assessment opportunities.
• The two texts that were evaluated are the most current materials on the market that address mathematics education at the elementary level and contain resources appropriate for instruction.
• The two texts that were evaluated are similar in terms of approach to content, use of technology, opportunities for differentiated instruction, supplemental materials, and ease of use.

The K-5 committee recommends the adoption of enVisionMATH, published by Pearson for Grade 3. enVisionMATH supports student understanding by providing scaffolded instruction that begins with a significant problem-based activity at the start of each lesson. Students utilize concrete materials and then create pictorial representations of similar work, through a specific stepped-out visual model.  They then move towards the abstract, connecting the prior two experiences.  enVisionMATH was chosen for its unique, problem-based approach to mathematics content coupled with cutting-edge technology that engages students and allows for discussion surrounding key concepts and essential questions.  There is a strong alignment with the Bristol Mathematics Curriculum and the 2007 Connecticut Prekindergarten-Grade 8 Mathematics Curriculum Standards.  enVisionMATH allows teachers to provide engaging, relevant, and meaningful mathematics instruction for students.  Every lesson contains ideas for differentiating instruction and homework based upon student needs and provides teachers with multiple entry points with which students may access the content. 

The follow proposal submitted here is based on work by the K-5 Textbook Adoption Committee which included: Leah Baron, Marie Conlan, Nancy Fuller, Karen Hurlbert, Debra Kligerman, Meghan Kulak, Derrick Lachance, Kathryn O’Neil, Katje Pearson, Diane Pratt, Jennifer Silva, Tania Palmieri, Ann Marie Spinelli, Debra Vitale and Marlene Lovanio.

Rationale: 

A.P. Psychology is a new course within our Social Studies department at the high school level.  The College Board has defined the units of instruction and the learning expectations of the course, which forms the foundation of our curriculum.  Additionally, the College Board requires that students read a college-level textbook for the course.  The College Board lists a number of books that they have approved for use with this course. 

Myer’s Psychology for AP is an approved textbook for the Advanced Placement Psychology course.  The fourteen units in the text follow the scope and sequence of our course.  Terms, names, and other concepts have been emphasized to promote students’ success on the AP exam.

Myer’s Psychology for AP closely aligns with the state standards for social studies as well as the curriculum objectives based on the standards in Bristol’s curriculum units for this course.    Examples of this alignment are detailed in the document provided on CD-Rom.  The files included on the CD-Rom list each curriculum objective along with a chapter and page reference for the textbook being recommended. 

 

The Myers’ AP text offers robust ancillary material, with an annotated Teachers’ Edition keyed to the Instructor’s Resource material, a wealth of interactive on-line material to help students to learn to think like a psychological scientist, and dozens of other media and print items.  The Test Bank offers AP style multiple choice questions and free response questions to help students master the material in a style that mirrors what they will encounter on the exam.

Rationale:  The accelerated curriculum for Grade 8 Social Studies was recently revised by a committee and approved by the Student Achievement Committee of Board of Education on May 7, 2010.  The curriculum will be read and decided upon at the June 2010 meeting of the Board of Education.  The grade 8 course at the accelerated level has been designed to prepare students to take an Advanced Placement course as a sophomore.  In order to prepare students for the level of reading that they will encounter as tenth graders in an AP course, the grade 8 committee sought a resource that would provide students with a book that could serve as a bridge between the traditional school textbook and the critical texts used in college-level history courses.  A History of US, written by Joy Hakim, will be used in addition to the textbook, The American Journey.  Students will read and learn from the expository, traditional-type textbook content from The American Journey and then will read about the historical content from a more analytical perspective through the series of books called The History of US.

Rationale: 

The accelerated curriculum for Grade 9 Social Studies was recently revised by a committee and approved by the Student Achievement Committee of Board of Education on May 7, 2010.  The curriculum will be read and decided upon at the June 2010 meeting of the Board of Education.  The grade 9 course at the accelerated level has been designed to prepare students to take an Advanced Placement course as a sophomore.  In order to prepare students for the level of reading that they will encounter as tenth graders in an AP course, the grade 9 committee sought a book that would provide students with the experience of advanced level reading with supportive text features. 

 

With the selection of World History written by William J. Duiker and Jackson J. Spielvogel,

·         Students will be reading a textbook that is approved by the College Board for use in Advanced Placement World History courses, so they will be prepared to read this type of material in future Advanced Placement courses in U.S. History, American Government and Politics, and Psychology.  The reading level of the text is challenging, and at the same time, there are a number of guides and aides built into the text such as headings, subheadings, charts, graphs, visuals, and essential questions.

·         When compared to the other texts reviewed, World History goes into depth about each history topic rather than superficial coverage that only highlights the major events.  This depth of content will allow teachers and students to meet the objectives in our curriculum.

World History closely aligns with the state standards for social studies as well as the curriculum objectives based on the standards in Bristol’s curriculum units for this course.    Examples of this alignment are detailed in the document provided on CD-Rom.  The files included on the CD-Rom list each curriculum objective along with a chapter and page reference for the textbook being recommended.

Rationale:  Having completed the design development stage for this project, the architects from DRA Architects will provide the Board with an update on their progress, future work to be completed and visual displays of the new school. The Board will be asked to meet in early August to approve the plans for the West Bristol School just prior to plan submission to the School Facilities Bureau of the State Department of Education, for the Plan Completion Test [PCT].

Rationale:  The Board of Education approved a budget of $104,041,122 at the March 3, 2010 meeting.  The Board of Finance and City Council approved a budget for the City on May 17, 2010 which included a line item for the Board of Education Operating Budget of $102,563,330.  This budget adoption by the Joint Council requires a reduction in the Board of Education’s budget for 2010-2011 in the amount of $1,477,792

Rationale:  The Superintendent will review Bristol's recently submitted grant proposal to the Federal Government under the Race to the Top Investment in Innovation program.  This is not the same as the state-level Race to the Top; rather, this program is reserved for school districts only.  Bristol submitted a proposal with several partners.  Dr. Streifer will review the proposal this evening under the Superintendent's Report.

Rationale:  AP & College Credit Courses
There are a number of options for students to take college level courses in high school. The purpose of this report is to provide information on the courses and options available to students attending Bristol Central High School and Bristol Eastern High School.

Rationale:  Mike Giovinazzo - Baseball Coach of the Year
Mike Giovinazzo was named Baseball Coach of The Year by the Connecticut High School Coaches Association at a banquet at the Aqua Turf Club on May 13, 2010.  He was nominated by his peers.  Coach Giovinazzo is the head baseball coach at Bristol Eastern and has been for 35 years.  He is also the head basketball coach at Eastern and his team made it to the semi-finals of the Boys Basketball Tournament in Class L.

Congratulations to Coach “G”.

Rationale:  1. Student Expulsions
2. Update on 3551 Negotiations