July 14, 2022
Statement From Canisteo-Greenwood School Superintendent Tom Crook:
Several years ago, the Canisteo-Greenwood Central School District participated in “Late-Arrival Monday” and prior to my arrival in the summer of 2018, the practice had been removed. After spending several years in the district, I have seen firsthand how the Professional Learning Community (PLC) process increases collective teacher efficacy to help our students learn and I am excited about the prospect of what our teachers can do when given the time they need to meet on a regular basis as a team.
The PLC process promotes our teachers to work together in teams (currently when their schedules allow) to ask 4 important questions: “What knowledge, skills, and dispositions should every student acquire”? “How will we know that each student has acquired the essential knowledge and skills”? “How will we respond when some students do not learn”? “How will we extend the learning for students who are already proficient”? Through answering these questions professionally with their peers, teachers can adapt and adjust their teaching practices to assist our students in their learning. The teachers learn from each other regarding best practices and collectively become better teachers because of it. These conversations have a profound impact on our students and their academic performance but the one thing that keeps us from meeting regularly is TIME.
All the PLC experts suggest that an hour of guaranteed time to collaborate a week is sufficient. Unfortunately, due to the length of period times (36-40 minutes depending on the school) and prioritizing student needs during scheduling, we struggle to give that quality time to our teachers to allow them to maximize their PLC time. For this reason, for the 2022-2023 school year we are bringing back Late-Arrival Mondays.
For those of you who know me, you know that any decision that I make for the district my first thought is the impact that it will have on the students and their families. I am passionate about the PLC process, and I know that it will have a direct impact on our student achievement. I would not be asking my families for a late-arrival Monday if I did not believe in it. I know that pushing back arrival an hour on Mondays could potentially create hardships for some of our families. That is why we are offering the option for families to drop off their children if they have a work-related day care issue. If you have a work-related day care issue, all you need to do is contact your building principal and we will make arrangements for you to be able to drop your child off at school prior to the Monday 8:45am arrival time. Example: you work out of town and have a long commute. You have no one to watch your child in the morning and you must leave for work before 8am. Dropping your child off normally at 7:45am works but there is no way you can drop them off at 8:45am and be to work on time. Give your building Principal a call. We will work with you!
For all other families who would not have a conflict, the only thing that happens for you is that everything gets pushed back an hour. If your child gets picked up by the bus normally at 7am, now it would be at 8am on Mondays. If you drop your child off at school between 7:45 – 8:00am normally, now you will be dropping them off between 8:45 – 9:00am on Mondays.
I want to thank you in advance for your support of the district and our decision to bring back Late-Arrival Mondays.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at tcrook@cgcsd.org
Yours in service,
Tom
