From The Desk Of Superintendent Robert Katulak: October 16, 2012

Written by Village of New Hyde Park Superintendent Robert Katulak Friday, 19 October 2012 00:00

The days have started to get shorter and the air is cooler and we know that fall has arrived. We have had a very busy summer in our district working to complete an 8.5 million dollar capital project in an eight-week time span. Our contractors are now in the last phase of the project, window installation at the NHP Road School and Garden City Park School. Director of Facilities Robert Moss, architect John Grillo, and construction management principal, Brian McClave are now working with our principals and custodians on the punch list. This is the examination of the quality of the finished projects in each phase and the correction of any flaws.

The crispness of autumn awakens us to the realities that once again, all our students and staff have a fresh and clean start to the pursuit of academic excellence. Our teacher staff, under the guidance of our principals and the director of curriculum and instruction are busy developing, adapting and implementing the Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS) which are part of the Race to the Top Initiative adapted by New York State.

As part of the new state accountability system, we were fortunate that due to the outstanding efforts of our teachers and administrators, we had three of our schools designated as Reward Schools. Part of this honor was an invitation to write a grant to pay it forward called the Commissioner’s Dissemination Grant. There are five grants totaling $300,000 over two years designed to have a Reward School work with a Focus School (a school where students are struggling academically) to share successful program, strategies and practices. Our district wrote that grant over the summer, and we were just notified by the state that we were selected for that honor. The state will now notify us as to the Focus School we will work with. It is a great honor to have the opportunity to pay it forward” and to have our students and staff reap the benefits of some additional materials, staff development, programs and conferences due to the awarding of this grant.

As the face of education continues to transform this year, we are ready for the challenges it brings and as a collaborative team, work together on behalf of the students we continue to serve.