August 24, 2006

By Lauren Heaton

The morning bell that rings a bit earlier for Mills Lawn School students this year and the more forgiving start time for Yellow Springs High School and McKinney School students will be the most immediate changes for the local school community when schools begin on Wednesday, Aug. 30.

While the high school and middle school look forward to a shiny new kitchen and more time for teacher collaboration, Mills Lawn continues its goal to become a literary school.

The schools will also welcome four new teachers. At Mills Lawn, Sara Amin will teach fourth grade and Jack Hatert will teach sixth. At McKinney and YSHS, Elise Williams will teach art and Andrew South will be the new special education teacher.

New start time tied to curriculum
The Mills Lawn school day is slightly longer this year compared to last to allow students more time to get from class to class and to accommodate a new language arts and reading program for kindergarten through third grade. Classes will start 15 minutes earlier this year, at 8:15, and they will end ten minutes later, at 2:55.

Mills Lawn strives to be a literary school by aligning its curriculum with reading, Mills Lawn Principal Christine Hatton said last week. The new literacy program, called 4block, requires that teachers have a solid three-hour block of time to help students accomplish the four main goals of guided reading, self-selected reading, spelling and writing, she said.

This year’s first, second and third grade social studies students, for example, will learn about the people and places of the world by reading new National Geographic texts written for their level. According to Hatton, literacy-based learning helps students learn the material while improving their reading and writing skills. It also teaches children they have the power to learn anything they want to know by finding a book and reading about it, she said.

“We have a goal at Mills Lawn, that every child that can, by the time they leave here, is proficient in reading,” Hatton said. “And one step further would be that they enjoy reading.”

Former librarian Paula Cordell is now the new reading assistant, and the school is looking for parents and community members to volunteer in the library by reading to students and helping them find books they like, Hatton said.

Team building for students
One of the themes for this year’s Skills for Life program at Mills Lawn is team building. The fifth and sixth grade students will begin and end the year with two one-day high and low ropes courses on developing the confidence and self esteem necessary to trust the members of a team. Mills Lawn counselor Linda Sikes will work with all of the grades on how to use skills such as honesty, cooperation, responsibility and doing one’s personal best to be part of a class, a group and a team. The year in guidance will also include leadership building, character education and developing a positive behavior rubric similar to the policy on anti-bullying for the Mills Lawn School community, Sikes said.

PTO gathering speed
“Respect” is the theme that will guide this year’s Mills Lawn School Parent Teacher Organization, whose members are trying to get more parents involved in creating positive educational programs along with their monthly business meetings, according to PTO chairperson Miracle Elum. The meetings will be held on the third Wednesday of each month, starting at 6 p.m., followed by a program at 7 p.m. which will focus on respecting ourselves, the earth, the community and our cultural differences. The group hopes to offer free childcare by using the service of high school students who can earn credit for their work.

New start time lets teachers talk
The new starting time at 8:55 a.m. for the high school is one of the biggest changes to this school year, YSHS principal John Gudgel said last week. For students, he hopes the extra 45 minutes in the morning will translate into time for more sleep, time to eat a healthy breakfast, and just maybe get a little more studying into the day.

Teachers and staff at McKinney and YSHS will use the extra time to meet with each other every morning to discuss common issues, such as joint curriculum planning, student discipline and support, and helping seniors with senior projects, Gudgel said. One day of each week the teachers within each discipline will get together to articulate instruction strategies for how to help students do better on the Ohio achievement tests. Another day will be devoted to levels meetings, in which teachers from each grade level discuss issues regarding the students they have in common. Other days are reserved for technology workshops and researching specific areas of the curriculum.

To accommodate the time shift, the school day at McKinney and the high school is lengthened by 10 minutes and now ends at 3:25. Class periods were also shortened by three minutes and are now 47 minutes each.

McKinney speakers broaden reach
The McKinney School Project that invites guest speakers to talk to students related to socialization and personal development will include ninth and tenth grade students this year, Gudgel said. Speakers will discuss issues relevant to middle school and high school students, including self esteem, bullying, substance abuse, gender related topics and individual responsibility.

Kitchen face lift
Students going through the school lunch line can expect to get their food a little faster this year as the kitchen makes the shift to a self-serve line. A new food warmer should also reduce the amount of time it takes students to get their lunch, one of the biggest complaints from the Student Review Board last year, according to Gudgel, who said about half of the student body buys lunch at school.

The schools budgeted $22,000 for this summer’s kitchen renovation, which also included new shelving and storage bins and a fresh coat of paint. The school also hopes to purchase a new scanning machine that would allow students to buy lunch with a pass instead of money.

New sports scoreboard
The high school gym has a new scoreboard, purchased over the summer through the fundraising efforts of local parents and community sports enthusiasts Bob Morrison and Frank Halley. They raised $11,000 from local businesses, individuals and the Yellow Springs Community Foundation for the new scorekeeper, which will be dedicated next weekend in memory of YSHS basketball player Anthony Smith. As a senior, Smith played on the team that made it to the final four of the state basketball tournament in 1983. He died in 2004.

The new bus barn, which also serves as a concession stand, field house and bus driver’s lounge, is nearly complete. School facilities manager Craig Conrad has been working all year to put up the siding and install the interior structures.

Contact: lheaton@ysnews.com