New Shelter Island School super seeks curriculum improvement

In his first 100 days on the job, new Superintendent Michael Hynes has found much to like about Shelter Island School. He’s also identified a number of areas he wants to improve, particularly in the curriculum, he told the Board of Education at Monday night’s meeting.

The school’s curriculum must be coordinated vertically so that, at each grade level, teachers build on knowledge previously learned and not simply repeat what has already been taught, he said.

What educators refer to as curriculum mapping involves both grade-to-grade advancements and integration of information from class to class. It enables teachers to understand what their students already know and how to enhance that knowledge, Dr. Hynes said. It also provides a means of assessing student learning, the superintendent said.

“We have many holes” in the system that proper mapping will identify, he said, adding that will facilitate better lesson planning.

He also discussed the newly instituted Response to Intervention (RTI) program that provides assistance to students in areas where they have demonstrated weaknesses. The aim is to both track student needs and provide help as early as possible, Dr. Hynes said.

To do it effectively, Shelter Island must develop a handbook to guide teachers in RTI procedures and to define academic intervention services as well as provide a clear protocol. The district needs a system for screening students and assessing their specific needs and a single data “warehouse” for tracking student data, Dr. Hynes said.

Since coming to Shelter Island in July, Dr. Hynes has met with students, parents, teachers, staff members, community and civic leaders and board members to listen. The over-arching message he has heard is to get to know the district before making changes.

One message he got loud and clear was that no one was happy about the board’s decision last spring to cut the librarian’s position in the current budget. When he determined there was enough money to establish a media specialist’s position at Shelter Island, he was able to bring back the librarian and work to reconfigure the space for more effective use.

He’s also eyeing reestablishing the Spanish language program for elementary school students that parents want restored. He wants to work with teachers to try to “push in one day a week with a defined curriculum.”

What he has heard is that students want him to know them by name. Parents. taxpayers and students all want improved communications with the district and, toward that end, the district now has a Facebook page.

Looking ahead, Dr. Hynes said he wanted to review the code of conduct and dress code and assure that students clearly understand the disciplinary consequences of their behavior.

At the crux of all efforts is the need to be fiscally responsible to taxpayers, Dr. Hynes said.
In other business, the School Board:

• Appointed Edith Lechmanski as a community member of the Shared Decision-Making Committee.

• Approved Ann Marie Galasso to provide a review class for the Scholastic Aptitude II physics test, at the rate of $89.72 per hour for up to 15 hours.

• Accepted a $2,000 contribution from the Shelter Island Educational Foundation to be used to fund the Young American Writers Project. The program was created by Stony Brook University’s Southampton-based master of fine arts division to mentor middle and high school students in the development of creative expression and critical thinking.

• Changed the dates of the April and May School Board meetings to Wednesday, April 18, and Monday, May 7.