Week of May
12, 2008.
Dear
Citizens of Haddam and Killingworth:
On behalf of the
Regional School District 17 students, faculty, staff,
administration, and Board of Education, I wish to take this
opportunity to thank you for your support for the passage of the
2008-2009 operating budget. Your continued support is very much
appreciated.
This show of support will assist the district to
achieve the goals we have set for maintaining a high quality
educational system, which will prepare students for their future
success and ensure that the ideals we share as residents about the
importance of a quality public education are preserved. All of what
we hope to accomplish through the work of our schools will be done
while maintaining the highest standards of accountability for both
effectiveness and efficiency.
As a district, we are keenly
aware of the economic challenges facing each community, and all of
us as residents. We will continue with our efforts to contain the
costs associated with operating the school district, to implement
policies and procedures that will increase the efficiencies of our
district and to look for ways to do more with less.
Again, I
thank you for your support and look forward to our continued work
for our children.
Gary
Gary
S. Mala
Superintendent of Schools
-The
bus routes for the 2008-2009 school year have been finalized and are
presently being tested to ensure both safety and efficiency. Final
adjustments will be made by the end of the day on Friday, May
16. The routes will
then be published under the Transportation link on the district
website at www.rsd17.org on Monday, May
19th. The
routes for next year reflect an approximate student ride time of 25
to 35 minutes. Students
being transported to and from Haddam Neck should expect
approximately a 45 minute ride time. In order to achieve the 40
routes (which are the result of the district's implementation of a
new routing software named Versatrans, and work with the company's
consultant) needed for next school year, we need a total of 29 CDL
drivers and 11 van drivers. At the present time, the district
employs 32 CDL drivers and 15 van drivers.
-As announced a
number of weeks ago, district technology personnel have completed
preparing the necessary technological systems to allow for parent
access to the district's secure, electronic grade book system which
is a part of our student management software (MMS). In light of this, we are
prepared to engage an incremental "phase-in" approach to ensure that
the newly established system and equipment operate properly. We will
provide access to parents of students at HKMS beginning on Monday,
May 5th with access being provided to parents of students
at HKHS beginning on Monday, May 19th. Due to the complexity of the
newly designed grade reporting system (standards based report cards)
used at each elementary school, additional work needs to be
completed to allow for parents of elementary students to gain the
same level of access.
We anticipate full implementation of parent access to "real
time" grades as maintained by our teachers at the commencement of
the 2008-2009 school year.
Bear in mind that this is a new system with the goal of
keeping parents more informed about how their children are
performing in our schools.
Please be patient as we work through the initial stages of
this implementation, ensure that the needed technology operates
efficiently and properly and that all of the training needs on the
district side are provided as needed.
Parent accounts are secured by username and password. Parents
are required by the application to reset the initial username and
password given to them by the school. No one other than Classroll
support staff has access to this account information (identical to
what happens with the Honeywell Instant Alert calling system). The
parent access rights are 'view only' so as not to corrupt, change or
delete information. Access
information is being sent to parents directly by the administration
at both HKMS and HKHS.
-Graduation for
the HKHS Class of 2008 (and the last day of the 2007-2008 school
year) has been set for June 18, 2008. Details will be made
available shortly from the high school
administration.
-Superintendent
of Schools, Gary Mala will be meeting with parents of students who
reside in Haddam Neck on May 27, 2008 beginning at 6:30 p.m.
at the Haddam Neck Fire House.
The purpose of this meeting will be to update parents of
Haddam Neck regarding the programs and services being offered at the
schools which comprise the district. Commencing with the
2008-2009 school year, the Superintendent will arrange for four (4)
meetings per year with Haddam Neck parents and interested citizens.
-One
of the actions included in the District's Strategic Plan calls for
the establishment of "sister schools" with schools from outside the
continental United States. We are particularly interested in
establishing international relations with schools in Asia and
Europe. If you know of any individual who may have an
international contact who could assist the district with
establishing such relations, please contact Gary S. Mala,
Superintendent of Schools at (860) 345-4534 or gmala@rsd17.org.
An organizational meeting for those who have expressed that they
have a direct connection to an international school will be held on
Monday, May 19, 2008 beginning at 6:00 p.m. in the Media Center of
the Haddam-Killingworth Middle School. This one (1) hour meeting
will be used to complete the following
activities.
PROPOSED
TIMLINE:
SCHOOL
YEAR
PROPOSED ACTIVITIES
2007-2008 Establish
Resource Listing of Sister Schools
Establish Direct Connection with Representatives of Sister
Schools
