Good Morning,

We hope that you are having a great Columbus Day weekend.  Below is the link to the latest edition of the Pathways Newsletter.  This week, we have articles on how we are enhancing communication in our district and how to improve parent teacher conferences.  In addition, we have photos from Walk to School Day and Wood End and Coolidge Assemblies.

This is also a reminder that we have three additional opportunities this week for parents and community members to attend Community Presentations that will highlight the results, findings, and recommendations from last spring’s Community Forums.  The remaining presentations will be held on the following dates:

*      Tuesday, October 13th (6:30 p.m.)-Killam Elementary School Cafeteria

*      Wednesday, October 14th (6:30 p.m.)-Birch Meadow Elementary School Cafeteria

*      Thursday, October 15th (8:45 a.m.)-Joshua Eaton School Cafeteria

The presentations will focus on the strengths and areas to strengthen in the Reading Public Schools.  In addition, there will be feedback on what new programs should be added and what programs should be changed.  Other data that relates to the topics of last year’s forums will be presented as well.  The presentation will be the same each evening.  All are invited to attend.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Reading Public Schools Administration Offices at 781-944-5800.

Pathways Newsletter V2N6

Good Morning,

We wanted to make you aware that the Internet and the District Email has malfunctioned and is down throughout the school district.  Our technology staff is currently working on the problem and narrowing down the issues to come up with a solution.  We are hoping that it will be resolved by the end of the day today.

If you are trying to contact your child’s school, please call the school phone number and do not try to contact the school by email.

We apologize for any incovenience that this may cause.  If you have any questions, please call your child’s school or the Reading Public Schools Administration Offices at 781-944-5800.

Thank you and take care.

Good Morning,

We hope that you are having a great weekend.  The link below contains the weekly Pathways Newsletter for the Reading Public Schools.  This week’s newsletter features an article by our Administrator for Social Emotional Learning, Sara Burd, on how in times of tragedy, educators can offer hope.  In addition, we have photos from the Joshua Eaton Modular Classroom Opening, Birch Meadow Classrooms, and the RCASA event from last week, If Only.

Have a great weekend and week ahead!

Pathways Newsletter V2N5

This year the technology integration specialists of the Reading Public Schools will be working with a Common Sense Education program called Connecting Families. Common Sense is the nation’s leading independent non-profit organization dedicated to empowering kids to thrive in a world of media and technology. We feel it is important for parents to be aware of what’s going on and/or what’s to come in their children’s digital lives and to help support them in discussing how to make good digital choices.  This program is well designed with lots of support from Common Sense Education and has been successful in many districts.

The kickoff to this program will be an evening with a “Teen Panel”, a group of selected Reading High School students who will share their digital lives with parents across the district. This is a great opportunity for parents of students of all ages to learn firsthand what to expect and how to support their children throughout the coming years.

The program will continue throughout the year with a series of Conversation Cases for small groups of parents with topics such as Cyberbullying, Digital Footprints and Photo Sharing, and many more relevant topics.

We have chosen October 15, at 7:00 p.m., at the Joshua Eaton School for the Teen Panel Night.

In addition, this Monday evening at 9:00 p.m. on CNN, Anderson Cooper 360, there will be a program titled,  “#Being13 Inside the Secret World of Teens,” Here is the link from CNN: http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2015/09/10/cnns-anderson-cooper-360-breaks-news-about-teens-and-social-media-in-provocative-two-year-long-investigation/

We hope you will be able to join us on October 15th for this exciting program! If you have any questions, please contact Instructional Technology Integration Specialist Kathy Santilli at Kathleen.Santilli@reading.k12.ma.us

Register now for an exciting line-up of fall programs!  Classes include knitting, fitness and health, finance, real estate, furniture refinishing, painting, wine tasting, college planning and many more!  Visit our website at http://bit.ly/reading_community_ed for a complete listing of courses and to register.  For questions or a printed catalog, please email the Community Education Department at communityed@reading.k12.ma.us or call 781-942-9136.

The Reading Public Schools will be holding a series of Community Presentations that will highlight the results, findings, and recommendations from last Spring’s Community Forums.  The presentations will be held on the following dates:

•    Wednesday, October 7th (6:30 p.m.)-Reading Memorial High School Patrick A. Schettini Library Media Center
•    Thursday, October 8th (6:30 p.m.)-Coolidge Middle School Multipurpose Room
•    Tuesday, October 13th (6:30 p.m.)-Killam Elementary School Cafeteria
•    Wednesday, October 14th (6:30 p.m.)-Birch Meadow Elementary School Cafeteria
•    Thursday, October 15th (8:45 a.m.)-Joshua Eaton School Cafeteria

The presentations will focus on the strengths and areas to strengthen in the Reading Public Schools.  In addition, there will be feedback on what new programs should be added and what programs should be changed.  Other data that relates to the topics of last year’s forums will be presented as well.  The presentation will be the same each evening.  All are invited to attend.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Reading Public Schools Administration Offices at 781-944-5800.

Sincerely,

John F. Doherty, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

Good Afternoon,

The Reading Public Schools is pleased to announce that Jayne Viladenis has been appointed as the Interim Principal at the Parker Middle School for the remainder of the 2015-16 School Year.  Ms. Viladenis, who is retired,  has had a variety of middle school and elementary school experiences including her most recent administrative position where she was the Principal for six years at the John Glenn Middle School in Bedford, Massachusetts.  Prior to her Principalship at John Glenn, she served as Principal  at the Ruppert Nock Middle School and the Kelly Elementary School in Newburyport.  Ms. Viladenis has a strong background in Curriculum and Instruction, particularly in English and Social Studies.  Her resume is linked here for your information.

Ms. Viladenis will begin at Parker on a part time basis, beginning on October 13^th and will spend two weeks with Doug Lyons transitioning to her new role.  She will begin full time on October 22^nd.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Reading Public Schools Administration Offices at 781-944-5800.

Good Afternoon,

We hope that you are enjoying your weekend.  The link here provides you access to this week’s Pathways Newsletter.  This week, there are three articles, one article which focuses on why having children overcome their obstacles help them reach their dreams, another article focuses on handling confrontation, and the third article discusses motivating the apathetic student.  In addition, we have photos and information on the Barrows Modular Opening and Camp Bournedale.

Have a great weekend and week ahead!

Yesterday, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education met to review MCAS and preliminary PARCC results, as well as, begin discussions that will lead to a decision on which state assessment will be used for the Spring, 2016 administration.  The timeline for the decision on the State Assessment (PARCC or MCAS) and the release of the MCAS and PARCC results is listed below:

• September 21st (Yesterday)-Board of Education Meeting
  • There was an overview presentation of PARCC and MCAS
  • State Level Results from Both PARCC (Preliminary) and MCAS were released
• September 24th or 25th-MCAS Results Released
  • For Reading this means that the Grade 5, 8, 9 Science and the Grade 10 Mathematics and ELA MCAS results will be released.  Once the results have been released, we will be sending out some information regarding our school results.
  • Since the High School results will be complete, the High School will be doing a presentation in the upcoming weeks.  Principal Bakr will be communicating the date of that meeting.
  • We will have Grade 5 and 8 Science MCAS and Grade 3-8 PARCC presentations by school once the PARCC results for Grades 3-8 are released in November.
  • Individual MCAS Reports will be shipped to our district.  Once we receive them, we will send them out to families approximately one week after we receive the results.
• October 19/20-Board of Education Meetings with more PARCC/MCAS results and discussion
• Late October/Early November
  • Final PARCC Statewide Results will be released
  • PARCC District and School Results will be released
  • Accountability Results for all districts and schools will be released
• Early November-Commissioner will give a recommendation on the Spring, 2016 State Assessment to Board of Education
• November 16-Final Public Hearing on Commissioner’s Recommendation on the State Assessment
• November 17-Board of Education votes on Commissioner’s Recommendation
• December-PARCC Individual Student Reports shipped to districts
• December 14/15-Board of Education Meetings:  If PARCC is adopted, discussion on High School test and competency determination.  If PARCC is not adopted, there will be a discussion of possible changes and upgrades to MCAS.

We will update you when more information becomes available.  Please contact your child’s building principal or the Reading Public Schools Administration Offices if you have any questions.