{"id":15321,"date":"2015-03-16T07:54:22","date_gmt":"2015-03-16T11:54:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=15321"},"modified":"2015-04-08T13:21:14","modified_gmt":"2015-04-08T17:21:14","slug":"kcsd-springs-forward-with-an-eye-on-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=15321","title":{"rendered":"KCSD ‘springs forward’ with an eye on the future"},"content":{"rendered":"

New AP class & capital projects top the agenda; KMS’ John Carr to retire<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

By Kim Chiomento<\/span>, <\/span><\/strong>Staff Writer, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

KENNETT \u2013 \u00a0For The Kennett Consolidated School District (KCSD),\u00a0March brings\u00a0a continued focus on shaping\u00a0the future of the District. Facilities\u00a0improvements, a\u00a0new AP-level course and Governor Wolf’s proposed budget were a few of the top\u00a0items discussed at the School Board\u00a0meeting. \u00a0Other important district news this week includes\u00a0Kennett Middle School Principal, Dr. John Carr, announcing his retirement.\"3kcsd2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The largest facilities project slated\u00a0is\u00a0remodeling Greenwood Elementary’s circa 1960’s multipurpose room this summer. \u00a0The improvements\u00a0will include the addition of air conditioning, new energy-efficient lighting, replacing the stage curtain, ceiling and roof. This, and nearly 70 other improvement projects, are all a part of the district’s long-range Facilities and Operations plan. \u00a0The projects are funded via its capital reserve fund; and are not expected to impact the operating budget.<\/p>\n

Enhancing students’ academic experience remains a top priority for\u00a0the Board and evident with their approval of Kennett High’s (KHS) new ‘AP Language and Composition’ course and \u00a0related textbook: Conversations in American Literature. \u00a0<\/em>The course, and its textbook, were given high marks for content and dovetailing nearly seamlessly with KHS’ history curriculum.<\/p>\n

During the finance portion of the meeting, board member Aline Frank encouraged the public to become thoroughly educated on Gov. Tom Wolf\u2019s proposed budget and its impact on public education.\u00a0 Frank noted that she is\u00a0not in favor of raising local taxes and the board has worked very hard to shave costs without impacting the quality of education, noting that there is not much room for additional cuts.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpeak-up…contact your state elected officials and tell them what you think,\u201d Frank said.<\/p>\n

Hands-on learning and a global vision were the focus of\u00a0the\u00a0Board approving\u00a0a 2016 KHS student trip to Germany. \u00a0The trip\u00a0is\u00a0facilitated by Duane Kotz, Chairman of Kennett High School\u2019s Foreign Language Department\u00a0and\u00a0will focus on study and usage of the German language, visiting important historical landmarks with a goal of minimizing\u00a0long travel times while sightseeing.\u00a0 The trip will accommodate approximately 40 students, with priority given to upper class members. \u00a0Participants will need to pay for travel expenses on an individual basis; with options for an \u00a0installment payment plan to ease the financial burden on families.<\/p>\n

The board also approved student participation in a research project led by New Garden Elementary teacher, Jennifer Braunstein, as a part of her Master\u2019s program in Applied Studies and Research at West Chester University.\u00a0 The focus of the study will be to monitor how students respond to taking \u201cbrain breaks\u201d during the day; and the effects of both indoor and outdoor brain breaks on student performance.\u00a0 No demographic or identifying information will be included in the\u00a0results. \u00a0Braunstein expects the study to be completed\u00a0by Mid April.<\/p>\n

\"3kcsd1\"<\/a>

KHS’ Duane Kotz explains the proposed 2016 trip to Germany’s itinerary and goals.<\/p><\/div>\n

As a part of usual and customary business, two sections of Board Policy underwent First Readings: Sections 338 (Sabbatical Leave Employees) and 338.1 (Compensated Professional Leaves Employees.) \u00a0After some discussion on the interpretation of these sections, Board members Aline Frank and Douglas Stirling requested clarification on ambiguous wording from Nancy Tischer, KCSD Director of Human Resources.\u00a0 New wording is tentatively scheduled to be presented at the April Board meeting.<\/p>\n

At\u00a0Kennett Middle School (KMS) long-time Principal, Dr. John Carr, announced his retirement this week. Carr, an educator within the District for 38 years, spent 27 years serving as\u00a0KMS’ Principal.<\/p>\n

“Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to work in a district where there is\u00a0a strong commitment to excellence in instruction and teaching,” Carr said.\u00a0 “I have also been fortunate to be the principal of a building where there is an excellent and highly professional staff.\u00a0 Learning from them has been a privilege.”<\/p>\n

Dr. Carr will continue his professional journey\u00a0as\u00a0West Chester University’s\u00a0Associate Director of Clinical Experiences; a position within WCU’s College of Education.\u00a0 The school’s current\u00a0Vice Principal, Lorenzo DeAngelis, will service as acting \u00a0principal when Dr. Carr’s official retirement occurs later this year.<\/p>\n

At the board meeting, KCSD Superintendent Dr. Barry Tomasetti warmly thanked\u00a0KCSD teachers, staff and administrators, “You continually take on new initiatives and are always wanting to do more for all of our students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tomasetti\u00a0also offered\u00a0kudos to the KHS staff, volunteers and students who came together to perform KHS\u2019 spring musical,\u00a0Oklahoma <\/em>last\u00a0weekend.\u00a0 \u201cThe show\u00a0was phenomenal…we had a packed house both nights; a large, engaged, crowd and I am very proud.\u00a0 It was simply outstanding!\u201d<\/p>\n

For copies of meeting minutes, the board calendar and additional KCSD information, please visit: www.kcsd.org<\/a><\/p>\n

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New AP class & capital projects top the agenda; KMS’ John Carr to retire By Kim Chiomento, Staff Writer, The Times KENNETT \u2013 \u00a0For The Kennett Consolidated School District (KCSD),\u00a0March brings\u00a0a continued focus on shaping\u00a0the future of the District. Facilities\u00a0improvements, a\u00a0new AP-level course and Governor Wolf’s proposed budget were a few of the top\u00a0items discussed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":15355,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[451,2650,6056,581,253,29],"class_list":["post-15321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-board-of-education","tag-greenwood-elementary","tag-john-carr","tag-kennett-consolidated-school-district","tag-kennett-middle-school","tag-school-board"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15321"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15382,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15321\/revisions\/15382"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}