Recently, Marlboro Superintendent Michael Rydell introduced Action Plans for all three schools, likening them to planting a seed that can turn onto “something absolutely beautiful and that beauty comes in the form of action plans.”

 

Rydell said the idea for these plans began a few years ago, noting that, “they are all rooted in the Board of Education goals.” He praised the current Action Plans, saying, “I’ve never seen products like I’m seeing from our teams and that’s a testament to each of you that have been a part of this product.”

 

The Elementary School Action Plan seeks to promote a positive school culture of attendance and to help prevent chronic absenteeism, starting with providing clear attendance guidelines and procedures for families and staff while also teaching students how to track their own attendance. The plan calls for more frequent individual and family meetings; hosting an Elementary School Engagement Night in collaboration with the school’s PTA; provides links to community resources and increasing home visits. The plan seeks to educate and equip families with information on why attendance matters.

 

The Plan highlights key items for each grade level: teaching kindness in Kindergarten; stressing perseverance in 1st grade; helping 2nd graders to understand Responsibility, helping 3rd graders become Thoughtful Leaders and how to be a Collaborative Learner in 4th grade and by the 5th grade, emphasizing Respect.

 

Overall the Plan calls for building Confidence in students, “because this impacts student performance, enhances motivation, fosters resilience in challenges and encourages a greater willingness to take risks in learning.”

 

A key goal at the Elementary School level is to, “continually Improve and Enhance Literacy Instruction” using the ‘One School, One Book’ program, implementing virtual read aloud slides, having authors visit the school, reviewing common tasks and reading assessments, developing vocabulary word lists for K-8 and increasing the usage of Word of the Week.

 

The Middle School Plan seeks to create and expand interdisciplinary courses, clubs and events with flexible scheduling, student led broadcast and podcast electives, hosting power up nights, student Development Days and a Health and Wellness Fair. The Plan seeks to promote recycling, composting food waste, building a greenhouse on the Middle School property, encouraging environmental sustainability and making connections for students to potential future careers.

 

The Middle Schools plan also wants to enhance the desire to attend school by fostering a sense of belonging and inclusion for all members of the learning community. This school year the Middle School saw a drop in monthly attendance from about 96% pre-covid to currently around 92%. To combat this downturn, the school wants to implement a Renaissance Program that rewards responsibility and respect and helps motivate kids to come to school by having monthly attendance awards and creating a quarterly/semester reward card program.

 

There will also be a concerted effort to increase the number of clubs, such as a Spanish Heritage and Culture Club and creating an Innovation Center, all with the goal of helping kids feel they belong in Marlboro.

 

To promote literacy, the Middle School is incorporating independent reading in the classroom and weekly assignments, noting that this will make stronger students and school easier, while enhancing many aspects of their lives.

There is a ‘Caught Reading’ incentive where students can receive tickets and win fun prizes. They have set up ‘Little Free Libraries’ separate from the main school library, where students can select one book to read out of about ten on display. The school also has Mindful Mondays that allows students to have a consistent time for reading.

 

The school has set up Guided Reading initiative in coordination with their K-8 Literacy Coach; ‘Just Words’ for Special Education students; Pioneer Valley that targets 6th graders; and reviewing their Academic Intervention methods for students, along with accompanying entry and exit criteria.   

 

To ensure Math literacy the department will begin using the book, ‘Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics’ and go into detail on 14 practices suggested in the text.

 

Asst. Principal Demian Stanmyer concluded the Middle School presentation by acknowledging the support of Superintendent Rydell, the School Board and the school’s staff, “so that everything that we’re doing is going in the right direction.”   

 

At the High School level they are enhancing authentic learning through real world experiences for students, on and off campus. They are innovating STEM coursework in engineering, robotics and Raspberry Pi by implementing automation, PLC and CNC routing; partnering with Dutchess and Ulster Community Colleges to introduce students to their Mechatronics Labs; taking the Sono-Tek & Viking Industries challenge this fall and seeking new desktop HAAS equipment for subtractive manufacturing, which allows  machines to carve wood, metal, ceramics and plastics.

 

There is a new science curriculum with labs that are experiential in nature and more hands-on. They are also planning field trips, not only to Sono-Tek in Milton, but also to Fala Industries in Kingston, DCC Mechatronics Lab and Regneron Pharmaceuticals in Westchester County. A trip is also planned for Citi Field for students interested in marketing and management in the sports and entertainment fields.

 

The High School is also offering Business courses in Administration, Advanced Marketing Management, Career & College Planning, College Principles of Management, Entrepreneurship and Money Management.

 

The High School is implementing school counseling program initiatives such as Google Classroom communication with students and parents; increasing college and career exploration and opportunities by expanding college and trade school visits and hosting Financial Planning and National Collegiate Athletic Association [NCAA] Information nights, to name a few.

 

The High School’s second part of their Action Plan is designed to improve the school’s climate and culture and help all students become productive, engaged and fulfilled citizens after graduation. Two key programs are the ‘No Place for Hate’ and ‘Safe School Ambassadors’ that allow students to take on leadership roles to make the school a more positive and productive place. The High School is continuing their Positive Behavioral Intervention & Support [PBIS] and School Positivity effort that recognizes and rewards students for good deeds.  

The High School has all 9th graders take the Marlboro Foundations course that assists with time management organization, communication skills and goal setting to help them be successful in school and in life. A new club called Duke’s Care has students host positive events in school and go off campus to volunteer at different places.

 

Principal Ryan Lawler concluded by saying, “We’ve got an incredible school district and have something special...and our goal is to help students along the way with all the skills.”

 

Superintendent Rydell thanked everyone that developed the Action Plans, “for the greater purpose of aligning our district and really implementing some fantastic programs.”