Superintendent's Page

Dear All, Please take a few minutes to read “Amazon HQ expansion means tough fight for talent”. https://www.apnews.com/3466bf9e7a1a49c49708de054121571e As I read, I was thinking about how many friends of mine have children who graduated college and were not able to gain work in their area of study. This is why we must and do teach STEAM, PLTW, Coding, Google ...we are creating the future workforce. We are giving our children opportunity to thrive in our fast-changing world. To see more of what our future engineers, programmers, mobile app developers, software developers are learning, follow Mrs. Scamell at NHPGCPTECH on Instagram and @nhpgcptech on Twitter, and @StemHolzkamp, and @MrGiurlandaSTEM on Twitter.  Enjoy some of the images captured by our staff! Look at the expressions  on our children's faces!   Ha ve a great day. Jennifer Morrison, Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools

Here Ellen describes the changes that have occurred in the world and in technology over the last thirty years . Now try to imagine how much the world may change over the next thirty years . I worked in a video store throughout my college years. Video stores are now obsolete. Netflix is the new Blockbuster.  If you do not remember Blockbuster (the company who decided not to buy Netflix after three offers to sell to them) please see video below to learn more... Now take a moment to think about our children as adults thirty years from now. In their future, it seems plausible that a comedian will be explaining Netflix to their children. It is impossible to know exactly what the future will look like for our children, but we can't prepare them to live in a world of the past.  If you would like to learn more here is a   related article: Are we preparing for life or school?

This year we are increasing the amount of time students in grades one through six spend with the Library Teacher from 30 minutes to 40 minutes (Kindergartners have traditionally had 40 minute periods). In addition, classroom teachers will now co-teach  with the Library Teacher during the library period. Topics for the year will include (and may be expanded upon): Digital Citizenship Book Exchange and Literacy Research and Inquiry The first unit of study with the children will be "Digital Citizenship", using  Common Sense Education  materials:  "Designed and developed in partnership with  Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education  -- and guided by research with thousands of educators -- each digital citizenship lesson takes on real challenges and digital dilemmas that students face today, giving them the skills they need to succeed as digital learners, leaders, and citizens tomorrow." Why are we teaching Digital Citizenship? Watch

So, what exactly is coding and why and how is it being implemented in our schools this year? In short, coding is computer programming. Coding is thinking. Coding is the future. Coding is step-by-step directions created by a programmer. Here is a video that gives a short overview of Coding: Coding is not difficult- it is the process of breaking down problems. It is a skill that students will need for the future. "Coders are the rockstars of the future!": Our first through sixth grade students will spend half of the year working with Coding with Mrs. Holzkamp during their STEAM special (formerly known as Science Lab). We will be using resources such as Scratch and code.org .  The other half of the year will be spent with Mr. Giurlanda in Project Lead the Way (PLTW). You can learn more about PLTW here https://www.pltw.org/our-programs/pltw-launch and here : Mr. Giurlanda has been hard at work with our students in the STEAM lab! The feedback

Update 9/25/18: Our Technology Plan is now posted  https://www.nhp-gcp.org/site/default.aspx?DomainID=16 Before reading this piece, please watch the "Did you know" video. Back in August 2017, I shared this video with Jim Svendsen, Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Technology.  In October 2017, he then played it for the Technology Advisory Committee (TAC), a group of thirty-two stakeholders, including teachers, administrators, and parents who met monthly over the course of the 2017-18 school year. TAC was asked to answer the following question, which was recorded and compiled through Mentimeter and displayed via Samrtboard: The larger words represent the words that were entered most frequently by the group, meaning they were seen as most important. Their assignment was then to create a vision statement that would reflect their words and shape the plans for the implementation of technology in our district. With its content in mind, and through a ser

I had to share pictures of the new cafeteria floors at Road and Manor Oaks, respectively. Thank you to our Director of Facilities, Erik Nakutavicius, our custodians, and cleaners!

Hello NHP-GCP! Welcome to my blog! There is so much going on here at at the schools while most of you are enjoying vacation! The custodians are hard at work readying the facilities for September. We are planning the September 4th Superintendent's Conference Day with special guest speaker Ray McNulty. To learn more about Ray, follow this link:  Ray McNulty: A Look at Change and Shaping the Way We Define Success . Superintendent's Conference Day will also include mental health awareness training with Dorothy Ahl. You can read a little about her here: Dorothy Ahl, M.S., Ed.S., is a New York State Certified School Psychologist.  She has worked as a school psychologist in Massapequa Schools since 1999. Before that she spent 15 years as a special education teacher in Deer Park and Massapequa. After taking the MBSR course, she developed a daily mindfulness practice, and has been incorporating mindfulness techniques into her counseling sessions with elementary school-aged chil