EXCELLENCE
TODAY
FOR TOMORROW
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT – November 2008
This evening we have presented the Pennsylvania Keystone Awards for Student
Achievement to 5 of our 6 schools. We are working very hard to ensure that Penncrest
joins the ranks of this group by investing our resources and planning into better meeting
the needs of those students in special education programs. We have set high academic
expectations in Rose Tree Media and the students of our district have responded in an
impressive way. If there is one award that a school should proudly show off to visitors, it
is the Keystone Achievement Award. It is proof to all who visit the school that they are in
an institution that cares about ensuring every child succeeds.
Our Partnership with Arcadia University
As you may recall, we embarked this year on a special district-wide partnership with
Arcadia University to examine best practices in inclusion of students from diverse
backgrounds in all aspects of the regular education program, and in planning ways to
improve our model in Rose Tree Media. We believe we should always strive for new
levels of excellence and this partnership is enabling us to do just that. Each school site
and the Education Center have a team consisting of administrators, teachers, and parent
representatives who have attended a number of workshops and who have formulated a
plan for the future. As we move through the remainder of this year we will begin to
implement some elements of these plans and also refine the long-range planning
involved. We hope to present additional information to the School Board and the
Community after the winter break about the specifics of this project. The partnership is
on-going throughout this academic year so we have much work ahead of us, and we must
consider the budgetary implications of our planning. Throughout we are keeping the RTM
Mission statement as our guide:
..Our schools provide an environment that celebrates students'
diversity, individual talents and efforts, and promotes collaboration,
caring, respect, and life-long learning (among all students.)
National Speak Up Day
We invite all community members to participate in "National Speak Up Day by sharing
online with us your opinions about the future of education. Speak Up is an annual
national research project facilitated by Project Tomorrow. The purpose of the project is to:
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Collect and report the unfiltered feedback from students, parents and teachers on
key educational issues.
Use the data to stimulate local conversations.
Raise national awareness about the importance of including the viewpoints of
students, parents, and teachers in the education dialogue.
Rose Tree Media School District is participating in this national event for the second year.
Your input is valuable in guiding our district plans for the future. This data assisted us in
developing the Technology Report for our district's Strategic Plan.
Please take a few moments to complete the survey and let your opinion be counted.
Community members can find the survey on our district webpage www.rtmsd.org, under
District News click on Parents: Participate in our National Speak Up Survey. The survey
is open until December 19, 2008.
Emergency Contact Information
Were those snow flurries I saw today? I believe they were! This is the perfect time to
remind all of our families to make certain we have the most current emergency contact
information or you on file. To update any phone numbers, please give new information
directly to your home school. We use our Global Connect phone call system to notify
families of school closings and delays, and this is usually decided by 5:00 a.m. Calls go
out to your home phone number no later than 5:30 a.m. when possible. I realize this is
early for some families, but we must send the information out early for the sake of our
high school students who often are picked up starting at 6: 30 a.m.
For other emergencies and early dismissals, we will contact you via cell phone if you
wish. We are able to store 3 cell phone numbers per student so make certain we have
accurate information for when those calls go out. We apologize if you receive several
calls, but better that than not any at all.
We always post information on the Cable Channel, as well as the major TV stations and
KYW 1060. Families therefore have many resources to check what we have decided to
do. Remember, it is rare that we close only one school. We most often must make a
decision that impacts the entire district due to transportation needs for our schools and
the nonpublic schools we serve as well.
Happy Thanksgiving
I would like to close by wishing all of our families and our entire community a happy and
healthy Thanksgiving. During these challenging economic times, it is important for us all
to reflect on our many blessings and to share those with others who are less fortunate.
Certainly, our own students serve as excellent examples of the valuable lessons we learn
in giving to others. May we all be guided to keep close to our hearts at this time our
friends and colleagues who have suffered significant loss. Sometimes, being grateful for
friendship is the greatest gift of all.