October 1, 2008 Dear Parents and Guardians: A few updates from the Needham Schools: Needham Schools and students have long been the beneficiaries of talented, enthusiastic, and tireless (mostly parent) volunteers. The extraordinary efforts of our parent volunteers provide the time, capacity, and extra set of hands to ensure our students have a rewarding school experience. This year, in order to comply with Massachusetts law and School Committee policy, we will ask that all volunteers complete a Criminal Offenders Record Information (CORI) form before they begin their volunteering work in the schools and classrooms. Our district has a longstanding practice of conducting these background checks on every employee from substitute teachers, to bus drivers, to teachers and administrators. The law also requires that we ask volunteers to have the same background check in our on-going effort to keep students safe and comply with the law. Specifically, and in accordance with School Committee policy, adults who will have unsupervised, or potentially unsupervised, contact with students will be asked to submit to a CORI background check. This means, for example, that parents who regularly volunteer in the school or chaperone field trips will need to complete the background check. It is not the States, nor our, intention to require CORI background checks on every parent volunteer. Parents who come to school as occasional classroom volunteers or celebrity readers typically have teachers in the room with them. In these instances, the volunteers do not require a CORI check. The School Committee Policy is intended to preserve the very special relationship our schools have with parents and volunteers while re-assuring all parents that every reasonable measure is being taken to safeguard children. Principals will notify parents, in advance, if a type of volunteer activity falls under the CORI provision. In those cases, parents will be asked to fill out a brief consent form which is then processed confidentially through the school department's human resource director. The turnaround from the state is very prompt and the volunteer work will proceed on schedule. Parents who are currently volunteering can, of course, continue to do so while the CORI procedure is fully implemented. Contact your school principal if you have a specific question or concern. I appreciate the time you give to our schools and your willingness to assist us as we integrate this policy into our school routines. We have learned that some folks attempting to access PowerSchool using Internet Explorer are experiencing difficulty logging on. We are addressing that problem and should have it corrected within a few days. Please try again at the end of the week or, if possible, try accessing PowerSchool on a different web browser. The Permanent Public Building Committee (PPBC) has been hard at work managing three school construction projects: Needham High School, High Rock, and the Newman HVAC feasibility study. At the PPBC's meeting next Monday, October 6th at 7:30 p.m., all three projects will be discussed and the architect will review recommendations for Newman. I will send a separate Superintendent's Update within the next few days to share with parents some of the challenges facing the schools and community as we discuss these critical building and school needs over the next several weeks and months. The district's 2008 MCAS results are again a good news story for the schools and community, and we will share the results at next week's School Committee meeting. The district overall made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and Needham High School students continue to perform at outstanding levels, well above many of the communities to which we are often compared. At the same time, we have subgroups of students who did not do as well: Grades 3-5 special education students did not make AYP in English Language Arts, and grades 6-8 special education students did not make AYP in both English Language Arts and Math. Additionally, this was the second year for the grades 6-8 special education students to not make AYP, which therefore gives Pollard the NCLB Accountability Status of Improvement Year-1 for this sub group. The Pollard staff is studying these results and preparing a plan to address the needs of these students. We will continue to use the MCAS as one of many assessments--but not the only assessment--we use in our classrooms to understand student growth, learning, and achievement. We have enjoyed a terrific opening to the school year! I am very impressed with the high level of engagement, creativity, enthusiasm, and learning evident in the classrooms I have been visiting. I am excited for the year to unfold and want you to know how much I appreciate being your superintendent. As always, please contact me at 781.455.0400, x 203 or dan_gutekanst@needham.k12.ma.us if you have a comment, question, or concern. Thanks! Dan Gutekanst Superintendent of Schools