Archive: Around Town

New Classes for Groton Preschoolers
 
Groton Central School District has been awarded a Universal PreK Expansion Grant. As a grant recipient, the elementary school will be adding a full-day preschool classroom and forming a new half-day preschool class. These expanded class offerings include an additional full-day class available to four year olds, and a new half-day preschool class for three year olds.

The expansion project will involve hiring additional staff and a comprehensive plan for supporting the incoming students and their families as they transition into a K-12 school system. The New York State Education Department awarded up to $30 million in total to fund grants for the 2015-2016 school year. This funding is linked to the federal initiative to expand public education by enrolling more children into high-quality preschool. Currently, Florida, Georgia and Oklahoma are the only states that offer Universal Pre-K for all four year olds.

Thirty-nine states offer some form of voluntary Universal Pre-K, but not every child is eligible. According to Education Week, to date almost half of all three and four years olds in the U.S. are enrolled in a preschool program, with fewer than half enrolled in full-day programs. Advocates of Universal Pre-K say that during these first few years, children are developing rapidly and high-quality preschools can give them an edge on learning the concepts they will use throughout their educational experience. President Obama described an improvement to the future workforce by tapping into the youngest students during their formative years.

Preschool programs funded by the Universal Pre-K Expansion Grant are required to meet the criteria for high-quality preschool programs. A competitive grant, less than half of the districts who applied for the funding were chosen. Groton was awarded $224,000 per year to expand its existing Pre-K program, the total annual award will be prorated for the 15-16 school year and renewable annually. The new classes will meet a need in the community for those currently without a preschool option.

Enrollment to the additional full day class for four year olds is now open to those on the waiting list and applications will be sent out to families in the community with three and four year old children. The new classes will begin in January of 2106- 2016.
 
 
Bringing the Classroom into the Community
 
Students of Groton High School participated in a community-engaged, dynamic learning experience this past week as they participated in the schools’ first Career and Community Day. Designed to connect formal learning to the world outside the classroom, Career & Community Days are slated to be offered once a month throughout the year.

Wednesday, October 7th was the pilot day for the program, and offered students many opportunities to become engaged throughout the community. Students were able to offer their services to the elementary school, local food bank, Women’s Opportunity Center and senior center, to name a few. Before the Community Service Learning Day began, students chose the service that appealed to them most, some of their choices included baking, woodworking, car washing, and various community beautification projects from landscaping to mural painting. Not only was the experience a unique opportunity for students to participate in relevant, hands-on, project-based activities but the student labor provided extra assistance to the community.


Groton Beautification Committee member Lucy Dates commented by saying, “I am thrilled to have the students involved in making our community a better place. It’s so wonderful that they are taking ownership of our community by making a positive difference! Hopefully it will trickle down to where we don’t have so much litter… and people will volunteer with our committee to work with us! It takes a lot of people to do all the work, so thanks to all of those who were involved in this, it is so awesome that the school is taking this leadership role.”

As the program moves forward, it is expected that the opportunities will expand and more businesses and organizations will become involved and positively impacted.
 
 
Homecoming week

It’s Homecoming Week! Hallway decorating has begun and Wednesday, October 14, 2015 judges will be judging the decorating for each class.  Homecoming week events begin on Wednesday October 14, 2015 with the Powderpuff Game to be held at Ross Field at 7:00 pm. Participants are asked to arrive at the field at 6:00 pm.

Thursday will be Movie Night held in the school courtyard weather permitting, the high school gym will be the alternate location. The featured movie, Billy Madison (PG-13), will begin at 7:30 pm. Thursday the students will vote in the Homecoming Court and the winners will be announced at Friday’s pep rally.  Friday night’s homecoming game will begin at 7:00 pm and the high school dance will be held from 9:00 pm -12:00 am in the cafeteria.

All 9-12th graders are encouraged to be involved in both the spirit days and events, helping to foster our Groton Pride. Throughout the week, spirit links will be sold during lunch.  Students will buy paper links for their class chain for twenty-five cents.  The class with the longest chain will win points towards their class spirit points.  Every other link in the chain will be pink to support Breast Cancer Awareness and Student Council will be donating the funds for the cause.

A student council member will tally homeroom points during the week and the class with the highest participation will be the winner, daily totals and weekly totals will be tallied. Because Monday was the Columbus Day holiday, the spirit week competition started on Friday October 9th, which was class color day. High schoolers went back to school on Tuesday wearing their half of a team costume for Twin/Dynamic Duo Day. All students are encouraged to wear the color pink on Wednesday and dress to represent their favorite decade on Thursday. Friday is Homecoming Day and students will be dressing to represent Groton Pride in our school colors of red and black.

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