The Chain...

Walking around the District on a weekly basis, it is astonishing how many people in our community that will openly tell you that they were told not to tell their leaders about any issues that they have or may know about it. Ironically, most of those same people will tell someone else who is either not in the organization or in a different function of the organization about their issue. Apparently, the concept of the chain seems have been melted away. The chain I speak about is the chain of command. When in history did bringing a concern to people that may not have any impact on the issue or may not know anything about what is going on decide to become obsolete? I spend more time on the phone trying to diagnose what may be happening in many situations because people would rather go right to the top instead of speak with individuals in the correct places that can actually solve the problem twice as fast. Or better yet, often times when something small arises and people decide to bring their issue to the wrong person on the chain, the situation often becomes a much larger problem than needed and causes a gigantic fall-out effect that leaves a large wake. I mention this because simply following the chain generally gets situations resolved more accurately and in a quicker fashion than deciding to go as high up as you can. The worst part about disregarding the chain is that sometimes nothing gets resolved if you go too high on the chain to begin. There are many instances where people go above someones head and then rather than the situation get resolved, people hold onto information without sharing it working in an attempt to catch someone else making a mistake. That's not the culture or society that we want to live in. In that instance, you think you are doing something good by notifying someone in high places of an issue; but in reality your perpetuating a problem if the chain isn't circular. Using the chain isn't always easy, but it is necessary. Like a ladder, sometimes the climb up the links is slow and tedious; but the desired result is usually reached faster when you take the time to follow the chain.
  

Rooted in Rome

On Wednesday, October 18, from 4:00 - 7:00 p.m., the Rome City School District in partnership with the City of Rome, Rome Memorial Hospital, Mohawk Valley Community College and the Griffiss Business and Technology Park, will be participating in a community event called Rooted in Rome. Hosted at the Rome MVCC campus, the event intends to highlight the vast resources and opportunities that our community has available to it's residents. This is a collaborative and targeted effort by our communities major establishments to grow our population. The event will include a job fair for individuals interested in employment in Rome and showcases of our local businesses/resources. The Rome City School District will be highlighting our arts and technology programs, our resources available to families relative to social/emotional health, and our advancement in instructional technology. This event will be a great opportunity for potential residents to get a glimpse of what Rome has to offer and we hope that you will encourage anyone looking for a new community to come visit us on Wednesday, October 18, from 4:00 - 7:00 p.m. at the Rome MVCC!

Gansevoort Craft Fair

On Saturday, October 28, the Gansevoort Community will be hosting their annual craft fair from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Gansevoort Elementary. All proceeds from the event benefit the Gansevoort Parent Teacher Group. For more information, including how to volunteer and/or be a vendor, please contact the organization through email at gansgators@yahoo.com. 

Who to Contact...

Within any community or organization, often times it can be challenging to know who to contact when an issue arises. Normally, we contact someone that we know, regardless of whether or not they are the appropriate person to contact or if they can even help. In an effort to streamline this and help our community understand who the best point of contact for an issue may be, we have developed a document that can be found on our website to help people understand the best point of contact for a given topic. There is nothing more frustrating than being passed around trying to get to the correct point of contact and we hope that this document will help streamline the process for both our community and our staff. The file can be found by clicking HERE or on the website under the Parents>Resources tab.