Thank You Librarians...

-
The month of April is National School Library Month. As the month comes to a close, School Library Month is the American Association of School Librarians' celebration of school librarians and school libraries. Every April school librarians are encouraged to host activities to help their school and local community celebrate the essential role that strong school libraries play in transforming learning. While this April has certainly been unlike any April that we have experienced, our school librarians have been working behind the scenes to ensure that teachers, administrators, students, and families have all of the resources needed to be successful and to grow. Just like everyone else in our world right now, our library staff has been brainstorming ways to reinvent school library services to support during this crisis. Absent the current situation, our librarians are always at the ready to help students and staff access literature and learn about all of the wonderful offerings a library can bring to a person. Libraries have evolved, perhaps better than any other institution, in the past several decades to consistently meet the needs of those that they serve. Yes, books and literature still remain an integral part of any library system. However, technology integration, research methods/means, literacy development, art, music, video, collaboration, and facilitation have expanded to a level that most adults would not recognize in a school library today. In almost every school setting, the librarian can be found as a member of building improvement teams and the physical library has turned into a central gathering location for most school events. Without the work of these dedicated people and the environments they produce, our school system would not be on the cusp of moving to the next level. On behalf of our entire team in Rome, students and families, please join me in saying, "Thank You" to the wonderful women and men who staff our school libraries every day and work tirelessly to ensure our kids have the access and resources they need to prepare for their next stage of life!

ThoughtExchange Event


The district is currently running a ThoughtExchange event for staff, students, and community to share with us their thoughts/concerns related to the 2020-2021 school district budget development. We will be using the conversation through ThoughtExchange to adjust the school district proposed budget, as the information related to State Aid becomes available. As a reminder, it is a completely anonymous program and helpful for our community. I encourage people to continue to participate in the current budget exchange that is ongoing. The end date for the current exchange is Wednesday, April 29 and the exchange can be found here: https://my.thoughtexchange.com/180270122


COVID-19 Updates


 This is just a reminder that the Rome City School District's most comprehensive location for information related to Coronavirus and it's impact on our schools is our website: https://sites.google.com/romecsd.org/rcsdcovid-19updates/home . For this week, there is not a whole lot of new information. The Governor has repeatedly mentioned that there needs to be a coordinated plan for the re-opening of schools and has mentioned that he intends to have school districts a State Aid number  before May 15. He did mention today (again) that communities should expect a 20% withholding of school aid. For Rome, that would equate to $9.6 million in State funds being reduced. Regardless, we will continue to provide updates as they are available. As always, if you have questions or concerns, please email the most appropriate administrator for your question, or your child's teacher.

Technology Support


 During this time, we recognize that people need support of all kinds. Student username and password info for your student's Chromebook can be obtained by emailing Studentaccounthelp@romecsd.org.  Please include your child's name and the building they attend. If a student has forgotten their username/password for any of the programs the district currently operates, please send an email to the building specific email addresses below and our staff will work together to help that child regain access. Your classroom teacher may also be able to help with some of these barriers. Finally, please note that we can not provide technology support for families or individuals with problems people are experiencing with their personal devices. 

Popular posts from this blog

It Takes A Village...

-
Image
 We all know the old phrase, "it takes a village to raise a child." One can reflect on the phrase and find a few different ways to interpret its meaning, however, it cannot be argued that when groups of people work together to help their children grow, success is more likely. To me, I view this phrase as referencing that there is someone within every community that a child can connect with to help them feel a part of their school and/or community. It may not be their classroom teacher or their principal. It may be a bus driver, a coach, a teaching assistant, secretary, custodian, food service worker, music teacher, art teacher, computer specialist, monitor, etc. The list can go on and on. Why mention this? Well, currently, one of the largest and most important educational research projects in our nation's history is occurring with some of the leading educational experts researching what education needs to be by the year 2025. Education 2025 is producing information that m...
Read more

When One Door Opens, Many More Follow...

-
Image
One of the hardest things to do in life is to deal with change. There is that old saying, "When one door closes, another door opens." I wonder though, why does a door have to close for another to open. Why can't many doors open when someone decides to go through a new door? I am about to embark on a new professional journey in the coming weeks and I refuse to think that the building that I have helped to lead over the past 3 years is going to be a closed door. Instead, I can think of thousands of opportunities that have been opened because of my decision to walk through a new door. I think of all of the people that have touched my life (students, staff, and parents) and I honestly don't see why a door has to close. Instead of that thinking, I choose to think that thousands of doors are opened now with all of the amazing people that I have had the opportunity to lead. The lessons that have been learned, the friendships that have developed, and the opportunities tha...
Read more

I Had A Dream...

-
Image
Once upon a time, when we all began our careers or started a new position/school, we had dreams. Dreams of what we wanted to accomplish, dreams we wanted to see our students accomplish, dreams we wanted to see our school communities achieve. Throughout my travels though, I have seen more adults tell students that should lower their expectations and downsize their dreams. Unfortunately, I would say that the ratio of adults encouraging students and adults discouraging students is close to 1:1 in my career. I ask, would you be where you are today without someone throughout your educational life encouraging you to pursue your dreams? As with many things in our schools, we need to focus on the positives that are happening and capitalize on them. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream for our country, and while his dream was related to equal rights and oppression, his intended message of having a dream and working tirelessly to achieve it can be applied universally in society. Recently, ...
Read more