Welcoming Clapp Families to the Malcolm White School
Below is the text of the letter that was sent to families who will entering the Malcolm White School from the Clapp School in September:
May 29, 2011
Dear Parents:
On behalf of the Malcolm White School community, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of our new friends! Now that the process of redistricting has been completed and families know where they will be attending school next year, we would like to begin the process of planning a smooth transition for all of you to the Malcolm White.
Our parent liaison for the transition process is Mrs. Barbara Cloonan and our faculty liaisons are Mrs. Jackie Desmond, Grade 1, Mrs. Donna Malloy, Kindergarten, Mrs. Linda Briere, Kindergarten, and Mrs. Judy Rosenbaum, School Adjustment Counselor. All of these people will be working directly with me over the next several weeks to help all of you with your transition into the Malcolm White community. I have asked Mr. Heath to solicit a parent liaison from your current district to also work with us during the transition process.
As most of you are aware, I will be accepting the position of Director of Educational Technology for the Woburn Public Schools at the end of the current school year. Although I will no longer be the principal here at the Malcolm White when you arrive in September, I have assured Mr. Donovan that I will work with the new principal over the summer months with the transition process.
This is not a foreign process for us here at the Malcolm White. We welcomed several families from the old Goodyear school to the Malcolm White when our new school opened in 2004. That process went very smoothly and the students and their families were immediately welcomed into the Malcolm White community. I anticipate that this transition will go equally as well, if not better!
On Thursday, June 9, 2011, we will be hosting an open house for all of our new families coming to the Malcolm White. This will be an opportunity for you and your child(ren) to have a tour of the school, meet me, meet some of the teachers, and visit with PTO officers and representatives. The open house will be from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. More information will be posted on the Malcolm White website later this week.
Again, a warm welcome to all of you. Everyone here looks forward to your arrival and having you experience the great educational community at the Malcolm White. Change is never easy, but rest assured that everyone will work hard to ensure the smoothest possible transition for you and your child(ren).
Sincerely,
Peter Roketenetz
Principal
To Clapp-Goodyear Families heading to Malcolm White School in September
I have two pieces of important information for you:
1. The Malcolm White School is planning some events to welcome you to the school. While the details are still being worked out, you will soon have an opportunity to tour the school and meet some of excellent staff members who make up the school.
2. In the interest of full disclosure: Mr. Peter Roketenetz, current principal at the Malcolm White, is a finalist for the position of Director of Educational Technology in our school district. I would have liked to have announced this sooner, but candidates' names are not released until they become finalists. If Mr. Roketenetz should be named to the Director's position, he is still willing to help out with the transition of the affected Clapp-Goodyear students who will be attending the Malcolm White School in the fall.
Street Listing and School Assignments under Redistricting Plan
It took longer than I thought it would to get this information to you, but here are next year's school assignments for current Clapp-Goodyear students.
I again want to thank the Redistricting Committee for its excellent work. I also want to express my appreciation to everyone who provided input to us either through participating in our survey, provide comments to us, or participating in public meetings. Your guidance was helpful in shaping the thinking of our committee.
Attached to this posting are the specific street listings and school assignments that are included the new redistricting plan. A mailing to all affected families will follow. Click on the title of the posting to access the attached file.
Please note the following:
1. Although we believe this listing to be completely accurate, it may contain a few errors. We are happy to fix obvious errors (for example, if a street clearly within the Goodyear district was omitted). Please let us know if you find anything by emailing us at redistrict@woburnpublicschools.com.
2. Aside from any obvious errors, this plan represents the final decision about school assignments by street. As you know, the Redistricting Committee went through a long and careful process to bring a plan before the School Committee. The School Committee adopted that plan. At some point, the plan has to be complete. We have reached that point.
3. Two or three more streets, outside of either the Clapp or Goodyear districts, are still being considered for assignment to the new Goodyear School. We are in the process of communicating with the small number of families who would be involved before any final decisions are made.
4. Under our "out-of-district" process, parents/guradians may request that their children attend a school other than their assigned school. These decisions are made in late August. Principals of the receiving school must approve the request.One of the considerations in making these decisions is class size. If a request is approved, transportation is not provided, and the transfer is approved for one year only. Parents/guardians who apply for these transfers must provide a solid reason for the request. Simply disagreeing with with new redistricting plan will not be considered as a justifiable reason for an out-of-district request. Forms for this purpose may be obtained from any school office.
5. If you wish to communicate with us regarding this listing, please either email us at redistrict@woburnpublicschools.com or write to us at our Administrative Offices, 55 Locust Street, Woburn, MA, 01801.
Thank you,
Mark Donovan, Superintendent
Frequently Asked Questions about Redistricting (attached)
(Quoted from the previous posting)
Over the course of the process, we've received several questions along the lines of "Why didn't you...?" or "Why did you...?" Most of the question are very reasonable ones. The Redistricting Committee decided to put out a document the answered "Frequently Asked Questions" about the work we did. That document is attached to this posting. Click on the title of this post, and then the link at the bottom of the posting to access the FAQ's document.
Although the attempt was to answer the questions in a concise way, many of the answers are long ones. They reflect the depth of thought that went into the creation of the final plan. While people may agree or disagree with the final plan, this document explains the thinking of the Redistricting Committee.
Update: Redistricting Committee Meeting on March 22
At yesterday's meeting of the Redistricting Committee, we revisited a few lingering questions. As requested, we took another look at the idea of shifting Shamrock students to the Goodyear so that some Clapp students could attend the Goodyear. The conversation that took place just served to reinforce our original thinking where this option was ruled out. (See our FAQ's, to be posted separately,for a more detailed explanation.)
We also discussed the middle school question. Again, we received some input in response to our request for people to weigh in on the topic, but we received only three comments. Those comments indicated support for the concept we were considering. This information is similar to some ideas that were expressed at our public meeting. The end result is that street assignments for the Joyce and Kennedy Middle Schools will remain the same as they are currently. The current out-of-district application process will be in place for students who are assigned to one middle school but request to attend the other one.
Over the course of the process, we've received several questions along the lines of "Why didn't you...?" or "Why did you...?" Most of the question are very reasonable ones. The Redistricting Committee decided to put out a document the answered "Frequently Asked Questions" about the work we did. Although the attempt was to answer the questions in a concise way, many of the answers are long ones. They reflect the depth of thought that went into the creation of the final plan. While people may agree or disagree with the final plan, this document explains the thinking of the Redistricting Committee. That document will be available shortly in a separate post.
On March 30, we will present the Redistricting Plan to the School Committee. We will continue to fine tune this plan with specific street assignments, and we'll try to get that document posted prior to the School Committee meeting.
The MIddle School Question
As was mentioned in the last posting, the Redistricting Committee discussed the difficult question of how the redistricting plan would affect middle school assignments. As we illustrated, there is no perfect "Ah-ha!" answer to this question. We received some input that suggested that we send Clapp district students to the Kennedy and assign one of the other small elementary schools to the Joyce. We discussed this idea, but felt that it was not a good solution, especially given the "closest school" concept.
It seemed to the committee that the most reasonable idea was to continue having Clapp students attend the Joyce Middle School. The input we received on this topic helped guide our decision. There was some variety of opinion about allowing students the option to attend the Kennedy Middle School. The discussion centered around what that option would be. Would it be an automatic option? Would it be an option that is dependent on available space at the Kennedy? Should there even be an option? We looked at the class sizes of future fifth grades to see the impact.
Once again, we'd like you parents who will be directly affected by this decision to weigh in. We'd like to here the pros and cons of this question. Please express any thoughts you have on this topic for the committee's consideration. If you prefer to comment in a more private way, send a message to redistrict@woburnpublicschools.com.
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