Criteria Suggestions for Frameworks Committee Community Forum

We hope you have all been well informed about the upcoming Frameworks Community Forum this Monday, November 24th from 6-8pm in the WCS cafeteria. We want to reinforce how important this meeting is and encourage everyone to come and express what you value most for our schools. This meeting WILL make a difference and WILL be an important part of the decision making process of the Frameworks Committee. (Click read more to continue reading this post.)

In preparation for Monday's Community Forum, we recommend you read the information emailed to you from school on Friday.

One of the 3 main things you will be asked to do on Monday night is to come up with any additional criteria which are important for you regarding configuration and then prioritize them. The criteria which the Frameworks Committee and the teachers have come up with are on the email you received on Friday and are also posted below on our blog. Several criteria are clearly universal and would be expected of/could fit any configuration considered. Others are clearly more favorable of the current house system, while others support a different/new configuation.

You will be asked to vote on the top ten criteria you value most. We suggest you vote for those which will make the biggest impact and NOT ones which are universal.

As supporters of change, we feel the following criteria support a change and we encourage you to consider them a part of your top ten. (Please feel free to print these out for Monday night.)

1. More frequent transitions in school will expose students to different teaching styles and peer groupings and will better prepare them to adapt to changes in their environment. (Change is constant in the 21st Century...let's practice it.)

2. Configuration allows for grade based curriculum rotations which are consistent with other local school districts for ease of transitions with transfers. (All 8th graders study US history in most schools...our kids should too.)

3. Configuration should promote pride and teamwork in students' class/grade as well as their school. (Class pride vs "house" pride and/or competition.)

4. All students of a given grade must have equal access to all services/experiences. (All students of one grade under one roof with the same library, music/chorus, PE, art options...)

5. Configuration must minimize inequality within the district. (Equal opportunity for all students.)

6. Allows for regular planning time for teaching teams both within a grade and within a subject. (Reduces duplication of services and allows teachers to learn from and support each other.)

7. Allows for grouping students by ability levels within a grade for specific subject areas. (e.g.: all 6th graders have reading, and math at the same time so students can be grouped by ability level with their grade matched peers.)

8. Students are grouped with a wide variety of same age/grade and gender matched peers both academically and socially throughout their K-8 education. (Students in each grade are randomly mixed up regularly [1x/year or 1x/2years...] to expand friendships and academic ties.)

9. Allows upper grade teachers to focus on their subject strengths and reduces the number of curriculum areas they must master. (Teachers can focus on 1 or 2 subjects/grade spans instead of 4 grades and/or multiple subject areas.)

10. Configuration must be flexible enough to readily accommodate fluctuations in student population over time. (Population fluctuations are a consistent issue and resulted in extremely poor configuration decisions this year.)

If you are unable to attend the forum and wish for your ideas/input to be known and perhaps counted, we encourage you to contact the Frameworks Facilitator, Mary Jane Shelley, maryjane@trifocalconsulting.com . We do not know if she/they will consider votes sent in by email, but we do know that they welcome your input/feedback. We would hope that your votes will count whether you can attend or not. Please include your name, address and phone number to authenticate yourself as a Williston Community Member when emailing.

Your opinion is valuable. We hope to see you on Monday night whether you agree or disagree with our ideas.

Thank you.

Read more!

Combined Top 10 Criteria from Teachers and Frameworks Committee

Combined Top 10 Criteria for Evaluating Configuration Options
from the Teachers’ Forum ( with additional criteria from teachers and the
Conceptual Frameworks Committee.

The Community will be asked to add to the list of Criteria below and then to vote on their own top ten criteria for Evaluating Configuration Options:

A-J are the Top 10 Criteria from the Teachers. The rest of the criteria are a
random combination of those listed as important to teachers and the
Conceptual Frameworks Committee

A. Foster a strong sense of community and rich relationships over time, with
continuity for students, families, and teachers.
Continuity of family/teacher/student relationships
B. Foster opportunities for flexible grouping and individualized, student-based
learning.
Flexible academic groupings meet individual student differences
C. Small class sizes
D. Foster academic rigor and achievement, promote intellectual development
and the development of well-rounded, creative, expressive students.
Academic rigor/challenging
E. Foster opportunities for student leadership, mentoring, and role modeling.
Opportunities for older and younger students to interact
F. Maintain the philosophy and best practices of elementary and middle
school, as supported by current research.
G. Establish and maintain an atmosphere of respect and safety
Configuration supports safe and respectful behavior throughout the school
H. Considers the developmental (social, emotional) needs of every student age
group.
Opportunity to interact with others in their grade socially and academically
I. Fosters 21st century skills focus: project based, collaborative, with meaningful
use of technology.
J. Opportunities for common planning time for teaching teams
K. Opportunities for students to have a variety of more than four teachers in four
years
L. Transitions: The fewer the better but none is not good
M. Small team size <90
N. Impact of configuration on facilities (e.g. loss of program space)
O. Equity in grade population dispersion
P. Flexibility to meet differing population sizes
Q. Share student services, technology and other resources effectively.
R. Balances sense of team, sense of school, and sense of community
S. Teachers teach to their subject strengths
T. Encourages innovation in education
U. Are supported by a variety of assessments that measure student
achievement and well-being

Read more!

ABS and WCS Building Configuration Options for Community Forum

After voting on the top 10 Configuration Options you will be asked to comment on each of these possible "Building Configuration Options" below and how they meet or do not meet the criteria which were identified. You will also be asked to comment on the diffent "Grade Grouping" and "Grade Span Options" below.

General Building Configuration Options

Option A
· Pre-K through 2 at Allenbrook School
· 3-8 at Williston Central School - WCS would lose a special education “office”
space to create the one additional classroom space needed

Option B
· K-3 at Allenbrook School
· Pre-K (EEE) and 4-8 at Williston Central School

Option C· 1-4 at Allenbrook - ABS would need to eliminate the music room and art
room to create the 2 additional classroom spaces needed
· PreK, K, 5-8 at Williston Central School
Option D Current building configuration with options for different grade span
configuration and age groupings (single, multi, looping) within those grades
· Pre K, K, 1-4 at Allenbrook School
· 1-4 and 5-8 at Williston Central School

Option E
Current building configuration and current house system with focus on
improving equity among the houses

Options D and E
Are combined for the purpose of the Teachers’ and Community
Forums, as they both involve the current building configuration option.

*Grade Grouping and Grade Span Options (see below for definitions)

1. Single grade, single year
2. Multi-age
3. Looping
4. 2-4 Year Grade Span

*Definitions“Grade grouping” means how students are arranged by grades (single, multiage,
or looping).
“Grade span” means how many years students are with the same teacher or
teacher teams (1, 2, 3, or 4)
“Multiage” means multiple grades in the same classroom (2, 3, or 4 grades learning
together)
“Looping” means single grade of students learn together with the same teacher or
teacher team for multiple years (2 or 3).

Read more!