leadership in high schools

The 4 high school 1:6:1 classrooms are full and the two 1, 08:8:1 high school classrooms are as well.  In total this comprises 40 students.  The former is most noteworthy because we are only in the first week of this school year.  Normally this is not the case and student transition in and out of programs is not uncommon.  With a student demographic that is stable no more students can be accepted into our Hewes Center special education programs unless authorization is given to open a new classroom based on component school district needs.  This need will have to be studied with reference to our program growth and sustainability for next year.  At present, the High School teachers are assured that their classrooms will be able to focus on sustained instruction without having to constantly deal with students transitioning in and out of programs.  This will allow for instructional stability, focused quality relationships with students, attention to sustained growth of students and internalization of school expectations by students which should result in better student management and behavior plans.

For a BOCES or a regional school center this is a great start to a new school year because it ensures stability in terms of academic programming.  We are growing our Regents Diploma population within special education and need to plan for the development of a self-contained 1:6:1 high school classroom later this year.  In addition, we need to plan next year for the continued growth of a 1:8:1 classroom that will be geared to students who can work more independently.  Currently, the Hewes Center has a 1:8:1 high school classroom that is made up of work experience students that are receiving more focused academic instruction outside of their classroom in math, global studies and english.  These students are also able to participate in half day instruction in a  Career and Technical Education (CTE) example health assisting.   

Qualifications:  Special Education K-12, Special Ed 7-12 with a content area eg. Science, Social Studies, Math or English.

Special Abilities:  Able to work with grades 7/8 utilizing a team concept in a 1:6:1 setting.  Able to use a smart board, utilize blogs, video streaming, power point presentations to enhance student learning. 

We interviewed for a special education teacher opening at the above grade level today.  The interview committee consisted of two administrators and the classroom aide.  Luckily our candidate is enthusiastic, willing to continue learning, focused on reading and has an AA degree in horticulture with a concentration in Botany. 

The NCLB requirement that all teachers grades 7-12 in special education be content certified/highly qualified by August 2008 has been extended for another year.  This candidate can cut muster.  All the references check out – 2 sitting public school principals and a director of early education/head start.  We should be close to recommending a candidate for the position by early next week. 

The above position has been hard to fill because of the particular emphasis on web 2.0 technology use/familiarity and the qualifications for the job. 

We at the Hewes Center have been very deliberate about filling the five teacher openings at our facility.  One teacher came in as a voluntary transfer and chose a classroom she is familiar with. The other four teachers ( one is PE and health) have been hand picked very carefully and vetted thoroughly so as to allow for future growth and development of our special education programs and school. 

Once this opening is filled, which should be next week, I shall address the blog roll out plan – see earlier post on this.