This afternoon when I walked into my office I took special note of the “That Was Easy” button that is on my desk. This small electronic device was made popular by Staples © commercials, and over the past few years the number of “That Was Easy’ buttons in offices across America is likely to have multiplied many times. I found this little noise maker in a cabinet in my first office here at Mahar, and I looked for every possible opportunity to use it. I realized today that it has been quite some time since I have heard its familiar sound and for fun, I pressed it.
As soon as I heard “That Was Easy” I responded, “Not Exactly!” My thoughts immediately went to the work that I have been engaged in with fellow Superintendents, Dr. Patricia Martin from the Petersham Elementary School District, Dr. Paul Burnim from the Orange Elementary Schools, and our consultants Mr. Ken Rocke, and Dr. Steve Hemman from the Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools. For the work that we have been doing together there should be another button that when pressed utters, “That Was Challenging” or perhaps “That Was Pretty Complex.”
Together my aforementioned colleagues and I have been working on comprehensive plans to consolidate fiscal, governance, contractual, and data functions of our central offices. This work comes on the heels of our successful consolidation of our three districts’ special education administrative offices. In our shared special education team we have successfully shared professional expertise, services such as Speech and Language Therapy, duties, costs, and have begun to craft a three district counseling corps to meet the social and emotional needs of all students from Pre- K through grade 12.
Since we began working together about a year ago, we have found much common ground. Today we sat together in a Massachusetts Department of Education sponsored workshop put on by the acclaimed National Institute of School Leadership. Several months ago we began a journey together to bring Response to Intervention (RTI) to all of our districts’ classrooms, and together we are analyzing data to improve instruction for our students at all levels. We have been working together with a shared premise – that we can recreate a better system of teaching and learning for the children in our districts by focusing on sharing one piece of our organizations at a time.
For quite some time, each of our school districts have worked “in isolation together” if such a thing is possible. I now find myself thinking of the mathematical fact, “the whole is equal to the sum of its parts” and understand that improving each facet of our individual organizations by combining resources, expertise, experience, and a shared mission with one another, that we will create more promising situations for our students.
Our shared special education team has been made possible with the support of the Ralph C. Mahar Regionalization Planning Committee and our three school committees. The success of the Special Education merger is also rooted in a group of employees who are willing to work together to come up with creative and innovative solutions. In our most recent school committee meetings the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School Committee and Orange School Committees openly discussed and voted the pursuit of consolidated central offices. None of the above has warranted the pressing of the “That Was Easy” button.
I now turn to you, the readers of this blog. If you have any questions about our consolidation effort, please do not hesitate to post them. If appropriate, your question will be seen by all and answered publicly.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Can A Small Town Initiative Pay Off Big for Mahar Students? Yes it Can!
Earlier this year the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School was visited by a number of people from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). Dr. Harvey Kahalas, Dean of the Stuart School of Business at IIT was led with others on a tour of Orange, Massachusetts by our Town Administrator, Rick Kwiatkowski. Dr. Kahalas took particular interest in our small town as he thought that it would be a good fit with IIT’s Sustainable Program in Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (SPEED). Even more exciting was the interest that Dr. Kahalas and the administrators at IIT took in our high school.
Dr. Kahalas sat with me and asked me a very simple question; “How would you like for some of your graduates to attend IIT in Chicago?” “Of course” I responded. But I was very skeptical. First, IIT is located in the heart of downtown Chicago. Second, IIT is a very difficult school for any student to earn admission to, and third, IIT is a very expensive school to attend. The list of IIT graduates includes CEOs from all over the country, Presidents of companies, Vice presidents, and Chairmen of Boards of Directors. One of IIT’s graduates is the Vice President of Toyota Motors Automotive Operations. This college has been referred to as the MIT of the Midwest.
The special offer that was proposed to our school makes available to graduates from Ralph C. Mahar Regional High School an opportunity to attend IIT at a rate that is affordable and for some students nearly for free. Currently, tuition, room and board, and other fees for a student who attends IIT is approximately $32,000.00 per year. IIT has extended to our graduates an opportunity to attend IIT on their Presidential Scholarship which can cover most of this cost. For students who are financially eligible, that cost may turn out to be free.
What’s the catch? The proposed Sustainable Program in Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (SPEED) project has been designed recognizing that the future of small towns is in the hands of today’s youth. Therefore, any student who attends IIT as a part of this partnership will be expected to come back to Orange during the summer months of his/her college experience and use his/her IIT education to help the Town of Orange create jobs, save energy, or engage in some other activity that will create successful outcomes for the residents of our Town.
IIT believes that “A town’s longevity and vitality, and the survival of its culture and values, are determined by its ability to educate a new generation of young leaders who believe in their community’s future and who are willing to shape it with innovative ideas and entrepreneurial spirit. The SPEED program is centered on the belief that providing young people with an outstanding education that allows them to reach their highest potential is important for individuals and their community alike.
Last week I flew to Chicago with our Town Administrator and a local entrepreneur. We were given a tour of two of IIT’s three campuses. We had personal meetings with Stuart School of Business Dean, Harvey Kahalas, Vice-Provost for Undergraduate Admissions, Gerald Doyle, and more than twenty administrators, professors, and staff at IIT. We also sat with University Provost, Alan Cramb for hours discussing the possibilities generated by our partnership. It was clear to me that these individuals believe that they can and will make an impact on small towns in America. I made it as clear as I could to them that our school district is proud to be part of this picture.
The Provost, Vice-Provost, and Dean of the Business School took particular interest in our newly created Pathways Early College Innovation School. They expressed an interest in meeting with me and with the administrators at Mount Wachusett Community College about the prospect of graduates of this program attending IIT. After all, a graduate from the Pathways program is a graduate of Ralph C. Mahar High School, which qualifies these students for the SPEED program at IIT. I will be meeting with administrators at Mount Wachusett Community College next week to discuss this program becoming a reality for students in our area.
I have said this before, and I will say it again. We do not educate in a vacuum. Partnerships have been a key to the many successes that the Mahar district has had in recent years, and they just keep coming. Yesterday we signed an agreement in which the American International College (AIC) will be renting our facility in the evenings beginning in January to teach graduate education classes. Our collaboration with the CAPS Educational Collaborative continues to provide exciting educational possibilities for high-need students, and it appears as though our relationship with Mount Wachusett Community College is about to grow once again.
If you are interested in your child earning an Associates Degree along with his/her high school diploma free of charge, please call my office. If you are interested in your child attending the Illinois Institute of Technology at a severely reduced rate (or free) please call my office. And finally, if you are just interested in becoming a part of the Mahar School Community, do not hesitate to call. I am willing to share with you our Mission, Commitments, and Beliefs so that you may decide if they can work for your family and for your children.
Dr. Kahalas sat with me and asked me a very simple question; “How would you like for some of your graduates to attend IIT in Chicago?” “Of course” I responded. But I was very skeptical. First, IIT is located in the heart of downtown Chicago. Second, IIT is a very difficult school for any student to earn admission to, and third, IIT is a very expensive school to attend. The list of IIT graduates includes CEOs from all over the country, Presidents of companies, Vice presidents, and Chairmen of Boards of Directors. One of IIT’s graduates is the Vice President of Toyota Motors Automotive Operations. This college has been referred to as the MIT of the Midwest.
The special offer that was proposed to our school makes available to graduates from Ralph C. Mahar Regional High School an opportunity to attend IIT at a rate that is affordable and for some students nearly for free. Currently, tuition, room and board, and other fees for a student who attends IIT is approximately $32,000.00 per year. IIT has extended to our graduates an opportunity to attend IIT on their Presidential Scholarship which can cover most of this cost. For students who are financially eligible, that cost may turn out to be free.
What’s the catch? The proposed Sustainable Program in Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (SPEED) project has been designed recognizing that the future of small towns is in the hands of today’s youth. Therefore, any student who attends IIT as a part of this partnership will be expected to come back to Orange during the summer months of his/her college experience and use his/her IIT education to help the Town of Orange create jobs, save energy, or engage in some other activity that will create successful outcomes for the residents of our Town.
IIT believes that “A town’s longevity and vitality, and the survival of its culture and values, are determined by its ability to educate a new generation of young leaders who believe in their community’s future and who are willing to shape it with innovative ideas and entrepreneurial spirit. The SPEED program is centered on the belief that providing young people with an outstanding education that allows them to reach their highest potential is important for individuals and their community alike.
Last week I flew to Chicago with our Town Administrator and a local entrepreneur. We were given a tour of two of IIT’s three campuses. We had personal meetings with Stuart School of Business Dean, Harvey Kahalas, Vice-Provost for Undergraduate Admissions, Gerald Doyle, and more than twenty administrators, professors, and staff at IIT. We also sat with University Provost, Alan Cramb for hours discussing the possibilities generated by our partnership. It was clear to me that these individuals believe that they can and will make an impact on small towns in America. I made it as clear as I could to them that our school district is proud to be part of this picture.
The Provost, Vice-Provost, and Dean of the Business School took particular interest in our newly created Pathways Early College Innovation School. They expressed an interest in meeting with me and with the administrators at Mount Wachusett Community College about the prospect of graduates of this program attending IIT. After all, a graduate from the Pathways program is a graduate of Ralph C. Mahar High School, which qualifies these students for the SPEED program at IIT. I will be meeting with administrators at Mount Wachusett Community College next week to discuss this program becoming a reality for students in our area.
I have said this before, and I will say it again. We do not educate in a vacuum. Partnerships have been a key to the many successes that the Mahar district has had in recent years, and they just keep coming. Yesterday we signed an agreement in which the American International College (AIC) will be renting our facility in the evenings beginning in January to teach graduate education classes. Our collaboration with the CAPS Educational Collaborative continues to provide exciting educational possibilities for high-need students, and it appears as though our relationship with Mount Wachusett Community College is about to grow once again.
If you are interested in your child earning an Associates Degree along with his/her high school diploma free of charge, please call my office. If you are interested in your child attending the Illinois Institute of Technology at a severely reduced rate (or free) please call my office. And finally, if you are just interested in becoming a part of the Mahar School Community, do not hesitate to call. I am willing to share with you our Mission, Commitments, and Beliefs so that you may decide if they can work for your family and for your children.
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