Our District Mission: Achievement & Accountability:

Something so simple yet so strong. An oxymoron by definition, but it is Our 2-prong test for all that we do. It must promote student achievement and must provide accountability at the same time.

Never before has public education been under such scrutiny by the public: yet, as always, our schools have rallied to the call of America to provide changes needed in our society.

· In the 1940’s we incorporated the atomic bomb drills into our schools to prepare our students in case of atomic warfare.

· In the 1950’s we incorporated health screenings for our students in hearing, eyesight and polio into our schools, and bolstered science offerings in schools to counter the soviet sputnik threat.

· In the 1960’s we incorporated the Free School Lunch Programs to feed the needy and taught civil rights to better the citizenry of the United States.

· In the 1970’s we incorporated the Drug-Free Schools Act to counter the unseen enemy of America’s youth… the war on drugs. We also endorsed Federal legislation called the Education For All Handicapped Children Act, the only nation to educate all children regardless of physical or mental handicap.

· In the 1980’s we incorporated the findings of “A Nation At Risk” to once again bolster the core curriculum and to reaffirm that Americans With Disabilities were to be afforded equal educational privilege.

· In the 1990’s we incorporated Safe Schools practices after experiencing the most devastating decade of school violence this nation has seen to date.

Only Public Education has rallied to answer the cry of our nation- no other institution in our land has adopted so much for the sake of so many.

The new millennium is less than five months away. And, a challenge is once again before us. Massachusetts has uttered a four-letter word named MCAS. However, we have a plan. These drafts, called District Curriculum Guides represent the first time East Longmeadow Public Schools has put in writing the important objectives for teaching and learning for each grade level.

For the teacher, it answers the question “what is my piece of the pie that I should teach at this level”. And removes the burden of having to comb through the voluminous Frameworks documents piece by piece.

The District Curriculum Guides describe the objectives to teach, without prescribing how to teach.

For the student, it insures that the Mass. Frameworks are integrated into our curricula.

For the parent, it describes the quality teaching that takes place in our classrooms on a daily basis.

These District Curriculum Guides are marked DRAFT on the covers, and on every page because we want dialogue this year between education professionals to change, move, edit, and embrace “why we do, what we do” We will continue to have many, many visits with each other this year on these drafts. They are a work, in progress. You will receive your copies at your building meetings today.

As we start the final school year of this millennium today, let me be the first to say, and on behalf of a grateful nation, thank you for doing so much the last fifty years in education, for the sake of so many- our students.

God Bless America, and lets have a great year.