Patrick C. Daly, Superintendent

In my role as Title I Director I help to oversee our important work with our students in mathematics and literacy.   We spend hours identifying the students who need interventions, collecting data to help us best serve their needs, and then assessing their growth based upon these interventions in order to measure our own success in helping our students learn.   Students are offered strategies for close-reading and writing and they practice answering questions and searching for context clues.   But what about the pure joy of reading? I recently attended a keynote presentation that featured a topic that mesmerized me.   Lester L. Laminack, Professor Emeritus from Western Carolina University, presented on his book, The Ultimate Read-Aloud Resource .   Professor Laminack shared many ideas throughout his presentation.   He cited the research.   He suggested new strategies.   But the most important thing that he did for us was sharing a simple stor...

One of the most pressing concerns for the well being of our students is the lack of sleep that many of our teenagers are receiving.   The National Sleep Foundation has recently presented information following a two-year world-class study that our teenagers need between 8 and 10 hours of sleep per night.   Studies have shown that, on average, teenagers receive about 7.5 hours each night. The reasons for these sleep needs are rooted in biology.   According to the coalition group School Start Later ( http://www.startschoollater.net ): Sleep research shows that adolescents have a different—and later—sleep cycle than younger children and adults.   This is not a matter of habit, lifestyle, or stubbornness. It’s a matter of biology and natural circadian rhythms. The hormones that regulate sleep make it difficult for a typical teenager to fall asleep until after 11 pm and to wake up and be alert before around 8 am. Making them get up as early as 5:30 a.m. to catch the b...