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Dr. David Hopson |
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February 25, 2008 An education, public or private, doesn’t revolve around just the core academic subjects, broadly defined as English, mathematics, science and social studies, although that’s hard to tell by looking at what the state and federal governments want to test under No Child Left Behind. This is the reasoning behind the national push for educating the ‘whole child’ and our local commitment to ensuring that we provide as broad a range of activities for students as is possible within our budgetary constraints (as a reminder, this year’s public budget hearing is March 5th, 7:30 PM in the Performing Arts Center). Thus we have continued to maintain arts education, physical education, a range of electives (including distance learning opportunities) and activities outside of school for our middle and high school students, even during the fiscal difficulties of the last several years. While it is hard to measure the impact that this has on students, we do know that it has meant some changes, especially at the high school. Because we must meet the mandates established by No Child Left Behind, and our enrollment is decreasing, the course options for freshmen and sophomores are much more limited than they were in prior years. This allows us to sustain the non-core courses and provide opportunities for student choices in their junior and senior years, while maintaining our Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) status for the state and providing for athletics and extra curricular activities. Our students continue to be accepted to the colleges of their choice and our graduates continue to do well once they’re in college. Those students that opt to go into the workforce have a well-rounded background and our only Chapter 74 program (welding/metal fabrication) has continued to excel in preparing its graduates for the workplace. I know I’ve written about the changes we’ve had to make in our approach to behavioral problems due to changes in student needs, but that too has paid dividends throughout the system. Compared to other schools I’ve visited, or talked with other administrators about, Gateway is doing an excellent job of meeting student needs and we’re thankful for the support of our parents and communities. Our students are preparing themselves to be productive members of society and their good citizenship is being demonstrated well before graduation. Just one example of this is the awarding to Gateway of the Sportsmanship Award Banner from the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) this year recognizing Gateway’s qualification for the MIAA Sportsmanship Honor Roll from 2001-2007. While this is exemplified by all of our athletes, the girls’ basketball team is a good example. This particular team finally broke their 84 game losing streak this year and qualified for tournament play for the first time since 1996 (when their current coach was a player). You would anticipate that those young ladies playing over the past decade would have been unhappy, difficult to coach and perhaps not continue to be models of sportsmanship but—like their fellow athletes throughout the district—they continued to play their best and be exemplars of sportsmanship. Even our student fans are good citizens. Yes they occasionally get carried away during some events but a simple reminder is all it takes to get them back on track—they don’t argue, complain or ignore the reminder, rather they revert to the model behavior they exhibit throughout the school year. If you’re a Gateway parent or just a citizen of our seven hilltowns, you can certainly take pride in your children as students in the district and in their preparation for life outside these walls.
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