001Good evening everybody. Thank you for joining us for the January 13th Board of Education meeting. Uh if you could all join me with the pledge to the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay. And we will start this evening with our special acknowledgement, the ride recognition of excellence awards. Dr. Murray. Hello and good evening everyone. Tonight we are pleased to honor a group of extraordinary students. The Rye Recognition of Excellence Awards were created in 2012 to recognize students who have achieved great things in the arenas of academics, arts, and athletics. Tonight, we are honoring 65 Rye High School student athletes who competed and won at the highest level of
002high school sports. For the fifth time, the Rye High School varsity football team are New York State champions. And for the first time ever, they are class A state champions. The Ry High School varsity football team had an extraordinary season. Many are calling it the greatest season in the history of the program with an undefeated 14-0 record. This was a season where records were broken repeatedly, setting school records for both points scored and wins earned. Coach Dino Gar became New York's all-time winningest high school football coach. Quarterback Carson Miller earned the section one record for the most passing yards in a season. And receiver Henry Shoemaker set section records for both receiving yards and receiving scores. Every win this season came by double digits, capped by a 357 semi-final victory over Cornwall that sent the
003team to the JMA Wireless Dome to face Brighton High School Brighton High School of Rochester. While there were exciting moments in the championship game, the outcome, a 2814 victory over Brighton seemed both evitable and fitting. Thank you to the to the team, parents, families, and coach Dino Gar, assistant coaches Tom Prudian, Joe King, AJ Thompson, Sean Zlak, Greg Domestico, Joe Drossino, Nick Manuso, Tom Kotispati, and Luke Walsh for giving all of Rye, your fellow students, your teachers, Garnet alums, and fans of all ages a season we will always remember. Next, I'd like to introduce Ry City Mayor Josh Nathan, who'd like to say a few words. >> Thank you for continuing the legend that is Ry High School football. You should all be so proud and your achievements are a testament to the journey you've
004taken together and cherish that moment and carry it with you uh into the future because it's a very special thing that you all have. You are a great group led by an amazing and now legendary coach and you are leaders in this community have brought so much joy to fans in the school community and in the Ry City community and just on behalf of the city we're so proud of you and we're so happy for the joy you bring all of us. Congratulations. And now I'd like to introduce Assemblyman Steve Otis. Well, I want to congratulate this team. What excitement. 14-0. Um these the numbers, the yardage, the points for over 6,400 yards. Those are monster numbers. You dominated throughout the season. But as the mayor said, you gave a special gift to this community
005because we love seeing our Gardens Garnets play. I have seen all five state championship teams play and it is a privilege. But you guys hammered it. You really did a job that is so impressive and uh you should be very proud. But be aware of what you've done more broadly for this community. the spirit of this town, the spirit of the school district, the spirit of alumni, former players, it all means so much. We root for you and but we treasure the excitement of those games and what you did and and your skill and the practice that went into it. U I have a proclamation here, a resolution passed by the state assembly today to give. I I guess Dino is not here. Do we see Dino anywhere? Um, let's have a round of applause
006for Dino Garin. wins is just an amazing number and it it shows um his skill, his ability to work with the teams that come up and to motivate coaches and to motivate players. 375 wins is fantastic. And I want to hear the stories. I mean, you guys dominated. So, you know, some years, uh, maybe some games, but some years we're behind at halftime. I'd love to be in that locker room with what Dino has to say at halftime for those midgame adjustments, which are so important. Dino was so good at. But I have a proclamation here from the state assembly just passed today and I will leave this with the superintendent. Um but um because it passed today, we're going to have proclamations for each of the players and coaches and and um on the
007whole uh trainers and everybody else on the team um commemorating the state assembly commemorating your great victory. So proud of you, so excited. And uh good luck in for those of you returning next year, let's do it again. For those of you going on, good luck in college and all your athletic endeavors. Congratulations. >> Thank you, Steve. And also, Senator Shelley Mayer also sent along certificates of recognition as well. She couldn't be here tonight, but she sent those. So, uh, so will you please come forward and accept your awards and accept the congratulations of administrators and board of education members when I call your name. Max on Congratulations, >> Evans Anderson, Jack Anderson, Rowan Bart, Congratulations. You're welcome. >> Thank you. >> Tur Bartell's. >> Yeah. Now we're going to ask that you guys go
008all the way around. Congratul So everyone can shake your hands. Charlie Brady, Maximilliano Cabrera, Blake Kella, Christian Codell. Congratulations. >> Congratulations, >> Connor Croy. Luke Davies, Luke Denver, Nicholas Dearriia, Ryan Daddy, GRAHAM DURKIN, JAMES ELING, Eric Elman, MICHAEL Teddy Fairhurst, Ryan Felzone, Jagger Fenton. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. >> Eddie Fernandez, Nick Field, Gavin Fitzpatrick, Charlie Garnett, Hunter G. >> Congratulations, >> Hunter Gillas. Henry Gilroy, Thomas Goldzer, Keith Gresen. Congratulations, Ryan Hess. Congratulations, James Jenkins, Benji Kaplan, Stephen Kelly, Jack Lavine, Sebastian Lewis, CJ Luth, Benjamin Martin, Jean Carlo, Master Jakamo, Congratulations, >> RJ McCabe, Clayton McCarthy. Congratulations, >> Jack Melville. Congratulations, >> Carson Miller. TJ Nees, Wisdom Galuca, Ryan Pru, Ben Ramos, Robert Rea, >> Calvin Rolano, Jay Schoberg, John Skyoli, Henry Shoemaker, Johnny Shoemaker, Owen Stein, Carsten Steinman, Ben Sigiano, Nigel Strazini, Sam Surak,
009Michael Talbett, CALVIN TIMCH, JP TRACY, Shay Tuckman, Ezu Udega, >> Tyler Walsh, and Kayen Wing. Okay, let's give them all one more round of applause. And I'm going to ask our photographer to to come to take some photos if we're going to have to squish together. We're going to have to move in. >> Yeah. >> Move in as much as you can. That's good. That was great. Okay, CONGRATS All right, are we ready? That was a lot of fun. I mean, I may be biased, but that's okay. All right. Uh, so we will now move on to the report of the superintendent, Dr. Murray. >> Thank you. So, good evening again and welcome back. I hope everyone enjoyed a restful and meaningful break and had the opportunity to spend time with friends and family. I'll
010begin with a construction update. I am pleased to share that the roofs are now completed complete at both Midland and Osborne schools. While we did exp yay, we have some some Midland people in the crowd. While we did experience a slight delay at Osborne due to weather over the holiday break, we are fortunately we were fortunately able to keep other trades moving forward. As a result, the electrical, mechanical, and plumbing work has all been completed at both sites. We are now focused on the final stages of the project. This includes completing the connectors between the new wings and the existing buildings, finishing ceilings, flooring, and painting, as well as completing exterior work around the buildings. Final grading and permanent walkways will be completed once the ground thaws in the spring. In the interim, a compacted
011road base will be installed to ensure the sites are accessible and ready for occupancy. Over the break, we were also able to begin the final phase of the performing arts center renovation with the installation of aisle railings and new carpeting coming very soon. Work on uh work on lighting is also underway, bring us closer to the completion of this important space for our students and community. Turning to the budget, we are working diligently on the development of the 2026 2027 school budget. We are hopeful to receive the governor's proposed executive budget within the next two weeks, which will allow us to finalize our planning. We look forward to presenting the proposed budget to the community at the February 10th board of education meeting. Finally, I want to note that we are beginning our next round
012of NWA testing this week for students in grades K through 8. This assessment provides us with valuable information not only about our student achievement, but also about individual growth. It helps our teachers make informed instructional decisions for each student and supports our broader planning as we analyze patterns and trends across the district. And that concludes my report for this evening. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you, Dr. Murray. We will now move on for our presentation and discussion. Critical thinking K to 5. Good evening. I would like to take this time to thank Dr. Murray and the board of education for the opportunity to present to you this evening about critical thinking in grades K through 5. Tonight we are excited to share how our students are continuing to explore and think critically in their everyday
013academic exploration. Critical thinking is about using evidence and experiences to evaluate situations, solve problems, and consider diverse perspectives. applying insight to make informed decisions in a complex interconnected world. It's a skill we value deeply in the Ry Commitment and one that also aligns with the New York State Portrait of a Graduate, which highlights identifying patterns and connections between different pieces of information across multiple content areas, which you're going to be hearing about this evening. And soon, our STEM teacher, Miss Amy Carman, and two classroom teachers, Miss Sylvi and Miss Kelly, are going to show you how they engage students in inquiry and exploration, including hands-on projects and investigations for vertical surfaces and encourage curiosity and reasoning. Our fifth graders are going to show you in their own critical thinking how they analyze, interpret, and communicate
014their findings. These presentations highlight more than academic skills. They show how our students are continuing to enhance their learning to think deeply, reflect, and make responsible decisions, preparing them to thrive in school and beyond. And now I would like to invite Miss Amy Carmen to the podium to talk to you about our STEM program. Hello everybody. It's so good to see so many friendly faces. Um, I'm an Osborne teacher to start here in Ry, but now I am actually at all three elementary schools, Midland, Milton, and Osborne as the STEM special teacher. So, as you see up on the slide, really important to know, I am the fifth grade STEM special teacher, teaching 11 sections of fifth grade across the three buildings. I'm scooting all over Ry um and seeing uh seeing kids in all
015the buildings. Um, important. These kids come to me once in a 6-day cycle for 40 minutes. I have some of them here with me today. They'll come up in a few moments to share some of their experiences. I try my best to give them a broad range of experiences in each of the letters of STEM. So, a lot of our work is science-based with mystery science. There is tech connections. We do a lot of engineering. Everyone has learned how to safely use cardboard cutters. Amazing. With some math connections as well. I'm also able to support uh K to four. Primarily, it's been second, third, and fourth grade over the fall and winter. And I am just starting to welcome in kindergarten and first grade classes into the maker space. And for those lessons, I'm able
016to work with teachers collaboratively. They're there in the class with me, either doing mystery science lessons that are either timeconuming, cumbersome, or very messy in the maker space. um allowing that time for setup and cleanup and exploration, but also giving them opportunities to do extensions or things outside of mystery science that give them an opportunity to practice the engineering design process geared for younger students. Um all students just have more opportunities for STEM in their day-to-day um or week-toeek experiences with this program, which is awesome. And so the next slide that you're going to see is just a general overview or scope and sequence of the mystery science program that K to5 teachers are participating in now for the second full year. It is great. Teachers have given us awesome great feedback. It is user
017friendly, teacher friendly, kid-friendly um important. There's a great opportunity especially in my role to give a lot of continuity across grade levels. So even looking down um the scope and sequence there's uh lessons in every single grade level on plant and animal adaptations in some way shape or form. So I can now connect that among the grade levels. Also important New York State in addition to the um science test which is a computer-based model does um does require four hands-on investigations that we here in Rise spread out over third, fourth and fifth grades. So you see there just the focus of these performance expectations. It's not an assessment. It is an investigation. It's a guided exploration about a concept that we are already teaching here with our science program. But you'll see circle of life
018lighted up cloud in a bottle and what's in the bag. Your kids are getting these hands-on experiences just like every other student in New York State allowing them to practice their critical thinking skills as well as all of those skills you see up at the top. disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and science and engineering practices. So, speaking of science and engineering practices, I have um some STEM squad members here. Every fifth grader here in Ry does become a member of the STEM squad by coming to STEM. So, I'm just going to ask them to come up. On the next slide, you'll be able to see some pictures of some of the activities, investigations, and projects that we have been working on over the past couple of months. All right. So, my STEM squad people, come
019on up. Georgia, Kyle, Henry, Ryan, Mac, and uh Isabelle are going to be sharing a little bit of their experience with STEM and how it uh allows them to practice their critical thinking skills. In the fall, we had a few lessons with worms. I think a lot of people had fun with them. We were able to discover new things about worms and how they make our world better. A lot of people enjoyed touching them and some people were totally grossed out, but they had to figure out how to make it work. We did three classes making mini Thanksgiving floats for a parade. My partner and I made a ferris wheel, but that ended up failing at the last minute. We had to change it to a rocket ship. It ended up working out, but it
020made us realize you always need to have a second plan. In STEM, we had a one-day challenge and we had to fully surround the stuffy with cups. What was challenging was we needed to stack the cups in specific way. Also, the cups kept falling. Sometimes it was that was successful was we figured out that we had to flip the cups different ways so had more stability. In our last project before break, we had to protect a doghouse from a flood. This was hard because we had a limited amount of supplies to stop the water. We also had to work with random partners. Each partnership had a $15 budget to get supplies like popsicle sticks. You all couldn't be higher than the doghouse and you couldn't put anything under the doghouse. This project helped us work
021on being collaborative with other partners. Having STEM for a special leads to creativity and boosts our thinking. It's more sciency with fun challenges. And I always look forward to day six. My class has STEM. So hopefully I gave you a little bit of an insight into what uh the fifth graders get to have as part of their uh weekly special rotation. It is a super fun, awesome experience and I am very grateful for the opportunity. Now I'm going to bring up the next act. to watch the video at a later time. You can watch the video later. >> Okay. Um, at this time we just want to separate the presentation. So if you have any questions for our students about our STEM program, we are happy to answer anything at this time. We can also
022wait till the end. I'm going to ask just not to the students specifically but to anyone. This is our first year second year doing the STEM. First year >> First year. Okay. So, um, what's fantastic is this group of fifth graders has this opportunity to, um, experience all of this. Um, and so it'll be I'll be very interested to hear kind of how this evolves over time for you cuz I'm sure there's tons and tons of learnings um that are coming out of um, seeing across all schools, all the all the different classes. Plus, then you're also looking at second through fourth. It's just it sounds like it's there's just going to be some amazing stuff that will come out of it. And it's great to to hear the investigative pieces for the um they're
023not labs, but like a like an a hands-on experience. Um I actually as to the students, what what has that been like? Has that been something different for you that having the hands-on experience? Do you like being able to do that? Anyone? Doesn't matter who. >> Uh yes, I like it a lot. >> Yeah. Do you feel like you learn more when you have the opportunity to to work with different elements and and have to kind of shift and change? >> Yeah. A lot. >> Yeah. Great. >> All right. Well, thank you. >> Thank you. I guess the question I would have to the students is what did you think of science before you were in the STEM squad and what do you think of science now as a member of the STEM squad? Does
024anybody have anything they want to say? Georgia, you have something to say. You want you want >> Miss Carmen made it um she made it really fun and she made us like she'd give us a project and we'd be like really free and like our we'd be able to do like whatever we wanted and like we really figured out different ways to do stuff. Can I'm wondering if one of the students can talk a little bit more about the kind of critical thinking that they did and when they actually had thought they were going to solve it one way and then they changed their thinking and how you went about that. >> Anybody can talk about the doghouse or the float? >> Yeah. Well, in the doghouse um experiment we had in our group, we
025started off with like just making a wall on the outside, trying to just cover it, but then we realized that it would just soak in through the wall and go under. So, we had to change and like add some like more materials like cotton balls and like cotton sheets. just um it was also fun because like you had to have a plan so the wall was like stable and it wouldn't just like fall over the second the water hit it. So you had to put like tape cotton balls to absorb the water, make sure nothing got under the wall in between tiny cracks. It was really fun. So, did you get so one the last question to that, did you get to do it several times then to figure out how you wanted to change
026how you set the wall up if you when you were trying to figure out what else do we need? >> Well, yeah. Well, sometimes we changed our plans a little bit. Like we had had a wall and then like we wanted to put like cotton balls and like cloth under it to make sure it absorb the water and not just like leak through everything. Any other questions for the STEM squad? >> Is there anything that you learned about yourself while doing um some of the projects from the STEM squad that maybe you didn't know about yourself before? That's a big question. You're thinking about it. Kyle, you talked about your ferris wheel not working the first time and then having to do it at the last minute. >> Yeah. Let me do it. >> Yeah.
027You want to talk about that? >> Just like >> he's going to talk about his miniature float that did not work. >> What do you think about real quick? >> He's going to think about it real quick. But while he's thinking about this, um, not right now, but you can absolutely watch the video that is all of the fifth graders miniature parade floats, many of which were successful and some fell in the parade, which which does happen. Okay. Um, it made me realize that like even I can have like a second idea to come up and I always like I should always have a backup plan and that um, I can like reuse parts that I might have already used. I think I would ruin it, but I can reuse them and make them better.
028>> That's great. That's great. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. And now I would like to invite Miss Carrie Winderman up to talk to you about vertical surfaces. Hi everyone. I'm the K to5 math instructional coach. Amy is a tough act to follow. Um all right. I don't know why I try without my glasses. This is my life. Um many of you are aware of our work in the district with vertical non-permanent surfaces from prior presentations. But if you're unfamiliar with them, the use of vertical non-permanent surfaces is based on the work of building thinking classrooms in mathematics by Peter Ljidal. Ljadal's work is based on years of classroom research which found that math students spend more time mimicking than thinking. In a thinking classroom, students are invited to be mathematical problem solvers. Instead of simply
029being told this is how it works or given a set of mathematical steps to blindly follow and mimic, students grapple with math via rich thinking tasks. They will be thinking and learning. So what does a thinking classroom look like? Random groups of students are formed each time we do a thinking task which often can be solved in a variety of ways. We work at vertical whiteboards around the room sharing one marker. The person with the marker writes the thoughts of the other members of the group, but not their own thoughts. If they have something to contribute verbally, they would pass the marker to another member of the group. The whiteboards invite students to engage more quickly with a task, knowing they could easily erase and revise their thinking. The teacher's role is to facilitate, to
030float from group to group, ask questions, provide support where needed, and move the knowledge around the room by sending students to visit other groups for help. The teacher then consolidates or summarizes the learning by inviting students to reflect on the work. The focus here is on the math skills and concept used while highlighting useful strategies that can be used to approach future problems. In this model, mathematicians productively struggle. Learn how to make sense of the math by actively participating. Learn how to rise to the challenge and persevere. And learn that the process is as important as the answer. Many professional learning opportunities have propelled this work forward and deepened instructional practice. Our first co cohort began this work in the summer of 2022. In the 2024 2025 school year, 19 teachers, mostly veterans, participated in
031a level two fellowship to extend and deepen their learning and instructional pedigogy. This year-long professional learning really allowed participants to strengthen their practice. Andrea Sylvviotti was one of these participants. In the fall of 2025 2026, I offered the level one book study again to gain a new cohort of participants and was joined by Megan Kelly, firstear rise special education teacher. I will turn it over to Andrea and Megan who will be joined by Midland fifth graders Timmy and Margot. >> Perfect. Okay. Hi, I'm Megan. Um, so this is my first year teaching in Ry. I'm not new to Ry. I actually grew up here, graduated from Ry High School. So, it's nice to be back. Um, but when I found out that Kerry was offering a professional development um on building thinking classrooms, I was
032really excited. It was something I was exposed to um before coming to Rye, but it gave me an opportunity to really delve deep into the learning and to really bring it into the classroom. And being paired with Andrea was amazing because she's well verssed in using vertical non-permanent surfaces um to really encourage critical thinking in students. So we're going to talk about two main categories of critical thinking tasks. Those categories are curricular tasks and non-curricular tasks. So as it suggests in the name curricular tasks are rooted in strategies that students are currently learning within the curriculum. Um so these tasks can come from the book that we study, but they can also come directly from math and focus. Um there's a think portion at the beginning of each lesson that lends itself to these critical
033thinking tasks. So often we will take them from the book and we will bring them outside of the textbook to these vertical non-permanent services so that students can work in their groups to tackle these more difficult obstacles. Um non-curricular tasks often require students to draw from their entire math career. So it's not tied specifically to the standards or the curriculum that they're focusing on at that point in time. Um usually we try to make them a little bit more fun. They might have a theme to them like a holiday theme. Um, but students are still tasked with using logic, finding patterns, working collaboratively. Um, go back. Okay. Um, so they don't necessarily have a direct correlation to what students are doing in that moment in the curriculum, but it still gives them an opportunity to
034use their critical thinking skills. Um, and these non-curricular tasks can actually be done by a range of grade levels. It's not just the grade that you're working with at that time. So, there are different access points. So Andrea is going to talk a little bit more deeply about a curricular task that we did at the beginning of the year. Okay. So this was actually our first curricular task of the year. It was taken from our uh first chapter on place value. I'm going to read the task to you because I think it's important that you hear what it sounds like. A number is represented by digits A, P, B, Q, C, R, D. The the digits A, B, C, and D are in sequence. D is the greatest digit. P, Q, and R are also
035in sequence. P is the least digit. What is a possible number? Explain your answer. So, as you can see, this is a complicated task with complicated knowledge and there's like a lot to keep track of. But one of our students the other day said, multiple minds help stretch your brain. And so when students approach these tasks at the board, they're working independently with very little teacher input at first. So Margot, what does that part feel like when you all start a hard task together? >> It can feel like you have no sense of direction and that you are lost, but you can talk with your group and write some things down to get you started. >> So thank you, Margot. A big big part of building thinking's classroom is knowing when to step in as
036teachers and how to create routines to allow the students to keep thinking. One of the concepts in the book that we delved really deeply into with Carrie in our class is that the difference between a stopinking question and a keep thinking question. Kids often ask stop thinking questions which means that if you answer it they can stop thinking. We don't want that. We want them to always keep thinking. We want to encourage their thinking. We want to create routines that allow them to keep thinking. So, one of the things that we do, you're going to see that, and I know it's not great the pictures, but on some of the boards we drew in blue, like a little star or a check or an asterisk, and this just means that we appreciate that work and
037we want to highlight it. So when the kids stop and they take a gallery walk around the room either sort of towards the beginning of the task or in the middle of a task, the kids can look and see how other students are solving something and they'll take note sometimes of those little asterisks and they'll use them to revise their work because they're learning how to think flexibly and understand that there are multiple solutions and ways to solve things and organize their work. >> Turn it back to Miss Kelly. Here we go. You're going to come up with me, too. You ready? All right. You can change the slide. Next slide. Um, so this is an example of a non-curricular task that we did recently. As you can see, it has kind of a holiday
038winter theme to it. Um, so in this particular task, students were asked to consider how many different combinations of hot chocolate they could make given a choice of five toppings, but they could only choose three toppings at a time. So, at first students took a look at this and they asked, "Does this even have to do with math?" Because we're talking about hot chocolate and cookies and sprinkles. So, there was a fun element to it. Um, and as students started to work together, they started to just put random combinations up on their board, a little haphazard, willy-nilly as it were. And I'm going to send it over to Timmy. Timmy, how when you guys started out with this task, how did that go? >> Uh, it was very confusing because we had a hard time
039organizing it. We didn't know what letters to put down. It was a very hot mess. >> Very hot mess. Um, however, there were a few groups that realized pretty quickly that the way that they were approaching the task just wasn't working. Um, and they started to collaborate with each other and realize that they had to attack this in an organized way or they were never going to get through it. Um, and something amazing that happened was once these first groups kind of figured out, okay, let's make a table or let's make a list in the and and work through it methodically. Um, Mrs. Silviotti and I were tempted to stop the class and have those groups that were still struggling take a little gallery walk and see what other what other groups were doing, but
040um our students have gotten so great at these tasks that we didn't even have to do that. The groups that were still struggling took it upon themselves to pause, look around the room, and we like to call it sharing knowledge. Um saw what other groups were doing and were able to continue into that task just by looking at their peers and what they were doing. So um again the teachers really we're just there to facilitate we're not really directing what the students are doing the learn they're taking a lot of ownership of their learning and Mrs. Silvotti or Andrea is going to talk a little bit more about this particular test >> so one of the interesting things is that during our professional development we have inter visitations within classrooms so when you're a part
041of the cohort you visit other classes and different grade levels and watch their tasks. So, I first saw this task in a third grade classroom and I was like, hm, this would be interesting to bring back to the fifth graders. I was like, this is going to be amazing. They're going to jump right at the formula. They're going to know exactly what to do. They're going to know exactly how to organize their work. And that did not happen. And so the great part for me as a teacher was like I realized the importance of these simple tasks because they really lead to the development of really important organizational skills but also future math concepts. So once they got the organization part down of this, we gave them another task about um nights at the round
042table and different combinations. So, it was really exciting as a teacher to see that they were able to use and transfer what they learned from this task in terms of organization and setting things up. And once they had that out of the way, they very quickly saw the relationship between the number of nights and the number of possibilities. And they basically like created their own formula, which is a formula that they will use and study in middle school and high school. And how do I know this? I'll tell you. The other day I was at dinner with my kids and I presented this task to my 9inth grader and 11th grader and my 11th grader like whipped out his calculator and he was like NR blah blah blah blah blah and put the answer and
043he was like there's 10 possibilities and my daughter was like what are you talking about? We just have to like make a chart and organize our work. So, so you it was interesting to see like third grade, fifth grade, 9th grade, 11th grade, and how differently all of those, you know, just age groups would would approach something like this. So, it's very exciting as a teacher to watch. So, we're going to turn it over to Timmy and Margot just to highlight their take on all of this. They made some notes for themselves and we are so happy to have them and we really, really value their honest feedback. So, you ready? So, Timmy What do you like about math tasks? >> Uh, I like that they make you think and you get to work in
044a team, which makes it a lot more fun. >> Margot, what do you like about math tasks? >> It's kind of like working out loud in a way. You're not doing it by yourself in your head, like when you're alone. When I'm in my when I'm with my group, if I'm stuck, they help me figure it out. And if they're stuck, I help them. We might say, "That's wrong. Let's try again. But we know not to just give answers. They steer you in a different direction. Give you one step to set a spark and get your thinking going. >> I have another question for you, Timmy. Don't go anywhere. How do math tasks benefit you as a thinker? >> Uh, they develop teamwork and you have to break down the task together and talk about
045it and work together. If the task is hard, you can take turns trying it and take what you have wrong to try and find a way in to start. So, we asked all of our students um what was challenging about math tasks and they said like when they get stuck it's challenging obviously that's challenge. So, what do you do Margot when you're stuck? >> When no one knows what to do, you really have to rely on each other. If we are really stuck, we ask you you guys give us hints. We do. >> And you can look at other boards for help. They can help you organize or teach how to take a first step. Even if you see the right answer, you can still you still have to show your work and be able
046to explain how to get there. So Megan and I are very lucky because we are this is our first year in a departmentalized fifth grade. And so we have two classes that we teach both math, science, and social studies too. So after we just did a task yesterday. Oh my gosh, it was so much fun. That's beside the point. We did we did tell the kids that we were presenting and we asked some of these questions to them. So, we have a few sound bites for you. Um, and we got some really cool responses about what both what they enjoy about board work and what's challenging. So, one student said, "When you work on a hard problem and solve it, you just get so happy. You jump up and down." There is jumping up and
047down in our classroom. I can assure. Um, so another student when we asked what was tricky, they said that getting everyone to agree is hard and takes a lot of work sometimes, which is true in life. Um, others also said that it's hard to have the marker and not be able to speak. So, not only are they practicing math, but they're practicing just working collaboratively, which is amazing, and learning life lessons. Um, the feelings really are, however, overall very positive. Quote, "It's fun because it's not usual math. It's way more interactive. And another student said, "You don't always just know the answer." I think sometimes they're used to knowing the answer and and being able to find it rather quickly. They said, "You have to think more." And finally, they said that the math gets
048stuck in your head this way. And pretty profoundly, one student said, "You're not alone if you don't understand." Um, so we are absolutely loving using the professional development that we've gone through. We absolutely love doing these math tasks with our students and we really see a lot of growth in our students as mathematicians and as thinkers and it's really amazing to watch. Thank you. If you have any questions for our students while they're still up here >> or us or us. >> I don't have a question for either of you but I do for Mrs. Winderman and just might, you know, some of us are the thinkers. Um, you had talked about the level one book study this year and I'm pretty sure you were just referencing Miss Kelly as one of the participants. Not
049that she is the only participant. >> No, we we don't we don't run we don't run classes for one person. Although we do run coaching sessions for one person, but I Yes, I did run this and I had six new participants. So, I'm still working with all the teachers that have been through, but this is the first time I reran level one um in a in a while because a lot of people had kind of been through it and wanted a higher level course. >> So, now we got some new participants. >> Okay, great. Thank you. No problem. >> Then I would just add it is a professional learning model that's working very well. Uh and we emulate it in a lot of different ways. This is the math example, but kind of building these
050cohorts and taking them through and leveling up every year. We added an intervisitation piece. So, I'm glad that you mentioned that, Andrea, because I think that's a really successful way for us to learn from our colleagues as well. And so, for the students, comparing your experiences in math, you guys are in fifth grade now, right? So, comparing your experiences to math in fourth grade to how you feel about math now, where would you say you are? Uh, I would say I improved a lot more and it's way easier to do like hard tasks that make you think more than like your usual multiplying, adding. >> And why do you think it's easier now? >> Uh, >> what do you think that's made it easier for you? >> Uh, the methods that we're being taught and
051>> the teachers. >> Always the teachers. I love that. good >> uh kind of what he said and I think uh Miss Kelly and Mrs. Zeliotti they make it more like understandable like sometimes problems are really wordy and they make it less wordy. Well, I will say the example that you all had, the first one that was very wordy and as you were reading it, I was rubbing my head going, "Oh my gosh, this is really so yes, you guys are doing some really hard math stuff and you're really successful at it." So, congratulations and your teacher should feel good about that work that they're doing. It's very impressive. >> Yeah, excuse me. I have to say I was doing the same thing. I was looking at the math the the first problem and trying
052to figure it out and then I did a little walk and then looked at the other answers. I'm like ah I'm on to something. Um but just just one question for for um for the students. I guess one thing I'm just curious about is how much time in these uh you know group settings did you you spend talking amongst yourself about the problem versus going directly to the board to write down an idea. Um, I understand, you know, you you only talk when you have have um, you know, the marker, but I guess just how much of of it has been talking versus writing? >> Sure. Um, well, like a lot of it is talking cuz you have to like with a group it's more like you have to understand all everyone has to understand
053it more than like when you're not working in a group. >> Any Oh, go ahead. you go to me and then I'll just >> uh so first we usually like write the numbers down and then we get and then we talk about it more and we can like uh use like calculations or matthew stuff to get the answer and we can like draw pictures and other things to help us. >> Very nice. >> And just to add one of the expectations of the model is that if one person from your group understands and the teacher comes they can ask anyone. So you're not done till everyone in the group is able to explain the reasoning and the thinking. So even if um maybe on your own you couldn't have come up with with that solution
054by the time you're done you will have understood what you put on the board. >> And I will say we do hold do we not hold students to that standard. So like if somebody comes over and shares an answer like yesterday we were doing a task where there were nine different tasks. So every time you finished one, you had to come down come back and get the next one. And not the whole group wasn't coming back. And so like Miss Kelly and I were like shouting across the room like, "Can you explain how you simplified that fraction?" And like everybody had to be had to be able to explain that or else they had to go back and make sure that everybody could explain it before they got the next task. Yeah. Okay. All set.
055Okay. Well, thank you so much. Appreciate it. >> I before we and they're not questions for anybody. Um I just think one of the things that this presentation really is great at highlighting is that while there is such a focus on critical thinking, it is very clearly also reaching into those other skill sets. So we're talking about being effective communicators, collaborating, creatively solving problems, and caring individuals. So you're taking that one explicit skill, but yet you're hitting all of them in a much less obvious way, but still quite an impactful way. And so I think, you know, it's really exciting to see those things. And also the there was so much overlap between the science and the math in terms of the way that the students spoke and the way that the teacher spoke. You
056know, Mrs. Winterman used the term productive struggle when a student when they were talking about the science talked about the idea that they were productive struggling while they were doing those tasks. And so seeing those kinds of that seeing that work happen in both of those content areas with different teachers and different kids um really is exciting to see because these are dispositions that we've been talking about for a long time. And now starting to see them with our youngest learners is really exciting because as with everything, it's just going to roll up the hill and get that much stronger and that much better as we go along. So, it's really exciting work to see. Okay. All right. So, thank you all so very much. Have a wonderful evening. Thanks for joining us. >> All
057right. We will now move on to the hearing of the public. And our public has left us. So, With that, I will not share with everybody our public statement, but I will just remind everybody in the community that members of the public are always welcome and we'd love to hear from our public. So, please feel free to join us on Tuesday evenings if you can make it. As you can tell, there's always something exciting that we're talking about or sharing. So, with that, we will move on to our consent agenda. Can I please have a motion to approve this evening's consent agenda? Sean Cler, seconded by Matt Shippenoff. Let's take a look at this evening's consent agenda. Consent agenda general. Dr. Murray, if you could speak with uh to the board a little bit about
058the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation uh resolution that we have on their agenda. >> Sure. This is a resolution for the district to participate in something called the say the say something anonymous reporting system. Uh and this is a way for students and adults to anonymously report any safety concerns that they have. Um and with thisou or following the approval of thisou, we'll be able to um partner with the Sandy Hook um partner success team uh where we'll be given um a manager and and who will oversee our our program. Um we'll do a kickoff meeting and form a team um just of faculty and administrators about to implement this program. Um and with the implementation we'll become communicate we will communicate out uh to parents and to students so they understand kind of what this
059means to take on this kind of a program. Um it's new for us because you know our way of doing an you know any kind of reporting has been through the RIY PD. Um this now is is different because they can anonymously report to the schools. Uh and why this specific program is different from any other anonymous reporting systems is that this will go to a call center um and that is staffed with clinicians who will then direct urgent issues um to uh either 911 or to the district. Um and so we're excited to bring this on and have this resource for our community. >> Great. Thank you. I look forward to the community learning more about it as we move forward in the process. Great. Uh okay. Uh consent agenda fiscal Consent agenda, professional
060appointments, consent agenda, classified appointments, and consent agenda, pupil personnel services and special education. Okay, seeing no questions, can I have a vote to approve this evening's consent agenda? All those in favor? That is six to nothing with one absent. So, on this evening's consent agenda, we have the appointment of our new internal auditing firm to begin uh work this school year through the 2028 2022 school year. We have the acceptance of a gift from the Midland PTO in the amount of $8,475 to support the PTO's STEM activities, which I'm sure will dubtail very nicely into the STEM squad's activities that they're participating in during school. We also have many personnel moves and we are growing our own with much of our staff being hired as teaching assistants then becoming uh teaching doing their student teaching
061here with us andor providing coverage for our staff that are out on leave. This is a wonderful um professional practice in which our students and our faculty benefit greatly and it is a really thoughtful uh and intentional way of running the human resources department. So, we want to thank our human resources department for all the work because it's also not an easy thing to manage to make sure that's a lot of people and a lot of moving parts. And also talking about our human resources department, we have two retirements this evening to announce. It is with gratitude and appreciation that I announce the retirement of longtime Rye High School principal Dr. Robert Shear at the end of the 2526 school year. Since joining the Rye City School District in 1994, Dr. Dr. Shakar has dedicated
062more than three decades to support students, families, and staff. During his tenure at RCSD, Dr. Shear has been a member of the community lunch crisis team, the SEAL committee, the special education task force, and the ESY program, as well as participating in the mentor program for our new psychologists in the district. Dr. Shear holds a PhD. Oh, no, sorry, let me try again. Dr. Shear holds a BA first in psychology from Sunni Brooklyn, an MSED in school psychology from Long Island University Brooklyn and a doctor of psychology in school clinical child psychology from Yeshiva University. Dr. Aaron Freriedenberg, assistant superintendent for pupil personnel services said of him, "The connections he made and the support he provided to his students were invaluable and he will be missed throughout the district, especially for the strength he brought
063during difficult times." Dr. Shear, we wish you all the very best in your retirement. And after many years of dedicated service, RMS health and physical education teacher Tim told will retire at the end of the 2526 school year. While he will be greatly missed, we are grateful for his lasting impact on our students and school community. Mr. Tolve has been with the Rise City School District for more than 30 years. He came to Rise City Schools in 1994 as a one-year leave placement physical education teacher. He joined the RMS faculty as a full-time health and physical education teacher the following year and has remained there ever since. During his time in Ryme, Mr. Tol spent 11 years as the adviser of VASA, taught orientering for seven years and for 14 years was the head coach
064for the girls varsity and JV volleyball teams as well as serving as an assistant coach when he wasn't busy being the head coach. Mr. Joe G. Giovani, former RMS principal, said of him, "Tim has supported and guided students both in and outside the classroom, helping them make healthy decisions and growing through athletics while partnering with countless families along the way. His dedication to the middle school community, athletic program, and instruction has been invaluable, and his presence at RMS will be greatly missed. He is one of the most dedicated professionals I have ever had the privilege to work with. Mr. Solve we wish you all the very best in your retirement. And with that we will now move on to information and discussion where Mrs. Bole we have some we have a policy to discuss. >>
065Thank you. Um so this policy uh is essentially um com a combination of what was one policy which was budget planning development and adoption and then we incorporated a separate policy which was called fund balance into this one. So, this is all part of our internal review process that we've been going through to to make sure that we've reviewed all of our policies um and bring them to a place where either they can be uh um revised or updated or in some cases rescended. And so what this allowed us to do is to take um another policy, the fund balance policy, and incorporate it into this because this is really addressing all of the needs around budget planning and and development and adoption. Um and it just seemed to make a lot of sense to
066incorporate it here. So that's what you're seeing here for this uh for this policy. So we with the approval of this we will then rescend the previous separate policy for fund balance because it will all be encapsulated in this policy here >> and sorry to possibly beat the horse. >> So the fund balance that is all uh shown here in green is a verbatim transference from the current existing policy. Exactly. >> Okay. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Any other questions? Okay. Now, we'll move this forward for um our next review at our next meeting at the end of January. >> Okay. Great. All right. We have the 2627 draft calendar. Dr. Murray. >> Sure. >> Let's talk about it. >> Yes. It's a tricky one. >> It is. >> Um with Labor Day being
067so late, um there's also there's not Passover and Easter or Easter are also not aligned. And so it also makes um it a little little difficult to get all the days in. So um the calendar does have a starting after Labor Day. However, um and it also does have an an additional superintendent's conference day before that. So you'll see that conference days are the first, second, and third. Um what that does is it allows for more consistency in November. So you'll see that that there's not a conference day in November during that election day that we would normally do that. Um you'll also notice that the December break because of the constraints of the calendar this year because it is so tight it's a shorter break than we have had um at that time and
068we also have aligned the March conference day with the spring break there to allow some more consistency uh for families as well. It's not working. But uh >> the two days in April, those >> Yes. >> those aren't usually there, right? And what are they? >> So that's for Passover and that's because they don't Easter and Passover don't don't align this year. >> I would also say that starting after Labor Day does align with the with the Bosey's calendar as well, which is helpful. And and as we always know, none of this impacts the last day of school. >> Correct. None of it impacts the last day of school that's set by the state. >> Yes. Just want to say it out loud. >> Um so I noticed that you said that um you took
069a conference date out of is it October? November. >> Okay. So I appreciate certainly at that point, right, the consistency for students. I'm wondering is there benefit to having an additional conference day actually at the start of the school year for teachers that kind of the teachers by doing three of these. >> Oh, sure. So, you could just speak to what benefit that may be off. >> So, we normally have two conferences conference days at the beginning of the school year and that's really for teachers to kind of come back uh set the set the tone and the goals for the year and also for them to kind of get their classrooms ready and um and to prepare themselves for the school year. That third day um allows us to um do further work with
070our goals for the year. Um building goals and district goals and we can really launch um some nice professional learning before the school dis before the school year gets started. Whereas before we were waiting for November and then uh just cuz I'm sure somebody out in the universe will ask about the availability or the possibility of making December 2 weeks again, >> right? We can't do that because the certain number of days that we're required to have. >> Okay. >> Yes. So we have this this calendar includes 185 days um with 178 instructional days. We have three snow emergency days and then four conference days as we as we always do. >> Okay. Well, I think it's always I mean, some of this depends on other holidays, but >> it's it's I think it's helpful
071to have some long some more full weeks in the beginning of the school year cuz often times that gets a little choppy and so it's I think >> it'll be it'll be interesting to see how the conference day >> works for you at the beginning of the year and if that um you know if if it gives you what you're hoping >> you'll get out of it. Yes. But it's certainly worth doing, I think. >> Any other thoughts or questions? >> I don't think so. So, um, how would you like to proceed? We want to bring this back for information discussion one more time. Give everybody a time to digest a little bit further. Okay. >> Great. Thank you very much. >> Okay. So then we go on to board interest or committee updates. So
072let's see. We had a technology meeting. We have technology update. >> Um yeah. So, the technology committee met last week and um we basically were going over the four um goals for the technology plan for the district for the 5-year plan that um is being updated right now. Um the draft is due by April and the final plan is due to the state in June and then we have to have it up on our website. Um so basically um we had we broke out into groups and everyone kind of based on the feedback and the discussions from the first meeting the drafts were updated and revised and a new one was included and the groups discussed um the language and um was very thoughtful and intentional about the language we're using and showing how technology
073is being used on behalf of the students, the faculty, the professional development going into it um and how it can help the community and the district overall. Um, and so some changes were made to language and um, just to be a little more pertinent and um, and show how purposeful the district is trying to be um, with the technology being used. And um, we will put that all together. It will be put together again for us for our next meeting and um, probably finalized hopefully get those goals finalized for that plan in the next meeting. >> Great. Thank you. Uh we have uh tomorrow a wellness committee meeting and then a policy meeting. So we'll have those updates at our future meeting. And I know that we have a student report. Yes. Good evening. Um
074in the high school, our student government association has been working through the constant stream of feedback from our suggestion box that's outside the library. Um, this has become a very useful channel for us to understand how the rest of our student body feels as we address these issues and comments each week during our student government meetings. Um, and also before the holiday break, the high school ran a successful spirit week where students dressed in themes over the course of the week, including a flannel day, ugly sweater day, pajama day, and more. Um, at the middle school, we held our first no place for hate committee meeting. students and staff discussed how to roll out the pledge and brainstormed ideas for activities that promote inclusion and belonging. In addition, the principal's council is working on a
075trifold pamphlet to welcome and support next year's incoming sixth graders. At Osworn School, student government continued working closely with the administration to build school spirit and community. In December, they helped design and implement a class snowb building challenge. Each class followed a set of criteria and found materials around the school to collaboratively design their snowmen. Just before winter break, the snowmen were displayed in the main lobby, creating a winter wonderland and setting a festive tone for the start of the season. Midland school received a letter of thanks from the US Department of Veteran Affairs recognizing Midland students and staff for writing letters of appreciation for veterans, patients, and staff of the VA Hudson Valley Healthcare Center in Montrose, New York. As part of Veterans Day, Midland School Midland School students continue to find meaningful ways
076to honor and thank our veterans at Milton School. No place for hate is officially underway. The school community has signed the pledge and student council members are actively supporting the initiative. Milton is also focused on building bridges and fostering understanding. Third graders recently participated in a visit from Super Brady and fourth graders are looking ahead to a stuttering awareness presentation in the coming weeks. Uh, those are all my updates for tonight. Thank you. >> Great. Thanks so much, Phil. That's exciting. And I'd love to hear that the suggestion box is overflowing. >> Oh, that's great. That was always exciting time. That's great. Uh, is there any other communications to and from the board? >> We did have a traffic and safety meeting as well. Um there really wasn't very much related to um the school
077district other than just to reiterate um at Midland School along Midland Avenue. Um there's been quite a backup heading um trying to think which way we're going heading north on Midland at pickup time. Um and Mr. Boil um has sent out emails to let people know to if if there seems to be a backup to please um keep driving and park your car as opposed to stay on the side because it's requiring other cars to go around and um cross a double yellow into the other side. Uh making it a really dangerous um potentially very dangerous situation. Um it seems to have been a little bit better. Um, and I think just continued reminders are what we need until especially the construction is over. Um, because many of the construction trucks are still parked in
078front of the south playground area. Um, so that makes a little bit more difficult to pull to the side. But other than that, there was nothing school related. Great. Any other comm communications to in front? Okay. So, uh, our next meeting is going to be on January 27th in which Dr. Murray will provide us with an entry plan update. So, that'll be exciting. We look forward to that. Uh, the, uh, board will move into a second executive session. We will not be coming back out to the public. So, for now, we will just say good evening and we will see you again on the 27th of January. Thank you. >> Oh, yeah. Can I have a motion to go into executive session, Sean? Seconded by Matt. Thank you. All those in favor six month. Thank
079you.