Woonsocket schools look forward to a ‘new’ year
Orientation offers teachers glimpse of all improvements completed over the summer
WOONSOCKET — As their teachers found out on Monday, there has been a lot of work done in local schools over the summer that school officials are hoping will give a sense of Woonsocket pride to their students.
The district’s teachers and paraprofessionals got a first look at the work done at the high school while participat- ing in the annual staff orientation program there Monday morning.
The school auditorium has been painted and new carpeting installed under just one of the summer capital projects completed by the district with the help of the city and state Department of Education this year.
School Superintendent Patrick McGee said other
projects at the high school at 777 Cass Ave. included the replacement of a major section of the school’s roof as well as replacement of the entire roof of the Woonsocket Area Career and Technical Center next door.
The corridor walls of the high school also received a fresh coat of paint over the summer, McGee noted, and ceiling tiles were fixed in some needed areas, giving the school a new look overall. The high school’s public address system was updated, and there is also a new phone system in the classrooms and new building security improvements, according to McGee.
The summer work also took on projects at the elementary schools, and McGee noted 4 or 5 classrooms in each elementary building were repainted under the district’s ongoing painting efforts. New window shades were also installed at the school buildings, along with a number of other improvements.
“Much of it comes from the budget we have for facility improvement,” McGee said. In addition to the funding provided by the city in the school budget, the district had also received an initial grant of $2 million for capital improvements from the state’s School Building Authority and then applied and received a similar grant of funding, McGee noted.
As outlined by Alfred Notarianni, the district’s chief technology officer, during the orientation program, a significant effort has also been made to improved access to technology this year.
McGee said at the elementary level, every three students in grades k to 5 will have access to a Chromebook computer in their classrooms. That means the average class will have at least nine of the computers available to students under the district’s technology initiatives.
The next step, now in the works, will be to make Chromebooks available in school at a 1:1 ratio, McGee said.
Students using that technology in school would be able to access many curriculum resources not currently available to them, while also being able to tie into online resources to support their studies, McGee said.
“It’s engaging and it is a way to bring our curriculum to students and it is a way to give them more resources,” McGee said.
State Commissioner of Education Ken Wagner also stopped in during the program to offer the staff his views on high expectations for all students and the importance of providing students “multiple pathways” to success, McGee noted.
Woonsocket is already providing its secondary level students new pathways toward the achievement graduation through the P-Tech college and career partnership program with the Community College of Rhode Island and CVS Health, and the Summit personalized learning program offered through a Grade 8 class at the middle schools and one Grade 7 class, McGee noted.
High School Principal Carnell Henderson was also pleased with all the summer improvements at his school on Monday and said he hopes his students will be equally impressed.
The work included the painting of the interior of the school and carpeting work, and there was even an effort to spruce up the grounds with landscaping and other improvements, he noted.
“It is just a lot of work coming from the community and the district, and I think it is going to have a positive impact on the kids when they see the commitment that has been made to their school,” Henderson said. “I think it is going to lead to us having a very exciting year when they come in and see a lot of the changes that have been made,” he added.
One of the first things they will see is the new mural a former student, Jordan Dubois, painted in the lobby off the auditorium that offers the keywords to learning success and the goal of graduating from the school, Henderson noted. “They are just the basic words that we strive to live by, respect, preparation, responsibility and pride,” he said.
Jeff Partington, president of the Woonsocket Teachers Guild, said he also believes all of the improvements in local facilities will have a positive impact on the new school year.
“The buildings look really, really good, and they have done a lot of capital improvements,” Partington said.
“It comes after many years of neglect, and I think the physical changes and the focus of the administration on quality education makes me proud to be a part of one of the best teaching staffs in the state,” Partington said.
School starts for high school ninth-graders, elementary grades 1-5 and all middle school students on Wednesday. Kindergarteners with last names A through L will also start school on Wednesday and then have Thursday off, when kindergartners with last names M through Z come in that day, as will the rest of the high school grades.
All students are in school on Friday.