In the hallways and classrooms of Poughkeepsie schools, students greeted their new teachers on Wednesday and settled in for the start of the new school year. From a new attendance system to talking “smart boards,” there were several changes awaiting the students:
• Within the next week or so, a new scan-card attendance system for the high school will go online to help staff members keep track of students’ whereabouts – and also determine who is cutting classes. Students will enter the building by swiping a bar-coded identification card at one of the system’s four stations. Using terminals in their classrooms, teachers will mark student attendance, and the system can generate reports showing a student’s whereabouts throughout the day. The attendance system is ready to go, and students will soon be issued photo ID cards.
• A full-body weapons detection scan system, combined with an attendance system, is planned to go online soon at the alternative program for middle and high school students with behavior problems (located at the Circle of Courage school). There are few students at the Circle school now, but as students demonstrate behavior problems, they could be placed at the school. Weapons detection for the high school could follow sometime in the future – the scan-card attendance system at PHS can be upgraded for weapons detection.
• This is the first year for a new ninth-grade academy at Poughkeepsie High School, which is intended to improve the quality of attention freshmen receive. Ninth graders will be segregated for most of their classes in a dedicated wing of PHS with dedicated teachers and administrators. This program is also a forerunner for career-themed academies, where students would focus their learning around a discipline such as law and government, medical, or international studies. Superintendent Laval Wilson expects to implement career academies beginning in September 2008.
• The purchase of 11 new “smart boards” was allotted in the budget this year, and Wilson said each of the schools now has at least one smart board. The classroom learning aids are similar to a projector and screen in appearance, but they feature touch-screen technology and sound. For example, a student paper scanned into a computer can be projected onto the board for the entire class to view. Teachers can add editing marks using a special digital “pen” then print out the edited copy. Students can also practice their handwriting on the board or participate in interactive math or science lessons.
• A new observation classroom laboratory has been constructed at the middle school. One-way glass allows other educators to observe a class while it is in session. The observation room will be used to train teachers.
• About 40 new ninth-graders are set to embark on a five-year track to graduate from high school. The students on the five-year track have histories of low grades and test scores, and were recommended to it by their teachers. Wilson has billed the initiative as a way to help ensure that students in need of extra help can catch up with peers before they graduate.
• Students at all elementary schools will now be using the same series of reading textbooks.
• Let’s Get Ready: Student volunteers at Vassar College have plans to bring a college preparatory program to Poughkeepsie High School. A team of Vassar volunteers will prep high school juniors and seniors to take the SATs and will help guide them through the tricky process of college and financial aid application. Called “Let’s Get Ready,” the program is set to begin in spring 2008.