October 6, 2017

Dr. Gentile and Maddy the Therapy Dog 

This week has been marked by a historically terrifying event. Our hearts and thoughts go to all of the survivors, victims, and family members of the Las Vegas shooting. With so much evil in the world around us, some weeks are more challenging than others to stay positive.

On the local front, the MPS Family has lost a dear member of our team. This week Kathy Schischkin of CFC passed away. She was a dedicated educator, friend and colleague and we are deeply saddened by the loss. She is remembered for her positive outlook. I feel it is only right that we honor her loss with trying to look on the bright side.

Loss can be overwhelming, it can paralyze us with depression and sadness – but we can also take it as a reminder that life is precious. Tomorrow is not promised to any of us. So as you approach this three-day weekend, keep that in mind. As you interact with your loved ones try to remember just how fragile life is.

Around the District…you already know that there are amazing people in every building! This week I had the chance to interact with one of our furry members of the family – Maddy the Therapy Dog at MHS. Maddy comes in on Fridays to provide a pleasant distraction to all she comes in contact with. If you haven’t had the chance to meet Maddy, I highly recommend doing so. (see Maddy and I take our first selfie)

David Crain presenting at Kiwanis 

Lastly, I had the opportunity to escort students to this week’s Kiwanis meeting. (See picture) David Crain proved to be an outstanding example of what it means to be a Millville student! Kudos to him!


Have a great – long – weekend!

Regards,
Dr. G.

If you don’t watch Game of Thrones, disregard the following-

But for any of our Game of Thrones fans:
Please be warned, Mrs. Tyska’s bird “Curly” has decided to rename herself “Renly” after watching GOT - I fear for Mr. Saul that a ‘coo’ (aka - coup d’etat) may be coming. Lord Saul, you need to raise your banners in defense. Mrs. Tyska, you may need to explain to Curly what actually happens to Renly…perhaps that will change her mind.

Dr. David N. Gentile
Superintendent of Schools
“Lead Learner”
@drgentile_mps (Twitter)
856-327-6001

#MPSWC (MPS World Class)
#greatdaytobeabolt

Published by Spike Cook, Millville, NJ

September 29, 2017

Photo by Patrick Perkins on Unsplash

I hope you have enjoyed another great week in the MPS District! Before heading off on what I hope will be a great weekend for you, I just wanted to share a couple of highlights from the week as well as share a glimpse of a new adventure the District is planning to take this year.

Monday night’s board of education meeting was amazing as we recognized and celebrated various staff members. We recognized years of service as well as perfect attendance over refreshments. A big thank you to Vicky Charlesworth who was responsible for all of the scrumptious food. A thank you to her daughter Chelsea for helping out as well. Monday night was an enjoyable night – an important night – we must recognize our number one resource – YOU!

The energy in the buildings continues to be positive and filled with the sights & sounds of learning.

 I want to recognize the staff at the Thunderbolt Academy for their “Donuts with Dads & Muffins with Moms” event yesterday. It was a successful brunch that afforded the parents and staff an opportunity to get to know each other better. The parents were then invited into the classrooms where they could support their child during several learning activities. This is a great example of how the district has embraced a customer service attitude towards our community. Great job!

Do you have a lot to say? I mean, do you have ideas on how to help the District continue striving for World Class? Do you wish you had an opportunity to come together with others to think about the future of the District? More than just think about the future – actually plan for it? If so, you are in luck! We are planning a comprehensive strategic plan and community engagement adventure. This will be an opportunity for students, parents, staff members, board members, and community partners to come together and lay out specific goals for our future. So if you have ever thought “why don’t we try…” you must come out and help shape our District’s future.

Our adventure, working title - “Community Engagement & Strategic Planning 2020” will begin this Fall. We are accepting proposals to lead our strategic plan until next week. Following the RFP process, the District will select the provider. In addition, the President of SNJToday has agreed to be our community partner in the quest.  They will help us promote the events, they will assist in videoing and editing the process (which will result in a video series that provides full transparency of our strategic plan).

While we are only in the early stages of planning… it is shaping up to be a truly amazing experience. Imagine parents, students, staff, board members, community members, civic leaders…all coming together to create the district’s vision for 2020 and beyond! Regardless of where we have been, it is time to plan where we are going! I encourage all of you to be an active participant in shaping our future together.

Have a great weekend! Go Bolts vs. Williamstown (Saturday 7pm @ Williamstown). Best of luck to all of our student athletes competing, to all of our musicians performing, to all of Bolts in whatever they have planned for the weekend.

Regards,
Dr. G.

Dr. David N. Gentile
Superintendent of Schools
“Lead Learner”
@drgentile_mps (Twitter)
856-327-6001

#MPSWC (MPS World Class)
#greatdaytobeabolt

Published by Dr. Spike Cook, Millville, NJ

September 22, 2017

Photo by Camille Minouflet on Unsplash

Hope you are all well. Looking forward to a great weekend I am sure. Tomorrow the PAL Golf Tournament will raise money for a great cause. I want to wish all involved a great day and thank the organizers for going above and beyond for our kids.

Continuing to enjoy my visits to our schools. Listening to the excitement and thoughtful discourse resonating out of our classrooms is encouraging.

Tonight, Thunderbolts take on the Prep…would like to wish them the best in taking the next step in their journey.

A big congratulations to all of the athletic teams, our Bolts are representing our community well in all areas. Keep up the great work.

Beyond the field, it is most important that our student athletes and students work towards becoming positive contributing members of society. Our staff continues to do a great job modeling appropriate behavior and molding the next generation.

I was at one of our elementary schools this week and a young lady (2nd grade I believe) was sent to the principal’s office because she was ‘misbehaving and having a rough day’. I dusted off my principal skills and attempted to get to the reason why she wasn’t behaving. The young lady has a great little smile and I found her to be simply adorable. When she expressed that she was hungry, despite having just had lunch a bit before, I couldn’t help but take her to the cafeteria for a second lunch. Although the cafeteria workers quietly told me she had already had a sandwich and that I was likely being manipulated, I got her a tray of food. After finishing her second lunch with me, she went back to class where I hoped with a full belly and my best lecturing to she would behave for her teacher. Today, I found out that she has been removed from her home because marks were found on her back. I can’t help but think that may be the real reason she was struggling in class. Many of our students are dealing with difficulties outside of school that make performing in school a struggle. I know you all already know this, but continue to give our kids an ‘extra lunch’ or ‘benefit of second chances’ because you may be the best thing that has happened to them all day.

Below is  a link to the NJEA web page article discussing how best to partner parents and schools in order to raise the next generation. This generation will someday be the next group of teachers, doctors, lawyers, plumbers etc… The article talks and warns about the phenomenon of ‘lawn-mower parenting’. This was the first time I heard this term. If I am honest in my reflection though, I sometimes want to exhibit behavior of the lawn-mower parent. Simply put, mowing down any potential problems or adversity in my kids’ path. For obvious reasons, parents are naturally protective; protecting is one thing, artificially removing all negative experiences from our kids’ lives is another. I feel this a great read for all educators and parents. If we recognize why parents respond so emotionally we can better address their concerns and ultimately help the child learn from each and every experience – positive or negative. As a parent, I hate to watch my own kids struggle – especially if I feel I could intervene and ‘fix’ it. After reading this article I will thing twice before doing so. (*I hope you enjoy the read)

Parents as Partners
https://www.njea.org/root-student-entitlement/
Have an outstanding weekend-

Regards,
Dr. G

Published by Spike Cook, Millville, NJ

September 15, 2017

Photo by Ben Hershey on Unsplash

I hope each of you are having an amazing Friday! I know I am. Tonight we have our Thunderbolt’s home-opener at 6pm. Please come out and support MPS Pride and wear your ‘Orange & Blue’.

In my continued travels to our schools, I am so impressed with the dedication to our students. I can feel the excitement in our hallways…in the classrooms I’m encouraged by the creativity our staff is using to engage our students. Unfortunately, I have also witnessed very difficult students testing the limits of our staff. More and more, we are being asked to educate and program for noncompliant and emotionally fragile students. I have observed first hand how one little ‘out of control’ kindergarten student can burden the resources of an entire school. It is with this in mind that we will remain committed to establishing programs that can better help our most troubled students. To make sure that the other students have access, unobstructed, to a high quality education.

I would like to again express our condolences to the Silver Run family and those closest to Diana Day. The least the district could do is provide counselors and substitutes to assist in the grieving process. The Silver Run staff did an excellent job supporting each other and the students as needed. We must make sure that we always look out for each other but especially during times of extreme grief.

Food for thought
Sometimes educators are pulled in too many directions. Fortunately, you all do an amazing job juggling all that is asked. But If it ever feels like you are becoming overwhelmed fall back to doing just one thing well…that is ‘do what is best for kids’. David Cottrell shared the fable of the fox and the cat that highlights this lesson. The story goes a fox boasted to a cat one day about how sly and wily he was. “I’ve got all kinds of fancy tricks,” the fox said. “For example, whenever I hear the dogs coming, I know a hundred different ways to escape”. The cat was very impressed and humbly said, “your cleverness is amazing. As for me, I have only one way to escape, and that is to climb up a tree. I know it’s not as exciting as all of your ways but it works for me. Maybe someday you could show me some of your different escape routes.” The fox smiled smugly, “Well, friend, perhaps I’ll have some free time one of these days to show you a trick or two.” Shortly afterward, the fox and cat heard a pack of hounds baying nearby. “They’re coming this way!” the cat shrieked. In a flash she scaled the nearby tree and hid herself in the leaves. The fox stood there overwhelmed trying to decide which of his many tricks to use. Paralyzed with indecision, the fox waited too long to make his move, and the hounds pounced on him…

When we have too many ‘important’ things to focus on, we become paralyzed and take no action at all. I encourage you to always remember above all else what is most important – our children! When in doubt, do what is best for kids. There are countless different methods to facilitate learning, sometimes the simplest is best.

Have a wonderful weekend-

Dr. G

Published by Spike Cook, Millville, NJ

September 8, 2017

Photo by Darren Bockman on Unsplash

We are off to an outstanding start. The 2017-2018 School Year began with bright smiling faces, optimistic attitudes, and the promise of a new beginning. Regardless of how last school year ended for you, each September we have the unique opportunity to hit the ‘reset’ button. Hit the button for you, hit the button for your students, and most importantly hit the button for those who upset you or with whom you were angry. Time for forgiveness. Holding onto anger and resentment is not healthy. It is stressful and potentially harmful to your health, not to mention what a grudge does the overall community.

So as this is the season of new beginnings, make up your mind to have the best year ever. Be positive, be hopeful, take exciting risks is the classroom with your students, most importantly – stumble often. It is in our failures we learn the most valuable lessons. So there it is, I am recommending that you make mistakes, lots of them. Try something you have always thought would be cool in your class… if it works – great, if it doesn’t simply learn from it and try again.

In this short few days I have been most impressed with how our buildings look, feel, and sound. There is a buzz from having the buildings full again.

Today I had the privilege of meeting a little 1st grader. She is having a great deal of difficulty communicating. With this comes frustration because she cannot interact with others so she lashes out. In addition, she tends to be a ‘runner’. At the first chance, she will try to escape. I mention my experience only to highlight how emmensely rewarding our work is…but at the same time it is uniquely challenging. I spent perhaps 20 minutes with this young lady – I worked up to actually taking a walk through the building with her (despite the very real fear by the social worker, principal and office staff that I may lose her). I am happy to say she did not try to run from me…I feel we actually made a little progress together in that I was able to better understand her needs by the end of our time.

You are all heroes! Instead of 20 minutes, you have the privilege of working day in and day out with students just like this young lady. Each challenging in their own unique way. You don’t quit on them and because of that they depend on you. So for all the moments already this week that you have wondered if you make a real difference, the answer is absolutely yes!! Keep up the great work.

Have a wonderful weekend!

-Dr. G.
Go Bolts – beat Egg Harbor
#greatdaytobeabolt

Published by Spike Cook, Millville, NJ