|
|
Babylon Elementary School
171 Ralph Avenue
Babylon, New York 11702
Main Office: (631) 893-7960
Principal: Dana Spincola
Hours: 8:50 a.m. - 3:05 p.m. |
|
principal's message
2009-2010
Dear Parents, Neighbors, and Friends,
According to Webster’s New World College Dictionary, education is: “the process of training and developing knowledge, skill, mind, and character, especially by formal schooling and training.” Yet, in the halls of Babylon Elementary School and embedded in the hearts of our staff, education is substantiated by much more than this definition. Education is substantiated by modeling the skills our children need to be successful citizens in an ever changing world of influences. Such influences start at home and are taught in the form of both verbal and non-verbal messages about the types of people we are and perhaps those whom we are expected to be in the future. Such influences then grow from the media, peer groups, and society as a whole. It is in these venues that our responsibility as elementary school leaders is to model and substantiate the appropriate roles our children play as boys, girls, students, and citizens.
I have recently spent great time reflecting and trying to understand the nuances of such influences in our daily lives that affect our personality types and character. I found myself asking, “What type of influence do I want Babylon Elementary School to be for your children?” “What types of messages do I want to share and model for these children?” As teachers and elementary school staff we are charged with a great responsibility. The morning greetings, the daily affirmations, and the acts of service we share with each other everyday are the types of influences I hope to have on you children and with your families throughout this year.
We are responsible to others and for ourselves. Each of our staff members has a unique responsibility to the children in this building. In holding such responsibility to our children, we help them carry the difficulties they cannot carry themselves. We help nourish them with resources, strength, and knowledge to make decisions, accept mistakes and continue forward with commitment and perseverance.
Through curriculum and instruction, we will continue to move forward with our Literacy Collaborative model of teaching, and learning the components and priorities of phonemic and phonetic awareness, word skills, reading, and writing. Our responsibility to your children is to share with them the strategies in which to approach each of these components of English Language Arts.
In our Mathematics curriculum we are continuing to move forward in our adoption of Growing with Mathematics. Our responsibility last year during its inception, was to understand and engage with the curriculum so that it could transition from program to practice. This year, our responsibility will be to carry out that practice on a daily basis to positively influence our students with numbers, problem solving strategies and informational data.
Throughout the year we will also be responsible to teach the essentials of character identification and development, forgiveness and grace. We are again partnering with grades three through five at Babylon Memorial Grade School as a way to continue our Cross-Grade Level Curriculum Buddy Project. This project allows the students and classroom teachers to form partnerships, friendships and responsibilities to one another in times of greatest need and utmost celebration. This is an opportunity to conjoin the older and younger students for positive peer influence and modeling. Our teachers and students have both reported that this experience, which is now beginning its third year, is one in which partnerships and friendships to form where they may not otherwise have, especially among our staff.
Before beginning each new day, I ask that you read and reflect upon the book You are Special by Max Lucado. In this story of a town made of wooden people, we meet a young boy named Punchinello and his friend Lucia who are constantly plagued by the influences of others. The lesson we take from this story is that each of us is enough of a person just because of whom we each are, more than what others expect us to be, or what we believe others expect from us. I am hopeful that this year will be an opportunity for your children to understand the importance in being enough!
Fondly,
Dana M. Spincola
Principal
|
