Coalition for Glen Cove

Michael Griffin, Glen Cove assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction, and grants, speaks at November 2004 Coalition meeting

Coalition members Fred Moore and Sean Dwyer, Assistant Superintendent Michael Griffin, and Coalition Vice-president Helen Kotzky

Dr. Michael Griffin, the Glen Cove School District assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction, and grants, was the guest speaker at the November meeting of the Coalition for Glen Cove.

Dr. Griffin said that he has observed the teaching of almost all of the twenty probationary teachers in the district and is impressed with the quality of their classes: However, because of the austerity budget resulting from the voters rejection of the school budget, the district has lost ten teaching positions and as a result some high school classes are very large. Students from pre-kindergarten to third grade as well as students studying English as a second language would also benefit from smaller class sizes.

The new Federal Twenty-First Century Grant has allowed the school district to provide funding to the Boys and Girls Club to give after-school help to students through a program coordinated by Glen Cove teacher Beth Wilding. The grant will also support English as a Second Language classes for two hours each Saturday for twenty weeks and in summer school.

The Glen Cove district is exploring cooperation with Syracuse University to teach advanced high school courses that are accepted for college credit by Syracuse and many other colleges and also are preparation for the nationwide Advanced Placement exams. Syracuse University Project Advance provides curricula for these courses, teacher preparation, and visits by Syracuse faculty to Glen Cove and will reduce the isolation some teachers feel when they are the only ones in the district teaching their advanced placement course. The district has also arranged with the Nassau Board of Cooperative Educational Services for coaching of middle school teachers by retired English teachers..

In order to make the middle school smaller and to avoid having ten-year-olds in the same building and on the same buses as fourteen-year-olds, the district is discussing moving fifth grade students to Connolly and Landing elementary schools. The four new classrooms required at each school could be new construction or modern modular classrooms. Money for the new classrooms could be found by improving heating and lighting in district buildings to save energy and reduce the current million-dollar annual utility bill.

In response to Dr. Griffin’s statement that he was worried that so few black and Hispanic students were taking high school advanced placement courses Coalition members pointed out that pressure from their friends deterred some students from taking these courses. Including more course material of interest to these students might encourage greater participation in educational activities. .

Several people mentioned that Glen Cove needs an adult education program to provide useful courses to the community and to bring people into the schools in the evening. Although La Fuerza Unida runs popular English courses, more courses for parents who find it difficult to talk with their children’s teachers would be useful. Both Roslyn and Locust Valley have adult education programs that support themselves with little cost to the school district.