Schools

District 30 plans for the future

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Superintendent Nicholas Stirling laid out a plan and goals for the future at District 30’s Oct. 27 meeting.

“For both myself and the board,” he said, “our priority is always academics. Addressing the academic and scholastic needs of the students in our district is the number one goal for all of us.”

Stirling and the board stated a number of goals as part of an update on the district’s strategic plans, which lay out a road map for the future. At the meeting, Stirling highlighted three specific programs designed to enhance education at the district’s three elementary schools.

The first program highlighted was the district’s new arts and education program, which is in its first year.

“We wanted to expand on our arts education,” Stirling said. “We want the arts to factor into our children’s education not just as standalone classes, but to cross over all content areas.”

Jazz is this year’s theme for the arts and education program. Students have been examining jazz music through historical, cultural and even mathematical lenses in order to better understand both the art form and their content areas.

“We really want this to be an integrated process where students are able to use the arts to enhance their learning in all subject areas,” Stirling explained.

The district is also currently in the second year of a new science curriculum that debuted last year. The program adheres to more rigorous academic standards than the previous curriculum, Stirling said, and focuses on giving students an up-close and personal experience with the sciences.

“Our new science curriculum really is, and will be, an ongoing process,” Stirling said. “We want to give our students more hands-on activities in the sciences so they can be prepared to meet the new, stricter science standards. Science is critically important in this day and age, so we want to make sure our students are prepared.”

Stirling also highlighted the district’s new strategy for ensuring the social and emotional well-being of its students, the RULER method. RULER, which stands for Recognizing emotions in self and others, Understanding the causes and consequences of emotions, Labeling Emotions accurately, Expressing emotions appropriately and Regulating emotions effectively, was developed by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, and seeks to help students and faculty use and understand emotions to further their education. District faculty and staff traveled to Yale this summer to learn more about the system and how it can be used in Valley Stream.

Stirling said that while the first priority for the district’s leaders remains academics, programs that focus on other aspects of students’ lives must not be ignored.

“Social and emotional health are key components of a child’s academic career,” Stirling said. “This program looks specifically at identifying emotions and developing emotional intelligence. That way we can know and understand the emotions students are feeling, and they can learn the best way to express and learn from those emotions.”