Besides being a principal, Kate Polumbo is a parent and a friend of other parents. On Jan. 6, she told the school board about an e-mail with an attachment she received from a friend in distress. “Do you know how to do this homework?” the woman pleaded.
Mrs. Polumbo was speaking at the second of three presentations on the Common Core State Standards. In the audience were a number of parents of middle schoolers — a good turnout considering the cold temperatures and high winds.
But at the end of the night, there were only two comments from the guests — one concerned testing and the other accelerated math. Compared to the Nov. 18 meeting, when the board heard from elementary school families, the response was very moderate.
School Board President Melanie Mulroy Robinson was surprised. “I expected every parent to have their say,” she said the next afternoon. “But I think this will be a moot point in a few years.”
It does seem as if the adjustment to the new standards will get easier with time. On Jan. 6, members of the middle school faculty described how they were working into the program. And Mrs. Polumbo, their principal, was frank but optimistic in discussing the challenge. “This is hard for the teachers,” she admitted, “but they’re doing a phenomenal job. It’s like being a brand new teacher all over again.”
It also must be hard for the students. At the meeting, the board got to see the math problems that kids in the middle grades now have to solve. One involved a comparison of lab cultures, in which each quantity included an exponent.
It was intimidating, but the mood of the evening was generally upbeat. When it was time for board comments, Vice President Charlie Frankel praised the presenters. “Listening to you,” he said, “gives me a great deal of confidence.”
Principals and administrators have also gained confidence at meetings with their counterparts from other schools. They have come back with the perception that Cornwall is either on a par or ahead of the other districts.
The Board of Education’s Common Core Committee will begin work this month. It will monitor what’s happening in the schools, and be open to whatever the teachers need.
School Board President Melanie Robinson is a part of that committee. As a former principal and teacher, she’s been impressed by the district’s transition into the new program. “You really have to be at the top of your game to do this,” she said at the end of the Monday night meeting. “My hat’s off to the teachers.”
