Transition team created to assist students with changes
The Mantua school district is adapting, and the board of education has positive feelings about the new direction.
The district will transition to grade level schools in September, and the Sewell school building will serve as the district’s early childhood center serving preschool and kindergarten students.
The remaining students traditionally attending Sewell, grades one through three, will join their fellow Mantua district students at the Centre City campus.
J. Mason Tomlin will remain the school for intermediate elementary students in grades four through six.
This change will “help the district remain future focused on how to best deliver educational services for our students while investing in the development of a high quality district-wide early childhood center,” Superintendent Dr. Robert Fisicaro said after explaining some of the key goals of this transition.
The district believes this transition will give students the opportunity to build better friendships at an early age that have the potential to carry through into high school at Clearview.
“This allows for deeper social connection in all elementary levels,” is a quote taken from a document provided by the school district about the transition.
Another hopeful outcome of this project is for same-grade-level teachers to work toward a unified curriculum goal in the same building rather than collaborating across two locations. The same philosophy is behind the benefits of localized district personnel, such as specialized staff.
Historically, special education needs are higher at Centre City due to a larger student population, which results in district resources centralizing there, according to the document previously cited.
By combining, the district aims to ensure equity among classrooms so all students with the same diagnosis receive the appropriate level of support while maximizing the efficiency of resources across the district.
Mantua is hopeful that with the ability to build programming specialized for each building, student learning can be maximized along with developmentally appropriate environments at each school and more families will be drawn to Mantua for its education system.
To help carry-out this transition, the district created a transition team of administration, PTO/SSA members, parents, teachers, Board of Education members and a project manager.
The main objective of this team is to help minimize any fears children might have before their educational experience is adjusted.
“Our goal of assembling and mobilizing the district’s transition team is to involve the entire community in this transition so that all stakeholders were involved and voices were heard,” Fisicaro said.
To assist students with the social aspect of this transition, several activities are scheduled through the remainder of the school year.
Some activities include a Sewell and Centre City family skating party that took place on Jan. 23, at the Deptford Skating Rink. Also, Sewell students will be invited to join Centre City students at their annual book bingo on April 17.
To further assist, all students in kindergarten through grade two will be assigned a pen pal from the other school. Students will exchange approximately four letters. Following this, Sewell students will visit Centre City’s campus for a tour and eat lunch with their future classmates. On May 22, an open house will be held at Centre City for all students and families.
More information will be made public as it is provided.
