As students, parents and staff prepare for the transition back to school, The Sun sat down with Superintendent Brian Repici to discuss what residents in the district can expect for the 2019-2020 school year.
New this year, the district has two student assistant counselors for the upcoming school year. It had only one in the past. SAC’s are specialized to provide more therapeutic relief to deal with instances such as trauma or substance abuse in the home, according to Repici.
The district is looking forward to continuing its mental health safety initiatives that were previously created.
One of those is the district’s wellness effort, which ensures that yoga and mindfulness are practiced in the classroom, such as phys ed and freshman seminar, a class the district developed for all freshman students.
“It’s a way for students to get a little more centered when they’re here,” said Repici.
Part of the reason they started the initiative, according to Repici, is because of a “dramatic shift” in who the district serves in the community. In 2003, 9 percent of students in the district were considered economically disadvantaged, receiving free and reduced lunch services.
Now, it’s more than 35 percent, according to Repici.
The shift in the last 16 years has caused the district to look at its support services to both students and families.
That has helped the district shift its disciplinary approach. Continuing this year is the district’s investment in its unique discipline practices. It’s an approach that Repici explains looks much different from a disciplinary code of conduct that would be used in the past, which he described as punitive.
“Some of those behaviors are just symptoms of a larger, underlying issue with some of our kids. Things that go on in the home that we don’t have control over and the child doesn’t have control over,” said Repici.
In other news, there will be a new organic garden greenhouse for students in the district’s developmental disabilities program. The district also expanded class elective choices for the same program to include horticulture.
New in sports is the addition of a volleyball athletic program for both boys and girls. The girls’ season will start soon, in the fall, and the boys season is in the spring.
Lastly, Repici has a message to his students for the upcoming school year.
“High school is a place where students can have some really great experiences. High school can also be the underpinning for their future, and I’m hoping that our students don’t take that lightly,” said Repici.
