Hamden Holiday House Tour

If the mobs at the mall and all the icicle lights on your street aren't getting you in the holiday mood, try this.

The Hamden Chamber of Commerce has organized a fabulous Holiday House Tour. Not only is this a great way to get your holiday groove on, but all proceeds will benefit the Hamden Education Foundation.

The tour is sponsored by Calcagni Associates Real Estate and all the decorations are donated by Hamden businesses.

The tour is from 10am to 3 pm. The cost of a ticket is only $20.00 per person. Tickets may be purchased at:

• Calcagni Associates Real Estate, 2620 Whitney Ave. 288-1821
• The Hamden Chamber of Commerce, 2969 Whitney Ave. 288-6431.

A delicious lunch and Holiday Craft Bazaar will be held at West Woods School, 350 West Todd Street. Area restaurants have donated soups and sandwiches for this special event.

Download Ticket Form

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

That pretty much sums up the Hamden 2008 budget season.

We've barely passed the election and already we're talking budgets?

Even though the actual debate and passage of our Board of Ed and town budgets are months away, it's never too early to start letting parents/taxpayers know that their input is crucial to the process.

I attended the PTA meeting at Spring Glen this evening, and by chance, found that they had invited their BOE rep, John Keegan, and Town Council Education Chair, Jim Pascerella, to walk their group through the budgeting process and how and when the PTA could / should contribute.

Here's the timeline:

November - December - Principals, department heads, other develop and submit budget requests to Superintendent
January - Superintendent presents recommended budget to BOE
January - February -
a) Finance Committee deliberates/finalizes budget request
b) Public hearing on proposed budget
c) Board deliberates / approves final budget request
March - Board approved budget submitted to Mayor; budget becomes line item in Mayor's budget submitted to Town Council
April - May - Town Council deliberates and holds public hearings
May 15 - Deadline for Town Council to approve Mayor's budget
June - Council approved budget amount returns to BOE; BOE makes final adjustments
July - New budget year begins

How to contribute:

I would recommend attending at least one preliminary BOE general or finance meeting to get an idea of what plans the Superintendent has for our district and how we pay for those plans. If there are items/issues that you want to be sure are included, attend public sessions and/or contact the BOE representatives and let your voice be heard. I would expect Fran will want to make the rounds to PTAs or at least to the PTA Council as well.

When the budget has reached the Mayor's office, let him know how you feel about the budget.

Perhaps the most critical step is being part of the citizenry that stands in support of the BOE line of the town budget. Attend the public hearings that will be held in April and May. (more info at the bottom of this article).

Here's the rock:

At Tuesday's BOE meeting, the Board and the Teachers' Union tentatively agreed on contract that includes a 2% increase. That's just one of many unions (custodians, fire, police, administrative) that will have a contractual increase.

The utilities - electricity, fuel, telephone - will all be going up, as well as health insurance.

The budget has to rise, even if we don't spend on anything new.

Here's the hard place:

Where does that money come from? The voters sent a clear message to Mayor Henrici and the Town Council with their close win that balancing the budget on the backs of personal property owners is unacceptable.

Perhaps the rest of this legislative session will see our state lawmakers make progress with true tax reform that would change this imbalance. Write or call your reps and ask them.

In the meantime, the state budget passed in May 2007 covers expenditures through June 2009, so we're not likely to see any additional funds not already allocated to Hamden or our school system.

I don't know where the money comes from, but somewhere besides the taxpayers would be welcome.

However I am hopeful that the BOE will get the funding to at least maintain the status quo for the following reasons:

1. Fran Rabinowitz, our new superintendent, has dealt with budgets bigger than ours in harder times than ours. She has the wisdom and experience to make informed choices and recommendations that have the best interest of our children at heart.

2. Ed Sullivan, chair of the BOE Finance Committee, is a true fiscal conservative and has a mantra that I have heard other board members repeat:"If you put something, you have to take something out." He is a fair and compassionate man who does the right thing for the right reasons.

3. We have many Town Council members (and a Mayor) who understand the value of investing in our school system, especially Jim Pascerlla (a board member of the Hamden Education Foundation) and Al Gorman, a former teacher.

4. We have active and attentive PTAs who will educate and encourage their parents, students and school's staff to speak in support of a BOE budget that at least maintains the status quo.

Parent and student involvement is truly key. At the meeting tonight Jim Pascerella recounted last year's Town Council BOE budget public hearing. The Talented And Gifted program (TAG) was rumored to be on the chopping block. A large number of TAG students spoke on behalf of themselves, their friends and their program. They pleaded with the Council to not cut their program because of all the good that it brought to their lives and to the town. That civic action changed a few minds on the council and the current budget was ultimately passed, without cutting TAG.

Jim encouraged PTAs and the PTA Council to broaden the scope of the coming year's Town Council budget hearing speakers. If we could get at least six parent and child speakers from each school, and maybe 25 from the Middle and High School, telling the Council, in their own words, what they love best about their school, well...as Jim put it, "How can you say 'No' to a 12-year-old?"

I'll be posting dates, times and actions regarding the Hamden and BOE budgets at this location, so please subscribe to this blog or check back to get alerts.

Marjorie

Hamden's Wellness Policy

On November 8, 2007, Jeanne Cooper, Hamden Public School's Director of Physical Education, Health and Athletics, and Co-Chair of the Hamden Nutrition Council, presented the current wellness policy.

Under No Child Left Behind, starting in 2004, every state / school, was mandated to adopt a wellness policy that would keep our children healthy and active. In 2006, Ms. Cooper and representatives from each school (administrators and one teacher or staff member who was directly responsible for the children's health) and a number of health professionals, formed the Hamden Nutrition Council.

After a year of meeting and presenting options to the Board of Education, the current policy was adopted and fully implemented at the beginning of this year.

Nearly all of the parents present were concerned with the moderate tone of the policy's language, especially regarding recess. The policy states that (elementary) students should receive 20 minutes of recess, and teachers are "discouraged from denying students recess as a means of punishment or to make up work, and, in those instances when this is deemed necessary, provisions should be made fro the child to receive 20 minutes of physical activity for that day, if appropriate."

This year is about rolling out the policy, getting people used to change. Obtaining a more stringent policy will take time, much like the process that got smoking off of airlines and out of the workplace and restaurants.

Rather than speak on behalf of all our PTAs, we asked that those present return to their units, discuss it and come back to PTA Council with their school's opinion. At our next meeting we would possibly put forth a resolution to the Nutrition Council asking for stronger wording and enforcement of the recess requirement.

In addition, we have asked administrators and PTA units to choose a representative to join the Nutrition Council. It would only require two to three meetings per year, including a report back to the PTA Council.

Baby steps, but steps toward a better wellness policy none the less.

In the end, we were grateful to Jeanne for helping us to understand the wellness policy, and she was thankful for our candor.

In the meantime, we look to parents and extended families for help. We ask that you model healthy habits: use activities and non-food items as rewards, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, be active and play with your kids, drink lots of water and get a good night's rest. I sound like your mother, right?!

Be well,
Marjorie

"Minding the Gap" in the Classroom

Disclaimer - I'm not a professional educator, psychologist or nutritionist; I'm just a mom who would like to share what works for me.

"Mind the gap" is the polite message heard in the London subway system when boarding a train. It reminds people to be careful of the large gap between the platform and the train. I use it as a mantra to help me live in the present moment, reminding me to mind the gap between stimulus and response.

This "look before you leap" approach is critical to keeping order in my household (as well as other facets of my life). On a typical Saturday morning, my grade school kids are contentedly watching TV. Then, seemingly out of the blue, they start arguing: "Get OFF of me!", "I want to watch SPONGE BOB!", etc.

If I'm not minding the gap, I turn off the TV and send them each to their rooms to cool off. If I AM minding the gap, I turn of the TV and start asking questions; not "Who started it!!!," but "What would you like for breakfast?" , "Have you been to the potty yet?" or "Are you thirsty?"

From the moment they were born we have asked these questions, figured out what was wrong, and Voila!, our child stopped crying (usually). Nothing has changed except the child is older. Their physical state still affects their mood and needs to be evaluated before we take disciplinary action.

So how does this relate to school? Why do you think Hamden Public Schools are now offering breakfast in all schools? You can't concentrate or behave on an empty stomach, can you?

A few weeks back I was volunteering at my school and I overheard the teacher in the next classroom (we have open classrooms at West Woods) and was appalled at the way the teacher was handling a "problem" student. The child had not done his homework, was talking to his neighbor, getting things wrong, and within 30 minutes the child had four checks and a detention. BTW, this was a first or second grader. It was also 10:30 and the class hadn't had snack yet. I left with a knot in my stomach because of the accusatory tone the teacher took with the student. Its quite possible that the child in trouble has learning and behavioral issues. However, if she had minded "the gap" and spent a moment to think about what immediate physical need the child had, like that he was hungry, the downward spiral to detention could have been avoided.

Even though our children are able to make their own choices and do things themselves, they haven't learned to do a body scan, asking the questions that pertain to their physical and emotional well being. It's up to us, as parents and teachers, to continue to monitor all of their needs until we've taught them how to do it on their own.

I often think of Dr. John Gray's perspective from, "Children Are From Heaven." Children are not "bad," they misbehave to get attention. We should mind the gap and find out what they really need.

Peace,
Marjorie

Let's Do Lunch...and RECESS...Healthy and Safe

The November Hamden PTA Council meeting (Thursday, November 8th at 7:00pm, in the Hamden Middle School Cafeteria) will feature a discussion of Hamden’s New Student Nutrition and Physical Activity (Wellness) Policy.

Our special guest will be Jeanne Cooper, Director of Physical Education, Health and Athletics for Hamden Public Schools and Chair of Hamden's Wellness Council. She will present Hamden's new SEVEN page comprehensive Student Wellness Policy and answer your questions. (Hamden's previous wellness plan was only one paragraph!)

"The Hamden Board of Education recognizes there is a clear link between our students' health and their ability to learn." (Jeanne Cooper & Cheryl Townsend, 2006/2007 Co-chairs of Hamden's Wellness Council)

The new policy was developed with input from educators, parents, and the medical and health care community and includes significant changes to:

• School Meals
• Nutrition Education
• Physical Education
• Recess
• Extracurricular Activities
• School Vending Machines
• School Fund-Raisers
• School Functions
• Classroom Celebrations & Rewards (Yes, we’re talking cupcakes!)

The Hamden PTA Council invites all parents and members of our educational community to come and learn how we can work with our schools to help our kids stay healthy.

We will also be discussing a related topic – lunch aides – to see if we can help HPS/BOE come up with a comprehensive solution to this important safety issue.

Representation from each school is imperative to getting a full perspective on what’s working and what is not. If you are a lunch aide, we encourage you to attend and share your first hand knowledge.