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September 2005
Welcome
to the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District!
Classes
have begun in the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District for
over 7000 K-12 students. The summer months have been busy ones for
the district. Outlined below are just a few of the highlights.
Board
Adopts District Goals for 2005-2006
The
Board of Education adopted five goals for the 2005-2006
school year. Specific measurable objectives will be developed
for each goal and presented in September.
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| A.
Curriculum and Student Achievement |
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Goal:
Provide K-12 rigorous instructional programs for all students
that are both academically challenging and developmentally appropriate. |
| B.
Financial Sustainability |
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Goal:
Ensure financial stability by maximizing resources through sound
fiscal management. |
| C.
Educational Services and Programs |
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Goal:
Promote and support excellence at all schools for all students. |
| D.
Staff Recruitment and Retention |
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Goal:
Maintain highly qualified staff at all levels of the district. |
| E.
Community Involvement |
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Goal:
Strengthen and support community connection and participation. |
District
Teachers Develop & Prepare Local Accountability System
During the week of August 1-5, over fifty K-12 teachers worked together
with our administrative staff and professional consultants from
WestEd to develop a local accountability system, specific to the
Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District. Our talented educators
identified essential standards for each grade level and course in
both English Language Arts and Mathematics and began the process
of developing benchmark assessments. Information will be shared
at individual school sites. This important instructional endeavor
was completely funded by categorical funding specific to staff development
and training, funds that could not be used for on-going compensation
costs.
New
Administrative Team at RCHS
Please join me in welcoming new members of our administrative team
at Rancho Cotate. Our new principal Joe Williams and new assistant
principals Erin Lane and Josh Wilson join assistant principal Michael
Nolden who joined the district last year. Please lend your support
to this new team as they provide leadership at RCHS. All of our
students will benefit from our strong high school programs. It is
important to remember that the majority of our K-8 students will
matriculate through Rancho Cotate High School. Voicing your support
for RCHS at the elementary and middle school levels will further
enhance the public perception of RCHS.
Facility Enhancement and Maintenance
As you return to school sites you will note that our Maintenance
and Grounds staff have been busily preparing our facilities and
grounds for the opening of school. You will also note that major
projects including painting, new roofs, new flooring, new asphalt,
power washing, and other facility maintenance projects were completed
over the summer.
Tentative
Agreement Reached with RPCEA
The District and RPCEA reached a tentative agreement for all issues
for the 2004-2005 school year outside of the mediation process.
After two sessions with a state appointed mediator, the parties
met together and came to tentative agreement on all issues. These
include:
-Additional 1% salary enhancement effective January 1, 2005, resulting
in a total of 1.5% salary increase for 2004-2005, which will roll
into 2005-2006 as a 2% increase over the 2003-2004 salary schedule.
-Combination
class support – K-5 teachers with combination classes shall
receive instructional assistant time for classes that exceed 26
students. In addition, combination class teachers will be provided
additional preparation time.
-Summer
school hourly rate of pay will be increased to $30 per hour effective
with the 2005 summer school session.
Thanks
to the members of both teams for their efforts to reach resolution
on a number of challenging issues.
New
Student Information Management System
District support and administrative staff received training on the
implementation of our new student information system, Aeries. This
new management system will provide us with a comprehensive K-12
student system that will maintain all data specific to individual
students. Our high schools will open the new school year using this
new system, with our elementary and middle schools being brought
on line during the school year.
New
E-mail and Web Hosting
Over the summer, we ended our web hosting and email relationship
with Sonoma State. We now work with the Sonoma County Office of
Education for these services. All district employees may now receive
district email accounts, which will soon be web based, providing
staff the ability to retrieve email from anywhere in the world.
I hope
that the coming school year is a positive one for each of you as
we strive to provide every child with the educational opportunities
they deserve.
Happy
New Year!
Michael
Watenpaugh, Superintendent
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