SOUTH OTSELIC – As Larry Thomas begins his second year as superintendent of the Otselic Valley school district, many changes are on the horizon. One thing he hopes will remain the same is the success the school has seen with its high percentage of graduating seniors.
This year Otselic Valley will play host to a new high school principal, Scott Poreda. Poreda, who started in the district on July 1, has worked as a K-12 principal in the Indian River School district, and as an assistant principal in Southern Cayuga. Thomas said he was already pleased with the work that Poreda has been doing.
“I think it will be a good year for the kids with his experience,” he said.
The district will also have a new guidance counselor this year. Robin Beckwith, who formerly filled this position, received a job as a principal in another area school, and will be leaving. The school is still interviewing to fill this post.
In addition the school will also have two new teachers. Judy Finucane, an elementary teacher, and Erica Eaton, high school English, both left the district at the end of last year. Their replacements were named at a board meeting last Wednesday night. Kristina Clark will be teaching high school English, and Matthew Williams will fill the elementary position. The school also hired Kelly Giarrusso to work in the elementary school as a teacher’s assistant.
Thomas’ plans for the year include continuing the reading first program in the elementary school with the help of principal Nancy Gallaher. The superintendent says the first year was successful.
“Now that we’re comfortable with the program, we can see what changes need to be made, and student scores are expected to go up,” Thomas said.
Changes will also be made with regards to the physical education curriculum. The course is being altered to include more wellness instruction in addition to the activity portion of the course.
The superintendent hopes he will be able to improve the school’s relationship with the community. That is why the school website will be revamped this year. With the help of the tech committee, the design and layout of the school’s website will be overhauled. The superintendent expects it to be finished in the near future.
One way the community is becoming involved is through participation in the booster club. The Otselic Valley School district has been without a booster club for a number of years, but this year the club has returned. They have already begun fund raising and plan to donate a new scoreboard to the school this year.
The booster club’s efforts should prove helpful, since budget cuts combined with declining enrollment made it necessary for the Otselic Valley School district to cut two teacher positions last year. A special education teacher and a reading teacher were cut from the program; however the superintendent assures that this is all just a part of being cost effective.
“We’re looking at some internal changes, but we are doing our best to become more cost efficient,” he said.
Despite these problems, Otselic Valley has one of the highest graduation rates in the district. Thomas attributes the success to a connection between the students and the staff.
“We try to be flexible with the students and adapt to their needs,” Thomas said. However, he refuses to stop looking at the issues just because the school is currently successful.
“In a school this size, one student can really change the numbers,” he said. That is why the school is continuing to look at drop out rates and working to get the students through.
“I’m hopeful our kids will continue to be successful and we will work hard to make that happen.”