Mary Beth Banios (File photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)

The new school year got off to a smooth start at the elementary school, Principal Mary Beth Banios said in an interview last Wednesday morning. An upbeat Banios went over what she and her staff hope to achieve in the coming year, and talked about what’s new at the school.

The student population is down slightly from last year, and the number of fifth-grade classes has been cut from five to four. However, because one teacher moved out of state, no teacher had to be laid off, Banios said. There are now four classes at every grade level.

Class sizes all fit within the class-size guidelines, with 16 to 18 students per class in kindergarten to second grade, and 23 or 24 students per class in the third to fifth grades. A handful of new Choice students have been added to the first and second grades, which have slightly fewer kids than in the recent past.

Banios noted that in the last two years there has not been a large influx of new students between kindergarten and the first grade, as in previous years. She believes the expansion of some of the kindergarten classes to a full-day program has caused fewer parents to send their kindergarteners to private full-day programs elsewhere. That makes a smoother transition to the first grade, with fewer pupils who are brand-new to the school.

“Our kindergarten is designed to feed into our first grade; it has the same programs,” Banios explained.

The school staff will be taking a hard look at the elementary curriculum this year, trying to pare it down to essentials, Banios said. The school has set up study committees by grade level to work on distinguishing between what is crucial for students to know, and what is just “nice to know.” This effort is needed so the elementary teachers can downplay the less important curriculum and make time to teach more critical thinking skills, one of the goals of the schools’ new strategic plan.

When asked just what teaching critical thinking skills to young students means, Banios replied, “The kids need new skills. They won’t be doing routine automated tasks [in the future]—those jobs are gone. They will need to know how to pull lots of information together, how to persevere. Self-motivation is now needed... these students need to be educated for their future, not our past.”

Another of the school’s goals for the year is to help teachers meet the needs of all the students, whether they are learning at grade level or whether they are ahead of, or behind, their fellow students. To this end, there is now a 40-minute block of time set aside each day at all grade levels to allow for more differentiation in teaching. The students who need more help can leave the classroom, to meet with special education teachers or with math or reading tutors, without missing out on class lessons. The teacher will be able to focus on the smaller group of kids left behind, tailoring lessons to extend their learning at those students’ level, Banios said. The gifted kids can get enrichment of the regular curriculum then, she explained.

The elementary school will also work to improve its use of computers and technology such as SMART boards or computerized versions of whiteboards, Banios said. There is now only one SMART board in each grade, with other teachers clamoring to have them, too. However, each board costs $5,000, so any new boards will have to come from gifts and donations, Banios said. Many teachers took courses over the summer in how to incorporate the boards into lesson plans, making use of the boards more effective, she believes.

As for other equipment and facility upgrades, the school has now installed the rest of the ceiling fans voted for the school last spring, and they are making a big difference in keeping the second floor classrooms cool, Banios noted. The school now wants to focus on getting community support and involvement in an effort to upgrade the playground, which is 20 years old and is starting to fall apart. In addition, it no longer meets new handicapped accessibility codes. If funds can be found, she would like to see a new playground built next summer, Banios said.

When asked what she likes best about her job, Banios said it is seeing the kids get excited about learning, and when teachers tell her of their successes, saying, “You wouldn’t believe what just happened!”