BY JOHN NUGENT
At the Mineola Board of Education meeting last week, Nicole Moriarity, director of the English New Language program, led a presentation by several teachers about the development of writing skills by children from pre-K to seventh grade.
“Every learner is an author. By creating a sense of belonging, purpose and meaning, the district is cultivating accomplished writers,” Moriarity said. “The vision is for all learners to see themselves as writers, communicators and storytellers.”
Moriarity outlined the steps taken in developing writing skills, beginning with letter formation in pre-K to forming simple and complex sentences in grades 1 to 4 followed by writing essays in grades 5 and 6. She described writing as a dynamic process in explaining the evolution of developing an idea, writing and editing a draft, and finally publishing it.
At the pre-K level, the importance of progression from pictures to learning letters to writing words was presented by teachers Alexandra Bauer and Nancy Ekloff.
Third- and fourth-grade teachers Olivia Sais and Erika Pena spoke of their learners focusing on a global perspective in writing about history, geography and cultural subjects.
An explanation of reflective writing, introduced in middle school, was presented by seventh-grade teacher Nicole DeStefano. The goal at that level is to prepare the learners for the transition into high school, DeStefano said.
At the end of the writing presentation, district Superintendent Michael Nagler emphasized the importance of “growth” in assessing writing skills throughout the early school years.
Highlights of the proposed 2022-23 district budget were presented by Andrew Casale, assistant superintendent for business and operations.
The budget of $110 million calls for a decrease of $1.8 million from the current year, a decline of 1.62%. The tax levy remains unchanged at $84,660,000, Casale said.
State aid is expected to increase to $11 million from $9 million while notable expense items include increases of $2.5 million in salaries and benefits, Casale added. Part of this increase reflects the rehiring of 12 full-time employees who were not on the payroll in the current year due to staff reductions because of COVID-19.
The public vote on the budget will be held on May 17.
