The advent of the New Year brings so many uncertainties in our educational landscape that it’s hard to remain focused on the essential question: what are we doing for our children and students? I’m reminded of the positives each time that I get the opportunity to speak with students, see them perform, and touch base with graduates. These interactions speak volumes about the success we’ve had as a district and far transcend any standardized tests, state audits, or national statistics.
I was fortunate to attend the 5-8 and high school holiday musical performances. Despite the size of our schools, our performing arts teachers have done a wonderful job of introducing students to instruments and to performing on stage. The impact of this instruction is so easy to see when you hear, almost back to back, performances from the 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th and 8th grade, and high school bands. The power, balance, stage presence, and overall performance improvement from band to band is very pronounced. The same may be said of our choirs and show choir.
Just before break we were also fortunate to have some of our graduates come back and participate in a panel discussion with current students. While I was unable to attend, the feedback that I’ve received from those participating is that this was a wonderful event and provided real life input and opportunity for our students to interact with our graduates to get an unvarnished view of life after high school. The fact that our graduates spoke so well of the preparation they received from Gateway, and their success in all of their endeavors after high school, speaks volumes to the success our staff has had in preparing students for life. As other students, and many college staff that I work with, have said, it’s much more than simply tests or the ability to memorize facts – it’s the ability to plan, to effectively communicate, to solve problems and collaborate with others, and the ‘gumption’ to tackle issues head on and work diligently to resolve them that make people successful. In my discussions with graduates, from the very recent to the distant past, it appears that the Gateway educational community has succeeded in the difficult task of preparing students beyond the 3 ‘R’s.
Does this mean there are no problems in the district? No, and I don’t think anyone would say that we don’t face a slew of problems as a collection of small, rural towns that make up such a small part of Massachusetts’ population. From limited tax bases, to underfunded (yet mandated) payments in lieu of taxes for state land, to the constantly unmet promise of 100% regional transportation reimbursement, to the unfunded mandates that are nearly impossible to fulfill in a tiny district (population, not land mass), Gateway faces a daunting task of meeting student needs while not bankrupting our towns. Despite such challenges, we somehow continue to turn out successful adults.
As we progress through the next few months, I hope some of the uncertainties will resolve themselves—the Worthington withdrawal, state 9C reductions, a new Governor, state budget issues—so we can focus more fully on students and continuing our success stories, a need that our politicians and pundits seem to lose sight of when pursuing their own specific agendas.
