reensburg Salem
GREENSBURG SALEM SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWS
School Success Through Transition Pathways
If you peeked into any of the three elementary school kindergarten classrooms in Greensburg Salem, you would see the busy routines and daily schedules of the kindergarten children independently arranging their morning work supplies. It wasn’ t too long ago when our kindergarten families were shopping for the perfect first day of school outfit along with the most colorful backpack and lunchbox. The anticipation of meeting the new teacher who would spend the school year with their child was a memorable moment in each kindergarten household.
The Greensburg Salem Kindergarten Team recognizes the importance of creating a smooth transition for children from formal preschool experiences or informal daycare practices into the full day celebration of kindergarten. This year the teachers greeted many familiar faces as a result of multiple opportunities offered by the elementary school teams prior to the first day of school in August.
Planning for the arrival of our youngest learners begins in January of each school year. Building administrators, school counselors and teacher teams arrange early intervention meetings with families who qualify for services in a seamless manner. This is followed by invitations to P. A. W. S.( Parents Are Welcome in our Schools) for our Greensburg Salem families interested in learning about the kindergarten transition pathway to success. P. A. W. S. workshops allow the children to spend four evenings getting to know the culture of the elementary school while having fun meeting new peers. Transition workshops are also meant to establish the beginning relationship between parents and the new school. Priority is placed on the target goal: collaboration. A child’ s school career begins with the handshakes and hugs from a new teacher and progresses to the rigor of number sense and beginning literacy skills. Collaboration centers on the whole child. The kindergarten teachers rely on the sharing between adults at home who can give insight into their child’ s interests and needs.
The late spring kindergarten registration and screening is meant to be another opportunity for the youngest learners to share more details about their developmental milestones. Readiness for kindergarten is about the school team getting ready for the child and celebrating the next steps in the new academic school year.
Support from the United Way Transition grant assists with the schools’ efforts to offer Kindercamp to the incoming children. The five half-day opportunities in the summer enhances the transition pathway by providing an introduction to the routines and personalities of the child’ s school. The first day of school becomes a familiar, comforting feeling for our young learners who engaged in the various Greensburg Salem happenings leading up to the August entry.
Our focus will continue to be on a warm, welcoming transition for each child’ s journey into Greensburg Salem School District.
Panel Discusses Skills for Success in the Workplace
Greensburg Salem School District’ s mission is to provide an educational experience that ensures each individual student becomes a productive and responsible citizen. To connect this mission to the real world, a panel of former GS students and local professionals was formed to speak at the first teacher in-service day of the year, discussing how communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity and problem solving are essential for success in the workplace.
Panel members shared insight into the key skills, behaviors and dispositions necessary to succeed as a professional. They spoke openly regarding their thoughts on how their K-12 education had an impact on their ability to perform the duties of their occupations and how they envision today’ s young learners beginning to develop essential skills for success.
According to Dr. Ken Bissell,“ The shared experiences and knowledge of the skills for success in today’ s workplace was essential for helping us build upon our mission to ensure every child is educated to become a productive and responsible citizen within our community.”
Special thanks to our panel participants for joining us for the In- Service Day discussion!
Mary Kay Babyak: Executive Director, The Consortium for Public Education Chad Zucco:
Chief of Police, City of Greensburg Roxanne Mullen Donahue: President, Mullen Refrigeration Services Richard Tutich:
VP Corporate & Institutional Banking, PNC
Robert Davis: Corporate Trust, Client Financial Management, BNY Mellon
Matt Gault:
Assistant Director of Education, Fort Ligonier Alexanna Kubler: Speech Language Pathologist
30 | Greensburg Salem