234

NewFaceson theFieldHitting theHigh NotesFifteen Years...

INA

ULLEN

-H

AMZEH

“

CCPS fosters a commu-nity that empowers chil-dren.” This is the open-ing sentence of our mission statement,and wereIcharged with synthesizingwho we are and what we strive to do,those arethe words I would choose.Last year,we planted seeds of innova-tion to empower children, and thebenefits weresuch that an even moreextensive program has been designed. After a thorough review of MCASand NWEA scores, the CUEReport, and teacher observations,students needing specialized assis-tance were identified, and the fol-lowing initiatives wereimplemented.•For the struggling students (math,reading and/or writing), additionaltime on learning has been createdby exempting them from foreignlanguage instruction. This is anunfortunate sacrifice (because wevalue foreign language for all), butthis change has resulted in two orthree (depending upon grade level)additional 45-minute classes perweek in the area of need. Specificenrichments have also beenassigned to some students. It isexpected that via this support, thesechildren will be better able toachieve at grade-level.•Some mathematically talented 7thgraders have been studying AlgebraIwith the 8th grade. Mrs. RebeccaPerry,8th Grade Math Teacher andMath/Science Department Chair, isexcited by their progress, and shewill consult with officials atMarblehead High School to deter-mine the level of math that thesestudents will study next year.•The strong 8th graders are alsoexperiencing accelerated mathinstruction. They are expected tocomplete Algebra I by April and willthen study a combined introductionto Geometry and Algebra II. These

LBERT

F. A

RGENZIANO

was walking through the school the otherday and it struck me: the work environ-ment at MCCPS is somewhat like thePeace Corps, combining professional expertisewith native ingenuity in an environment of trust.Some of you may remember that President John F. Kennedy appointed Sargent Shriver asthe first executive director of the Peace Corps.One of Shriver’s first appointments wasNicholas Hobbs as director of selection for thePeace Corps. Hobbs created the first set of guidelines by which Peace Corps volunteerswould be chosen.Hobbs considered an important question:Do you look for individuals with technical andprofessional training or prioritize native intelli-gence? He believed in finding positive solu-tions to difficult situations and in not dwellingon the negative, and created his recruitmentguidelines based on those beliefs. The goal of the Peace Corps was to promote peace andfriendship and improve the quality of life of the people with whom the volunteers livedand worked.Thus, the perfect Peace Corps would bemade up of people who share a vision of pro-moting peace and friendship. They would besecureenough in themselves to be able to gointo an environment of hardship and continuetheir entire tour of service. They would need

November 2009 | Volume 2,number 1

Helping Students Succeed

Trust and Confi-dence Are Keysto Peaceful Corps

FFICIAL

UBLICATIONOF THE

ARBLEHEAD

OMMUNITY

HARTER

UBLIC

CHOOL

“

Our school is small enough that we can experiment, which has been a lot of fun. Wehave cooked with baby bok choy,avarietyof interesting grains, purple and pink potatoes, and even ‘tie-dyed’ baby carrots!”

—

Chef Laura

See

HELPING STUDENTS

,page 3See

PEACEFUL CORPS

,page 4

Kay O’Dwyer works with Sophia.Corinne listens to instructions.

The MCCPS athletics program continues toexpand under the direction of Athletic DirectorMike Ruth.This year,we have some wonderfuladditions to our coaching staff:Mr.GeorgeShapiro,Mr.Alexander Eaton,and Mr.SeamusDaly.Coach Shapiro is a graduate of the UniversityofDayton.For the pastsix years,he has been avolunteer coach atthe elementary and middleschool levels and is a driving force behindMarblehead Youth Softball.He has served asassistantcoach for girls’soccer with theMarblehead Youth Soccer Association and is aMassachusetts Youth Soccer Association LevelGcertified coach.Coach Eaton has served in multiple capacitieswith NahantYouth Soccer and SwampscottYouth Soccer.Eaton also is founder of the ImpactSoccer Club.He currently holds aUnited States Soccer FederationLevel E License,is certified by theNational Soccer CoachesAssociation of America (NSCAA),and obtained his State Goalkeeper’sLicense from the NSCAA.Coach Daly comes to us with awealth of running experience—from cross-country,road racing andtrack in Ireland to marathon run-ning since his move to the USAin the ’90s.Coach Daly's favoriteeventis the marathon,havingcompleted 10 including six Bostonmarathons.In 1998,he finished 313th overall atBoston with an official time of 2:46:01.

Teams Up!

With all this new help,the athletics depart-mentis growing.New this year,we hope to offerbaseball,softball and golf,and we are evenexploring the possibility of sailing and ski teams!On the field,varsity soccer has been off andrunning with a 4-2-0record.The team has beenplaying and working hard.JVsoccer had theirvery firstwin againstSalem Academy!Navigator Cross-Countryhas been goingstrong as well.The team has had a number of meets involving multiple schools.We participat-ed in the 1stAnnual Massachusetts MiddleSchool Meetin Devens.

Loco for Local Produce

TheMCCPS Nutrition Departmenthad abusy summer thathas continued into fall.Chef Laura DeSantis has been working withThe Massachusetts Farm-to-School Project,aninitiative sponsored by the Departmentof Agriculture and the Farm Bureau AgriculturalPreservation Corporation.She was putintouch with local farms and farmers who arenow supplying fresh fruits,vegetables andgrains toour kitchen.Chef Laura appreciates the range of avail-able items.“Our school is small enough thatwe can experiment,which has been a lotfun.We have cooked with baby bok choy,a varietyofinteresting grains,purple and pink potatoes,and even ‘tie-dyed’carrots!”MCCPS also recently took partin the annualMassachusetts Harvestfor Students Week,aweek-long celebration of fresh and local fruitsand vegetables on our lunch menu,from bothlocal farms and the school’sownvegetablegarden,which was planted lastspring.Withcontinuing studies indicating thatstudentsserved fresh,locally grown items tend to eatsignificantly morefruits and vegetables,theFarm-to-School connection believes itis mak-ing a positivedifference ata time of concernaboutchildhood obesity,while simultaneouslyimproving the local economy,local food securi-ty and opportunities for Massachusetts farms.

WHAT’S NEW(S) AT MCCPS — NOVEMBER 2009

Nutrition NewsNavigator Sports

MCCPS students bond on the x-country team.

AGNA

H RTER

Magna Charter

is the officialnewsletter of MCCPS.

Magna Charter Staff&Contributors

Dr.AlbertArgenzianoKathleen CormierNina Cullen-HamzehMichael HoulihanMary McRaeKay O'DwyerMike RuthLaura SmithNancy Marland Wolinski

MCCPS Board of Trustees

Emil Ronchi,

Chair

Cathy Vaucher,

Vice Chair

Dr.John Sullivan,

Treasurer

John McEnaney,

Clerk

Nina Cullen-HamzehCynthia CanavanMattCroninDr.Alice de KoningChris FauciBob Sousa

MCCPS School Staff

Dr.AlbertArgenziano

Interim Managing Director

Nina Cullen-Hamzeh

Academic Director

Eileen Perry

Assistantto the Directors

Molly Wright

StudentServices Coordinator

Jed O'Connor

Director of Special Education

JeffreyBarry

Business Manager

MCCPS

17 Lime StreetMarblehead,MA 01945Phone:781-631-0777Fax:781-631-0500www.marbleheadcharter.org

Our Mission

MCCPS fosters a community that empowerschildren to become capable, self-determining, fullyengaged individuals who are critical and creativethinkers committed to achieving their highestintellectual, artistic, social, emotional, and physical potential. Weare dedicated to involving, learning from, participating in, and serving our schoolcommunity and the community at large.

Volume 1,Number 3,November 2009

New Faces on the Field

ARY

hen Adria Smith arrived at MCCPS sevenyears ago to be the music teacher, all she hadwas a piano. There were few music supplies orinstruments, which was lucky since there was nomusic room to put them in. Undaunted, Ms. Smithgot a grant for a new drum set, and the music pro-gram has been thriving ever since.Thanks to her boundless energy and infectiousenthusiasm, the school now has a music room, andMs. Smith has a different problem: where to put allthe music supplies. “Music is so enjoyable,” she said.“I love sharing that with the students.” With a degree in jazz arranging and compositionfrom the Berklee College of Music, Ms. Smith (whoearned four music credits at the University of Madison, Wisconsin while a student at West HighSchool) also performs in a band called the JazzNavigators, and her compositions have been playedby greats such as James Brown’s drummer, ClydeStubblefield.Ms. Smith understands that each student connectswith music differently. “Some students are more com-fortable singing, others playing instruments, and stillothers in composition. I want to be sure there’s some-thing there for everyone,” she explains.

ASymphony of Choice

Music at MCCPS is fun and elaborate. Every gradehas music twice a week, for 45 minutes. Each studentlearns how to sing, play keyboard, compose, analyzeand read music—and is graded in each of the cate-gories. There is a full keyboard lab where studentsmay practice at their own level. During enrichmentperiod, there are often other courses offered such asstrings, choir,band, jazz music, MCCPS IDOL, musi-cals and more. At the end of grade 4, each child has the option tolearnaband instrument (flute, clarinet, oboe, saxo-phone, trumpet, trombone or drums). The MCCPSband is very popular, with 60 students meeting onTuesdays and Thursdays from 7:30-8:15am to prac-tice. The band performs many times each year, atexhibitions and a year-end band competition, andhas won awards for excellence.The music program is integrated with other cur-riculum areas, with fourth graders learning songs inFrench and Spanish, for example, and sixth graderscreating compositions to accompany their poetryprojects. Looking forward, Ms. Smith is excited toexpand the singing program at all grades. “We’ve got-ten in a lot moreactual chorus material this year,newscores that we can work on at all grades.” As if there isn’t enough to do, at the top of Smith’swish list is to take on another musical. “Last year,wegot funding to put on the musical

Into the Woods

,which was an incredibly involved but rewardingexperience,” she says. “I’d love to raise enough moneyto do another show – perhaps

Peter Pan

.”

WHAT’S NEW(S) AT MCCPS — NOVEMBER 2009

Adria Smith:Hitting the High Notes

Adria Smith

students will likely be placed in Geometry Honors asfreshmen.One of my greatest joys as an instructional leader isthe opportunity to effectuate change that improves achild’s educational experience. This is not an easy task,but is a worthy endeavor and deserving of the time andeffort it requires. Elaine McEwan, in her book,

10 Traitsof Highly Effective Principals

,states that: “Sometimes pro-grams must be tailored to meet the needs of smallgroups of students. Highly effective principals have thecourage it often takes to step out and meet those needs.” At MCCPS, we have always chosen to do what webelieve is in the best interest of the children; addressingthe needs of the struggling and the gifted students withinour school is certainly in their best interest. The efficacyof this initiative will be monitored closely, and it is ourhope that these steps will result in even greater levels of academic achievement.

HELPING STUDENTS

Continued from page 1

PTO News

The school year is offtoagreatstartand it’sbeen terrific to getto know all the new namesand faces here atMCCPS.Thanksto the following folks who havealready stepped up this year:•Jim Nye,Presidentof National Grand Bank,Marblehead,for the donation to the gener-alPTO fund.We greatly appreciate yoursupportand will use the money wisely (tosupportenrichmentweek activities).•Susan Conlin,who has stepped forth to bePTO secretary for the year.•Kristen Settelmeyer,who recently steppeddown as PTO secretary.Kristen,thanks forall of your hard work!•Holly Sullivan,who has stepped forth toassistour Treasurer,Avery Russell.Thanksto you both for keeping the accounts!•Paula Gold,a parentnew to the schoolwho dove head firstinto the waters andorganized field dayduring School SpiritWeek.She did fabulous job! Thanks toeveryone who helped.•Franny Poisson,who has graciouslystepped up to expand our GiftBookProgram.The PTO will be sponsoring a CommunityService Day as partof the "Giving ThanksWeek" thatwill follow 1stExhibition.Thisafternoon of projects was well-receivedby students,parents,teachers,and thecommunity lastyear,and we are lookingforward to positively impacting as manypeople as possible this year.If you'd liketo help with this or any other PTO project,please contactKathy Cormier atKMCormier@aol.com.We look forward to another greatyear hereatMCCPS!