Welcome back! Clinton schools open for business on Tuesday.

Byline: Jan Gottesman

CLINTON - School buses will be rolling in Clinton Tuesday, and excitement is building about the new school year, at least among the faculty and staff.

"I'm ready for school to start. It is still exciting every year," said Michael Vetros, principal of Clinton Middle School. "The thing is that the kids are excited when they get here, though they will say they aren't. Once they walk in, there is an aura that they are back and let's get down to business. It's an excitement you get from them. If we can match their excitement, we're doing a good job."

Clinton High School Principal James Hastings said he still gets excited about back to school.

"There is a new group of students coming in, and some new parents. We have a couple of new, young teachers joining the staff," Hastings said, adding, "The first day, every year, is exciting and fun. I love to see the staff with eager students. They love their jobs. It is nice to have the summer off, and they get to come back and start school."

Clinton Elementary School Principal Geraldine Sargent said she doesn't sleep the night before school starts, and hasn't since the first day she began teaching.

"This last week, I have been waking up at 3 a.m. to go over lists in my head," Sargent said. "My big concern is getting kids in and out of buses safely and getting them on the right buses. We just ask parents to be patient the first few weeks as the kids get used to the buses and the drivers get used to the routes. It is a slow process."

Even though he has been out of the classroom for three years, Curriculum Coordinator Terrance Ingano said he still finds the beginning of school exciting.

"Robyn (his wife) said the other day that I'd always have the heart of a teacher - 30 years working directly with kids is a habit I'll never get over - and hopefully something I will never forget," Ingano said.

Ingano's job involves creating curriculum, and finding money to pay for changes, and that is a major challenge.

"For me, it's how to bring in as much money as I can that we can use. There are many grants out there, but there are very stringent rules as to how you can use the money. We first have to be eligible for the grant and then we have to build a `case' for getting the money," Ingano said. "In many cases, we rely on our grants for teacher salaries, so they are extremely important. Of course, the state has it all backwards too: They will give money for schools that need it but as soon as scores begin to rise, etc., they will pull the money away. I guess the message is that if you want to get big bucks from the state, do poorly."

It won't be the same-old same-old for students, either, as new initiatives and new faces will be present at each school.

Clinton ElementarySchool

There is a change of geography for some students at Clinton Elementary School. The eight full-day kindergarten classes are all together on the first level, and the pre-school classes - including a new class to accommodate increased demand - have been moved to the second level. These younger students will be exiting and boarding buses in the driveway, so parents are reminded again not to park there, Sargent said.

"These younger students will not be part of the regular dismissal day," Sargent said. The rest of the students will board buses on the first level behind the school, near the kindergarten classes. In the past, there have been problems with parents parking in the mini-loop out front and Sargent said letters have gone out to all the parents reminding them not to park there. "Once parents realize where the buses for these students are parked, they will learn not to pull in, but I'll be on duty the first few weeks directing traffic."

In the past, the kindergarten classes were split between the first and second floors.

"It will be good for all the kindergartens to be together," Sargent said.

Last year, a new math and reading program began and that program will continue, Sargent said. This and a new literacy block will help the school address standardized testing scores. The staff will continue to do Dibbles, a short reading assessment, done several times a year, to address individual students' progress and allow for quick changes in focus during the year, she said.

Grants will get some programs going in the elementary school, Ingano said.

"My office processed $680,000 worth of grants this summer: $450,000 of "No Child Left Behind" federal grants and two others: the full-day kindergarten grant for $120,000 and a new one, the `John Silber Reading Initiative' grant for $110,000 for the elementary school only; the last one will provide a reading coach for the school, money for classroom and school libraries, a lot of professional development about the teaching of reading, and specialized software for children who need remedial work in reading," Ingano said. "As usual, most of the grant writing was a team effort with the elementary school principal, the Title I director, and others getting involved."

Clinton Middle School

"It is always an uphill battle to raise our test scores," Vetros said. "We have a Saturday program for math for students who didn't do well on that and tutoring after school."

Vetros said middle school education is "tough."

"A lot of middle schools struggle between the concept of educating the whole child and offering as much as possible with arts and technology, and the other side, which is getting kids prepared for high school and offering more math and English language. A lot of middle schools are divided about this and we are all under the thumb of the MCAS. But we plod along," Vetros said. "The staff has been here during the last month, getting their rooms ready. The custodians have done an unbelievable job. This building is over 35 years old. I invite the public in to see how beautiful it looks. They have been painting doors and getting the place in shape."

Ingano said there are some changes in the works at the middle school.

"Although we did not get the $10,000 Creative Schools Grant, Grade 6 at the Clinton Middle School and the Museum of Russian Icons have formed a partnership for curriculum and interdisciplinary studies," Ingano said. "The entire sixth grade will visit the museum at least twice during the year and an icon artist will visit the school at least two times. Four teachers were trained during the summer and will continue to work closely with museum officials during the school year. Students will use museum resources to study art, history, culture and language arts. Thanks to the generosity of the museum, we will still be able to make this happen, even without the grant money; we may approach the PTA, the Selectmen's Civic Fund, and the Arts Lottery for more funding, but we are very excited about this new program, the first of its kind with Clinton's newest museum."

Ingano said the district's Gifted and Talented Team has been meeting all summer and is almost ready to unveil a proposal for grade 5 at the middle school.

"Geri Sargent (Clinton Elementary School principal), (teachers) Melissa Wallace, Linda Powers, and myself have been meeting regularly, visiting other schools, and talking with other people about sample programs, models, etc. We'll be sitting down with (Superintendent Gerald) Gaw soon about our ideas and hope to get a pilot program up and running by second semester," Ingano said.

This fall, the schools will look at some solar energy initiatives, first at the middle school, which is the oldest and least energy efficient of the district schools.

"I'm very excited about the possibilities that solar energy may hold for us," Ingano said.

Clinton High School

Orientation was held Friday, and Hastings said his staff is ready.

"We want to make sure, in this rapidly changing society, where technology is so important, that our students are on top of this," Hastings said. "We want them to be part of the latest developments."

Last year, the high school began an Engineering the Future Program, offering hands-on courses to prepare students for their role in society. Hastings said the program is already paying dividends, with success showing in the preliminary MCAS raw scores.

"We also want to continue to develop keen thinking skills," Hastings said, adding his staff has been working hard to hone their skills, to keep students motivated.

Ingano said the social study changes, designed to start in eighth grade (the middle school), but run through the high school, is a major change this coming year.

"I think I'm most excited about the changes we have instituted in the Social Studies Department this year. The current ninth graders will have to pass a history MCAS in order to graduate from Clinton High School. Thanks to the support of Mr. Gaw, school administrators and the school committee, we instituted massive changes in that curriculum from grades 8 to 12," Ingano said. "This year's grade 8 will be learning civics and economics for the first time; grade 9 will now have a one-year world history program; it was formerly a two-year program; Grade 10 and 11 will now begin a two-year U.S. history program, which was formerly only one year long. Many of these changes were brought about through the guidance of Adam (Ingano, Terrance Ingano's son and a teacher at Clinton High School), who is a member of the state's ... group that actually writes the history test for the state. The curriculum for that department will have to be monitored closely throughout the year. The teachers in that department have been tremendously cooperative in light of all of these changes."

ART: PHOTOS

CUTLINE: (1) Gina Pellegrini sets up her first-grade class at Clinton Elementary School this week. This is Pellegrini's first full year at Clinton Elementary School. She was a student teacher for kindergarten and grade 1 last year, then filled in when a teacher went on maternity leave. (2) A sign on a door at Clinton Elementary School welcomes students back.

PHOTOG: Item photo/JAN GOTTESMAN