‘Tis the season… to test!

‘Tis the season… to test!

It’s once again the time of year for weather delays and school cancellations.  For those of you not familiar with our delay/cancellation weather procedure, you can find it on the district’s home page under the link Guidelines for School Delays/Closings. I realize that students are the only ones happy with the announcement of a delay or cancellation; schedule changes present challenges for families as they plan for child care and getting to work on time. However, when it comes to our children, safety is a far greater priority than convenience.  As always, my phone, door and email system remain open and available for any concerns, issues or suggestions. 

With the return from Christmas break, staff and students have begun to prepare in earnest for the PSSA and winter Keystone exams.  Each building has after-school tutoring for those interested.  In fact, Jackson Elementary School has an interesting group of tutors that come to their building once a week: members of the Johnstown Tomahawks Hockey team.  Mrs. Murin reports that these tutors do an excellent jo an that the students enjoy learning with them.

January is also the month during which our nation celebrates Martin Luther King’s birthday and the work he did in the area of Civil Rights. Additionally, January is School Director’s recognition month, a good time to formally say thanks to our school directors. Our district is blessed with very competent, caring and involved school directors. Their commitment is doubly impressive when we note that this is not a “paid” position; expecting nothing in return, Board members must make many important, sometimes unpopular, decisions.  Their experience and guidance help to lead our district.  Each director has the best interest of students, the district and the community at heart.  Their tireless commitment to the District is noteworthy and very much appreciated.   

The curriculum realignment at the HS and MS has begun to show some promising results as the SPP website shows our district as one of the top districts in the IU 08 region.  To view this site, go to http://paschoolperformance.org/ .  My congratulations go out to all staff and students on their great effort.

Once again, public school districts begin the process of preparing their budgets for the next year.  The Governor will detail his budget in February which, historically, has not favored public education.  Because his address usually includes a reduction in allocations for education, school district must rework their budgets to avoid operating “in the red.”   We at Central Cambria have done a good job of anticipating such shortfalls and taking precautions to lessen or alleviate the sting of ever-shrinking state support. It is this fiscal austerity that has allowed us to maintain programs and curriculum; hopefully, we can repeat our success this time around.

To date we have had three snow delays, one cancellation and one early dismissal—and we still have half of January, all of February and March left.  Ah yes, I do love PA weather: you can’t control it, legislate it or change it.

With so few football games remaining (two this weekend and the Super Bowl), I find some comfort in the fact that there are only 94 days until the draft – April 24.  My hope is that the Steelers’ draft picks will lead to a successful 2014 season. Fortunately, the Pens seem to be having another great season – just the sport to get through these long wintry nights.  And I do like the new hire at PSU for their football program; I think he will be a great fit! Here’s to optimism and high hopes…!

Dr. D.