School districts get ready for new year

Buffalo, NY (WBEN) A new school year will soon start in WNY. Two school district superintendents are among those getting ready for a new year.

Hamburg Superintendent Tom Adams says a couple of capital improvement projects are in progress. "We do have some completion work to to get done on on a couple playgrounds that we're putting a rubberized surface on, but those will be done as soon as possible. And we've also got a large capital project that one of our elementary schools, Union Plaza Elementary, is currently undergoing. That work will continue during the school year, but we will have it up and ready to run and ready for our staff to come back on Tuesday, September 1, and then for our students' first day on Wednesday, September 9," says Adams.

What big differences will be in place? "I would say the the difference would be we are going to try to continue to build on what we think is that the success that we've had of creating an environment where kids can create, care, solve, and discover, and that's not really a difference. But with every year, you have different students who are coming in. Every year, you have different staff members that are coming in. We have 40 new staff that are coming in to our buildings this year in various capacities, and it's that energy of folks who are both new and the folks that have been here for a while, in terms of of the strengths that they all possess, coming together to make it make it a great year for the kids. That's the that'll be the difference of the 26-27 school year, but also that capital project that our voters approved in 2021 as we're entering its last phase, or we're in its last phase with the work at Union Pleasant, it's really, really exciting to see what's being done to that building, which part of it is over 100 years old, and it's just going to it's going to become a remarkable place that's really reflective of the great staff that works there and the kids, and that goes for the whole district as well," adds Adams.

In Lockport, Superintendent Dr. Mathis Calvin says there are also capital improvement projects wrapping up in the district. "At Charles Upson Elementary School, we have some work happening in our playgrounds, sidewalks, and some roof work that's taking place at Aaron Moselle Junior High School, and also at Emmett Belknap. There is a complete redesign in those schools that's occurring. We look forward to the opening day of the school year where kids and staff will walk through and they'll see a brand new building on the inside and we're really excited about the work that's happening. Walls are being painted, new flooring being put into place, new ceilings, new lighting," says Calvin.

He says the district will put a new math program in place called Envision. "We spent the last school year piloting that program, and now we're ready to fully implement it K through four. So that's really exciting. We have also our district strategic plan that we will be putting into place. This is the fourth school year that we're going into now, where we will be working through that plan. Over the last couple of years, we've been implementing the strategic plan with integrity. We plan to continue to do that work, and we're excited about that. We also at Emmett Belknap and Charles Upson, we'll be working very diligently on getting those two schools removed from state improvement list," says Calvin.

What is his biggest challenge? "I think the biggest challenge is making sure that we stay on target, that we continue to move forward in a very positive way, and that's a good challenge, right? We want to make sure that we're focused and that we're moving forward one step at a time. So, our goal is just to continue to move forward as a district and to keep our community aware of and to communicate with our community about what's happening and the progress that's being made throughout the school year," says Calvin.