First week of school rolls out smoothly, district reports
As with the start of every school year, the challenges almost solely fall upon transportation and the drop-off and pick-up lines at schools.
“The first couple of weeks parents need to be patient and let them iron it out,” School District of Lee County Regional Associate Superintendent Chuck Vilardi said on Aug. 15 of getting families to understand the process.
Parents should give the schools at least two weeks for those lines to become better, and buses to roll smoother. With that said, he said, if there are any major issues with transportation, the parents should contact their school’s principal, so they can get the issue corrected right away.
“Buses are rolling out much quicker each and every day. My principals are reaching out to me,” Vilardi said, adding that they are trying to manage the process and if certain schools are having problems, they are taking care of the problems. “I hope everyone enjoyed the first week of school. I look forward to a smoother next week.”
He took on the new position of regional associate superintendent — a K-12 model — this year, which oversees 22 schools in Cape Coral and Pine Island. Cheryl Neely is the regional associate superintendent who oversees the schools that include The Sanibel School on Sanibel.
“The responsibilities are to be supervising those principals, helping those schools and communicating with those schools,” Vilardi said. “The hope is to communicate better and build better trust and take action quicker.”
The idea is to have a better streamline of communication, as well as helping principals understand the current trends in education, coaching them and becoming a model for newer principals.
“The goal for this year — increase student achievement, increase trust, accountability and communication,” he said.
Another goal is closing the achievement gap that COVID caused. Vilardi said the pandemic years really affected those who are in fourth and fifth grade now as they missed some of the foundational years in education. The district is looking at the skills missed and what interventions can be put into place to meet those needs.
He said they are looking at every piece of curriculum, so they can increase learning and engagement. The district is looking at clientele in each region and gathering information to determine what the curriculum is going to look like.
As of Aug. 15, Vilardi was able to visit 18 of the 22 schools he oversees — 19,256 students. He planned on visiting the remaining four schools on Aug. 16.
Every week, he will be in the schools at least two to three times a week. He said the real key is that the schools are closer together and if a problem arises, he is only right up the road.
“I saw a lot of kids really happy and teachers happy to be back,” Vilardi said, adding that it was neat to see the engagement in classrooms. “There were smiling parents dropping off the kids, too.”
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