Quincy explores enrichment of school programs
District seeks renewal of levy Feb. 19
QUINCY - The Quincy school board received a list of school enrichment opportunities Tuesday.
Money from a three-year, $3.4 million renewal of an expiring maintenance and operation levy could help fund new enrichment opportunities at the district's schools. The district is bringing the proposal to voters in a special election Feb. 19.
Director of Student Achievement Carole Carlton said she compiled the list of enrichment opportunities at the direction of Superintendent Burton Dickerson.
Carton said principals and support staff were eager to put the information together for the school board.
"At the same time, they were also asked out to toss out ideas, as to possibilities of what might happen, with good fortune, after the next levy election, and to begin to talk about how could the enrichment program in the Quincy School District evolve," Carlton said.
The district's proposed $3.4 million renewal levy goes to voters in a Feb. 19 special election.
In addition to obtaining parent and community input on what programs they want to see, the district can put together a process to gather information about which enrichment programs are successful and being recommended.
She noted the list of programs doesn't address staff development, support materials and faculty needs.
"I appreciate the work that Carole did, with the help of our building leaders, to put this information into a succinct summary format because it does give us at least a point of beginning and understanding what we are doing, and also helping us to be able to communicate the positive things that we're doing in this area right now," Dickerson said.
He said the information helps communicate a possible direction, such as establishing an inclusive process to develop ideas for how to expand and improve the enrichment program.
Enrichment opportunities in kindergarten through sixth grade include visits to the Pacific Science Center, hobby days, family nights, a science rodeo, a bubble festival, assemblies and the 21st Century After School Program.
At the classroom level, opportunities include inventions, creative writing, Pacific Science Center classroom presentations, developing problem-solving strategies and art.
Craft club, math club, science club, drama club and literature circles are offered at the small group level.
Competitions available to students include art contests, Math is Cool, Destination Imagination, the geography bee and the spelling bee.
Some possibilities include author visits, writing workshops, career-day workshops including professionals of different fields, opportunities for art and drama, including practitioners of the fields, project-based learning and additional opportunities for competition.
Enrichment opportunities for students in grades seven through 12 include assemblies and the 21st Century After School Program, which offers opportunities such as robotics, photography and crime-scene investigation.
Advanced Placement courses are offered in subjects such as U.S. history, language arts, math, Spanish, and environmental science. Students can take advanced math, band and art courses, in addition to other opportunities for challenging course work.
Clubs include chess, cooking, science, the yearbook, Science Olympiad, Knowledge Bowl, Night of the Notables, dance, environment, FFA, FBLA and DECA.
In addition, students are able to participate in drama productions.
Competitions offered include the American Math Competition, a spelling bee, a state environmental competition, and competitions through FBLA and DECA.
Possibilities for enrichment include journalism, "zero-hour" classes such as advanced art, drama, weight lifting, jazz band and choir. Project-based learning, technology, Destination Imagination, creative problem solving and new opportunities to compete are other ideas brought up.