August 2008  

Dear Duffy Parents, Guardians and Friends,

            Greetings and welcome to Duffy School!  As we begin a new school year, the Duffy staff is ready and eager to do what they do best. The teachers are the backbone of the excellent instruction that your child is assured to experience.  We have a few new faces to assist with Duffy’s growing numbers.  Our population is expected to arrive at 591 students including 102 new kindergarteners.  Sadly, with the budget issues, we lost a fourth grade class, making our current fourth grades reach the new classroom guideline limit of 28.  We will have three classes of 28 this year.  That brings our total number of sections to 26.

      We are pleased to announce that we have a new Reading Specialist who will work with both teachers and students to ensure the literacy achievement for all students.  The Reading Lab will become the Literacy Center and focus on all aspects of literacy including both reading and writing.  Our school focus will continue to be on Student Achievement as we maintain our efforts to integrate technology into the curriculum.   We have a number of new interactive white boards for a total of 21 in the school.  Additionally, we have “clickers” to assist teachers in engaging all of their students.  Staff will continue to receive professional development on Wednesdays to learn to use all the technology in the most effective ways and to sharpen their instructional strategies to improve achievement.  Although our CMT scores continue to climb, we continue to set our sights higher.

            The 2008- 2009 school year  promises to be an excellent year at Duffy, but if issues, questions or concerns do come up, I hope you will call my office to clarify, share or problem solve as needed.  Dialogue is an excellent way to keep the communication lines open.  The Duffy staff is here to serve you!        

Sincerely, 

Kathleen Tracy, Principal

and the Duffy Team