Adam Smith, East Penn School Director
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Full-Day Kindergarten in EPSD

9/27/2017

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Neighbors,
​At Monday's board meeting, the district presented what it felt would be the costs for implementation of full-day kindergarten for the 2018-2019 school year. To me, this stands out as one of those no-brainers. Education is a field full of seemingly new trends and ideas that come up every year. Some work out, while others, not so much. However, you'll be hard-pressed to find a more impactful driver of student achievement than full-day kindergarten in terms of getting young children to demonstrate the academic growth needed to succeed in school. The data (Walston and West, 2004) and research (Ackerman et al., 2005) are there. The academic gains of such a program are not up for debate.

​The process of funding such a program is, however. After listening to two of the presentations, I feel that the district has done more than its due diligence in finding the most cost-effective way to implement such a program. The Board has also done its due diligence in asking some challenging questions, all of which I felt were clearly answered.

There are two winners here. The first is the incoming Class of 2031. Should the current board approve the plan, these incoming kindergartners will be set up for success in a way that no previous class has had before in East Penn. This is awesome and my only disappointment is that my own children didn't have the opportunity.


The second winner is the property owners of East Penn. Without its implementation, young families won't have a hard choice to make when presented with two options if they want FDK -- a) enroll with parochial/private tuition within the borders of EPSD or b) enroll with our neighbors to the north. If the Board chooses to approve FDK, EPSD will immediately become an even better place to raise a family than it already is. When the demand to live here goes up, our property values go up as well.

Additionally, recent research has demonstrated that funds invested in quality early education programs produce powerful returns. Robert Lynch (2005) showed that quality early education can bring returns of at least 3-1 on investment!

In the end, there's a positive for every member of our community, whether we have young ones at home or not. If we want to continue to be seen as a community who cares for our schools and our children, this is a no-brainer. Given current trends in education, there's too much at risk to let this opportunity pass us by.

What the research says about full day kindergarten

Achievement Boosts:
  • Walston, Jill and West, Jerry. Full-Day and Half-Day Kindergarten in the United States: Findings from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2004. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2004/web/2004078.asp.
  • Ackerman, Debora J., Barnett, W. Steven, and Robin, Kenneth B. Making the Most of Kindergarten: Present Trends and Future Issues in the Provision of Full-day Programs. National Institute for Early Education Research, March, 2005. http://nieer.org/docs/?DocID=118.
Returns on investment:
  • Heckman, James J. and Masterov, Dimitriy V. The Productivity Argument for Investing in Young Children. Working Paper 5, Invest in Kids Working Group, Committee for Economic Development, October 2004. http://jenni.uchicago.edu/Invest/.
  • Lynch, Robert. Exceptional Returns: Economic, Fiscal and Social Benefits of Investment in Early Childhood Education. Economic Policy Institute, 2005. http://www.epi.org/files/2013/Exceptional_Returns.pdf
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Knock, knock!

4/28/2017

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It looks like we have a great weekend in store for us! I hope you have some time to get out and enjoy the weather with your families.

Here in the Smith house, we have a baseball game and then we will be heading out to knock on doors and learn more about the issues facing members of our community. I have had several conversations with many of you already that have highlighted some of the many strengths of our schools and also some concerns as well that will need to be explored further as the campaign continues.

The May 16th municipal primary is right around the corner. It is the most important date in school board elections as most candidates appear on both ballots. I am looking for several volunteers who would be willing to donate some of their time at the polls that day. If you would be willing to greet your neighbors and hand out some information about my candidacy, I would be extremely grateful!

If you are willing to volunteer your time that day (especially the morning and late afternoon/evening) or if you'd like more information about what volunteering at the polls, please complete the volunteer form on my Get Involved page. You do not need to be a resident of a voting precinct to work at its polling place, but I will do my best to make sure you are close to home if you prefer.

Lastly, I have made it a point to share much of my thoughts facing our district on my Ideas and Issues section. However, if there is a topic related to East Penn, our schools, or education in general that you'd like to hear me discuss in more detail (or maybe one that I haven't touched on yet), please feel free to comment on this post, or on Facebook with your questions and concerns. I will use the most common thoughts and opinions from the community to spur some reflection and build them into a blog post at a later date.

I look forward to hearing from you!

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Fighting Pay to Play

4/17/2017

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Recently, Brian Higgins, Commissioner of Lower Macungie Township, put on his "father of a student athlete hat" and spurred some discussion on social media. He was disappointed in the board's recent decision not to approve Adidas's proposed equipment contract with the district.

I shared my thoughts in a reply and included them below as well. There are many opinions on both sides of the discussion and I look forward to hearing them!


It’s clear that we’re all supporting the same central theme – that we have to find new and creative ways to fund school sports so that our spending can be prioritized to avoid cutting items of greater importance in the budget. Charging participation fees for sports and extracurriculars to some level is to be expected, but not for technology, lab supplies, or even art and music classes, as is already happening in other parts of the country. Let’s focus on that shared goal and finding a solution will be easier.

Dr. Munson made a valid point when he wrote, "In this case, the fine print of the deal required that the district give Adidas the right to see and undercut all competitor proposals...forever." The devil is in the details. Leaving our hands tied in the future for a little bit of wiggle room now is not the answer. When Adidas approached the school board, were other brands brought in to negotiate? Could Puma or Nike or Under Armour have created a better offer without the risk in the future? Maybe Adidas didn’t work out, but could we use the framework of that proposal to approach other companies in a similar fashion?

More importantly, were local sponsors approached as well? Even with a “can’t say no” proposal on the table, I don’t like the idea of corporate America becoming involved in local communities as they have little investment here. I’d love to see what our small businesspeople could bring to the discussion.

We can also get creative in how we fundraise. Offsetting participation fees with fundraisers is a pretty common solution for many teams. What about volunteering at concession stands, even for the Iron Pigs or Phantoms games? I did a bit of research and read about a similar option being offered to schools and organizations in Tennessee by the Titans. With the importance our local pro teams place on the community, this could be an option worth exploring as well. Let’s also look into what grants might be available. Now that Dick’s Sporting Goods is in the area, they may be willing to help.

Unfortunately, the most lasting solution to our problem probably lies well before our students even reach high school. Pay to play IS a reality of our youth sports leagues. I would have to pay hundreds if my 8 year olds qualified for a travel team. Thankfully, there’s a cheaper intramural option available, but as time goes on, our family’s budget may not be able to handle their skill development. This is a reality for many families in our district. Less athletes coming out of our youth leagues means less talent for our high school teams, less ability to fundraise, and decreased revenue due to fewer tickets being purchased by the time they get to high school. This is a bigger discussion for another day, however.

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It's that time again!

4/3/2017

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Across the commonwealth, students in grades 3 and up are beginning the PSSA testing window. It's the time of year where one piece of data, taken at a singular moment in time, places way too much stress on everyone in the school community -- a feeling that is felt most acutely by the students.

Parents and teachers, you've worked hard to guide and lead your children and students all year. Job well done!

Students, you've worked the hardest of all, so be great today! You've got this!
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    Adam Smith
    Adam is a father, husband, son, educator, swim dad, and East Penn School Director.

    ​This page represents the opinions of Adam Smith as an individual representative of the East Penn School Board. Opinions or comments expressed on this page are my own and do not necessarily reflect the view of the East Penn Board of Directors or of the East Penn School District.

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