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NANTICOKE — Greater Nanticoke Area Educational Center students will have to adapt to new discipline policies, a metal detector, and new hall monitors soon, and parents should start looking for clear backpacks that will be required next year.
Superintendent Ronald Grevera outlined the changes at Thursday’s regular school board meeting, saying they are being made after consulting with the new principal and reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of the previous discipline policy.
“It is stricter and more appropriate for middle school kids,” he said.
He broadly described a five-tier system with the two highest tiers targeting “disruptive repeat offenders” by stressing out-of-school suspension, expulsion and alternative placements.
Grevera also reported a new metal detector and three wands have been ordered thanks to a state grant and will be put into service in the middle school as soon as they arrive. And he said a policy requiring clear backpacks at the high school will also be implemented at the Educational Center next year. The center houses grades six, seven and eight.
During a quick voting session, the board approved advertising for two hall monitors for the center.
K orientation
Grevera also announced the new idea of kindergarten orientation, to be held 9 a.m. May 3, for incoming kindergarten students and their parents. The event will help familiarize visitors with the school, will include a snack and some crafts, and offer the students a chance to ride a school bus. Grevera said children that age are often used to being buckled in when in a vehicle and tend to take advantage of the new freedom their first time on the bus. “We want to show them how to behave.”
The orientation is also designed to help parents know what the expectations are for kindergarten students under newer curriculum rules.
“It’s not like when I went to kindergarten,” he said.
The board also approved a $25,000 agreement with Franklin & Marshall College, of Lancaster, to participate in the College Advising Corps for a fourth year. Grevera said the program brings a recent graduate to Greater Nanticoke Area all school year to help economically disadvantaged students who may not realize the options available to make college a reality.
“The counselor helps students and their families navigate through college scholarships and financial aid,” Grevera said. They also help with college applications, and to arrange college visits.
Grevera believes Greater Nanticoke Area is the only district in Luzerne County taking advantage of the program.