Ripley Central School families are cooperating fully with the district’s COVID-19 guidelines and the result has been palpable, board of education members learned at their regular meeting this month.

Board President Paul McCutcheon told fellow board members he is grateful that the district can give the students the most normal experience possible. “And the families absolutely deserve appreciation and thanks,” he said.

Superintendent William Caldwell said he is very grateful there has been no “push back” from families, as there has been in other school districts. “I am very grateful that our families are listening and giving our district their complete cooperation,” he said.

In other matters school principal Micah Oldham updated the board on the roll out of the Wilson Reading System. The teachers have started using it with some of the struggling reading in third grade, he said.

The Wilson Reading System uses the Orton-Gillingham approach to reading instruction, Oldham said. It pioneered the multisensory approach to teaching reading by using visual, auditory, kinetic and tactile senses to help children make connection between sounds and words, he added.

Oldham told board members that, because of the pandemic, the entire special ed. team was able to receive Wilson Reading System training virtually. It is three days of rigorous training and the staff didn’t have to travel or leave their families to get it, he said.

So far, the system has been promising, Oldham said. “The teacher reports that the students who need it are enjoying it, look forward to it and are making progress,” he said.

Oldham also told board members that student-led conferences were virtual this year and 94% of school families participated. “The feedback from parents and teachers was overwhelmingly positive,” he said.

At the November 19 board of education meeting, Oldham expressed appreciation for the generosity of two former RCS principals, Sue Hammond and James Wakeman, who gave the school a $50 gift certificate to Main Street Pizza. He said the donation would be used to fund a December Reading Challenge and the home room with the highest percentage of students doing their nightly reading would win a pizza party.

Oldham reported that the fifth and sixth grade students are currently running neck and neck for the party, with both grades showing an increase of 13% in their nightly reading. “I am pleased to see the accountability that has been created by the challenge,” he said.

Oldham expressed his appreciation to Barb Kittle who made a second donation of $50, which will be used to fund a January Reading Challenge. He said thanks also must go out to ConnectGen for providing each Ripley Central School family with a $20 gift card to Meeder’s Restaurant.

In other business, Caldwell reminded board members that, once a month, students have a half day of school, and this month it was very fortunate that the students had gone home. “Right after we dismissed our students to go home, after a half day of classes, a water main broke by the bus garage,” he said. “So, we had to send the teachers home, too.”

Caldwell also reminded board members that about a year and a half ago, the Smart School Investment Plan for the replacement of cameras and the updating of the video surveillance system received approval. He said the hallway cameras, door cameras, and the outside video system would all be updated, and the work could begin as early as the holiday break.

Caldwell also said that he had just completed a meeting about the district’s building project and the architect will be at the January meeting to present information to the board. “We’d like to present this to the voters in the fall,” he said. “As of now we receive 95% aid for building repairs.”