Herricks Indo-US Community BLOG

How does Herricks handle the issue of bullying? That is aside from paying lip service to the problem. What measures are in place? Often it probably just gets cloaked as "children will be children" or "boys will be boys" and ignored. Bullying is highly detrimental to kids and has life long implications. It is our responsibility as parents to prevent it. We neither want our kids to be bullys or be bullied if they are going to excel in life. Quote article below "Structural.........read more

From:   Dr. John E. Bierwirth, Herricks Public Schools   Date:   June 1, 2009   Re:       Dr. Bierwirth’s article,     For the past several years the Gates Foundation has poured billions of dollars into initiatives to create small high schools, particularly in urban school systems, on the theory that small schools would produce significantly better achievement. This initiative was pursued aggressively and with all of.........read more

From: Dr. John E. Bierwirth, Herricks Public Schools   Date:   May 26, 2009   Re:      Dr. Bierwirth’s Article – Tips for Parents on Cyber-bullying – Part II                This is Part II of my article on Tips for Parents and Students on Cyber-bullying.   What Parents Can Do   Learn everything you can about the Internet and what your kids.........read more

From: Dr. John E. Bierwirth, Herricks Public Schools   Date:   May 18 2009   Re:      Dr. Bierwirth’s Article – Tips for Students on Cyber-bullying – Part I                         Over the next two weeks, I would like to share some tips for parents and students on cyber-bullying. These came to us from the Nassau County.........read more

Last spring the Herricks community approved a capital project ballot measure to be paid for through a bond issue. This was the last phase of a long term effort to a) bring our facilities up to par, b) make them more energy efficient and thus cheaper to operate and c) eliminate substandard parts of our facilities which have consumed time, effort and money to repair continuously. Since all school projects must be reviewed and approved by the New York State Education Department before even bids.........read more

Both as a father and as a superintendent, I have long had serious concerns about the risks involved in the mix of teenagers and cars. Over the past decade, there has been progress in New York State, but the progress has been slow and the measures significantly less restrictive than legislation passed in the vast majority of states. New York and New Hampshire are, for example, the only states in which teenagers can get their licenses in fewer than six months.              .........read more

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was intended to force all schools in the country to bring all students up to a high minimum standard. It has resulted in significant progress in many areas. It has also resulted, unfortunately, in fudging – to put it gently – on the part of some states and some districts. In some cases the fudging has been watered–down standards in order to help more students meet them. In other cases there has been fudging of data in order to make results look better.........read more

It seems as though spring has finally arrived – flowers, grass growing again, baseball, softball, lacrosse, spring break, longer hours of sunshine….. It also brings college admissions letters and an end to what has become an increasingly stressful process for many high school seniors and their families across the United States. While all of the decisions have not been collected yet, it appears that Herricks students again did quite well. The hard part, of course, is that even those.........read more

There has been an on-going debate, both inside and outside education, about whether the United States should have national standards or not. For many years, the arguments for such standards seemed powerful but not ultimately persuasive. They do now, however, for several reasons which I will elaborate below.   Please note that I am not talking about standards set by the Federal government nor am I talking about a national or Federal curriculum. I would also want to see national standards.........read more

From:             Dr. John Bierwirth, Herricks Public Schools Date:               March 23, 2009 Re:                  Weekly Article     I have written a number of articles over the past two years regarding residency. In light of a number of recent conversations, it seems.........read more

At the meeting last week the Board of Education decided to hire a firm which has been used by a number of school districts, towns, golf courses, etc. on Long Island to move the geese off their fields and grounds. Obviously this has been a serious problem for us for a long time. We had hoped that the Town of North Hempstead would create a coalition of school districts and the Town to address this problem collectively. Unfortunately, that has not happened. Consequently, the Board felt that they.........read more

       Before I arrived in Herricks, I thought that DECA – Distributive Education Clubs of America – was a dying institution, that it was a relic of the 1950’s which most high school students considered passé. Maybe my perceptions were correct for many places, but they were certainly not correct for Herricks. DECA has been thriving in Herricks for a long time. Moreover, it continues to grow and improve each year.   Done well, the DECA.........read more

We run on our record: 1) Instituted full day Kindergarten for the first time in Herricks.   2) Completed a five year renovation of all district buildings culminating in the passing of a cost neutral bond including new roofs, doors, lighting, windows, ceilings, locker rooms, air-conditioned auditoriums and the new track we have wanted for many years.   3) Rented the upstairs of the administration building for one million dollars and had the renter pay for most of the renovation.   4).........read more

10 REASONS HERRICKS UFSD SHOULD MOVE TOWARDS HAVING PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES IN THE MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS NOTE: Attending a Parent Teacher Conference is a great way to promote a collaborative environment to address student learning. Here are 10 reasons such formal conferences would benefit the teacher, parent and child in the Herricks UFSD. 1. Conferences are a great time for parents and teachers to meet and discuss student academic progress. Parent Teacher Conferences, when.........read more

    From: Dr. John E. Bierwirth, Herricks Public Schools   Date:   March 3, 2009   Re:      Stock Market Simulation Program     As a result of the snow day on Monday March 2, 2009, school will be in session on Wednesday April 8.   Should there be a second snow day this year school would be in session on Monday April 20.   If you have not done so already please sign up for the Herricks Emergency listserv which.........read more

From:   Dr. John E. Bierwirth, Herricks Public Schools

Date:   February 23, 2009

Re:       Participation in the Arts

            There are many wonderful reasons for participating in the arts whether one is talented – like so many of our Herricks students – or less so – like me. It is a wonderful and enriching side of life which everyone can benefit from, especially if one actively participates in it.

            Data continues to emerge which indicates that participation in the arts has benefits which go beyond the artform itself.  The journal, Social Science Quarterly recently carried a study “Wiley-Blackwell (2009, February11), Adolescents Involved With Music Do Better In School”, which indicated participation in music had a positive effect on reading and math achievement in early childhood and adolescence.

            It is important to note the key factor was participation, not ability level.

  From:   Dr. John E. Bierwirth, Herricks Public Schools   Date:   February 12, 2009   Re:       Dr. Bierwirth’s article                 Those who know me well know that I am very supportive of those who acknowledge a mistake and apologize - whether they are friends, colleagues or students for whom I am responsible. We all make mistakes. Acknowledging and accepting.........read more

From:             Dr. John E. Bierwirth   Date:               December 22, 2006   Re:                  Newspaper Article                            .........read more

From: Dr. John Bierwirth, Herricks Public Schools Date: November 20, 2006 Re:    Weekly Article – Student Course Loads and Lunch     At a number of meetings over the past several years, we have had an excellent discussion regarding course loads carried by students in Herricks High School. Part of the discussion was about the circumstances under which students would be allowed to skip lunch and take an extra period. Central to this issue is open and.........read more

From:             Dr. John E. Bierwirth   Date:               November 13, 2006   Re:                  Newspaper Article – Course Loads and Lunch Period at Herricks High School   As in any good school district we are constantly re-examining and refining the district’s.........read more