Common Core is Focus of Deer Park School Conference

While the transition to New York’s Common Core State Standards have come fraught with controversy Deer Park School Superintendent Eva Demyen addressed the subject at the district's annual Superintendent’s Day conference this month saying that the transition will be important for the future of students and teachers, according to a statement released by the school.

“Math and English language arts are the basic tools for all other disciplines,” said Demyen in the statement. “The other disciplines all rely on them for proper implementation.”

Demyen expected teachers in every subject to become familiar with Common Core.

“It’s very important that it’s across the board,” she said. “We must embrace the Core in every discipline, not just ELA and math, and it has to be evident in every lesson we teach.”

Five teachers from John F. Kennedy Intermediate School were  featured in a New York State Education Department video segment called “Teaching Is the Core” that will be available to view soon on the state's EngageNY website. The video will be used to aid teachers across New York in adapting to the Common Core Standards.

“You are the Core,” Superintendent  Demyen told the educators. “Don’t ever forget it.”

She also addressed the challenges posed by the transition to the Common Core but said schools would have to adapt.

“All of us in New York State are in the same boat,” said Superintendent Demyen.