On Friday, May 19, as students were enjoying a half day of school, faculty and staff at Livingston Manor and Roscoe joined together in Manor for a time of connecting, reminiscing and helping plan for their combined future.
The event gave the faculty and staff, who have had previous get-togethers to help ease the transition, a chance to get to know each other a bit better as they reviewed old yearbooks from both districts and thought about the schools’ cultures and traditions and how they could fit into the newly formed Rockland Central School District.
The district was formed following the approval of the merger by voters from both districts in December.
Matthew Cole from the education consulting firm Leadership Solutions Advisers led the group, reminding them that this is not a linear process and that it is OK to acknowledge the difficulties this change will bring.
After welcoming the group, Cole asked the faculty and staff to line up according to the year they were hired, then asked them to break up into small groups.
There, they were asked to talk about the schools’ cultural activities, such as rituals, ceremonies, traditions, stories and myths; understandings, such as mission, purposes, values, beliefs, assumptions, normas, folkways and history; and symbols such as architecture, artifacts, participants, members and leaders.
Each group was given a large sheet of paper and asked to identify, in drawings, lists or however they wished to express, things in common and unique to each school history, with key milestones, events and changes.
The posters were then hung up and the group discussed what should happen with the items identified.
The process had a two-fold purpose — to continue building the relationships between the Roscoe and Livingston Manor faculty and staff and to gather more information on shaping Rockland Central School Districts and to be better together for a better tomorrow.
The district is continuing its work on the merger with the Community Planning Day focusing on continuing the strategic plan process and defining a common mission, vision and core values, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, May 19, in the Livingston Manor auditorium. Those who wish to attend are asked to RSVP at https://tinyurl.com/RocklandplanningRSVP.
More information on the Advisory Committee workgroups will also be available in the coming days.