As a coordinator of science for a number of districts in the northern suburbs of New York City, I have the opportunity to work with schools with a tremendous array of needs. For some, finances are the primary culprit in educational challenges faced. In others, high populations of language learners or mobile student populations make it difficult to provide for each and every student. In still other cases, a combination of factors cause meeting student needs to be an uphill battle.
What's the common denominator? That every district, especially in today's educational climate, is facing drastic challenges. What's different is how districts and schools are dealing with those challenges. Are they embracing and working through them? Or are they brushed under the carpet, in hopes that "magical thinking" will take care of everything?
Richard J. Bailey School, a 4–6 grade building that is part of the Greenburgh Central School District 7, is a school that has not only learned how to how to identify and understand its needs, but has seen the benefit of approaching these needs from a "partnership perspective." The population of RJ Bailey is both diverse culturally and from a socioeconomic standpoint. Nearly 10 percent of the student population is limited English proficient, and slightly less than half receive free or reduced price lunch. This data, paired with the added