Saipan Tribune

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Early Spring break for public school students

Students at public schools will start their Spring break early as classes in many schools are out beginning Friday to give way for teachers and staff to undergo professional development and training.

Secondary schools representative Jonas Barcinas disclosed yesterday that the public schools belonging to central and southern clusters have decided to conduct their professional development sessions on Friday. Schools included in these clusters are Marianas High School, Garapan Elementary School, San Vicente Elementary School, Oleai Elementary School, Hopwood Junior High, William S. Reyes Elementary School, Dandan Elementary School, Koblerville Elementary School, San Antonio Elementary School, and Saipan Southern High School.

Barcinas, also Hopwood Junior High principal, said clustered schools will tackle on Friday teacher classroom instructions for their continued effectiveness and will touch on schools' accreditation issues in preparation for the upcoming team visit in October.

PSS, starting in June last year, has aligned its accreditation with the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools from Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The transfer transitions from school level to a district level accreditation process which includes the entire system and its board of education.

Barcinas said the schools' support employees, meantime, are scheduled to undergo training from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. These sessions will focus on the national workplace safety regulations, including preventing on-the-job accidents and injuries in the workplace.

Also this Friday, Kagman High School principal Alfred Ada announced that the Northeast cluster schools will have no classes beginning Friday for the same reason. These included Kagman Elementary School, ChachaOceanview Jr. High, Kagman High School, Tanapag Elementary School, and Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School.

PSS' Spring break for all students are scheduled from March 25 through March, 29. They are expected to comeback in the classrooms, along with their teachers and staff, on April 1.