The Google Logo

christmas sample

How do you save a draft?  Button to the left of Preview Changes?

We need to fix the time…off by one hour.

capozzoli.c@generalmclane.org

Howdy, —> nothing

Custom Field

GM_post_template
GM_slide_URL

Upload/Insert icons?  Video Audio Media

Read More – posts only?

General Coach Wagner would like to meet with all current members of the tennis team during tutorial on Wednesday, February 22 in the office classroom.  General GM Extremers: Now is the time to get in shape for Spring – make a commitment to your health and come join Mr. Kane and Bobby Stauffer next Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 6:30 – 7:15am. Join Club Extreme – Workouts are for everyone!

General This is a reminder to any student who owes an obligation to the school (including detention time) that you will be unable to attend the Snowball Dance until your obligation is settled. Obligation letters were mailed home last week. If you are still unsure if you owe an obligation, please see Mrs. Stawicki in the office.

Guidance St. Vincent Hospital is again hosting their “So You Want to be a Physician” Night on Wednesday, March 7th. This is an excellent opportunity for students to interact with physicians, medical residents, and medical students in a casual forum setting. Students will receive answers to the many of their questions that may include: How long does it take to be a doctor? What is med school really like? What happens after med school? If you would like to attend this event, please sign up in the guidance office ASAP. Seating is limited. We encourage all students to attend; who may even be remotely interested in becoming a physician.

Guidance Edinboro University of Pennsylvania is pleased to announce the sixth annual Northwestern Pennsylvania (NWPA) High School Journalism Competition, sponsored by the Communication & Media Studies Department and the campus newspaper (The Spectator), radio station (WFSE-88.9) and television station (Edinboro University E-TV). The competition is designed to recognize and reward journalistic talent among high school juniors and seniors. The competition is open to all students currently in 11th and 12th grade who have an interest in print journalism, broadcast journalism or photojournalism. More information and applications are available in the guidance office.

Hello

anchor test back to top

Jump to Test_anchor

I placed an anchor at community

This is a table using the WP-Table plugin

Mission Statement

Meeting students where they are to empower them to become all they are capable of being.

GMSD Core Values

1. Community: We value a sense of community within the district and with the community at large.
2. Caring: We value personal relationships in a caring environment.
3. Respect: We value respect for self, for each other and for property.
4. Responsibility: We value responsible action and expect personal accountability and fiscal responsibility.
5. Collaboration: We value collaboration and expect all parties to work together for the betterment of our students.
6. High Expectations: We value holding high expectations for ALL.
7. Individual: We value every individual and provide ample opportunity for them to develop their skills and talents.
8. Safety: We value a school community that is safe and secure.
9. Leadership: We value quality leadership throughout the district.
10. Commitment: We value long term commitment from employees, graduates and residents.

testing testing

Test Anchor. Have to be in “HTML” view to see this.

As part of their existing services,  has created a web site where on-line gifts can be made to the General McLane Foundation Fund using a secure pay-pal system. One hundred percent of the donation will be transferred to the General McLane Foundation Fund. To make a donation or to learn more about the Erie Community Foundation go to www.eriecommunityfoundation.org. When making a donation, enter General McLane Foundation in the”Search by Organization Name“ box.

The General McLane Foundation is organized exclusively for charitable educational purposes to benefit the students of the General McLane School District.  The Foundation is organized to provide funds through public support for three primary purposes:

• Student scholarships
• Innovative educational programs including staff development, development projects and educational research
• Capital improvements of athletic facilities for the improvement of sports and physical education programs

Our return to school after Christmas break is a good example. Monday, January 2 was our last day of vacation and unfortunately, our white Christmas was one week late arriving. That night, the predictions were for the snow to continue until noon the next day; but, mother nature had her own designs. What follows is a chronology of weather chaos:

Jan 2 10:00 p.m. It’s been awhile since I’ve done a cancellation so I rehearse it all in my head.

11:00 p.m. Go to bed anticipating an early call. My computer has the weather page and Alert Now page open in tabs for quick access in the morning. The president has a red button. I have a “red folder” with phone numbers and access codes. It is ready.

Jan 3 12:30 a.m.

1:30 a.m.

2:30 a.m.

3:30 a.m.

4:00 a.m.

5:00 a.m.

Wake up. Anticipation takes it toll on sleep. Wake up. Hmm, I don’t hear the wind. Back to sleep.

Wake up. Look outside. No snow. Must be a brief break in the weather. Back to

sleep.

Wake up. Still no snow or wind. But it was supposed to snow until noon. 

 Hmmm.

Can’t get back to sleep. Admit defeat and get up. It’s not snowing and the

road is clear. Radar shows just a very narrow band of snow to

south and west. Looks like they were wrong about the forecast.

Still quiet. No snow, no wind.

5:15 a.m.

and that all municipalities have reported that roads are clear. Our partner for transporting private school students, Fort LeBeouf, also reports all roads clear. Looks like school is on. Too bad, a late start would have been a good way to “ease back into it.”

6:00 a.m.

Starts snowing like crazy. It’s about 45 minutes too late to delay. Must just be an anomaly. It will stop soon.

6:30 a.m.

Still snowing like crazy. This doesn’t make sense.

Talk to transportation director who is on the road. He reports everything is clearLancer Letter #68! Chaos!

7:00 a.m.

Drive to work. Are you kidding me? This is awful. Couldn’t someone have predicted this at 5:15 a.m.?

7:15 a.m.

Still snowing. This is the peak bus time for the secondary run. Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?

8:00 a.m.

Education Center secretaries field calls. Anonymous callers leave messages to tell me if I cared about kids’ safety, I wouldn’t be having school. Oh well, they don’t understand the time constraints or chaos theory. At least it’s supposed to end by noon and we’ll have clear passage for the afternoon run.

12:00 noon

White-outs. Seems to have gotten worse. 12:15 p.m.

The weather alarm goes off. Winter Storm Warning extended to 7:00 p.m.

Unbelievable!!

12:30 p.m.

Discuss options with transportation director. An early dismissal is problematic due to the time it takes to get drivers in and on the road and the problem of dropping off young kids to houses with potentially no adult in them. We decide to dismiss high school and middle school just 15 minutes early to be sure elementary runs on time. Cancel all after-school activity busses and after-school activities at the middle school.

1:00 p.m.

It suddenly stops snowing. The sun comes out. Must be a break like at 4:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m.

Still blue skies. I’m not being fooled this time like I was this morning. I’m sure it

will start again. The warning lasts until 7:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. and beyond Clear skies. No snow. There’s no winning.

I didn’t study chaos theory as part of my superintendent training. I didn’t even study meteorology. I did, however, take a good course in stress management and one of my professors stressed that administrators should learn to drink black coffee. Good advice.

Most people in the school district are very proud of our schools. I base this on the feedback I have received on many occasions as well as our strategic planning process last year. We like the fact that we have small classes in the early grades, strong programs in reading and math, a middle school that meets student needs and a high school with wide breadth and depth of quality programming, curricular and extracurricular, for students. We are also proud to have been named a “high achieving/low spending” district last year by the Joint Government Commission in Harrisburg. Basically, we do great things with kids while keeping taxes low.

If the things we love about General McLane are to stay the same, then things will have to change.

I believe that an important part of my job as superintendent is to keep one foot planted in the present and the other in the future. Good leaders are always looking ahead and work with their boards to plan for the future. Here is what the numbers are telling us about our future:
1. By 2019, approximately a third of our population will be age 55 and over. There will be many retirees among us.
2. Our budgets for the next 20 years will be running a deficit of $300K to $500K annually based only on our three biggest expenses and two major revenue sources.
3. By 2019, our high school enrollment will drop to 587. (Our highest enrollment was 930 in 2001-2002.) A high school this size will not support the number of quality academic and extra-curricular programs we are so proud to have.

The bottom line is, we will all have to pay much more in taxes and have less to show for it; but, that is only if some things don’t change.

In a school district, you raise revenue one of two ways: everyone pays more in taxes or more people share the tax burden, allowing the taxes to stay reasonable. That is where the LERTA, or tax abatement program comes into play. The district and each of its municipalities have worked together to enact a residential LERTA to encourage growth in the district. If we are successful in attracting the equivalent of 200 new homes over the next ten years, the deficits I mention in #2 above, will diminish to the point that they become a surplus. Even if the deficits just diminish, we will have accomplished an important achievement.

This LERTA is significant for a number of reasons. First, it may be the first time the district and all five municipalities have worked together so well for something so significant. Secondly, it will give our community a competitive edge. To be certain, we are competing with other municipalities for a limited number of people. Developers have to know we are serious. Finally, it is an important step to creating a strong, positive future for the children of this district.

I could complete my tenure as superintendent and never worry about the future. I can ignore what the future numbers show, and get through the next several years quite fine and leave a mess for “the next guy” to solve. Indeed, doesn’t every community that finds itself in a financial crisis look back and say, “why didn’t we see this coming?” There are plenty of examples where this has occurred.

If we are successful, no one will notice. Things will have “stayed the same.” If we fail, then people will be unhappy. There are many variables that will affect our success; but, I want to be able to look back and say we did everything we could to make the future the same as our present.

Next week: An explanation of other efforts to promote the district.

Fall

 Winter

Spring

Schedules are posted at the beginning of each season. Changes may not always be reflected.