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Tecumseh principal outlines 'CAres' program, buddy classrooms and student survey results
Summary
Tecumseh Elementary Principal Ashley Carducci told the Jamesville‑DeWitt board that the school has adopted a CAres character framework, expanded buddy‑classrooms and used a student survey to match children with trusted adults for recurring check‑ins.
At the Nov. 17 Jamesville‑DeWitt Central School District Board of Education meeting, Tecumseh Elementary Principal Ashley Carducci gave a roughly 10‑minute presentation describing efforts to strengthen the school's social and behavioral culture.
Carducci said the building adopted three simple rules this year—"taking care of ourselves, taking care of others, and taking care of our school"—which the school uses as an anchor for daily routines and character education. "So my name is Ashley Carducci. I'm the principal here at Tecumseh Elementary School, and we're excited to host the board meeting this evening," she told the board as she opened her remarks.
Carducci described concrete practices tied to the CAres framework: buddy classrooms that pair younger and older grades, assemblies and a school song, a two‑month rotation of character traits (cooperation, assertiveness, responsibility, empathy and self‑control), and a system of grade‑specific 'CAres' tickets that students earn and drop into an office basket for weekly drawings. She said teachers surveyed every student in the first 10 weeks to identify the adult each child would turn to if upset; the school plans targeted check‑ins and lunch‑buddies based on those responses.
Carducci also credited the parent‑teacher group for support including two small entryway ‘‘little libraries’’ stocked with Scholastic dollars and recent fundraising to buy inclusive playground equipment and a communication board. She noted ongoing staff peer observations meant to spread curriculum best practices across classrooms and said the school will continue to refine supports for students in intervention.
The presentation concluded with invitations to attend upcoming events — a fourth‑grade musical and other holiday assemblies — and a short video showing weekly routines and staff memos, which Carducci said she circulates to keep the building aligned.
