Okay, good evening and welcome. Today is October 20th, 2025. This is a meeting of the school committee. Call the meeting to order 501. This meeting is being both audio and video recorded. I would ask that everyone please rise for the pledge of allegiance.
>> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you all. We will next go on to a roll call. Caitlyn, if you could start
us out. >> Caitlyn Card Jerzki. Amy Denta. >> Gregory Thompson. Gordon Smith, superintendent of schools. >> Heather Brown, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning. >> Pamela Blair, assistant superintendent for business. Samantha Velasquez,
secretaries. Um Jamie, no uh school committee members on there, right? Okay, thank you. Uh K, I would like to move uh 6.1 up to 5.1.
>> Yeah, before 5.1.1. So, could I have a motion to do that, please? >> A motion to move item number 6.1 up before item 5.1 in today's meeting. >> Thank you. Motion made by Amy. Second. >> Second by Carrie. Thank you. >> Any other discussion? All in favor say
I. >> I. >> I. Those opposed, nay. That motion carries three to zero. Thank you for that. We have a minutes for approval. I would entertain someone to move on that >> approve the October 6, 2025 executive session meeting minutes.
>> Motion made by Amy. >> Second. >> Second by Carrie. Discussion. All in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Those opposed, nay. That carries. Three to zero. One more, please. Move to approve the October 6th 25 regular session meeting minutes. >> Motion made by Amy. Second.
>> Second by Carrie. Discussion. All in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Those opposed, nay. That carries three to zero as well. Samantha, thank you for those. We have an opportunity for the committee and subcommittee communications. Caitlyn, would you like to start?
>> So, term one's about to close on the 29th. So, that's next Wednesday. Um, at the high school right now, we have like a college fair that's going to go on this Friday. So, it's going to give like all students in all grades at lunch the opportunity to talk to like admissions
um people and representatives and get like experience with that. And then also at the high school, we've had like the whole month of October, we've had um college representatives coming and giving like um like explaining to students about the schools and like opportunities that they
have after college. >> Much great. Are these all local schools or they're >> um some of them are like they're pretty local like mostly like in the northeast. >> Have you spoken with them at all? >> Not yet. No. >> See if they might sway you into another. Okay.
>> Okay. Thank you for that, Caitlyn Carrie. Amy, >> um the only thing I have to share is that I attended the Richland Park open house um several weeks back um both as a committee member but also as a parent and um everything was extremely
organized. The teachers were very well prepared and I was really impressed at the flow of the evening. So I just wanted to share that. >> Excellent. Great. Thank you so much for that. Next up we have opportunity for visitors to address the committee.
Seeing none, we will continue on. Moving 6.1 up, we have the super superintendent search process discussion with Tracy Novik, MASC field director on superintendent search process. Hello, Tracy. >> Good evening. >> Thank you for zooming in tonight.
>> Yes, I apologize. I'm at the the uh Ash Asbo International Conference in Fort Worth tonight, so otherwise we'd be with you in person. Um, thanks for taking the report remotely. Um I believe I I did send to you uh the report of the um information gathered um over the past
number of weeks um from the community to inform um the position description that we plan to um post um when we post the position later this week. Um I won't read the whole thing but to go through the highlights um just to make sure we acknowledge in particular there's been a
lot of work by other people um in the district in putting this together. um a lot of a lot of scheduling and a lot of scrambling. So, I want to thank the superintendent, the principles, um everyone else who put that together, obviously Samantha, um for all of that. Um meeting starting as early as
September 2nd with um all of the faculty of the high school and then going through um right up through last week, um which was the last faculty meeting I went to with Mapleh. Um there also was a survey that was put in the field um the first week of September that was open
through the 15th and had almost 200 responses um as you saw. We also did in addition meet with um central administration, all of the faculty, the district um academic coaches um and uh thanks to the um the good work of both the
superintendent and the high school principal and also some faculty um we were at all three lunches at the high school to take input from students. Um, so this is a coalition. It takes information from all of those things and puts them together. Um, in terms of highlights, it won't surprise you to know that having the longest serving
superintendent in Massachusetts then ends up reflecting in the feedback people get when they're thinking about who's coming next. Um, and so I really do think that there's a lot here that has to do with um, you know, some expectation and some um, a lot of
interest in terms of of that kind of thing. So the the two things that I um I wanted to make sure I highlighted early on is that they um there was real strong feedback um across um groups that whoever comes in have substantial
educational and administrative experience. Um principal experience kept being highlighted. Um central administration experience came up a number of times as well and again across groups. Um that's seen as being very very important um for the district. Um,
also not surprising because the district has been under the same leadership for as long as it has. Um, the notion of fresh eyes coming in um, and someone from outside the district um, who hasn't worked has been has not been in the district in any capacity um, was expressed again across groups. Um there
also was a lot of feedback around um making sure that you had someone with vision um and strengths to carry forward the vision working across groups in the community and someone who is these ke him a couple of times empathetic, compassionate and kind. Um I do want to note by the way that the current
superintendent's um listening and open door leadership style was um held up a number of times as something that's appreciated and that people hope that they continue to have in the next um superintendent. So, it's always a good sign when people say, "I really like this about what's happening now, and how do we keep it?" Um, so that was
something that came up um a couple of times. In terms of the one of the things I ask is the strength of the district because one of the things that you're looking for is um what do you want to maintain and move forward and get better at? Um certainly the strength of the teaching staff was cited, the sense of community in and around the schools,
which I don't think will probably surprise any members of the school committee. um the district and especially leadership support for diverse families in the district was repeatedly noted um as a strength and also was cited particularly strongly as something that needs to continue in the next leadership. Um that particularly
came through in the parents group um and very specifically I should note that was um one thing that was flagged was support for LGBTQ students, families, staff and uh family and parents. Um staff and students both appreciated engagement with classroom and extracurricular activities by
administration um and wish to cons continue to see that um heading forward. And of course, everyone cites the new high school as being something that everybody is proud of. Um and by the way, that's not only true in the high school, that's also true in the elementary schools. Like they're glad that the high school is getting a new building, too. um in terms of areas that the district
is working on that I really would couch this more as um sort of tensions that you see and and I know that sometimes we think of tension as being inherently negative and I actually really am thinking of it simply in terms of physics, right? That you've got two things happening at the same time. Um, so that notion of how do you make sure
that students are um, receiving appropriate special education services while making sure that you're also doing tiered support across the district um, and that you're um, appropriately supporting students in particular ways. I should note, by the way, that I saw a great presentation um, from the special
education director right before I spoke at the last faculty meeting. So, it's clear that's something that's actually being discussed already. Um, difficult budget decisions. I know you went through a tough a tough budget season last year that always has implications. And then anytime you're doing a a curriculum selection and implementation,
that sort of question of which voices are at the table and how do you make sure that implementation is faithful while teachers also being able to act as professionals. Um those were things that all sort of continued to come up. Um and I mean ultimately the notion of the superintendent being the person who
ultimately has to make the call after taking the feedback, right? um and taking input from all of the places. Uh there was a lot of conversation around making sure that people listen and make decisions um and then decisions are carried out and defended as needed over
the course of that. Um in terms of I I didn't actually ask sort of what's the next superintendent going to have to deal with, but something that did come up um was the question of sort of with the new high school um questions of sort of um elementary zones and assignments
and how grades are assigned. that was seen in a couple of different perspectives as something that might need to be something that was raised by the next superintendent. Uh families reflected a need for greater and more consistent communication with them um or simply clarity on where to find information. And then I always promise that I'll bring forward anything that
comes up um that people might need to know and super and students did frequently mention that they wanted more access to bathrooms during lunch. I will note that I was actually there at lunch. So I mean that lunchtime is going to be on their mind. So that's that's fair. Um so usually what we do when we post a
position is we put qualifications which are sort of like kind of checkbox things right you either have them or you don't. Um so for qualifications certainly you have to put licensed or eligible for license to Massachusetts. Master's degree required. How you phrase this then is up to you. Um in Massachusetts
in order to to achieve the level of lensure you're requiring you would have to have a master's degree. Um if you choose to put advanced degree preferred you certainly can. I've put the phrase in there. It's up to you. Um, and then this is fairly standard phrasing with an I to that feedback you were getting
around administrative experience. Um, so a minimum of 10 years in public education, including five or more years in school or central administration roles. And then the selection criteria is the place where we really hone in on what is it that your district needs at this time.
So what were we told by the community that East Long Meadow Public Schools needs in leadership right now? Um and so this is coming from what I just shared with you um and is proposed for you to do with as you wish in terms of um accepting editing and so forth. A strong
and experienced leaders with a proven track record of managing the complexities of relationships among and between stakeholders. An educational professional with experience in special education, curriculum alignment, and budgetary allocations. A visionary champion for the district. An excellent
communicator through various means with all those in the community. an empathetic educator with a heart for children seeking to build a long-term relationship with our district. Um, and so, Mr. Chair, I would ask that you have a conversation at this time about the qualifications and selection criteria.
Um, and then I will have a couple of other things I need from you this evening as well. >> So, are there specifics that you would like us to discuss in terms of the >> Yep. So, those last bullets, um, so if you have the page open from you, it's the it's the final thing that I gave you. um if there's anything in terms of
the qualifications that you want to change particularly in terms of that question about degrees and also level of experience. Um and then really just the selection criteria in terms of the phrasing. And let me just also note for the school committee that when the search committee gets the applications,
what they also will get from me will be a rubric that has the qualifications and the selection criteria on it so that they can be evaluating the applications against what you as the school committee have said you're looking for. So that essentially is what you're setting up here as a framework. >> Okay,
>> jump in. >> Sure. Does everybody have that page that Tracy's referring to? But I can share my screen if that would be useful for any of you. But I also know the screen may not be that large for you. So >> um my preference is that we keep
advanced degree or change the wording to terminal degree preferred. And I also heard you um speak about um some of the feedback that you had gotten from different stakeholders about um the individual having experience as a school
principal. Um, and I know that it's noted there, um, with the five years or more, but I would I would like to prioritize experience as a school principal somewhere in there if >> um, if that's possible, just because I heard that come through as something
that was important to some stakeholders. >> Are you saying to require it? >> Um, maybe not require referred. Yeah, I mean qualifications. I'd like to have somebody who's had experience as a principal, right? It would be
predictable. >> If you got a special uh special ed coordinator, it's not a principal, they wouldn't qualified. >> Uh I mean, >> if you made it a qualification is my question. >> Um
yeah, I don't know. Maybe just thinking about that language and I'm only saying that because it clearly came forth and and >> came it came to the top of priorities for the the public. >> Yep. >> So, and I noticed it just wasn't quite
worded like that. >> No. And I would say I mean you can talk about things being preferred. That's certainly fine. Um I I would I would agree that you maybe don't want to put it in as a requirement per se because certainly there are people who um end up in central administration without having
gone through a principal ship first and you could certainly have you know five or seven years in central administration without that. But you're right that definitely did come up. So you might consider words like preferred or or that kind of thing. >> I would be totally fine with that. And I also like the idea of a terminal degree
preferred, not required, but up where it says master's degree required, terminal degree preferred. >> That implies a doctorate. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Why not just say the doctorate? >> Because it they might not have a
specific it could be a PhD, an EDDD, it could be something else. But >> okay, >> I was curious about something related to like use of data, data analysis, >> experience with it. >> You could you could potentially add that
to maybe one of the bullet points in terms of um perhaps an educational professional maybe in the one that says an educational professional with experience in add it to the list might be a place for it to go. That makes sense, Carrie. >> Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good, Tracy.
>> Okay. And I would just what I would do is I would just add uh and data analysis um after budgetary allocations would >> Yep. >> data analysis or database decision making. >> Yeah.
>> Matter maybe not. I mean in terms of questions they would ask too like I can think of a question like give us an example of a time where you've used it to make an informed dec you know so however you want to >> informed decision- making
>> yeah I mean we've been like last meeting we looked at a lot of the assessments so >> sure >> this person would need to >> Yep we can certainly do that >> and you're right I appreciate what you're flagging there Carrie because um something that that often also happens
is that they may use this for um the both the search committee and then also you of course as the school committee may decide that some of these base are what you're going to base your questions on in the interview. >> Anything else on the list? Is there any way to add um some language
in the selection criteria about um individuals who have potentially had experience with building I was since this is going to be such a critical component for >> when they start. >> What's that? >> We'll be moved in. Well, we won't be
moved, right? >> Yeah. there's going to be so many moving parts, you know, and so obviously this is kind of like, >> you know, a finding a unicorn or something, but that's had >> experience um you know, shifting um
district lines and schools moving or or maybe even opening a new school. Um just as some kind of criteria that maybe somebody's out there that has had >> I was going to say make a note for it to be a question like a time. >> I can certainly do that.
because they will be issues adjustments that may have to be made. So you could phrase the question in that way where >> Yeah. >> Yep. Absolutely. I'll pass that on to the to the when we um when I brainstorm um topic questions with the search committee. I think I can put pass that
along. >> Great. Anybody else have comments? Pam, Gordon, principles, Don, Gaitlin. >> Sounds good to me. >> Looking all right.
>> Looking good. >> Any other suggestions, uh, Tracy for the >> No. And also, I should note I did I did receive the information just now. Um, sorry, from the junk mail will get you every time. Um, from the U superintendent. So, we'll be compiling
the rest of the brochure. it has all of that information that you're sending to us um over the next couple of days and and putting it together. So, the only the next thing that the the next tricky bit that I do need though from you, Mr. Chair, this evening is you we are required under Massachusetts law now to
post a salary range. >> Okay. >> Um so, you are aware certainly of what you're paying your current superintendent, but you also have a superintendent who is of longstanding. Um I did look at a couple of adjoining districts. Um although um MASS is still gathering their information. That's who
we actually get their our information from every year. Um so I have a couple of those although there isn't a huge range. I've got what I've got is Lelo and Long Meadow. Um so that that is for you to discuss and um we do have to put actual numbers on this in order to
comply with state law um in the posting but this is something that's entirely under your purview. >> You have a recommended range? Um I mean so the two that I have is that that LLO is at 180 and Long Meadow is at 187. Um
so I first of all I never want to see a school school district that's that's not radically different in size to be clear. Um so certainly no one's no one's going to talk about you in in Springfield, right? Um but I don't want to see you too far out of line with your peers mostly just because people will that
will catch attention. Um, but you could certainly you can certainly go low a bit lower than LLO and you could and then the top range is obviously up to you >> I also did a little research too for you. I should have had it with great >> thinking that that was going to
>> I guess it's all happening >> there member districts or >> um yeah I tried to get as many surrounding districts as I as I could um in the past. You're welcome. Well, you know, sometimes one business manager to another. It's easy. >> I was going to say I didn't send it out over Mazbbo and I appreciate you doing that.
>> And um and then, you know, to find out what other kind of items are in contracts, you know, um and I'm so sorry I'm a little slow at this where I'm going to find it. Um >> those superintendent's been there. Superintendent,
>> uh it's at least his third year there. He was a superintendent in the eastern end of the state before coming here >> for multiple years. >> Not for multiple years but for a few years. >> No experience level is higher. >> Yeah. Marty probably has eight nine
>> as in Long Meadow. Um just >> but he he also was a superintendent Hampton Wilham. >> 13 123. Yeah. >> He's got he's got me by one. >> Does he really? Yeah. Just not in the same district. Yep. >> Make it small. So >> he's got 17 years at the end of this year. Okay.
Okay. Um, easier if I just gave you my computer. >> You asking me? >> You're savvy as I am. Um, well, I mean I
So the LPVEC districts >> Yeah. >> What I found out is that Awam uh currently in this current year is at 183964. No, I'm so sorry. That was actually last year and it what the business owner told me is that that's still to be determined this year. So I don't know if they're still somehow negotiating something
>> but it was 183. Um she does get longevity mileage phone little early retirement incentive. Um we know where East Long Meadow is. Um the 184319 Hampton Wilham I'm sorry I did not get their information. Um Long Meadow is at
192526. Lello 186997, Southwick 181598. Uh, and uh, West Springfield 187460. >> Pretty consistent.
>> Pretty consistent. Um, yeah. And I I have a few others around. Um, East Hampton 175, Hadley 173, Graanby 135, Hampshire Regional 180, Lennox 184. Um, let's see. Did you say there was a
135 in there? >> Yeah, that's must be someone could even >> Oh, Grand. >> Yep, they're low. Um, >> that's small, >> too. Mson 165, Palmer 168, South Hadley 179. >> So, you can see the nice
>> Yeah. >> Uh, Westfield um 186. >> That's what I got for you, >> Tracy. How big is a range totally? Because if we're looking at one I mean, I see 165 to 192. That's 28 27. >> Yeah, that that would be a little
farther than I think I would probably go. Um, we are we usually Yeah, I I don't know that I'd go much farther than say say 20,000. >> Um, most of the ones I'm seeing are more like 15. >> So 175 to 195. Is that >> what I was thinking?
>> Sound like >> reasonable target? >> Yep. >> Damn. Yeah, that's kind of what I was thinking as well. But I I I don't know if at at this point in time, Tracy, is this where they would need to um discuss any of
those other contractual items that might be or is that later during >> Yeah, that they can do um once they've actually they found the per the person. Um no, I appreciate but I appreciate you already having that that hand because certainly we'll need that once they've voted um once they voted acceptance of a
person. Yep. Okay. Okay. So, I'll put 175 to 195. So, that it would be useful, Mr. Chair, um if you would make a motion to sort of vote vote all of that. So, the salary range and the qualifications um and the
selection criteria. >> Yep. Someone want to take a shot at that. >> You can say as amended if you'd like. I make a motion to approve the qualifications, selection criteria, and
salary range as amended. >> I'll take it. >> Motion made by Amy. >> Second. >> Second by Carrie. Any other discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Those opposed, nay. That carries four to zero. Okay, we're good on that.
>> We're good on that. So then the only question I have for you, Mr. is where we're at with the search committee. >> Um, yes. So, we have uh two more seats that we uh are looking to fill. >> Four, did you say >> two more?
>> Two more. Okay. Sorry. Yep. >> The other 13. We did go to 15. I know. I know. You're the best. >> This is what happens when you put things on the agenda and not there. >> I know.
Um, and so the committee was wondering if you would have suggestions on uh these would be just u community members. They could be parents. They could it's really wide open as to the last two members. Uh >> can you tell me even if you don't give me names but can you tell me what the seats are so far? That might give me a
better idea. I know we've got we've got school committee members. >> We're gonna have two school committee members, two administrators. Um we are going to have the executive secretary for the school committee. Um
we have two community members already, two teachers, one pair professional, a student. >> Anybody else on it? >> You have one at least one parent.
>> I said parent. Oh, Tom Christensen, town manager. >> Oh, okay. He can make the meetings. >> Yeah. Yeah. I gave him the dates. I saw him put them in his phone. >> Okay. So, three eight. >> Yeah. You're missing a short missing
parent. One parent, right? >> One parent so far. >> One parent. That's That's a 13. That's right. I know. One, two, three, four, six, eight,
10, 12. That's your 13. Okay. Um, if you have two more seats, I would say two more parents. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Um, do you So, the parent that you have, what school is the parent at or the kid the students at or is more than one school? >> Maple Shade, >> elementary. Yep.
>> Okay. So I mean I would say you probably want at least one secondary parent and then now obviously parents have often have more than one child, right? So like making provision for that. >> Yeah. >> Um but but I would say given sort of the the array of schools buildings that you
have and um I mean even some of the opinions I saw within them I guess I would say um I would say you want two more parents and that you'd be looking for um some spread in terms of the buildings covered. You might also do you does
anyone know offhand if we have Oh no we actually have it's the director of special education is on right I was gonna say with the amount that just special education came up I would say special education might not be a bad thing also to say >> a parent who has somebody who actually has somebody on an IEP might not be bad either but you can make that sort of
like a we'd love it but not required I guess I would say. >> Okay. >> Okay. So would you like me to then this is again this is under your purview so just to be clear would you like me to put I can what I've done in the past is I put together just a little Google form that is you know name contact
information uh schools your kids are in um tell me a little bit about why you want to be part of this do you have a child who have you had any experience with special education in the district um and had it open for like a week or so um and then I
just try to pick to make sure we get diversity diversification or I can bring them back to you and you can pick or we can do this however you like. >> Does that take away from community that that makes it so it's just parent not community members? Okay. Would would community members that are that are
>> have had children go through the school district or I mean I just don't want to take away I love the idea of adding a parent but I think we kind of maybe already communicated at the last meeting that we going to be opening it up to at least one other spot for a community member. I just don't I don't know if
>> have we received any other people. Has anybody else reached out? >> I think we've had an interested individual. >> Yes. At least one um community member who's also, as you know, um the children's librarian. >> Okay.
>> Um reach out. >> Tracy, are we could we do that then? Could we could we specify one parent? one parent and one and one open or one are we saying you can't have kids in the district?
>> How does committee feel? >> I mean you could say two seats at least one is is being held by a parent. >> Yes, >> that works. I like that. >> Okay. Carrie likes it too. Mhm.
>> And then uh would that be a random selection or how how would you do that? >> So I mean what I usually since you know that you have a maple shade parent >> then I mean what I would this is it's up to you. I can certainly throw all the names into into the electronic equivalent of a hat and pull two.
>> Um if you want I can also try to do like we we have we know we have somebody who's who's having experience at Maple Shade. Let's make sure that we have a parent who has experience in another school or other schools. >> Okay. >> Um and then you know to what degree do
you want to weigh something like special education? That kind of thing. >> I can I can do it any way you like. And I mean I can also do for one seat I can do we're looking for another parent and for the other seat I can do here are the
names that are left. Let's do that at random. >> That's possible too. >> Okay. How are folks about that? >> No, >> I do think um getting representation from a different school is important.
>> Yep. >> So not another parent from Maple Shade. >> Absolutely that. Yeah, I definitely agree there. >> Yep. And then what about the other member? No qualifications? >> No. As long as I'm a member of the community, I would I'd be fine with Okay.
>> Community member be nice. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Okay. Does that make sense, Tracy? >> It does. Um and obviously my first question will be here at the following dates. Please make sure that you can make them >> um before you fill out the rest of this form. >> And I can do that. And if if whoever it
is that has the full list of who it is >> can get that to me at some point along with at least their email addresses. >> Um that would be super useful because I will need that. >> Excellent. We will do that. And will you have for the next meeting the that process complete do you think in two
weeks? So, right. So, okay. So, the we're posting this week when you meet next. >> You meet next on Nove. So, >> November 3rd. >> Yeah. So, I'm going to warn you that I
probably won't. Let's see. Yeah. I'm actually in interviews in another district the night of the third. Um what I mean I can certainly once I have those two other names I can certainly share them with you and you can certainly share them with the rest of the >> Yeah, that would be great.
>> Um and then but I wouldn't expect this to be the search to be back on your agenda since from now it goes back into the search committee, right? Um but I wouldn't expect you to need the search on your agenda again until they're actually announcing the finalist on the 15th of December.
>> Okay. Yeah. except for naming those last two members. >> So that's my question. If if you you actually have the authority to to essentially delegate that you've said how you want them selected >> and I'm selecting them that way and I'll send them to you
>> which we would like to happen but I think we would formally uh recognize that as a committee the the final as we have everyone else. >> We would make them an official member and we can do that in two weeks. You don't have to be here. You can just give us the names. >> Okay. >> And then we'll be done.
I promise. >> Yep. No, that's good. And then just so that just to reiterate the dates for you all, the search committee then will be meeting on the 17th for training. Um they do the determination of the semi-finalist on the 24th and then the interviews are the week of December 8th.
>> Perfect. >> And good to say those dates again. >> Uh we do we still need to pick school committee members. Um I should we wait for antella? >> I think I mean I think so but >> is that the will committee?
>> That's fine. >> Do we want to name uh Tom Christensen did say he could do it? Do we want to name him today? >> Yeah. Yeah. We said we Yeah, we said the town manager. >> Okay. So, can I have a motion to uh name
the um town manager to the screening committee? Make a motion to appoint Tom Christensen, town manager, to the screening committee. Motion >> made by Amy. Second by William. Discussion. All in favor say I. >> I. Those opposed, nay. >> Okay. So Tracy, then we just have the
four left. We have two school committee members that we still have to appoint. We have the other two and you're going to help us with that and you'll get back to us uh >> the student >> before Oh, we and uh >> we'll advertise with the student. Okay. >> And get that and we'll have >> page and bring that back to us. Okay. >> Okay. So it sounds like you'll do that
all at your next meeting then. how they get >> towns for example comm community members will be hearing how >> Samantha had an amazing idea at least I assume it was at least assume it was Samantha's idea she was suggesting that you advertise in the reminder
>> oh we had talked about that not >> yeah that worked >> yep that's great >> you only you only will get the reminder if you're doing in two weeks >> one day >> they're Friday for next Thursday >> day that's not going to work then >> website just a link if we're just doing
like a link. Can't we just get out? >> We certainly can do it. We can what I mean I can send the an electronic link to to the district and the chair as soon as as soon as tomorrow. Um and I mean usually I would say yes, put it on the town website, put it on the school
website, put it on everybody's social media for sure. >> Social media. >> We'll do that. Okay, that's a plan. >> Great. >> Yeah, >> we'll send it. Then I'll expect the last five names, I guess, from you after your third meeting. >> Yes.
>> Yep. And then we'll be good. >> Okay. >> Anything else, Tracy? Anything for us? >> That's everything. >> Anything else for Tracy from the committee? >> Thank you, Tracy. >> You're in Texas. You said >> I am in Texas. I'm in Fort Worth this week. >> Enjoy. Enjoy the rest of your trip.
>> Thank you very much. >> Thank you for zooming in. Appreciate your time tonight. >> You're welcome. Take care. >> Soon. Yep. Take care. >> I love zoom. Okay, that was productive. Thank you all on that. Um,
go back in order now to 5.1.1 elementary school smart goals presentation. We have our elementary administrators here this evening and um as Miss Jarzabski uh referenced earlier, we provided the
district um fall status report which both had current status using IRA assessments and surveys and so forth and as well as the um state accountability from last spring. Uh each school elementary school this evening will be
doing the same thing for you. So without further ado, may I call up met >> I'm going to Renee? Sure you >> Mrs. Hiden is going to be doing the president >> doesn't have any voice. >> All right.
Good evening. So we will start um reducing chronic absenteeism continues to be a focus both at the state and district level and so that's the first part of our goal under support child we made some significant gains
over the past four years reducing the chronic absentes absism rate from 27.4 in 21 and 22 to 18.4 4 and 22 and 23 to 6% last year.
Our hope this year is to see that rate continue to fall um to 5%. Our prepandemic rate was about 5.3%. Some challenges that we continue to face um in our school is family vacations and
things like hockey tournaments. We just had one last Friday, so we saw a lot of absences and um early dismissals. We also have some students in our building with chronic health issues. Um so there are some things that are out of our control. Some things we are continuing
to do that have worked for us in the past. Um we have the attendance signs along posted along the driveway, the main driveway. So when parents are coming in a car line or picking up their child, they'll see those signs. We proactively send a letter home to all
families in the beginning of year in the beginning of the year that points out the LPS attendance policy and then we start running our attendance reports and we'll get our letters out to students who have five or more absences. Um we're
starting that soon. And also we um refer students to our um district care coordinator. We have a shared Google talk with her to reach out to families um so we can communicate and meet and support students that way. Next
slide, please. Okay. So, where do we stand so far? As of October 15th, we have a 9.5 chronic absenteeism rate as compared to 7% um last year and 96.7%
attendance rate um last year was 96.3%. We think it's a result. We had a student out with a surgical procedure and another student um who was injured um that missed a lot of school. So I'm thinking that might think that's probably some of the reason. The next
slide. At Metobrook, our goal is to support the whole child by creating a safe, joyful, and inclusive environment where students feel valued and ready to learn. Last year we piloted DESA the devo strength
student assessment. This tool was used as a universal screener three times a year. Um and we gauge so students social emotional behaviors due to the age of our students. This is conducted as a teacher perception
survey. So the teachers are rating their students based on um the different um sorry >> thank you competencies.
Um so from this survey they can score in typical strength or the need category and then for any student identified as needing more support the teacher will give a more indepth assessment called the DESA 2.0 O and that can allow us to uh pinpoint specific areas for growth
and how we're going to support them. All students receive tier one support through classroom practices and secondstep social skills lessons with our counselors. In addition, the DESA 2.0 results guide us in identifying which students could benefit from
additional social emotional support. For those with a higher level of need, um we provide tier support through small groupoup lessons, counseling, and referrals to our River Valley counseling. The next slide, please. Thank you.
>> So, we did feel that this approach was successful last year and effective based on the improvement noted in our um data from fall to spring. We're continuing with the same action steps this year. And you can see in the
graph um we shifted 9% of our students up to the strength category which is about 479 students. Sorry 9% of 479 is 43 students overall at the spring administration. These percentages break
down to about 115 students in the strength category, 335 students in our typical category, and about 28 students in the neat category. You can go, we just finished ouration
of the DESA, and this graph shows you what the results were like just before the window ended. At the time it the completion rate was about 86%. We had 5% of students in the need category.
Um 79% in typical and 16% in strength which is pretty comparable to last fall at this time. Go to the next slide please. For the DESA 2.0 this is focusing on the 5% of students
who are identified as in need. It breaks down each skill even further across six key social emotional competencies like self-awareness, self-management, relationship skills. Um, so it's also a
guide for us how to move forward. It tells us which skills that we need to focus on and it helps us prioritize our SEAL instruction. We'll stay on that slide for a minute. Sorry. I know I said >> the uh how is the composite score higher
on the needs? So that's a 17 but no other needs is that high composite mean a average of all of them. >> Yeah. >> Or am I reading that wrong?
>> No, it does look like that. >> It's okay answer. Hm. >> Desa, >> are you giving this every at every grade level? What's the matter? >> Sorry, I missed that. So, >> kindergarten, first grade, and second grade three times a year.
>> So, then you can track to see if a student is low if they are making progress over a year. And how is that information then from second to third communicated out to Mountain View or Maple Shade depending on if there's students that are still support or
>> so we would share their DESA scores when we meet for the transition meetings too >> hopefully. Yes. Open Architect is also a platform that all the schools will have access to. Okay. >> And shows their I Ready scores. You can look up their DESA scores but also if
they have the 2.0 O or if they have any additional information that'll get passed along with the student when our counselors meet. >> Okay. >> Um >> and then it's picked up in terms of strategy when >> they can read what what what skills they've been getting, what um
interventions they've been getting through the counselors and things like that. >> For a long time, we were using the panorama uh dashboard and that compiled similar to what Miden is saying. um you know not only the assessments but also
the survey data. Um it also uh compiled uh tenants data, compiled um grade historical grade information. All of that is shifting now to open architects and um they've given us a pretty good starting
dashboard and we're working out some some bugs right now so that uh say attendance is a little bit more accurate on an everyday basis. Um and that's being fed by uh a variety of things but u most most um most of the information
is coming from power school on a daily basis. Do you have any other questions? >> Some other action steps in this area. Um, our special ed teachers started using the new curriculum called Everyday Speech. It's an evidence-based program
that can supports consistent targeted instruction aligned with student needs. So, we're hoping that will help strengthen social skills with our students on IEPs. And this year we've working to create
more consistency in how behavior expectations are taught and reinforced in common areas like the cafeteria, at recess, on the bus. Um these are times where structure matters. So we want the language and expectations to be consistent.
>> How are you getting those staff members in? So we shared we made um templates and we shared with all the staff so they could pre-teach and reinforce the same expectations in a consistent way. Um we provided direct instruction in modeling
to students for the first two weeks in the cafeteria and on the second day a student raised his hand and he's like you already told us this yesterday. So I was like oh you're going to be in for it for the next two weeks of repetition. Um and then we have visuals and written
cues building. So, by the bus lines, there's big posters with pictures in simple language of our expectations for what the bus looks like, what the cafeteria looks like. We had that posted in the cafeteria for expectations. And
then eventually, um, we're going to develop some more expectations for hallways, bathrooms, carline, and starting to use that language. So, it's nice to see we see people like even our lunch and no new noon attendant monitors are walking children over to the posters
and asking about the expectations. So, next slide. Okay, kindergarten math. Um, we are using the UN USNS universal screening for number sense as an early math screener in kindergarten. It helps us
assess how well our youngest learners are developing foundational number concepts like counting, comparing numbers, subsidizing, and number combinations. These early number sense skills are critical indicators, pre pre-indicators
of later math success, and it helps us identify students who need additional support. Um, we like to do this early so we can provide targeted interventions before those gaps widen. Last year, 71% of our kindergarteners scored proficient. For
this school year, we've set a goal for 75% proficiency, and we're going to use that data to guide our small group instruction and um inform classroom practices to meet that goal. >> All the students don't necessarily attend preschool. Correct.
>> Correct. Do we know on about approximate percentage of students that do not attend preschool? >> 60 to 70% >> do attend preschool >> really >> attend our preschool. >> No, I mean any >> No, any preschool
>> because I I imagine this is very rudimentary basics number recognition counting. I mean they're just starting as kindergartens, right? And so I'm just wondering the correlation between preschool and the 70% that have proficiency. >> That's probably where they got it,
right? >> I know. I could take a guess based on like when we get the student profiles from different preschools and things like that. Yeah. >> Say higher percentage >> more than 70% go to preschool. I would say so too, I would think. >> I would guess >> just and that would be a guess for me.
>> That would be Thank you. In grades one and two, we continue to use I Ready Math Diagnostic to assess student progress and guide our math instruction. I'm sorry. This um allows us to monitor typical growth, so what's expected in a school year and stretch
growth, which reflects more accelerated progress um or beyond grade level proficiency. In 2024 and 25, 59% of students met their typical growth target and 33% met
their stretch growth target. So for the 2526 school year, our goals are 65% of students meeting typical growth and 35% of students meeting stretch growth. We >> I may have asked this before that is the
33% included in the 59%. >> You did. >> It must be right. >> I did ask it. >> Yeah, I remember talking. >> I forget the answer. >> I don't know if you asked us, but I remember talking about it. >> If they've met their typ growth that they've met their typical growth.
>> Yes. So included in the 59%. >> That would make sense. >> So only uh 26% made stretch only. I mean typical. >> No, you don't subtract. We've got >> Oh, that's what I'm asking then. Yeah. So, you do add it to it.
>> So, um 92% either met stretch or typical. No, that's not right either, though. >> It's It's got to be in the 59. >> The tip. I mean, they're two different measures. So, the typical growth is >> Yeah, but everybody who met stretch met typical. >> I'm just wondering if the 59 includes
those or not. >> I see. But it's a different goal to meet your You can't meet your stretch without meeting your typical, but it's still a higher goal. >> So those 33 are in the 59. They must be >> again with the math
>> because 92% didn't >> didn't reach either. >> Yeah, I think. Yeah. Okay. >> Find out. >> Just remember that next year. We got next year for you. Okay. So we use this data to monitor student progress and
differentiate instruction groups. group students strategically and ensure that interventions are being implemented timely and they are targeted. This helps us support all of learners um whether they need to catch up, stay on track or be challenged
further. How does that 65% of students in one and two will reach typical growth compared to other districts in the state that are using the I Ready assessment? >> It's coming. >> Oh, all right. >> Good question.
You can go to the next slide, please. Okay. The first graph shows our growth from last fall to last spring. At the beginning of the year, 15% of students were performing at or above grade level. By the end of the year, the number grew
to 66% which was an encouraging jump. We also saw a reduction in the number of students who were two or more grade levels from behind um from 14% in the fall to 2% or seven students in the spring. So this was
telling us that our supports and instructional strategies were working. When we compare this fall's data to last fall, things look fairly comparable. We're seeing similar starting points in terms of students one grade level below
and needing more intensive support. You can go to the next slide. >> This this is where we're talking about it. Yeah. So, this slide shows how our first and second grade math placements this fall compared to state and national benchmarks. It's hard to read on the
graph. In grade one, we're performing right in line with both the state and national averages. And in grade two, we're doing better than both with fewer students two or more grade levels behind. 15% as compared to 32 and 37% at
the state and nation level, national level. Um, so we thought that was worth highlighting, but we have some improvements to practice. >> Aren't on grade level. Isn't the grade level measure wrong?
>> You might me jumping in again. Sorry. I'll try my best. So remember at the beginning of the year, yellow means they're ready for that the material. So at the beginning of the year, you can count those yellow kids as being ready to go, right? And
then at the end of the year, they're still in yellow. Yes. >> Like how it's labeled. Yeah. >> But we also can compare ourselves to like districts, too. Yes. >> Which is not right. I mean, >> yeah, >> district information
like MCAST, but grade level. >> Yeah, because I'm guessing that that skews it a little. Yeah, >> it would be nice to >> you you can get um on the Desi website. would be challenging for Metobrook because those grade levels don't get the MCCAST assessment. But the Dart tool
does allow you for grades three through uh 10 to compare assessment um data against schools that Desi considers similarities. Yeah, it's a good tool. >> Yeah. >> Yeah.
>> And this is fall placement. So this is not the end of the year, >> correct? Fall placement. Yes. Okay. But still, do you have more questions? No. >> Still want some improvements for pract
uh for math growth. So to accelerate intervention at the start of the school year, the math launched boost groups, five weeks boost groups based on the end ofear data. So there's 37 students who participated. 62%
reach proficiency on the fall assessment. Oh, but I jumped ahead to >> same slide. Okay, sorry. Um, and they all showed growth. Based on these results, the team recommends continuing boost groups for next year. It was at time in the beginning of the year while we're collecting new information that we
said we can do more with that time. Um, so the tutors and interventionists put together the booth group boost groups. This year we're continuing to refine how we structure collaborative planning time and data meetings. We're going to be looking at day grade level trends with
each team and then meeting individually with teachers to dig deeper into their individual classroom data so we can better tailor their instruction to student needs. We've built in this year um a dedicated small group instructional block into our
master schedule so teachers have that protected time to deliver the differentiated targeted support. During individual planning meeting with coaches, teachers will now be planning specifically for how to use that small
group time most effectively using their data. um which instructional materials they're going to use all will go into that as well. So these shifts in practice will help us ensure that we're using that time effectively and resources in a way
that directly supports student growth. Okay, the next one please. Thank you. Okay, as a reminder, we're using the Dibbles, the dynamic indicator of basic early literacy skills to monitor early literacy development in grades K through
two. This is in place of I Ready. We administer it three times a year with opportunities to progress monitor in between assessments. Dibbles measures phmic awareness, decoding, and fluency, which are skills foundation uh
foundational to future reading success. Our current goal and status uh 2526 goal is 75% of K to2 students will be at or above grade level and we are using the composite score this year. We didn't
have a full composite last year since we didn't administer all the subtests um with it being the first year using Dibbles. So we're basing this goal off of the 72% proficiency rate at our predominant measure baseline. So our current performance is.1%.
Which um is not where we want to be and this means that 40 nearly 40% of our students are below benchmark and may need strategic or intensive support which we recognize as a significant group and we need to get some early uh
intervention in place. So it's a bit of a reality check and a road map to where we're going to go next. So some improvements for um for literacy growth taking the same approach in math using collaborative planning and data
meetings to identify trends and tailor instruction. We've added the small group block to the schedule and teachers are working with coaches to plan targeted high quality instruction. Also um very exciting for us is the
we're implementing the DESIE um amplify onetoone tutoring program this year. So this is for grade one students. Um it's a high impact onetoone tutoring three times a week. Students who are eligible are students with composite scores in
the red or the yellow. online tutoring we have right now we're offering to 31 first graders and this frees up our Metobrook tutors to work with 30 plus um second graders at this point. >> How's that going? >> Good. I've seen
>> Yes, I was nervous about it. >> I'm nervous about it. >> I have some students that you're like, "Nope, they might not fit that. They might not have the ability to sit to a screen." But I've seen it in action and it's really it's it's good. I have students with their headphones. Um, some
are in the classroom and some are if we have a significant group in the um in a classroom, then we bring them to an empty classroom with our reading support, too. Um, so they're interacting with their tutors. You can hear them laughing and making sounds and answering
questions and getting feedback. Right now we're noticing that we've had um once what's the program that was down last week? >> Clever. >> Clever. >> Clever was down last week. So we weren't able to access and today with the whole
global fun thing um it was also down and the students were disappointed. They were ready to go. Um so we need help signing on. We had to figure out what students were taking from where and what it looked like logistically. But now getting on there and watching it in
progress, it's it's pretty cool. >> Do they have the same tutor every time? >> Yes. >> And are there any concerns about the impacts on education going further in terms of losing local influence on education?
I know that's a big one. >> Like yes. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. It's a great question. >> Yeah. Think about it. >> Mindful of it as we go. I just don't want us to all of a sudden have all our kids with headphones on half the day. I'm not saying that's what's happening. >> And some kids it's not going to work for >> Yeah.
>> Can I ask a question that kind of pivots off of that again? Another kind of bigger question, but um I'm kind of wondering if there's any focus right now. um or if we have the ability to shift a little bit and going off your point before about preschool, these are
the type of ski of skills that are like pre-ereading skills that happen in preschool or in our case they're not happening or even before that. So I wonder you know you know what I'm saying before you even have a chance to see them. Um you noted that only 30% of your
kindergarters have been with you in preschool. Um, and it also matters the preschool or maybe not that the our kiddos are coming from. Are they high quality, etc., etc.? Are they getting these pre-ereading skills at home or
anywhere else? And so, as a community in Eong Meadow, are we able to do more whether it be partnering with our libraries more or doing something because the amplify that's great, that's wonderful. That's reacting to a major
problem. I mean, this number is concerning. Obviously, you're both concerned about that number. Um, but that's that's you're getting students that are already behind and maybe this isn't this is still kind of from, you know, some impact from the pandemic or
or who knows, but obviously our students are coming to kindergarten unprepared with basic early reading skills. And I can't speak what the outside programs are doing, but we have adopted the new correct
preschool. >> So, we adopted three tiers. Um, so we are we made a whole big schedule change for our preschools and um they're following the program with Fidelity this year to see >> great. Yeah. >> What how that can
>> Yeah. >> Which is great. And that's 30%. And that's wonderful that you're that. But I'm almost wondering on a on a more like >> And do you understand how we're doing with our 30% in terms of where they might fit into this track that
>> we would be really hard to track our student, >> right? >> Yep. Yep. That makes sense. >> I just wonder if we can do more as town to support the students before they even, you know, necessarily
>> Yeah. And I think you're going to get into different philosophies about what preschool should look like at this age too, right? >> Absolutely. No, >> but just early learning doesn't even have to be at preschool. Maybe it's parent outreach, better parent outreach to I mean two and three year old I mean
early literacy skills happen >> in making sure in infancy they can Exactly. Yeah. >> And do we know do we have good data about what you know the children in town I mean I I don't know >> before they come to us >> right >> and so is there a way to connect some
more dots there because this I don't think this is a reflection of how Metobrook is doing an incredible job at receiving students that are not prepared to learn how to read. They don't have the skills a lot of many we're seeing the numbers here. they're not ready to
learn how to read >> when they get them. So, just a bigger question. Maybe >> it's a challenge to um communicate to the group before they get to us because we don't have all that contact information. >> Community outreach.
>> Yeah, we could certainly put something out um both on town social media and through our different avenues. We do work closely with the library on, you know, their summer reading program and their programming that goes on throughout the year and we share that
out. Um, but it's an interesting idea. How do you get to the preschool age students? Um, >> right. Like do we need to reach them sooner? I think we do somehow. Maybe we >> you know, we could certainly reach out to folks that we have contact with in
terms of early intervention, but that's generally picking up correct students that are >> heading towards >> that students are going to >> for context. So this is the only the second year we've used this assessment
is I hear that >> dibbles last year right >> so what was our last year's number it look like this did I miss that was it also >> we didn't have a composite right >> that mean >> end of the year only >> at the end of the year >> right yes
>> um and so it's likely that previous students like we haven't used this assessment before like this might not be an anomaly in our pattern in terms of how students have been coming to you for the last five years or something like that too,
right? And not to discount that we we're making the response but Our last goal um at Metobrook, we're continuing to focus on celebrating the diversity of our community and creating a school culture where every student,
staff member, and family feels seen, valued, like they truly belong. This year we are very excited to partner with Shandria, our coordinator of MECO family engagement and student belonging to help us strengthen inclusive
practices across across the school. One of our key focus areas is improving the onboarding pro process for incoming kindergarten students in the MECO program. We would typically receive the names a little bit later. Um, so we're
hoping to encourage earlier enrollment so families can attend spring information nights screenings and get connected earlier in the process. This will help create a smoother transition for both students and families as they join the Metobrook
school community. We're also looking for ways to increase Shandria's presence at school events. She was at our open house um, bless you family nights and conferences. Um, she loves coming into the lunchroom. She's in the cafeteria as much as she can. She likes that. So,
Metco families feel even more connected and supported from the start. We um to continue supporting students throughout the year, we hope to establish regular touch points between Chandrea and the students in the MECO program, whether it's through individual
check-ins or some affinity groups um with a focus on academic and social emotional needs. We are also carrying forward our monthly character assemblies um which have been a great way to build positive school culture. This year we
invited Shandria to lead one of those assemblies with a focus on diversity, inclusion, and belonging to further deepen our schoolwide conversations around these values. So we're excited to get those all rolled out. Does anyone have any questions?
>> Any other questions from the group? I think we're great. Thank you so much for all your information. How you doing? Homework. You got a little a lot of work to do. You got to go. >> Okay. You all right? >> I can leave it up actually since it's
both 2, three through five schools. I was going to go alphabetical, but uh we can >> whoever would like to go first. Did >> I? Okay. I figured there might be an opinion out there. Hello everybody.
>> Okay. Um, so let me walk you through uh how Maple Shade has been doing since the the year began. Okay. So, up first in terms of supporting the whole child, um, we'll be looking for an attendance rate of 95% or
higher. Um, you know, we're going to stay on top of our chronic absenteeism. I'll get into these action steps um in a second. Um and in terms of um students self-reporting how they are feeling um as being a part of Maple Shade
Elementary School community member um we want our um self-reported percentages from their social emotional surveys to be 90% or higher. And we'll get into some of that data in a little bit. So this is where we are right now. Um
we're currently at a 96.8 8% um attendance rate um which is strong. That's it's higher than um our goal right now. So, we're going to hope to maintain this consistency as we continue to move into the school year. Um we have a a current chronic absenteeism rate of
5.7%. Um and just a reminder, um at the beginning of every month, uh the the first the first couple days of each month, I go into our um dashboard system. I used to utilize the panorama
system, but we no longer use that. So now I'm utilizing open architects. I look at the data there. Um it reveals to me which students have been absent the most. Um I then reach out to the parents of these uh students in order to
understand exactly what the story is for for the absences. I then keep a running log um so that I know um what's occurring with the students um whether it is issue whether it is a um an ongoing
illness. Um and then I communicate with the the teachers of the students and then just try to get um help um with whatever that help may be um students whose absences continue to acrue um
without any um any seeming uh uh change from a a parental standpoint. partner with our our uh care outreach coordinator um that Metobrook had talked about and just on you know continue that conversation. You know we've been
successful with that um and you know thankfully uh Maple Shade is a small enough school where I'm able to communicate regularly with with parents and I have a pretty good relationship with the parents um so that I've I feel pretty good about where we are in terms of attendance um and how we how we uh
get our kids to school. Are more kids riding bikes these days? Am I just There is Am I noticing that? >> A whole crew. There's a gang, you could say, of bike riders that um that descend upon the school every morning. It's really neat to see. >> Great.
>> Um so, in terms of how that plays out, um this is this is uh what uh Desi recognized um for for this year um based on attendance for last year. And as you can see with each one of the different demographics that make up our school, um
our students either um met or exceeded their um their attendance targets. Um and then we have uh three slides. You'll see more later on towards the end of the presentation regarding some
belonging questions that uh we had asked students for the beginning of the year. um survey results. So, uh 90% of our students feel welcome in the school. 91.8% of our students feel safe at the
school. 93.6% of our students um have a friend uh that they can count on, which I think is is great. I'm an idealist. Um I want those as close to 100% as possible. Um, so we're going to continue to, you know, um, build relationships
with our students, foster a sense of inclusivity for our students, um, allow our students to feel seen within the building, give them opportunities, um, to be able to express themselves within the buildings in in the hope that, um,
the 90% and the 91.8% um, climb higher to 100%. I'm assuming that you can you're drilling into that to see the 10% that don't feel welcome and there's some inter like checking in with those students or seems
>> Yeah. Um, so I'm going to be meeting with um both our uh uh school adjustment counselor and our guidance counselor for one meeting where we're going to be analyzing this data um in order to um tailor it to our social emotional
learning classrooms based on what are seeing by grade level. in our student support meeting that also includes um our headteers um and our building facilitator for for special education and our school psychologist. Um we're going to be
looking at this and really drill down into who are the students that are in the red and what are the steps that we are taking to um to address that so that they are feeling a little bit more welcome. Um, in addition to that, uh, one of the things that we do in the
building that has always been important to me is team building and culture building, both as adults and then as a community throughout the school. And um, last week our school engaged in a week-long kindness challenge with an
ongoing mystery narrative that that students and teachers and home rooms engaged in. Um, Mrs. Wolfendon, the world's greatest secretary who goes along with everything that I ask her to do, um, filmed series of videos that were showed at the beginning of each day, um, in which she received a letter
from a mysterious person representing a group known as the Wishing Well Group that has been existing in Esau Meadow for 50 years. And they grant wishes to um to students who demonstrate kindness and community and cleverness. But
however, there was a problem because there was rumors that the Wishing Well group was going to leave East Long Meadow and go to the Midwest, and we can't have that happen. So, it was up to us at Maple Shade Elementary School to engage in a series of puzzles and
challenges or all around kindness that were given to the school through these mysterious letters that were then read by Mrs. Wolfendon. Um and if we um were able to show just how much of a school that believe in community and kindness and cleverness that the wishing well
group would stay in Islam meadow. Um and um one of the one of the challenges um was about dreaming ahead in their lives about what they wanted to be when they grew up. uh what their wish was to be, you know, when they grew up um and the
steps that the wishing well group could take in order to help them achieve their dreams. Okay. Um so all of the students filled out these sheets, submitted to the teachers, the teachers then, you know, submitted it to the main office. Um storyline purposes, Mrs. Wolfendon
then submitted it at a drop point for the wishing well group to pick up. But in truth, um and for any parents who are watching at home, don't tell your children, this is all supposed to be secret. Um, so the uh the the principal's advisory council and myself,
we went through all of the slips. Um, we looked at them and we looked at the ones that we would be able to to grant. Um, and so I'm I'm working with the PTO. I'm uh working with a number of local businesses like Pete Suites, some hair
salons, um, the Majestic Theater, um, to see what they can do about, you know, making some dreams come alive of of children who are aspiring to be bakers or hair stylists or actors. Um, and uh, they all of the students um, not all the
students, I'm sorry. uh over this this week about 60 60 letters are going to go out to the homes of um of students uh whose wishes are going to be somewhat granted by the wishing well group. Um and so that's going to you know continue
to to have that build. Um but the reason I bring all of this up Carrie is because I was able to cross reference with the data that was presented to us within this survey. So, for some of the students who um self-reported more negatively across the board um based on
their wishing well slips, I was able to to a couple wishes there. And so, looking at that, um we're going to, you know, allow, you know, your more traditional um next steps of, you know, guidance counselors and adjustment counselors and small groups. Um but we're also going to to try to rope them
in and like I said, give them platforms to to feel seen and supported. Um and then in terms of teaching and learning um so here are goals for this year. Um and these are the goals that are in comparison to the goals that we
had set forth last year and the results that we achieved last year. Um so 70% of our students will reach typical growth in Ire reading last year. If you remember, um the goal was 65%. By the time the year concluded, um Maple
Shade Elementary School, um achieved 71% typical growth. 40% of students um will reach stretch growth in I Ready Reading. Again, last year the stretch growth was 35%, Maple Shade achieved 36%. Um in
stretch growth for math, 65% of students will reach typical growth in I Ready Math. Last year was a 55% goal. Our school achieved 64%. 35% of students will reach stretch growth and I ready math. Last year was a
25% goal and our students achieved 33%. So these are these current numbers the 70% 40% 65 and 35 are lofty goals. Um but based on the results that we saw last year, um I'm I'm comfortable and
confident in our students and our teachers in um if not achieving these goals, but coming close. And uh in order to, you know, assist um teachers in in being able to get their kids to do this, there's there's action steps that that we are um employing. Um,
so the the the big one for this year is what we're calling go time, which stands for growth and opportunity. So over the last few years, the schedule for Maple Shade Elementary School has been it's been jam-packed. Um, and the focus has been in truly absorbing and
understanding the uh the curriculum that um teachers are expected to implement. Um, so we have been putting all our effort into the fidelities implementation of the tiered one curriculum in ELA and math, but there hasn't been that that separate time to
allow for reteing for the data analysis piece of running whether it be small group or just giving that whole group next step instruction based on data that we're seeing. And so this year um I'm happy to say that every grade level now has additional time which we are calling
go time stands for growth and opportunity. Um and tomorrow I'm finishing up my beginning of the year meetings with each of the teachers in the building to just see what their goals are and what they want to work on this year. And you know I have a series of questions. How's the year? You know
how is the year going? You know what are the successes so far? What are the challenges? How was the schedule? And how was go time? And it's been um really great to to see the use of go time and how the teachers are utilizing go time based on what they're seeing from the
kids. Um and I want right now to allow this opportunity for the teachers to have the time to be able to utilize it to see fit based on you know what the kids in front of them are asking for. So we have some teachers who are using it for um for fluency. We have some
teachers that are using it um for students who are a little bit uh further behind in StMath. We have um some teachers who are utilizing um my path I ready in reading. We have um some teachers who are utilizing it um based on the exit tickets of either uh you
know illustrative math or what they're seeing in the cooldowns from wit and wisdom. We have teachers who are um utilizing it as a time to to really get into the writing. Um but is a time so far that the teachers have stated that it is much needed. um and they're happy
to see it. Um so we'll be looking at uh data as the year goes on and how to utilize the data to to really help drive that time. But for right now, it's just it's that additional time to to be able to give the teachers just extra time to
meet the needs of the students. >> How often and how long are those >> It's different per grade, you know? Um so I can't tell you off the top of my head. Um but the the first step was at least carving out time in the schedule to give them something that the kids
could be able to to utilize. Um so we all have go time now. Um and one of the goals this year of the building is to have more conversations around data now that we have time to be able to to to look at some uh instructional
steps based on data. Um we're talking about data more. So, um, all of our teachers, they have the, um, the the MCCAST data results from their, uh, home rooms from last year. They have the MCCAST data results of the current
combination of the the students in their, um, current home rooms. They have the I Ready results from last year. They have their I Ready results from this year. Um, they have the just the the flat out achievement levels of MCCAST test in the building. Um and they have
uh the the projected proficiency um data which um able to look at last year's projected proficiency where the projected proficiency landed in regards to the the actual proficiency of the MCCAST test. And that allows for a
conversation about, you know, how closely in the ballpark did did we land um and the I Ready um projected proficiency for their current students um which is just good food for thought as we continue to monitor go time. So,
we're having um a lot of conversation um around uh data um along with STM math um this morning when I checked the the STM math numbers which is our supplemental um math program, we were at 19% uh
completion, we're not scheduled to have 19% completion until the second week of November. So, um we are we're really chugging along with with St Math, which is great. um it allows our students to be able to get that um additional conceptual understanding of mathematical
um practices that they're able to then um combine with their understanding of math that they're getting from illustrative math. Um and any students that are further behind for instance any student that is um projected to not make 40% were able to talk about that um with
the teachers and get a better understanding of are these students being pulled out for other services at that you know um are these students just not engaging well with the expectations of SCM math um and so at least having that understanding of who is doing well
who is struggling a little bit and having that reason why they're struggling is important um and teaching with fidelity. Uh the tier one uh instruction um in uh ELA and math continue to be taught with fidelity. Every year that goes by, our
teachers understand it a little bit more. um they're able to um plan uh with each other on grade level last year very closely with um Heather Brown this year um with our coaches um and we're able to
with each year goes by have a better understanding of what each module or each is asking um in order to continually improve upon it, improve upon it, cut down on any redundancies and just build off the the successes that we are seeing.
on the um projected proficiency levels. Are you finding a correlation with the MCCAST achievement score? Is that >> varies? Yeah, it varies. Um but at the very least >> have something to build off of and work towards. It's it it's good to have.
>> Is it huge variance? Meaning um is the projected proficiency not accurate? >> Not entirely accurate. you know, um, as as we'll get to, um, as a school, um, in
ELA and in math, um, we exceeded the the projected proficiency from last year. So, I don't know what that means. I don't know if if they were if they if I Ready isn't able to determine it or if Maple Shade's that good. I don't know. I don't know um what exactly that means.
>> Any thoughts on that? >> I doesn't measure writing and MCCAST does. So that can often have an impact as well as have being able to explain the math is something that I ready will do through multiple choice but not an open response kind of situation. So
that's part of it too other skills that are test and the MCCAST that aren't and I ready because it's computer based test >> but isn't the whole point well is MCCAST measuring proficiency? >> Yes, >> supposed to be. >> So shouldn't it correlate with projected
proficiency? Well, the prof projected proficiency on MCCAST. >> Yeah. >> Right. But the MCCAST is measuring additional things that I Ready doesn't measure. So they're projecting it based on the reading and math but not writing.
>> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Right. But I'm asking about the specific things that do correlate. >> It should correlate. >> Should correlate. Well, but it doesn't >> necessarily >> in some cases, um, at least with the aggregate, what we found was it was
within one or two percentage points, >> okay, >> in in some cases. Um, but when you break it down from the aggregate to grade level, it you're going to see wider variance, >> but that's all right. >> Well, using it not to see so much how
they're going to do on the MCAST. Obviously, we want them to do well on the MCCAST, but it's also to kind of hone in on what they need right now. So, it's more of an instructional tool. It, you know, and it helps us because ultimately being able to be proficient on the MCAT shows that they're
proficient with grade level skills. Um, but it's nice to have the correlation, but we're really using I Ready because we get that information right now as opposed to MCCAST where you don't get it until the middle of the next year. >> Well, not the middle of the beginning of the fall when you don't have those kids anymore.
>> Sure. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Go ahead. >> Um so here is where we currently are um with I already reading and you'll see this uh these numbers again um in a little bit in relation to um where we
had been previously how we fall um compared to Massachusetts and others. But um this is um reading. Next slide is math. Okay. Again you're going to see the these numbers um again in a second. Um
>> okay. Um so this has been uh the three-year um uh the three years worth of I Ready fall data. Um so as you can see um we pretty much match where we
were last year in terms of the green. Um so we have about the same amount of um students at mid or above or early on grade level. Um which is great. You'll see that we have a higher percentage of students who are two or grade levels um
below or three or more grade levels below. Um now one thing that I want to point out are these two bullets on the side. Um, I included this information um because even though we have a higher percentage of students two or three
grade levels below last year in the the spring diagnostic um we saw that 76% of our students who in the fall had um been two or grade levels below um were able to move their placement and 73% of students who were
three or more grade levels below improved um their placement. So >> two on grade level or just one one grade level below. >> I believe it's just to that next level >> at least one. Okay. >> Um I believe um but so we might have a
higher percentage of students who are in the red. Um but we we have done well with the students who are in the red and now we have that additional time with go to be able to to target them a little bit more.
Um here is where we uh uh stand compared to mass the national um year to date and the national norms with I Ready. Um so Maple Shade has higher percentage
than uh than the the Massachusetts national year to date in the national norm. And for mathematics uh this is this is great to see. You can see the increase um in uh grade level or above over the three years which is wonderful. Um as
well you see a decrease um in the red. Um so that's wonderful. That's it's wonderful and it means that uh we're we're we're doing it. It's exactly what we want to see. Um and uh so similarly to to uh reading last year um in the
spring we had 89% of students um who were two or more grades below um they were able to improve their placement and 63% of students who were three or more uh grade levels belowment. So I think that's important to be able to look at the trends of of the data
over the years sort of prognosticate what uh where they're going to fall. And then here is where we stand compared to the others. Um we have a higher percentage of students um uh mid or above grade level than mass national
year to date or the national norm and a lower percentage um than uh than uh Massachusetts the national year to date or the national norm. So these are these are great. I mean it's it's a great way to start off the year. You know it's it's it's coming from a very very positive place still with a lot of
opportunity for growth. Um in terms of uh desi um and pointage um from uh the the accountability I'm not going to go rowby row um on achievement growth um or additional
indicators um you have this chart um you have a series of of other charts coming up um but I just want everyone to to know that this is what we're looking at now. We're looking at the the the data from the accountability um provided by Desi and I'll contextualize that in a
bit. We can move on to the the next slide. Okay. Here is the um the accountability in regards to our achievement and the points awarded to each of the different demographics on each of the three assessed content areas
of ETH and math and science. Um, again, I'm going to get into this um in a bit, but if you wanted to go into further detail and go rowby row, you should have that information. Okay, here is our growth slides um and
the points awarded for the growth of each of the demographics, which again I will get into in a minute, but if you want to just look at the raw numbers, you have them there. And then here is the the big takeaways from all the information that you just
saw. So if you remember last year at this time, Maple Shade was recognized by the Department of Education as a school of recognition, which it's great. We're very proud of all of the work. However, I was not expecting this year to begin
with another recognition of that level. um because only three commonwealth were designated that that level of recognition. So um you know based on the points and the weighted points um we did not meet the same numbers of pointage
from last year. However, if you were to compare the points from two years ago prior to us being a school of recognition, we still saw a 20 point increase which shows that we're we're still moving in the right direction. Um
this year uh we have 75% we are recognized as being 75% meeting or exceeding targets. Um and that's significant because not only is that an improvement from last year's 69% um we've also changed that designation.
Um last year we were substantially progressing towards targets. This year we're being recognized as just flat out meeting or exceeding targets. Um, last year we were in the 55th percentile. This year we're in the 60th percentile.
And that's overall as a school within ELA. Some takeaways from uh ELA. Uh, our lowest performing students exceeded their target. All of our students demonstrated um high typical growth.
Lowest performing students demonstrated um high typical growth. Our high needs students demonstrated um high typical growth and that's something that I was looking at last year to continue to maintain. Our students with disabilities demonstrated growth. It wasn't uh it
wasn't high growth, it was low growth, but the growth was still there. Um our Hispanic uh and Latino population demonstrated um high growth and our white students demonstrated high growth as well on the ELA test.
And then for um math um our lowest performing students exceeded their targets. All students improved. Um they came below the target that was um provided to them, but they still improved. Um white students met target.
All students demonstrated high growth. Lowest performing students demonstrated high growth. High needs students demonstrated high growth. lowincome students demonstrated high growth. Students with disabilities demonstrated growth. It was low, but they still
demonstrated growth. Um, Hispanic or Latino students demonstrated high growth, as well as white students. Um, so those are all of the the the large positive takeaways um from the different demographics in um in math and ELA. And
then in terms of um just flatout achievement celebrations, how well the school did just in terms of numbers, we surpassed the state achievement levels in ELA. We we surpassed the state achievement levels in math, surpassed the state achievement levels in science,
and as I stated um earlier, we um surpassed our own projected proficiency target that was given to us by I Ready at the beginning of last year. Okay. So then that's that's the teaching and learning. Um and you know we you all
know that we can't get anywhere um in teaching and learning if we aren't able to teach the students themselves. Um so we're going to continue to look at the the survey results throughout the course of this year. Um and we're going to shoot for for these numbers that that
that we see here. um as well as um additional screeners that I'll talk about in a second. Um but you know, we want our students to feel recognized, seen, safe, and happy. All right. So, here are some pie charts um that
uh going to be looking at. Um as I stated um we're going to be going over these results first with our um my guidance counselor and my adjustment counselor who um teach uh our social emotional classes. Um I'll talk about
well I'll just talk about it now. Um so one of the action steps that we um are utilizing this year is a new social emotional curriculum called wayfinder. Um myself, my guidance counselor, my social um or my my school adjustment
counselor and um mountain view eyes um school psychologist all um have been trained on um on wavefinder so that we have a better understanding of it. Um so this this curriculum um is deployed for
each um each home room once a week. Um the the the curriculum itself is engaging. Um, in addition to that, there are a number of resources for our school psychologist, our um, adjustment counselor and our guidance counselor to
be able to to utilize um, to help our students in um, small groups in onetoone settings um, as well. So, we're utilizing Wayfinder. We're also utilizing um some screeners within Wayfinder called waypoints um which very
quickly assess how students are self-reporting on the different competencies um and I will be meeting with um with our school site our school uh adjustment counselor and our guidance counselor to be able to look at a scope and sequence of what that's going to look like
throughout the course of the year and when we can fit in time to be able to um tailor the social emotional lessons to meet the needs by grade level based on the results of these surveys um and then look at the specific students and what
they have stated. So for the students who are really crying out for help, what can we do for them? Um and then just uh will continue to employ the um the the the building level um action steps um in order to make sure
that everyone feels included. Um so we have a number of clubs and affinity groups that students can be a part of including um art club, drama club, rainbow lunch bunch, um we have a a new book club that we've never had before.
It launched today. Everyone's very excited about it. Um uh we have chorus um and our bipok group. Um so we have a number of different opportunities for our um students to be able to to join to feel seen um and uh to to be able to
explore their interests. Um you know a school is just a building unless um there is a relationship with home as well. I'm a firm believer in uh forming relationships um as much as possible uh
with with parents and that means uh a number of different um uh community- based activities. We've had our fall field day um which was a great success. It was a beautiful day for that. Um we'll have our color run at the end of the year. We had a great book fear book
fair and pizza night um last week. We'll have our learning carnival. We'll have our musical performances throughout the course of the year. the drama production at the end of the year. Um, and if the weather holds out, we'll have our families unite and art show. Um, talked
about the Wayfinder social emotional curriculum. Um, this year the student support team um has uh presented to the rest of the staff about a revision to the ACT process. Um, that includes a pre-act process that gets more support
people on a student earlier in the process. um to to to really see exactly what the student is struggling with, to get some just eyes on the student um and get some suggestions, to be able to track some data, to come back to the
table to, you know, include some more supports. Um uh so we're we've gone through that. Um and then every day the the kids uh they hear me they hear me remind them that at Maple Shade we are made in the shade. We strive to be
hardworking, actively engaged, determined to succeed and empathetic in all that we do. So all the decisions that are made um in the school are made um uh to to fall under those headings. Um and I've asked teachers to um share
with me the students that have been caught demonstrating some quality of being made in the shade. And I'm trying to be as specific as possible um so that these students can help me out on the morning announcements and I'm able to shout them out with the the the reason why they're helping me out in order to
model that behavior that they have exemplified that they can then show to the rest of the school. what it means to be hardworking, what it means to be empathetic, you know, how they were patient with someone that was learning something during, you know, PE or if they were, you know, if they're
constantly raising their hand and asking questions, you know, so it it's one thing for me to say I want everyone to be hardworking, you know, it's another thing for me able to to stand next to a student who has been shouted out by their teacher for a specific reason of them being hardworking and me being able
to um show them off to the school as an example for other students to live by. Um and we'll continue to um once a month have our academic adventuring awards where we celebrate students who have demonstrated um productive struggle um
and a growth mindset who have been courageous in their own learning and those moments when the learning might be challenging. They're not giving up. They're finding new ways to tackle the problem. Um and and they're they're finding the adventure in their own education.
Great questions. Good. >> Thank you everyone. Appreciate it. >> Next up we have uh view and Miss Santel. >> Hi everybody. >> Hello.
>> Everyone needs a stretch. Go ahead. Um, I'm going to start my presentation with supporting the whole child. Uh, Mountain View always centers on fostering a safe, inclusive, and joyful learning environment. Um, we try to
ensure that students feel valued and connected. And we also aim to sustain our daily attendance rate of 95% or higher to reduce chronic absenteeism. We do we will do this by communicating with the students and families to
emphasize the importance of school attendance and by working with both uh Shandria McCoy, our coordinator of METCO student belonging and family engagement and our family care coordinator to remove barriers that impact regular
attendance. Chandrea has been at Mountain View several times already this year to meet with our counselors and students both in the METCO program and out of the METCO program. Um so it's
been great to have her. I also know her. Um didn't realize it till we met the first time that uh when my first teaching job was at Sacred Heart. Um, and at the time I was teaching fourth grade and she was in eighth grade across the hall. Uh,
>> she was in eighth grade. >> She was in eighth grade. >> Student. >> A student. Just Yes. Thank you. >> She was not a teacher. >> Um, another part of this goal is to have 90% or more students reporting a strong
sense of belonging on surveys. So, in the next slide, um, you'll see our accountability data. We exceeded the target for students with a rate of 4.5%. That's for all students. Um and our
current average daily attendance is 98.4%. That was as of last Thursday. Um last year this time we were at 97.2%. Um we have always met the 95% and above um
usually by a few points. So, I'm confident that we will be able to continue that throughout the year. On the survey data on the next slide, >> you have like four kids out in the day out of the 259. >> More than four. >> Um, I have I'll be honest, I've had a
quite a few vacations already this year. Um, the week of uh Columbus Day or Indigenous People's Day was a doozy. We had we had a few families um with multiple students in Disney I know for
some but yeah it's whenever there's a long weekend or even a half day in that's when I definitely see the dips. Um so it is what it is. >> Um we do what we can
>> with these scores on our survey. I think it shows that the kids like to be here when they're not at Disney. Um, so 94% currently are happy being at Mountain View. These are just the questions that fit with the belonging part of the first
school. I'll go into the other data um during the last school. Um, I feel welcome at my school 95% and I can be myself at school at 90. That's a new question this year. I did ask the teachers for this first survey
to read the questions with their students as we went through because every year I've noticed, you know, on certain questions that kids might not understand if they had a an adult to explain it while they were taking it, at
least the first time. Bullying is often one that gets a really uh high percentage. Oh yeah, everyone's been bullied. But they don't always understand the definition. So, it was very clearly explained in the survey and
I wanted them to uh just be able to ask questions as they were taking it if they weren't clear. Um, I can be myself. I was as I was sitting here watching um everyone else's presentations. I thought I probably should have explained that
more in the question. Um, especially with our third graders. Um, so, uh, we'll see how it goes for the rest of the year, but make sure I got everything there. Okay,
next one. Teaching and learning. So we are focusing on academic achievement with this goal and by supporting teachers in implementing the highquality instructional materials, universal design for learning and culturally
sustaining pedigogy. We aim for student growth in reading and math. Our goal this year is for 70% of students to reach typical growth in Ire reading. Uh last year our goal was 65 and we had 67%
of students achieve that. So we have bumped it up to 70. In um math we had uh I'm sorry stretch growth 40% this year is our goal. Last year was 35. We had 43%.
I I was a little surprised by that big jump to be honest. So that's why I went a little bit conservative with the goal of 40 instead of jumping, you know, even higher. If we meet it or pass it, great. But, uh, I was a little conservative on
the goal. In math, uh, we'd like 65% of students to reach typical growth. Last year, our goal was 55 and 64% reached it. And for stretch growth, um, our goal is 35. Last year's goal was 25
and we had 32% reach stretch growth. So this is our current uh standing with I ready reading. It shows that 38% of students are currently at or above grade level. Last year at this time 33% of
students were at or above grade level. Since this is the first diagnostic, I obviously can't give you any growth data. But if you look at our growth data from last year when we surpassed the reading goal, I feel like it's
attainable. Um the current goals we have will be attainable for okay math. This this slide shows our current data. We have 34% of students currently at or above grade level last year at this
time. Uh we had 31% of students at this point. So again with our goals um I feel that these the goals we have for this year will be attainable based on this data.
Okay. So I did something a little different with my graph and I know it looks a little confusing. So, we were able to get the um and I used the data from the end of last year um just like I used for MCCAST um
further on in the presentation. The the bar graphs that we had um that Gordon shared with us were the district and so that lumps Maple Shade and Mountain View together. Um it doesn't give us the individual data. So what I did was take
the bar graph for the national norm that you saw on other slides earlier tonight, but in blue to the right is what Mountain View scored. So if you look at the data, um
it shows that we outperformed the national norms in every area with higher percentages of students meeting or exceeding expectations in the green and yellow. uh green and light green, excuse me, in all grades, but especially in
grade five where we had 52% of our students in the top two categories compared to 27% of students nationally. >> So this is the end of the year last year. >> Yes. Yes. Um a similar pattern um
appears in reading. Mountain View shows higher percentages of students in the meeting and exceeding categories the grades and grade five with 42% meeting or exceeding versus 29 in the comparison group. So these are the national norms.
It would have been too much for me to get all the bar graphs and all the different data for us on one. So I use last year's but what I will be able to do in the midcycle or the end of the year is show the current data for this year.
So in both subjects Mountain View has fewer students below proficiency and more in the higher levels. Um of course we always want to improve and see more students performing at the meeting or exceeding levels but it is nice to see
the comparison of us versus nationally. Okay, next is accountability. My favorite. Um, so this is our this is all of our data achievement growth and um attendance.
And on this slide, you'll see that our total achievement actually dropped from last year, unfortunately. Um but the lowest performing students group which I don't really like that term um but the lowest performing
students group um achievement rose especially in ELA and both groups the all students and the lowest performing students group improved in the growth area. Our overall improvement in the state's
target percentage from last year was 52 uh went from 52 to 56 and this was actually driven by the lowest performing students um who earned 82% of the possible points um last year.
Now, we have our progress toward improvement targets, right? Nope, sorry, I'm looking at the wrong thing on my paper. This says ELA. Okay. The all students group achievement increased, but we did not meet the
state's target. For the lowest performing group, we exceeded the target, and our students with disabilities and our Latino students met the target. That's for ELA. Math is on the next slide. All students group um achievement
declined by almost two points. We didn't make the target. The lowest performing students group was the only group to meet the math target last year. I can't tell you why. I are we grew on I Ready.
I can't uh explain why it went down. I do have a little interesting tidbit I found on the next slide though for science. So science achievement we had an overall decline in everything.
So I went to look back because last year we exceeded the target like by a massive amount of points. So I wanted to see how that would be possible that we would grow so much one year and drop so much
the next. So in 2022 we had a score of 505.6. The following year we dropped to 496.4. In two 2023, I'm sorry, that's when we dropped into 2023. In 2024,
we gained by 12.3 to 508.7. And then this year we dropped again to 499.1. So we lost 9.6 points. I can't figure out why we were up down up down
literally every other year when the curriculum has been the same. The teachers have been the same. Obviously the students are different tested every year. But it just seems very strange to me that we have these huge gains and
then huge losses every other year with just this one particular subject. So then of course I would love to have us be able to see what standards are they changing the standards every year that they're testing, how much are the questions
changing, but they don't release any questions anymore. So they give you a practice test instead. And when you click on even if you go in the chart where it looks like it's a hyperlink to a question, it's a practice test for the
question. So we can't even see or this this question wasn't released and you're like hyperlink. >> Exactly. So I'm just putting it out there. It just seems very odd to me that there's these huge drops and then rises every other
year. I but I of course can't explain it because I can't see what standards were tested. Did they focus more on one standard one year than they did another? We we know they always do that. But um you know we used to describe it a long time ago as whack-a-ole like math test.
You one year you'd see all these questions on geometry and we didn't do so well. So the next year we really hit geometry hard and then they didn't ask many questions on geometry the following year. Um >> it's really less than a 2% drop though, right? And so we
>> just feels like a cohort >> a lot like it feels like oh path declined. >> Yeah, it's the terminology is harsh. >> Feel like you're getting go down 4 point you know. >> I know but it's just >> but to the point you're making cohorts obviously make a difference.
>> I mean 2% difference. Yeah. >> Seems like the the p I guess because the target's always moving. >> Yeah. that you can't you think you're doing really you know last year I was so happy about the science and then you know this year it's
>> so our target will go down next year because of the 499 >> I don't know I don't think so I don't think it does go down >> and how we made it the 90 >> yeah so it'll be that increase based on what we got this year >> but the target for this year isn't going
to go down they're not going to say my target >> is below 511 But didn't you on that and didn't you two years ago down go down because we went down so far your target was readjusted and then we went up 12. >> I don't remember. >> I I don't remember off the top of my head if the target readjusted. I feel
like the the target stays and increases. >> They used um 2022 I believe as the baseline year. They readjusted all targets of that in terms of the baseline coming out of COVID and uh they usually
adjust from there. Um in terms of their targets, it's rare that they'll go down. >> Yeah. >> No, I'm not saying the target would go down, but I don't think >> right. They're not going to I don't think >> they're not going to say now that >> right. >> Yeah. >> That I went down. They're not going to say my target, >> right? >> It's not going to decrease your target.
>> I'm only going to speak for myself, but I am not at all hyperfocused on the MCCAST. >> Thank you. I'm not here. >> Not even actually a little bit. I am speaking only not on behalf of the committee but I don't think it in any way measures student learning in an
authentic manner. So while it's nice to have data, I definitely feel that the more critical data is found in the I Ready and other completely agree. I hence the MCCast doesn't even I I think it's a bunch of
>> Go ahead, say it. >> No, I'm not going to say it. Uh, she >> I'm not going to say it on the record. >> I agree. >> Everything else, it measures stamina, too. >> Yeah. I mean, I have kids. I mean, you're asking eight eight-year-olds to sit through a test that has >> absolutely
>> very long passages. >> And despite the work that's been done on reforming some of the ways that we are wording questions, etc., we know that it's not an equitable way to assess students um in many ways. So, thank you
for sharing the p, you know, um, the context for that, but at least for me, speaking as one committee member, I'm not focused on that at all. I go around every year and give a little pep talk because there's kids that get very nervous about it and all I say is, I
just want you to try your best. >> That's it. >> And do your best. That's it. I don't I don't make it a big deal. I did make it a big deal a very long time ago when it first came out and when I was working in Springfield, but I don't anymore. I see
the tears. I see the stress. >> They're 8 n and 10 years old and some of them sit in front of that computer because they are technically untimed. Um we have kids that will sit in front of that computer from when we start at 8:30
until the bell's going to ring at 2:25. And that to me is unconscionable. And now that we know as well it's changing at the secondary level and the way that students are even approaching it at the secondary level we know is changing um was
>> I don't even know what this is going to look like in a year or five years. So hopefully different but yes >> thank you. Thank you for acknowledging that because that's how I feel too. >> Okay.
>> So one more chart. Um this is the growth um for all students and for lowest performing students. Our typical growth was high. It was also high for our Latino students and white students in
ELA. And in math it was typical growth was high for all students but low for everyone else. Uh the white student category is simply because the majority of our students are white. So, when it's the all students category, um you're
going to see the same numbers pretty much. And my last slide, which is my favorite slide because um I feel um students aren't going to perform well in anything if they don't feel like they belong and
are happy to be at school every day. So, um, we will continue to strengthen our school culture by promoting inclusivity, belonging, and mutual respect among students, staff, and families. Our goal
is for 95% of students to report feeling happy, safe, respected, and treated fairly with all students having at least one trusted adult at school. The metrics I'm using just for these uh
these bullets represent five questions that are universal on all of the surveys, the students, the staff, and the families. The reason there's going to you're seeing six graphs is because two of the questions talk about respect. So, um
in the first one, sorry, I didn't did I print them? I hope I did. Yes, I did. Okay. I feel safe at my school. I can't even see that number. Sorry. I thought it would a little bit bigger on the screen.
>> Um, and then count of the staff that treat us at my school treat students respectfully. I'm including the red and the blue together because that's sometimes we did make that question a um
always, sometimes never um or rarely. So, uh, the red is sometimes I don't expect, um, all students to feel that they're being treated respectfully, even if they are, uh, when there's a middle category, they always seem to try to
pick, a lot of kids pick the middle answer. The students one, um, bigger red area for obvious reasons. Um, we're talking about them with each other and they don't always treat each other
respectfully. So that's um that graph. So happy was um 94%. Is that Oh, that was in the first school. Sorry. Uh when I feel like my schoolwork is too hard, I keep trying. I thought that was
um a great response rate for that question. Um I have at least one adult at school I can talk to. Also, a very small percentage of students don't feel that way. But of course, we will we're waiting for the survey data to be able
to be uploaded into open architects because right now when you look at it, it's an Excel spreadsheet. So, you have to scroll all the way over to see which kid might have said that and then go back scrolling over. So once it's in
there, we'll be able to sit down as an MTSS team and look at which kids we need to support um that maybe feel they don't have an adult they can count on um or you know why they aren't happy or why
those questions at high percentages. So it would only be a a few students. Um some of the things we will continue doing this year to make sure that um our students and parents and families feel
that uh they are supportive and supported and included. Um we still have our Friday dance party. I did get a knock from a third grader this year the week that I played uh I want to dance with somebody by Whitney Houston. I have never gotten that feedback from an
8-year-old before, but that was 280s. >> 280s. >> Um So, I am trying to play some newer stuff, but it's it's hard to find newer appropriate songs. So, um it's a struggle. Uh we did participate in Start
with Hello Week again this year where um which is part of the Sandy Hooks organization and had a great week. I had less complaints about Mix It Up Lunch, which is where I make them sit with people. They take a random number and
get assigned to a table so they're not >> with who they want to be with. >> Loud. Uh >> Louder. >> Oh yeah, >> it's louder because I think once they adjust to sitting with people they don't know necessarily. They get excited and
start talking about things that definitely was louder than >> Yeah. >> Well, no. Great for them. Not great for me and Mr. Potter, but it was great. Um, spirit squad kicked off last week with uh wear pink and we donated money to
raise of hope. Um, and we will be implementing the wayfinder curriculum. We have two afterchool programs going right now. Chorus and chess. Chess is a huge one. Um, we have 70 kids up to play
chess across all three grade levels. Um, it is our counselor from River Valley who runs it. She belongs to like the world chess. Well, I don't even know how to play chess, so I couldn't tell you anything about it, but um she and her daughter um and parent volunteers help.
But we also have kids coming back from Birchland who were the original kids who wanted to start the chess club with Miss Danielle. They asked if they could come after school to help the kids. So, that's great. Um Chorus also has a crazy
number and Mr. Schneider does it all by himself. Um they're doing um songs from the 50s last week which was really fun to listen to after school. Um he has I would say he has 60 at least. Uh >> that's after school.
>> That's after school. Yep. >> And the chess is after school. >> Chess is also after school. >> Do the kids actually play a full game of chess? >> You're I don't know. Um I do know >> I do know that they really know what they're doing. Okay. >> Um Danielle has a chessboard set up out
of her outside of her office with like a clue or like can you make this move with these pieces? So it's just a chessboard with a couple pieces and they stop at it on their way in in the morning to figure it out. Um we have kids that ask if they
can take a chessboard outside at recess because we have the picnic tables. I don't know if you remember from last year um from Nick Rivera uh made it for his Eagle Scout badge. So, we have two really nice picnic tables, so they like
to sit out there and play chess. >> Um not everyone's into kickball and basketball, so it's fine. >> Um yeah, so they are they did compete last year. We had a traveling group. It was the parents were responsible. It was
on a weekend. Um, but they were invited because Danielle isn't part of these chess groups that um, they got to compete against kids from other parts of the state. So, >> very cool. >> Yeah, that's it. Try to be as quick as I
could. >> Mission accomplished. >> Any other questions, comments? >> Okay, thank you. >> Uh, Renee and Kate, how's the grass of the placecape coming in? >> Yeah. Do you know if kids are using it
off hours? >> Yeah, definitely. >> Great. Awesome. Thank you. Good to hear. >> Okay. Thank you team for being here tonight. >> Thank you all. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Finally
two finalizing superintendent evaluation self assessment. Okay. So, in your packets, I took last year's um self assessment that um was based off of what we had accomplished
last year up through June and I just updated it based on our presentation at the last school committee meeting as well as our accountability um information that was released from the state this fall. Um I won't read every
bullet point for you. I'm sure you're able to do that. Um but we were excited about a number of things. Just a few highlights. Um we were excited that um we exceeded chronic absenteeism target uh for both non- high school and high
school. Also, as you can hear the excitement outside um hitting those numbers, we were excited with how many areas um we saw high growth uh in the accountability system. And that was nice to see particularly the achievement of, you
know, certainly none of us are fond of the name, but our lowest performing students um really did excel last year. Uh and we we think it's due to a lot of the care and support systems that we try to put in place throughout the year.
Um two construction projects were going on last year. One you know a lot about which is right behind us. one we're trying to move toward construction and uh we were basically working on schematic design and that's the roof project. Uh that's also an MSBA project
at Mapleshade. Uh so the big pieces last year were bringing on owner project manager and that's Collier Incorporated and a design team and that's Habedon and Associates. Uh and this fall we're working towards completing the schematic design.
um no real change in terms of the self assessment uh in terms of um where goals were achieved or not achieved. We we achieved as you heard from our schools and saw last year and then some of this fall uh we achieved a number of our
goals. we didn't achieve in terms of teaching and learning and so that's still partially achieved. Um in the individual areas around the construction projects we are on on uh target there and we were able to achieve what we had hoped to achieve at the end of last
year. Happy to answer questions or >> what is the partnership with AIC for the model classroom? What did that mean? So um thankfully we have an individual over there that used to be a principal over here. Um and so uh we had always uh
we've always had a connection with AIC because we have a number of folks who um do different things whether they're um overseeing some of the uh student teaching or placement of um interns and so forth. But we've grown stronger in
that partnership due to uh Tim Allen being over there as a professor and um he asked us to um look at setting up uh and utilizing model classrooms at our elementary and um middle school. And so
we've done that for the last two years. >> You got the modulars too that you're working on too. That's going to be in this year's plan. >> Okay. >> Friday was uh all about construction. There were three construction meetings that uh >> dealing with uh larger challenges in
terms of making progress forward. We were able to accomplish and get to some compromises so that we can continue forward >> on the modular specifically. >> Modulars was a big one. Yeah. Specifically >> issues major issues. >> Not anymore. Good. Friday we achieved
>> I like to hear Gordon. >> Um it's sometimes it's bringing everybody together and actually standing there in the parking lot and mapping it out. So that's way Santel and I did that on Friday with both the main contractor and the subcontractor who will be
putting in a new water line because the modulars will have um let's see. However, the original plan was to dig up the parking lot and over a two-eek period while school was in session
disrupt Caroline uh not have carine for two weeks. And I said that's really not a non-starter. >> Yeah. Everybody has to walk to school. >> Exactly. >> So, we we worked it out. >> Okay. >> I think is it feels better about the compromise. There will be some detours
and some cones and some metal plating, but uh we can work it out. >> Excellent. Great. >> Gordon, I think you underrated yourself in several of these categories, but >> speaks to your to you. So,
>> yeah. And as every year, Gordon, lots accomplished. >> One more year. >> Okay. You got a lot to do still. So, >> there's a lot to do. Make sure I hand off something that uh this is welloiled
and people are excited. I think we have a lot of excitement and a lot of achievement in the district, but last year as we know with the budget was a challenging year. >> Mhm. >> $13 million free cash certification. >> 13 million. >> 13 plus. >> I know.
>> It's exciting. Something to look for. Gives me hope. >> Over taxation. >> That part's not as exciting. just talking about making sure we >> have a operating Well, we'll see. >> Yeah. >> Uh any other discussion on uh the superintendent? >> Not specific to that report, but I was
because they both spoke about the wayfinder curric is that being implemented all the way through? >> No, right now it's um being utilized at the 2, three through five schools. If we have success, that is something that we might they're finding the second step uh
was too simplistic and didn't go in depth enough. And so they were looking for something that was going to take them now after a series of years that we've used Second Step further. Um so it is something that we can if we continue to have success and people like it
>> and start to move it. >> Yeah. I was just it'll be interesting to see how that affects like six seven you know middle school and stuff like if you start to see any change how they respond to some of the >> true what the middle school over the
last um few years is they use um they actually this was back uh when uh Tim Allen and Connor were at the middle school they started to draft lesson plans for their Thursday advisory which is their longer advisory and that's
where they do a lot of their SEAL. Uh, and so they took it to sort of a more homegrown approach using some of the things that they had learned over time using Castle as a as a resource and so forth. And so they continue to expand on that
now that um Steve and Natalie at the home. But you're right, it's a it's a different uh it's different time. >> Yeah, >> it's exciting time. If you if you ever get a chance, you have to really enjoy teaching those ages. I did it I did it
for nine years. So >> yeah, I stayed on the other end of the through 12 accredited. >> Not sure I can still get up from the reading rug fast enough to do the younger. >> Any other questions, comments? I take someone to move to
the uh summitive uh assessment. >> Motion made by William, second by Amy. Discussion. All in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Those opposed? Nay. That carries four to zero. >> Excellent.
Gordon, we will uh report out the uh this is part of the state reporting. So they just have to know the where the standards sit. Okay, if we have nothing else, thank you Kaitlin for being here tonight. Absolutely.
>> Jamie, thank you for recording and being here tonight. And uh I would entertain someone to move to adjourn, please. >> So moved >> and made by Amy. >> Second by William. Discussion. All in favor say I. I. Those opposed, nay. That
carries four to zero. Thank you. We are adjourned.