Please rise. Join me in the pledge of allegiance. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice
for all. that >> first order of business is we have the uh our consent agenda posted which are the minutes from the September 11th 2025 meeting as well as the oaths bills and payroll. Any questions on the minutes?
Hearing none. Is there a motion to accept? >> I move that we accept the consent agenda. >> Motion made by Elaine. Second. >> Seconded by Janine. All those in favor in favor of saying I. I opposed. right
here. So, I'm giving you a chance. Um, >> I just didn't I just didn't catch it. So, >> that's unanimous. >> Good. Off to a good start. Uh, so our first opportunity for interested citizens. So, if there's anybody with us this evening, either uh in person or on
Zoom, uh there's a second opportunity uh towards the end of tonight's meeting. >> May I say something very quickly? >> Sure. >> And interested citizens. And I am not speaking for the school committee. Um, I'm speaking for myself as a as a citizen and a a member of the of the
school community. >> State your address for the record. >> Okay. Janine Wood, 12 Christina Street. Um, I want to acknowledge that um, in the recent past, there has been communication and actions
that have happened within the school community and and from from some leadership that have been unnerving to members of our community. I want to acknowledge that our community includes a lot of individuals from many different backgrounds. And um
I I task us all, myself included, the community and our leadership with thinking thinking through our actions and stopping and understanding the moment we live in. We live in a very
difficult time period. We live in a very difficult communication, political and social environment right now and we make mistakes because we're all human beings. So I'm tasking myself and and those of
us in leadership with doing better just to explain. I I had people reach out to me. I think high-five I'm not sure what the hole was. um unnerved a couple of families and and I sat a minute and I thought I remembered
back when I was a single mom. I was working in Andover. If I had driven my student and I probably would not have read the newsletters and been up to date on what was happening and if I had driven up and seen all the police
officers in front of the school, I would have had heart failure and then it would have been fine and it's a lovely event and I understand everybody meant well. But when people said they were on nerds, I thought a minute and I said, "Yeah, I I see that." So to those in our
community who have struggled recently, I want to say I see you and we are all going to do better and come join us and share your stories and help us do better. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Anybody else with us this evening?
Absolutely. Have your name and address for the directors, please. Thank you. Hello, my name is David Canada. 11 stage coach wrote Romans 12. As much as it is within our
power, live with peace with everyone. At the last meeting, three people spoke starkly opposed to the email that was sent regarding the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The first began expressing her disgust for it. The next began expressing she and a group of others
were very upset by it. Well, I must say I am also upset and I am disgusted by anyone who would say or believe that. I am disgusted listening. I was disgusted listening and watching you,
the superintendent, get bered by that dril for five minutes to ensure we all have the right context. That email contained eight sentences. Eight. And for five minutes, you were bered.
That it was disgusting that Littleton schools condemns political violence. Disgusting that Littleton Schools condemns all violence in the community and schools. Disgusting that every individual deserves to express their
views without fear of harm. Disgusting that Littleton School's mission is to model respect for differing viewpoints and fostering civil discourse. Disgusting. I'm sorry. No. Anyone who feels that
email is disgusting or upsetting is evil. As much as it is within your power, live in peace with everyone. See, here's the thing with that. It's not within my power to violate the core
principles which I believe are true, as I hope you hold true. Core principles that define morality, which come from only one place, the Bible. So when someone insists that the way the only way that we can live in peace with
each other is that I must abandon those things that are core to my existence. My answer is no. And that's what's happening here. Romans 12 instructs us not to repay evil with evil. Rather repay evil with kindness. Tolerance is not kindness.
Compromising God's moral principles to make those who perpetuate evil feel comfortable is not kindness. It is not incumbent on me or you to make other people feel comfortable. You were told it was a political
statement. It was not. You were told it was divisive. It was not. You were told it was a mistake. It was not. The only mistake was the followup, tripping over yourself, apologizing for condemning
violence and trying to model civil discourse. The third speaker, who I believe is a selectman, appeared to be visibly shaken while implying there was absolutely no reason to have sent the email and demanded there be consequences.
A poll just came out that showed 30% of young adults believe it is justified to resort to violence in order to achieve your goals. Those are the consequences of compromising when some people don't like
to hear the truth. 30% of young people, those are people coming out of school systems like Littleton public schools. So yes, I do believe not only was it warranted, but it was appropriate for
the original email condemning political violence and all violence. No apology necessary. Thank you. >> Words virtual. Perfect. All right, we'll close that
portion of uh interested citizens and we'll move into our recognition portion of the evening student representatives report. Please take it away. >> Good evening everyone. I have a few updates from the schools. Let's start with Shaker Lane. Shaker Lane had a great month getting back into the swing
of things related to school learning routines, beginning academics, and making in friends. Shaker Lane also had their first community meeting this month focusing on heining apart and kicking off their first fun run which will take place on October 17th. They also have their family book fair night coming up
on October 8th where they will bring back the much enjoyed masked reader experience. Transitioning into Russell Street. Russell Street School had a very successful back to school night. It was great to welcome families to our school and share all the exciting things to
expect this year. Fifth graders were treated to an instrument group demonstration so they could hear all the options they have this year in fifth grade band. Instruments are scheduled to be delivered this week with sectional rehearsals scheduled to start soon. Students are wrapping up their beginning
of the year benchmark assessments over the next week. We look forward to tracking student growth and progression throughout the year. Now, Middleton Middle School took their first MAP test of the year this week, and it was great to see the students working hard to do their best. Sixth grade will have its
first kids night out of the year on Friday, October 3rd from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. The event is hosted by Littleton Middle School's PTA, and we'll have games, food, music, and even a bouncy ense. Now, Littleton High School. On Tuesday,
September 23rd, the guidance department hosted a senior college play night at LHS. It is essentially the nuts and bolts of the college application process presented to parents and guardians of the class of 2026. Our school counselors
informed them on the process from the beginning to the end and were available for questions at the end. And department meetings 245 for IHS are on October 8th. Thank you. Excellent. Well done.
>> Good job. Thanks so much. I know our student representatives are often busy with other activities, but again, for as long as you stay at the meeting, feel free to uh participate in the conversation. Um, moving on to our second piece of recognition that is National Merit Merit
Scholarship Program. Principal John Harrington will announce the seniors that were named as committed students in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program. >> Hi everyone. Happy to announce today that seniors on Lena Girtton, Evan Mandre, Sidarth Padamati and Arya
Wfunder were named as commended students in the 2020 26 national merit scholarship program. The commended students throughout the country are recognized for their outstanding performance on the 2020 or preliminary or PSATs. I'll just cut that short and
their exceptional academic performance. And there's a quote here from the National Merit Fellowship spokesperson. Those being named commended students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success. We hope this recognition will help broaden their educational opportunities and encourage them as they continue their pursuit of
academic success. So congratulations again to Elena Evan and Sedarth Arya for their fine performance at PSAT. Excellent. And I just have one additional uh recognition that just came in today if I may. Sure. from the Special Olympics recognizing Littleton High School and and I'll just read the
first paragraph from the letter from the vice president of Special Olympics. Um, congratulations on reaching unified champion school status 2425 year and this is in celebration of our all the things we did last school year. Your school community has successfully accomplish this by implementing unified
sports, inclusive youth leadership opportunities and whole school engagement. These rich opportunities are leading to meaningful change and creating social a socially inclusive school that supports and engages all learners. So I just wanted to you know
thank and appreciation for all the staff that are involved with this unified sports program particularly Mike Lynn Eric Arnold and Dr. Tracy Turner who have been instrumental in the success of this program throughout many years and we received a banner to showcase in school lobby. So I just
wanted to announce that share that with you guys just received it this afternoon. So >> congratulations, >> right? >> I do. >> You do? Okay. >> You bet. Take it away. >> I'm really proud and and you know this already, but the community doesn't that
uh we were nominated for our middle school was nominated for the blue ribbon school award. That's the highest nomination and achievement a school can receive within this nation. Uh I have some good news from the Department of Education uh as a result
of uh the federal department of education closing doors so to speak to this program. Uh they are going to move forward with some type of recognition. So I'm so super excited about that because as I said many many times most people in communities never see that
kind of recognition during their existence as a school committee meeting member, superintendent or principal etc. But it I really feel it's necessary to give recognition where it's deserved. The middle school received that
recognition because of all of the hard work that our student staff and and families did from prek to grade 8. You do not become a blue ribbon school being an island unto yourself. Our students
develop foundational skills from the first day they enter school and they continue to build those those skills along the way and build a solid foundation. That type of education allows us to receive the the recognition that we did. So, it's a proud moment for
me as your superintendent. uh all of our three schools are welld deserving of of celebrating this award and I'm hoping uh Desessie uh does it uh with the right style as well because it's something that may not happen again. Hopefully it does. >> Excellent.
>> How about this? If they fail to do it with the right style, we'll do it ourselves. >> We'll do it with style. >> We will right. >> So Jason must be thrilled as well as the rest of the LMS staff. So congratulations. We definitely want to celebrate that.
All right. Got a couple uh presentations this evening. The first of which is a uh a redo. If first you don't succeed, you try again. Uh so this is a revote for the FINCOM seat. We had a um candidate which we heard from last school committee meeting. We voted to accept
that candidate and appoint them to the um financial uh committee. And the clerk has asked us to do this again and have it officially on our agenda, which we're happy to do. So, I will um make a motion that we uh elect Frederick Kingsley for
the 2024 2027 Vincome seat. >> Second. >> Motion made and seconded. All those in favor indicate by saying I. >> I. I. >> Perfect. That's unanimous. Uh before we move on to our second presentation, I'll just pause and uh bring your attention to the top of
tonight's agenda. Uh it's something that we've been doing for a year or two now. Um many of the presentations have we like all of our presentations to at some point circle back to the district district strategic plan. This evening the focus is on standard one which is
curriculum instruction and assessment. Align and enhance curriculum instruction and assessment to continuously improve student achievement. Tonight's essential question we're going to be listening for uh tidbits along the way is how can data be used to inform decisions about
curriculum and instruction and we'll move on. So our first our second official presentation really the first presentation is going to be uh from uh director of teaching and learning Beth Steel is going to give the NWA map update which is uh present a
summary of the MAP growth testing results from the 2024 2025 school year. >> Welcome. >> Thank you. >> All right. So tonight's presentation we have it broken down into five different pieces. We'll go over what is map
growth, just kind of a recap so we remind ourselves and ground ourselves in what it actually is. We'll talk about how it's scored. We'll talk about our actual data in two different ways. We'll talk about how we use the data and then some major takeaways. So with getting into the first piece of
what is map growth, map growth is an interimm assessment. So we give it three times a year. We give it in the fall, the winter, and the spring. It's adaptive to the students responses. So that's opposite of for example the MCCAST or SATs. That's a standardized assessment, right? Every student gets
the exact same questions. This is an adaptive assessment. So it changes based on the student responses. You can see in the top image, the chart that is there, it has green checkboxes and has red checkboxes. And so if we look from left to right, we can see that first green checkbox, the student got the answer
correct. So the test gave that student a slightly harder question. the student got that answer correct when and adapted to a slightly harder question. Got that one wrong. So, it's trying to really pinpoint. You can see the extreme on the left side. It starts to kind of even out as the assessment gets to the end
because then it's really pinpointing what that student knows and what that student is ready to learn next. Meaning something they probably got wrong is something that they're ready to dive into. The MAP growth assessments provide us real-time data on student mastery and
achievement on standardsbased content. So, it is aligned with our standards in Massachusetts. Um, it identifies instructional level for each student independent of the enrolled grade level. And so, if a student is performing really well, it'll ask them questions of um harder and harder questions that may
not be typical of the grade level that they're in. and vice versa if a student is struggling it will go to meet where content is that they are going to see some success. It also provides us longitudinal data based on an equal interval scale which we will talk about
um demonstrating academic growth over time. And so that's that bottom chart that would just be one students chart and we are able to see their growth over time. And ideally we're seeing just kind of an upward trajectory as um they pass their years with us in doing math
growth. So doing map growth um really helps us with largecale changes life changing in our curricular programs. So being able to see kind of how adapt um changes have happened with our elementary math program for example we'll be looking to see kind of how the
reading is adapting in the K to 5 program but I would say actually more importantly it really helps at the student level to determine what a student knows and what a student is ready to learn. Um and so we won't see the student level benefits, right? We see the district level benefits at this
point, which is really kind of those larger larger picture, larger ideas. Um MAP growth does help us ensure that students are growing academically and it provides us with consistent data that we can go back to when we might have any
questions or we might see any hiccups. We can really dig in to deeper levels to see kind of what's going on with that particular student in a particular content area. It really provides us with a centralized common data set uh which is very helpful both as I said
independent individually for students but also large scale. So scoring of the map growth assessments it's measured on a RIT scale and so it's an equal interval scale. You can think of it like um feet and inches on a ruler right? So we know typically an 8-year-old might be
a certain height. We know that a second grader will typically perform at a certain level but it's not necessarily restricted. could be taller, could be shorter, right? A student could be performing at a higher level than a typical second grader or a lower level than a typical second grader. And so the
RIT scale um goes from about 100 to 300. So that's the range in which we will see our students scoring. What is interesting and we mentioned this last year was that NWA was considering updating their norms. They try to do it every 5 years or so and
they have been able to do it every 5 years. Um there were norms that came out in 2015. They updated the norms in 2020 and then just now in 2025. This summer they released new norms as well. And so on the next slide you'll see the student
achievement norms for reading and form. Overall what you'll see if you compare and for your reference the very last slide is the 2020 norms just so that you can do a little comparison if you would like to. But the general gist is that
the bell curve that you would see with the 2020 norms flattened and went to the left, which means that our students are scoring lower and more of them are scoring at the lower end of of the range. And so we see this in these norms
because the writ score is lower both at the entry level point. So at the fall score is a lower RIT score and then when students are leaving the grade in the spring score for the 2025 norms it is a lower score in comparison to 5 years
ago. Now what is important and that if you're looking at just your students data the RIT didn't change the RIT scale didn't change. Nothing about the RIT. So you can still compare your students RIT score this year to how they did 3 years ago. What changed are the norms and the
the percentiles and the comparison. So it's the comparison pool that changed. And a few factors played into that. One was the pandemic and the learning loss that happened dur during the past 5 years. Um, another big piece is that there were a lot more students in the
2025 loan study and so that changed the overall pool of where students were falling. And so what we have seen and what NDF NWA is informing us is that we, for example, you may have had a student
that performed at the 50th percentile this year. They might be performing at like the 51st, 52nd percentile. Um, and it's because they might still be cuspy. And so it's a little tricky. And that's where going into independent students is
really important. And so we'll see kind of globally that our students are doing very well. They're still growing. We're seeing exactly what we want to be seeing. Going to the student level is really important, especially when we're looking at kind of percentiles um in in
doing that analysis. So if we look at the actual data, we're going to see two data stories this evening. The first of which is this slide and then upcoming the next couple of slides. And so in this data story, we
are comparing different cohorts, but we're able to see typical grade level across multiple years. So this is comparing apples to oranges. You're not comparing the same cohort of students year-over-year. In these charts you see on the left side
we have the grad and event. We then have the fall to spring 22 23 writ scores the growth amount that they make in that in that school year followed by the 2324 school year that year's growth followed
by the 2020 norms leaving the 2024 2020 excuse me norms in there in order to show that during those years we did compare them to those norms. And it's important to see that. Then we had the 2425 school year just last year with the growth and with the updated norms. So
also by color you can see the blue is following 2020 norms and the yellow is following 2025 norms. With this you can see and you're going to be able to see it across the board is that in comparison to the 2025 norms we
are above the national norms at all of our grade levels. What is also interesting and I say this cautiously because we are not necessarily supposed to make comparisons but you are able to see that we also even though the 2025 2020 norms were higher we our students
are still performing and achieving higher than the 2020 norms. Um and so if we were to compare ours to previous norms we're still achieving higher at at those levels as well. Um, we can go to the next slide and we
see the Russell Street data. It's the same chart setup again. We're above the 2025 norms as well as the 2020 norms. And what's interesting here and this is what is an indicator that I look for with regards to programmatic changes is that in looking at the MAP growth
math scores, we have reached a point where we are um actually exceeding beyond where our students typically were with regards to RIT score post pandem um excuse me pre- pandemic. And so in the 2018 2019 year, which was the last final
school year that we had math growth in all three sessions, um third grade math has increased by 5.2% uh 5.2 points, fourth grade math by 5.8 points, and fifth grade math by 2.5 points. So we are seeing that our students are are
back to pre- pandemic and excelling above prepandemic levels, which is really nice to see. also to me is an indicator to us as an indicator that the math program changes that we made have been successful and that we continue need to continue to keep an eye on that
to ensure that this growth still continues for moving forward. So, it's something that I am very proud. Our teachers have worked really hard, our students have worked really hard to be able to get to this position. Um, and we want to make sure that we're keeping an eye on it as we continue to move forward and our our focus starts to shift, which
we'll talk about during the curriculum review conversation a little bit later tonight. The next slide you have um is the middle school. So, grades 6,78. Again, above the norms when you're looking at this data. Um, if we're looking again, grade six, they did have
two years of our our new inmath program. And so looking at their growth, um they were above pre- pandemic at 2.2 points. Um we've also made some strides in ELA with going preandemic scores as well.
And so we're happy to see kind of that that trajectory going upwards as we move forward and our students continuing to grow um against themselves and against previous cohorts, which is really nice. Again, you're comparing apples to an orang to oranges. So, it's it's with a
grain of salt that we we make these statements, but it we're continuing to see them year-over-year. It's starting to um create that trend. Lastly, we have the high school. High school again, um they only take grade nine, their reading assessment. Our
students consistently score very high. Um and so this at the student level is very helpful to look at. So our teachers can dig in and see specifically what skills the students really need support with. So looking at this from the
district level, it looks a little bland, which is why at the student level, it's it's they are able to dig in a lot more and get a lot more information out of it. Um what is interesting because we are doing a curriculum review um this year of our 6 to 12 curriculum with ELA.
It will be interesting to see does it make sense to continue doing the grade 9 reading map growth. Is there something better out there that's going to give us more detailed information that's going to support what we're doing? Is there something that might be aligned with a future resource that we choose to bring in? Those questions are kind of all out on the table with regards to um grade
nine reading map growth. We now shift into the second data story and this is comparing apples to apples. So this we're looking at the same cohort over time as they grow through Littleton public schools. And so we will see all the way from our current 10th graders
down to our current third graders. And so um on this graph you see their writ score on the left side and then the school year on the on the um on the horizontal axis there. And what we're seeing typically what we want to see is
that upward trajectory line of our students improving year-over-year. One thing that is important to note on these graphs is that anything previous to the 2425 school year or the national norm lines
is 2020 norm data because during those years we were comparing to that norm data and we wanted to hold true to that information. Starting in 2425 you start to see the new norms. I think this chart is particularly interesting um because you
see that significant dip in the national norm for reading. For example, going from the eighth grade um to the nth grade. When we look at the 2025 norm data, if you're comparing 8th to 9th grade, it's not that significant of a dip. It's only one point difference, but it's because we're comparing the 2020
8th grade data to the 2025 9th grade norm. And so there's a more significant dip at the national norm level. However, all that being said, our line is going upwards, and that's the piece that we really want to make sure that we're seeing. The next slide is our current 9th
graders. Again, we're seeing very nice upward trajectory of our lines. When we're looking at ours are the the blue for reading, red for math. You can flip to the next. Yep. No, you're good. All good. Um, this is the eighth grade.
So, current seventh graders. Again, just going to keep repeating. It's the nice upward trajectory. Um, we're able to kind of you can pinpoint like, oo, what's going on there? Let's take a look at that. Um, but these overall look very nice when we're looking at them. The
next one, class of 20 2031, excuse me, is our seventh graders. So, it's their five years worth of data. And then we have our sixth graders. who have their four years of data. Our fifth graders, their three years of
data, all looking very nice with the um and our our current fourth graders with their two years of data. That is beautifully kind of following the trends here um at an at an appropriate way. And then we have our last one, which are
just our dots at this point in time with our current third graders who have only taken it once. Um and so we'll be looking to see that trend that we have seen for all of our other grades as they move forward. Using of this data, the as I said at the
beginning, the use of this data is it's it really varies depending on who's looking at it and how we're looking at it, right? I can look at it from a district level and looking at program curriculum changes, data, how's our growth, where are we growing, where is our growth starting to maybe plateau, what do we need to do, why is that
happening? And it's not just curricular changes I mentioned um into math, right? But it's also our teaching and learning practices, right? It's it's our implementation of UDL. Are we trying to eliminate the barriers? Are students getting a voice in their curriculum to be invested and engaged in what they're
learning? At the teacher level, there's also several ways to use the data and I have it listed out to kind of four different buckets here where teachers use it for instructional planning purposes and for differentiation in creating um small groups in reworking
their lessons um for student support intervention. They determine eligibility for example um for title one. They use this data for for figuring out who might need a little bit of support there. They use it for creating their win groups. progress monitoring. It's a good way for
us to kind of see how students are continuing on. It's interesting. Um Lyn and I will sometimes have questions where we'll pull up and we'll be like, "What's going on here?" And then in conversation, we're able to say, "Oh, I think this happened or we know this about this particular student." And that
is kind of what's demonstrating that hiccup. It's nice because we're a small district and we really do know our students. And if we don't have direct um information, we have a conversation with someone that does to be able to figure out what's going on um and seeing if there is a hiccup, why that hiccup might
be there. And then lastly, what I really appreciate um about our our use of this is building student agency and being able to have conversations with our students um about their score and how they're doing and ensuring that they are kind of building their own academic
stamina and their ability to take risks um and promoting their own kind of self-awareness and what they need. And it really does involve and it incorporates it can incorporate this level of meta cognition um and reflection that we're trying to make sure that gets built in so that way um
it's a good practice and it allows us to really kind of let the learning sink in. So with regards to that, some major takeaways for um our MAC growth for this year is that our students are continuing to grow. Really pleased to see the growth that our students are making um
and the strides that they're making over the past several years. We're continuing to see more of a return to prepandemic scores and actually exceeding the prepandemic scores. So, as I mentioned, last year we had four areas in which we were beating our prepandemic scores. This year we have six areas in
which we're beating our prepandemic scores. And so, that's a nice um feature to be able to see. And then lastly, I will say that we continually to thoughtfully use the data to discuss teaching and learning um on both small and large scales. Um, and just as our
student rep said, the schools are just finishing up. It's open through next week, our fall um, data window. And just this week, I had a conversation with a teacher and she was, you know, students seeking a little bit of time on it and whatnot. I said, "Okay, well, let's do one more session tomorrow, see how what
what number they get to, how it goes, and all this." having to be in the school that next day and um I caught the teacher in the hallway and the student finished the assessment and was so beyond proud of themselves for finishing the assessment and the teacher and I had
had conversations of like well what do we I don't want to you know a ton of learning time to be spent on taking an assessment when we can get that data because they've done enough of the assessment and all this right so there's a little bit of like well what do we do if and we didn't have to even get there and the amount of pride that that
student felt the teacher was just really heavy um that student was able to finish it. And so that's where we're talking about student agency and risk takingaking, the student was able to take that into their own control and they finished it. The amount of pride that they felt was worth kind of going through that process for that student
even though it was long for that student. Um but it was worth him being able to do that. So happy to answer any questions that you may have. >> Anybody comments or questions? you know, you want to start telling us you're good.
>> Yeah. >> Um, so I guess I kind of in in a wide range. I it feels like you were talking about as a as a teachering tool. This is so so valuable. Like teachers are really
able to get and I love the idea teachers being understanding where their students are >> and this is a great tool for that. But you it sounded like like on a macro level we're we're working on teasing out like data that really means something
all the time. And I just wonder are there are there reporting tools that maybe we if we kept this for the teachers they were able to you know help use it in their guidance. But if there was if there was another macro tool or
maybe there's another macro tool that the state uses. Is there would that be something you're are you are you looking it sounds like you're looking into that and I just wanted to give you support with that. >> I think we're looking into it for the ninth graders to make sure that they are
having an assessment that is challenging for them. Um, what I has happened with our ninth graders is that sometimes because they're performing at such a high level, they'll have repeat questions from the fall to the winter and then winter to spring. And so it's not necessarily challenging them to an appropriate level for us to really be
able to kind of figure out, especially anyone that might be um kind of high-flying, really in-depth with regards to their reading capabilities, their comprehension, their vocabulary. With regards to the other pieces, I actually think that Macro does provide us with a really good basis of
information. Um, and I say that because they've updated their reports within the past handful of years where they have district data, school data, classroom data, student data, and as a district, I can start at the district level, but I can continuously click in, click in,
click in, and get as detailed as I want. >> Okay? >> Or stay at kind of that large macro level. I think the tricky part with macro, and we've had this conversation before, is that it is national, right? It's a national assessment. It's nationally normed. there's only a handful of districts in Massachusetts
that use it. And I think at times we like to compare ourselves to other districts in Massachusetts that might be um a bit more competitive and and so I think that is sometimes the challenge but I think with map growth what is most interesting is being able to compare it
to ourselves and I think there's significant value in doing that and I think that we do actually we're able to glean that from this information >> and the other question that keep coming up I mean that there's been a lot of talk
I I don't know the official talk about it but just amongst um parents about the stress of taking tests and the stress on students of of test taking is and I I don't have a sense of like how much assessment this is and also is this an
assessment that is like kind of structured a little bit differently than test taking and and is and is part of their their learning day that is a little bit different. I'm trying to get a sense of like what kind of stresses this is putting into the
classroom. >> So, we certainly want to teach test taking strategies, right? With regards to you are taking an assessment, we want to put them in that mindset of how do we take assessments, right? Like we approach it in a in a in a way that's serious, but we also ensure that the point to really be clear about the
purpose of this, the purpose of this is to give your teacher information about what you need to learn, right? So, it's not a comparison of the typical like um >> you don't do well, you're not getting into college. I mean that kind of No, no, no, no, not by any not by any means.
And that I think the thing because they start in second grade with this assessment, >> right? >> Our students are um used to knowing that, oh, it's math growth. They take it seriously, but it's not the stress level, not nearly the stress level that like MCCAST used to have for students or
that taking an SAT has for students. you go into a school on on a on a um math growth day and it's just kind of like it's a math growth day. >> Cool. >> Um so it's not necessarily and that I'm generalizing of course we have some students who have test anxiety and they know it's an assessment that's them
right. >> Yeah. >> But we also know that about those students and so we preemptively have conversations. We tell them and we make sure that we're really explicit about it. >> Okay. >> Um with regards to the actual assessment itself, >> it depends on the grade level and how long kind of it takes. Um, but typically
grade levels set aside 45 minutes to an hour for each of the each of the tests. So, 45 minutes to an hour of the reading, 45 minutes to an hour for the math. And students can finish that much quicker. Sometimes some students finish it a lot faster and others times, like I
was saying, some students need a little bit of extra time, but we're very aware of the amount of time. We don't want students to be spending hours because the data that we get from this is helpful, but it's not helpful for them to be missing the math lessons. Yeah. That they should be in on while they're
taking this. And so, we're cognizant of that and making sure that we have those conversations. >> Thank you. >> But I can I can add to that. Uh I've used the map testing since its inception in 2000. every district I've been in. Uh
part of why we don't see a lot of it happening in Eastern United States is it originated from the western United States and I did a couple graduate degrees western western United States. So I was I was around when this first came out. I was also part of the I call
it the great debate on the common core >> back in 2010. In fact, I wrote an op-ed for the Boston Globe 2011, I think it was. And this all kind of ties in. They were redoing MCCAST or redoing
standardized tests at that time. And there was a a real huge debate about adaptive tests versus standardized tests. And I was really hoping that Massachusetts would jump on the bandwagon and go with an adaptive test educator education leadership point of
view. This is datadriven. It's good data to help students learn. It's immediate data. Standardized data has it limit has its limitation and and I appreciate the fact that state figured they wanted to stay with common road that they were on.
There are many states in the western United States that are very competitive nationally and beyond because this is an international assessment. It isn't a national assessment. It's given in Canada. I used it in Canada when I was a superintendent. uh it allows us to to
know where our students are and challenge the students that are above grade level and also give the support that students need that are at or below grade level. But it's about having data that makes a difference rather than having data on our MCCAST
uh where we get the results in the fall. Our students already in another grade with a new teacher, new subjects. And I'm not saying they don't have some merit, but I I think it's more of an accountability merit than a datadriven merit for our students. So, I'm a firm
believer in this uh it's part of the the recipe that I've used to help schools move forward for many many years. And we are very conscious of of a balance between testing and and learning within a classroom in terms of curiosity,
curious learning we call it. But it's it's something that I feel strongly has made a huge different in helping our students learn 14 and a half years that I've been here. >> I know we had a conversation so I don't
want to go I don't want to steal your question. >> I think your question segus nicely from Jimmy. >> Want to be careful not to steal yours. >> Don't even worry about it. >> All right. >> There's no buildup to this question. Right.
>> This is, you know, this I >> like uh I got the longest tenure on here so I've seen this presentation number, right? >> Um and it's always well done. What I'm I always ask the question, you know, hey, I'd love to see the comparative data against other towns in Massachusetts. I recognize that, you know, if we don't
have the best public education in the country, it's right up there at the top of the charts. Uh so we got a leg up on the national average to begin with. But aside from that, the I I have looked at the trend grade over grade and I understand it's apples and oranges, but the things are moving in the right
direction. So, um you know, round of applause for the efforts and the staff and all the good work that's going into this. So, it's good stuff. This be careful not to get into your questions. >> That's plenty. That's fine. >> Which is and I I I'm a big believer and I think
we all are in data urban decisions and all that good stuff. And I I think that this is excellent. we have to take a couple days away from instruction to to give the assessments, but I believe it's worth it. So, I think my first question is, and I've maybe asked it before, but remind me because I have a bad memory. Um, what do we do to support the staff
in terms of their ability to take some time out of their day to look at like let's look at the two to five population, right? Because they teach multiple subjects. So, somebody's giving a math lesson in one classroom, somebody else is giving a math lesson in another classroom. And maybe when we've done the
assessment three times, we we look at trends and it's like, geez, that person's class, you know, and it could be the just the population of students in there, but it might also just be they spent a little bit more time on a lesson or they they've got a little bit more experience, so they knew certain sections were going to be more difficult
and they had other ways to do it. So from a district standpoint, do we stop and pause and give the um the staff the chance to get together and collaborate on their results and and forward, you know, zoom out 10,000 foot view, how can
we use this data, share best practices, that type of stuff. >> So two different ways that we do that. Um data meetings happen and so this is a big piece of our data meetings. Um, and in doing that, our interventionists really dig into this data and then they
are a good source of kind of sharing that data back out. So, they've done a lot of the analyzing of the data and sharing that back out with the teams and with the grades. So, it happens um in that way. The other way is during team meetings. And so, for example, um there
is opportunity for and I think that's part of the team meeting um kind of structure that we're wanting to kind of really build up is teachers being able to share their practices on what they're doing and what's working because that you're right that sharing their practices is going to be what they
learn from each other to improve the students outcomes in the end. Right. So, for example, I was in um a couple of our elementary classrooms recently. It happened to me in the same grade grade level. I went to two of the classes. I saw the same lesson twice delivered in two different ways. And I happened to
say to a veteran, the veteran more veteran teacher said, "Hey, that was really interesting. How did you choose to do it in that way?" And they said, "Oh, well, after doing it last year in a different way, I realized pretty quickly we needed to adapt." He said, "Wow, that's really great. During uh an
upcoming conversation, can you maybe share that strategy with your team so that way everyone's aware?" And it's okay to do it in a different way, right? So like a I'm I was encouraging them to have the conversation, but b also like giving them permission. It's amazing how much you have to say to educator like yes please please do that like please
change it up right like it's okay permission giving them permission to do that not necessarily asking them to do it because they want to do it is giving them permission but it's okay to do that and so I I bring that example up because it then leads to them having a conversation about what they're doing for teaching and learning and so our
newer or less seasoned teachers can learn from those conversations in a lowrisk environment and then take it back to their try with their students. And so I would say our our data team meetings, the way that we analyze the data and then push that data out with our with our grade levels and with our
grade level team meetings, there is opportunity for that. Granted, there's a lot of things being competing for that time, right? And so I do think it's tricky. Could we do better? I'm going to say yes majority of the time to that question. Um and and I
think that's something for us to consider and think about, but there are opportunities for it and it is happening. >> Great. I'm glad to hear that. Um my next question is related to um
the indivi like it's uh time constraint, right? It's you know we wish we had more time. >> So the average teacher's got 22 or 23 kids in a classroom. Does the teacher have enough time to sort of look at all 23 students and say,
"Okay, how could I assist this student so that I we see a greater potential for winter and spring?" Or do we really just notice that it's a bell curve and we make referrals for those that um have, you know, show signs of struggle perhaps
on the upside of the bell curve? that we say, "Okay, there I got a handful of students in my classroom that are um exceeding expectations or whatever. I could implement challenge questions or up, you know, advance the reading level into groups or whatever. Or is there an opportunity for them to look at even
those that are in the middle to say you're in the middle and you're average, but here were your areas of weakness and this is where we need to circle back." So, it's it's a complicated question, but are we do we >> do everybody really get a benefit out of this? I the the hope is yes and I
realize that that's nearly impossible. >> Yeah, I was going to say so yes and all right to all of the above. Um, so I think our our immediate those that get the the kind of the first look at are kind of our students who are struggling, right? Who are have the lower rate scores and who have the higher risk
scores, right? Our book ends are typically those that are like they catch our eyes first, right? Because they're standing out. They're outliers. And so we want to ensure the students that are on the lower end are going to get the intervention or the support or the really direct instruction that they're going to need. And then on the other end, right, being able to really
challenge those students so that they are maintaining engagement and learning, >> right? >> It's that middle piece that you look at, right? And I think that's where looking at it and why our teachers use it to form groups is really looking at that
middle section. And so what comes the the students with the lower scores and the higher scores, it kind of becomes obvious pretty quickly, right? And those are like small groups figure those out right away. It's that middle where you're like, okay, here are five, sorry,
five areas, right? Which two or three am I going to focus on first? And so it is looking at that middle group of students and seeing out of this middle group of students, what are my highest needs? And starting there. And so it is looking I would say everyone benefits,
our outliers benefit potentially the fastest because those are what jump out to us. And then the middle group is what benefits from our small group, our win groups that we create, anything of that sort. >> Great work, Alex. Thank you. >> Yeah, thank you.
>> Well, I want to start by commending you for a very clear presentation with a beautiful slide deck. Um, but you you have a real talent for taking a complicated uh topic and making such a clear explanation for us. So, I and I know it
takes some time to do that. So, I really appreciate you doing that for us. >> Um, I'm gonna ask the question I thought you were gonna ask. >> I'm leaving it for you. I'm kidding. I don't even know what the question. Okay. >> I know. We should.
>> Um, so I'm curious. You mentioned that the um the questions are aligned with Massachusetts standards. Does that mean that they could also create Massachusetts norms instead of having to do the national norms? >> I don't think they do it because there's not enough districts with across the
state >> to really put their effort into it. Um and because it's really because we are common core. We're common core plus. Right. Right. And so it's really majority common core um that it's aligned with, but they do have the
Massachusetts standards because they are able to then align it with other things within our direct curriculum. So I would love to and I just I had a call maybe two weeks ago with our ref and I did yet again I asked the question because I know someone in particular asks every
year the can we compare to other stu students in Massachusetts. I think it's a very valid question. I asked again and again um their their response is no, they don't collect it on a state basis. Um and so unfortunately we don't have that, you know, data and I don't think
they're willing at this point in time based on response that I got to put it together. >> Yeah. Um I'm a big fan of these adaptive tests. You know, I kind of getting back to what you were saying earlier, Janine, like I've I've done walkthroughs in classrooms that were administering adaptive tests and the kids are not
stressed out at all because they're not being asked questions that are too hard for them. So, it's not like MCCAST where you might get hit with a zinger that's way above your ability level and that's stressful and frustrating. Um, but because it's adaptive, like each
question that's offered to the child is is within, you know, using the information from the previous responses, it's it's going to be within their range. So, >> I just from my observation, it seems like a very low stress >> um situation. But the other thing I
really like about these tests is that, you know, the potential for how you use the information and it seems like in the aggregate it informs your decisions about curriculum. Um, but student by student, I just I think this is just an amazing opportunity to really dig into
each student's individual learning profile and give them what they need. Um, and I notice on your slide where you're talking about the use of data, you did mention creating wind groups. And I was wondering if if here you um
you ever provide wind groups that go across classrooms. So like an interventionist can meet with students from one class that have a specific need with others that have that same specific need. And I know it's like a scheduling issue, but
>> Yeah. Yeah. So each grade level has win at the same time. So, I'll speak specifically to Russell Street because this is where I know it definitely happened. Um, and they have the explicit win time. It happened a lot more previously and then when um students during the pandemic, right, not being able to switch classrooms, switch
cohorts, mix and so it's coming back this crossing between classrooms which has a lot of benefits for many reasons, right? One, you're targeting specific skills that students need. Two, they might be learning from a different adult that has a different approach. And three, they're able to build
relationships with that other adult that might be different than the one that they're typically with all day long and different students that they may not be with all day long, right? And so there's never mind the academic benefits, but there's social emotional benefits to that approach as well, right? And so yes, they do. And that's why looking at
kind of the um grade level data together is very helpful to be able to say, okay, here are our major topics. We have this chunk that need this specific skill. and one teacher will take a cohort and work on that specific skill and it'll be a blend of students from all six classes
of that grade level. And so more of that is coming back um which I think is great for many of the reasons that I listed. >> Yeah. Yeah. I mean what an innovative way to use the information you get. Um >> that's cool. >> So yeah, so that was my question at the student level and then going back out to
the aggregate with the impact it can have on curriculum. Um, so it sounds like from what you were saying that you're already seeing the impact of the implementation of into math because you saw a jump and I noticed that when I was reviewing the packet ahead of time like
um how how long did that take for you know from the implementation of in into math to start to see the impact on the maps for us? That's a good question and I'd say the answer to this I think is actually an outlier because typically when you implement you're going to have
an implementation dip and we saw implementation dips in year one of implementing the program in the sense of kind of struggling with different modules and assessments and how to do it but overall we saw pretty quickly a an increase in our student outcomes with
regards to implementing into math. And so, um, pretty early on we saw positive results with regards to implementing the new program in math. And so, I'm really happy that we're continuing to see those increases and being able to see it
really 3, four, five, six, continuing that growth. Um, and so it happened very quickly, I would say, for in math typically. Um, and and I feel like people have warned me, don't assume that that's going to happen with ELA. And so
I'm hoping, you know, I'm hoping we see those positive results, but also being very aware that it's a totally different beast, right? It's a totally different curriculum. It's a different approach. It's a different style. And so, um, I'm keeping an eye on that to see what happens there. Um, because I think the
math was so successful so quickly, it may have put us in a spot where we're going to assume very quick, high results. And I think we need to make sure that we're kind of reestablishing the norm of implementation that it does take years to implement. Yeah. Large whole scale changes like that.
>> We did notice some growth first year. We we're kind of blown away by that because we we're waiting for that implementation dip and all of a sudden we had when we were testing our students, they started to go up and there really wasn't much of an implementation dip at all. Uh I do
have a a comment, not a question. and uh implications for the future. For many years, we've we've enjoyed the opportunity to hire staff in our district, provide the training to them, and keeping them in
our district for most of their career. But in the last four years, we've noticed a shift where teaching positions have opened up in the state and beyond. And it's not as if our teachers don't want to stay with us, but radically closer to home. They have young
children. So, as a result of that, we we have more new teachers coming into our district every year. And yet, we we have a a philosophy of professional development that continually helps our teachers grow. But then we have somebody
at the entry level coming into our district and it's a little bit of a challenge because they they aren't at the same spot. I mean, they might have come from a school district that has a similar philosophy, but maybe not. And
so, we've we we have curriculum mapping, team meetings, uh, two-year mentorship program that that helps. But when we're talking about into math and and wit and wisdom, those are huge lists mindset that changes.
and Beth and I are just trying to figure out what what do we need to do to provide support to those staff that are coming in because they're not going to be up to speed in year one. We're going to grow like everybody else. So, I mean, we can be creative, but it's always
there's a money component attached to it. I mean, I've had the luxury in my career of of hiring teachers and and at times been able to hire a full-time teacher and have them at a point. 6 and then they would work with other staff during the rest of the day. That's very
expensive. Another thing we could do that's less expensive is take a look at the possibility of hiring a K to5 math coach and a K to5 uh ELA coach to work with those teachers to get them up to speed as as quickly as we can. So, we're
still trying to figure out what what's the best way to do this because it's it's unfair to hire a new teacher, especially with, you know, two years, three years of experience, and expect them to get up to speed and and be the same kind of teacher that their colleagues are within
four months, five months. I think we do an incredible job helping them and supporting them, but I often, you know, when I have discussions with Beth, is there something else we can do to make their lives a little easier as well? Because we all know when you move into a
new teaching position in a new school, it's stressful. We want to make sure we support them and we want to make sure that we have them say as well. We don't want people leaving because they they feel that our expectations are too high. Well, that's the challenge that we're
trying to figure out right now. >> I I did have one more question, but it's kind of connected to your next presentation. Okay. Which was So, I'll leave you with it, and you don't have to answer it now, but I I was wondering um how these wind groups or um how the data
that you're getting informs strategies for UDL. >> So, um >> definitely does. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So you could talk about it here or there whichever fits better for your >> okay >> head space. >> Um I mean I can start here and then it'll come up naturally when we have
conversations about UDL. So looking what is helpful is that this data provides us the standards the very specific content right >> and I think a lot of times the UDL piece is the delivery of that right and so if the one delivery didn't work we have to
look at what's another delivery what's another way to access that content that standard. And so when we're looking we see we have a bulk of students in a win group that are ready to learn a specific standard right so we have a win group dedicated to it we then have to ensure it all comes down to the teaching and
learning practices of that standard right and can the students in that group access that we're looking at what UDL strategies are we using and implementing to have students be able to access that and not just access it but really engage with it right because if you're engaging with it then you're actually going to
process them from So more more will certainly come during UDL. So I I won't go too far down that road. >> Well, thank you for that intro short. >> Thank you. >> I think that presentation was gave an applause. >> Yes, I will let Jason know there was an
applause. >> Really had a lot to do with you. Not not case. >> All right. Next up, we've got advanced placement testing says high school administration, but we have featured guest John Hack. Uh we'll review the 2025 AP assessment results.
>> Yes, I'm happy to report our students challenged themselves and they did well overall and you had a chance to look, you know, the report in your packet. As we traditionally do, we have sort of a similar slides show each year talk about our current AP courses at OHS. You see
for such a small high school we do have a rich array of offerings covering lots of different disciplines slide but then you'll see even more subjects where students took 20.5 AP exams well beyond what we offer and this is as a
result of students yeah taking VHS courses virtual courses but also um self-study and you know learning it themselves and sitting for the test. I've always been impressed in my years at high school number of students that will, you know, it used to
be that they would go to Barnes & Noble and get the book. Now it's all online. They they study for the test, teach themselves, um, look at YouTube videos, things like that. They've done quite well. Many of the students they just didn't have the room in their schedule necessarily to add, you know,
an eighth, nine course, not like some of those would. Uh, they amaze me. There is some concern. This is something we say every year the students are challenging themselves but are they doing it to an excessive lump that's why some schools have imposed restrictions on you know
capped uh the number of courses you can take comes up fairly frequently but it's brief uh each year students have you know appetite for them we try to counsel them through the process of not overt taxing themselves and trying
to have a rich high school experience where they're engaged in other co-curricular activities and having time and we also encourage work and you know colleges are impressed by they see that you have employment experience but you know for the admission um and not just
you know overly saturated with academic content. >> Yeah. So that's just something I want to always acknowledge in the AP presentation. Although of course we're proud of our students, especially the number of AP scholars there, but the the college board is also incentivized students to to reach that status by
saying take more AP courses, taking more AP courses and there's going to and so our our councils do a good job though overall of uh you know of counseling um the students to take the appropriate number of courses. But there there they are lots of courses. All right. And
exams. Um next slide will show that the number of students taking AP exams were at an all-time high you know we just you know talks last year the number of students taking exams and the number of AP exams taken so you
can see there's lots of strong appetite for students to challenge themselves and one of the things we noticed we noticed in teachers remarked about performances we had students who when some some cases had never taken an honors course but wanted the challenge themselves for an
18 course. So the question comes up of prerequisites you know when you have 30 students scoring below a three or something that you have to sort of watch that I know they what but the old adage has been that take challenge yourself at least you had the experience you know
you kids want to have take the opportunity and they're encouraged by their parents in many cases to to take at least one AP course they they want to do it before they graduate graduate maybe it's to enhance their parent group but it's also to have an experience of college level course and the college
board and other people will testify that having the experience even if you don't get a three is a is a positive thing because you you've really challenged yourself you've worked with rigorous curriculum and and and gone >> you know it's out of your comfort zone so and that's reflected yeah we've seen
that in the scores next slide please number of percentage of exams at each AP score level and you can see where I wasn't talking about 12% at to 30 students there or 38 number of student exams there and you know and sometimes
just go back Steve for a second sometimes that's a reflection of the kids stretch themselves too thin you know taking too many APs and you know the stress we see that we every year and one or two students or we stand out and say you know they don't want they won't
sit for the exam they took the course you know or they they're just stressed about it the test because they they have too So that that reality has to really be brought home and that can be reflected in performance but look at the number of students with fives and fours it was
really quite impressive number overall you know 83% there greater than three or equal to next slide next you'll see another breakdown here you can just in just another give you different ways of looking at the data
and this shows us over the last five years and you can see some comparison data different cohorts of course, but some of these kids are in they they in 2024 data because they were juniors they took exams and we have every now and then we'll start to have some sophomores. We offered an AP
European course, European history course years back, more than couple years back we opened that up to sophomores and they they they did fine. That was something that you know that college board said they they are pushing AP courses at a
younger and younger level too and AP human geography sometimes comes up as we don't offer it but it comes up as sometimes an offer kids like and now there's an AP we don't offer this course but there's an A we had a student last year we three to AP pre-calculus and our
pre-calculus honors course is probably comparable I bet you if our kids our pre-calculus honors well took the testing probably fine. But that's another now the branding and marketing of the from the college board. Next slide.
This is just another visual depiction of the data across the years. You can see it in your packet, but you already saw that in the table before. Next slide, please. Always number uh you know a chart we looked to number and percent of students
with one or more scores. you know, so the students that challenge themselves, but overall, you know, did you get that three for that college potential college credit a lot of colleges, I think I've said this in previous presentations, you're looking for the four or five before they give credit. Now, it used to
be standard most schools that if you got a three, but I guess it's so common and and again, not to sound too competitive in previous presentations for those who've been around a while, there's colleges that even if you do score quite well and you're in their engineering program, I'll just say that they want
you taking their calculus course or your physics course. Yeah. And perhaps it's for money. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> They want they want you have they really want to see what you could do. But it's definitely money and as well as uh making sure that that you're prepared to handle the content the way they want you
to in their program. Awesome. So you have a chance to look at that slide you know proud of the 91% of AP students with scores greater than or equal to three. Next one AP scholars you have the definitions there of the AP scholar AP scholar with honor AP scholar
with distinction. We used to have an national one which I think it thankfully eliminated because it just incentivized kids to take a little more tests. So our we have a running record here. Next slide will show you of real strong performance and students being recognized for their their high level of
achievement. You know, it's so back to last year was we have to acknowledge it was an exceptional year with 50 total AP scholars. But, you know, we had 15 this year stand out with distinction and the 35 this year is consistent with past
performance. You know, it's sort of the the mean of where we've been or median of where we've been. We definitely had an outlier year with 50 last [Music] and a lot of the kids who are in this year's class are they represented part of that 50 last year. um summary notes.
91% of our students scored at least the three one AP exam. 61% of our graduating class scored a three exam at least once and then 145 exams which is very impressive were scored four or five. I want to give a shout out to AP B English
lit comp AP cal 96% of the students scored and three of better AP English I want to announce a new course we have this year we thinking about offering this for a while but AP English language comp new offering an announcement that 50 students taking AP 50 students took
AP courses through the uh through a special grant uh through VHS and 40 45 of them of the 50 were through special desi grant that has been discontined So that we saw that definitely promoted participation for kids was saying it was
free. they didn't have to pay so and they took it on you know online many cases and it was all in the STEM field science you know technology math engineering and so those that that we'll see if it comes back but right now that's been discontinued especially the
kind of impact that has participation rates I don't have it right handy right now but that definitely incentivize and encourage kids to take take AP course instead of an exam So again, proud of our students. They
did well. They challenged themselves. That's our presentation. >> Thank you for sharing questions, comments. >> A couple. They're pretty short. They're mostly clarifying questions. They're short. This is super data. Really helpful.
>> So there was, I think, 10 AP courses that we offered, 21 total subjects. So of the 11 that they're sort of studying on their own, DHS, whatever. Do we know if there's like a different success rate when they're doing it on their own versus doing it? >> Yeah, I did notice in a we computer
science a computer science principles uh you know where there was a lower performance there. >> Okay. >> Maybe because they didn't have the to you know the teacher on the side they were trying to being selftaught. >> Yeah, that's >> you know I was wondering about if that was a VHS course or how many of those kids just signed up for the course. You
know that's a good question. Well, we should tease out that data and try to find out what's happening there. Is it the VHS instruction or is it that they ventured on their own? I don't have that breakdown for you tonight of how many kids were self, you know, guided or self-taught, self-directed and how many
were. We do know that 50 kids took it to the PHS though. Yeah. I don't I didn't break down their scores necessarily. >> Yeah. Just something to look into or keep an eye on, especially because you're talking about students sort of spreading themselves too thin or pressure taken too many where we're not
finding a very high success rate when they sort of go off on their own. Is it worth >> the stress or the time or the effort? That's >> we appreciate that question. We'll definitely look into that. We have seen kids, >> you know, superstar achievers do really well. I know just anecdotally, but I I'd
like to look at the numbers, get that breakdown. Yeah, we are looking at uh learning groups of students when they're taking virtual classes. Same subject. It's very powerful if we get them together, work together. >> Another dream of mine and John knows I
talk about this almost every year. I'd like to see a greater partnership with Middle Sex College High School. Mhm. >> It's nice that they have AP courses and we we have opportunities beyond the
the four walls of our school and I think we need to to do whatever we can to to broaden our our choice within our high school. It's going to it's going to take some some courageous discussions at times,
but uh I I have I'm not against uh virtual learning at all. I think there's a place for it, but I also am a firm believer that I would like to see uh every one of our students have an opportunity to take a college course before they graduate
>> because the the the research is crystal clear. If our students have experience at the college level, the percentage rate of them finishing their degree on time increases. And I think that's something that's
missing in in a number of high schools at this point in time. And and with with the opportunities that that colleges are giving us now, it's just a matter of how do we make this work >> and uh how do we continue to have our staff that are with us full-time feel
empowered if we're we're starting to have classes being taught by >> Yeah. Just today we had another student enroll in a dual enrollment course at Middle Sex Community College. A lot of those courses now are because of our rotating schedule. It's hard students you know to leave Quebec and you know
this is not sometimes travel time uh to take a class in person. We have had students do that just their schedules to take >> inerson classes at Middle Sex Community College. What's very popular now is the remote picture. >> Uh so Middle Sex has expanded that. It's very affordable and they can get college credit. And as we've said before
previous presentations, the Commonwealth Compact allows that you can go off to Bridgewater State, UMass Amherst, UMass Boston, those credits will be will be accepted if you know and we also have staff a number of staff teaching courses um at the high school, but they're
adjunct faculty and you know that and uh students can take a pathway where they can get dual enrollment credit for that. So that you know that's something that superintendent has as well has advocated for years has really expanded in the last few years because of his advocacy.
>> Yeah. >> Support for that program. >> That was actually one of my students. I remember you sharing about the dual credit courses. It's incredible that we do that and yet we still see a growth in the number of AP the number of students participating in AP courses which I find
surprising. And at the same time, colleges honoring AP scores less and less and giving credit. Why students aren't opting for the dual credit over AP courses? >> It's our GPA quality point. That's what it
is. >> So, it boosts they they all know this and they they figured it out. in in schools will look at the strength of you and one of the biggest indicators that are you know records that the admissions folks will look at is your strength of your your high school transcript right
>> challenging of your courses and the your performance on in those courses. So students have stretched themselves. They'll get a they get a quality point uh bonus for taking AP courses where they don't get that our dual enrollment courses or honors should be
>> I did get honor credit for it at the high school. >> That's that's the reason >> that was the trade. And then last question it said 134 students 134 students took AP test. Yeah. here 2025 number of students taking AP exams
134 out of how many is this like juniors and seniors mostly >> mostly yeah >> so it's like >> because we have what what 200 something junior >> yeah it was the total number of exams was 260 right but the students was it
one 134 AP students yeah so that's the >> yeah I mean you figure we have about 100 kids change for 120 students in each each class. >> Okay. >> So, >> like a whole class. >> Yeah.
>> We over 50% participation I'd say across the juniors and senior. >> Okay. >> We have had two students uh graduate from Lson High School with an associates degree >> as well simultaneous. >> Yeah.
>> So, it's it's been done. In fact, one of those individuals actually works with us. So, I um I noticed the past three years is when the numbers of students really jumped up regard you
know with that data that you were just looking at the number of students taking AP exams and does that correlate with the VHS programs >> that definitely I I don't know if that ran for two years or what you know might have but it was definitely it helped you
know we had the biggest number of particip I think it has run look at that 259 you 60 you know it just really boomed and I think that was a contributing factor um the opportunities online we expanded with VHS and it's
just this increased appetite among students and their parents as well they get a fair amount of pressure from parents to take you know multiple APs um >> well I'm glad the guidance department is on top of this because that's my concern that >> um you know we want to challenge our
students certainly but >> to Um, we also want them to have a positive high school experience. >> Yeah. To point earlier about stress and they can be mindful of that, >> right? >> Yeah. >> And, you know, look back on their high school, >> very watchful,
>> not just AP tests that >> academics. Well, that's why I asked what the success rate was outside of the courses they're taking. Is it actually proving success? If it weakens overall, you spread yourself too thin and not getting not able to achieve the high
performance on you know being >> curating a little bit more more selective let's say I'm going to focus on these two APs junior year two more APs senior year that seems like a reasonable load >> that we have kids you know that will load up on their own
>> and it isn't just um little bit is it isn't just from us but I know some of the the stress of and the focus on why to take AP comes for parents schools and they get that. But
>> do we have any messaging around the fact that taking a calculus AP class then allows a student to go into college calculus better prepared because of as we all know the more you take that
material >> Yeah. >> the better. So, like >> I appreciate you saying one of the best >> pieces of feedback we get each share is when our alumni come back and they visit teachers and we thank them and they and I always ask them, you know, I want our students to be as prepared or better
prepared than the the students they're sitting in a college classroom with that they could hold their own and and I can say that >> we haven't surveyed this but you know probably would be a good survey but we have anecdotally over many years collected information the councils have
done this And the kids felt really well prepared, you know, in selective schools too for with challenging curriculum. >> Yeah. I just I don't we do that K through 12 really, you know, like you you have material and you teach it in second grade and then you teach it again
in third grade a little bit more and fourth grade. You know, we we build that. I mean, this is just a continuation of that. And I the messaging around it is so like a a means to an end. You know, you take the AP class to get a three. And it's like but
but you shouldn't, you know, like we it you should take the AP class because >> it's going to give you that material in a certain way and then you're going to hear you're going to go into a class with that material and you're going to be able to do more with that material. >> Oh yeah. You had an internship. So if
you had a college level course in high school when you step into that room, even if you don't get the exemption like they used to give you for three, >> right? >> Yeah, for sure. >> Do better. And then I I would love more of that messaging and less of the save money and get get a three and save
money. You know, >> one little, you know, and thing to note that I've noticed the last two years and we haven't collected data with school choice. We we've always had um students, families interested in Little 10 special education services,
you know, they just had they didn't experience their own town and they changed social life. Some kids, they just need a change because things are not working out well in another school district. We have had students uh and I it would be interesting to start to
collect the numbers who are choosing to come to Lson High School because of the AP program. They've said that that the challenging curriculum, this the reputation of the school and the community. Um, but in particular, I've heard I had one kid say in this past
year, school choice, and it was related to being able to take the AP courses here that we offer. We don't we have a captive >> because he wanted to be challenged. >> So, we'll see how he ends up. >> It's pretty uh Thank you for sharing. I'll I'll uh nice presentation seen it
before. The numbers continue to be strong. Uh, I had the same question as Dino. So, tease that information out. I'd be curious because what's what's great about our district is we're we're small. We can only do so much ourselves,
right? But we have the ability to to really connect with that student on an individual basis for what whatever they want to challenge themselves and provide a resource for them to um to seek that opportunity even if we can't provide it in house. And we want to do so with
guidance. We don't just want to say, "Oh, you want to do this? Go right ahead, you know, and set them up for disaster." >> Oh, yeah. >> Um, >> but I I recognize that we're a small district and we're able to take, you know, individual uh ownership and and help students explore areas that are of interest to them. And we can only do so
much. And Kelly, I don't know if there's any place for school committee involvement in strengthening that partnership with Middle Sex Community College, but I that's of interest to me. So, if you um I mean I work in well I don't have any ties to Middle Sex Community College, but I bet you I bet
you I can help somehow. >> I'd love to have that conversation. >> So, sure. Thank you. >> Excellent. Thanks. We'll give you a round of applause. >> All right. Moving right along. Uh we're now going to hear uh from Beth
Steel again. Welcome back. um sort of messing with me. >> Yeah. >> My water this time, >> right? Uh so this is the >> 2025 2026 curriculum review. You'll walk us through
calendar and >> enlighten us upon the process. >> Absolutely. So our curriculum review cycles are fairly um extensive and complex um with regard to all the steps that go into them. And so before I share
with you what the plans are for this year, just want to give you a very very brief overview of our curriculum review process and the cycle that it entails. So you see here on the um side uh a sheet it has on the left side um the
stages of our process and the right side kind of those action steps that happen within that stage. And so we revamped this process um a handful of years ago and we continue to refine it because every time we do it we realize oh we should have done that first we should have done this after. We should have
started a little bit earlier and so it is not set is not a process that is set in stone. It changes and adapts as we continue to improve upon it. Um, and there's also like sometimes a slight different lens depending on what content area um, we're working with with regards
to the curriculum review. And so, as I mentioned, the four stages are on the left side. So, we have our learn and prepare and then we go into our investigate and select. Third stage is our launch and then the fourth is the implement and monitor. That fourth stage is the one that actually lasts for
several years. Um, the launch we typically is that first year of implementation. So last year for example was when we launched Wit and Wisdom. Um and then we try to do stages one and two within one academic year. And so we're
really kind of building up looking at analyzing doing a needs assessment of the content, the curriculum and the area that we're looking at. Looking at what the curricular landscape is, what's out there? What are options? What is there anything better than what we're doing right now? making decision and then
trying to start PD if we can on the earlier side. So that's really big picture of the curriculum review cycle and it is continuously ongoing right so we start and then it maintains for several years because as we know implementation of any curricular changes
takes several years. So on the next slide we see our elementary and I apologize it's small but I want to screenshot our so that way you could see kind of previous years um where we started a handful of years ago and where we're headed and so you can see the
actual process on the left side and then you're able to see each year which content area is in which um stage of the process. And so if we look at um last year for example 2425
that was our implementation again this is elementary just elementary we do have it separated out we looked at or excuse me we implemented wit and wisdom so it was year one we were launching wit and wisdom the previous school year to that 23 24 is when we had a curriculum
council of about 27 or so teachers coming together and doing stages one and two together. It was a huge lift. The curriculum council was an immense help in making sure that we analyzed the program that we were using, looking at what it was not having, what it was
lacking, what we needed, and really considering and understanding the science of reading and making sure that we looked at what that means and what we were missing and what components we needed to add into our ELA block and our literacy practices. And so that was all one academic year. Last year we launched
Twit and Wisdom and so you'll see at the elementary level this year we are you could say oh we're not doing a curriculum review but in true curriculum review cycle there's always work happening right and so you can see that
we're in our fourth year of into math and so we are continuing to keep an eye on that making sure that conversations around math are still happening making sure we're still providing support where and when needed we have made a major shift to focusing on ELA to focusing on
Whiten Wisdom. And so this year we are continuing with providing professional development really supported professional development for K to5 educators for Whitten Wisdom to ensure that now we're a year into using the program. So we have a better understanding of the program itself, but
now it's time for us to really kind of hone in and align the program with our standards and with really good teaching and learning practices of literacy in the elementary level. And so we uh were very very aware to build in this year of
2526 to not have any curriculum council needing to be formed or put together because we really wanted to make sure that we gave time and focus to the implementation of literacy and continuing on with the math um because it has been very heavy lifts over the
past couple of years and so we are ensuring that proper PD is provided. We're continuing to refine and improve our instruction. Um, and we'll be able to this year because we have this focus on that to really build out and update
our our ELA um, program itself and the curriculum maps. And so that is our plan this year with regards to our review cycle for the elementary. The next slide has our secondary plan. and our secondary plan.
Um I will say take note that unified arts within our school system is a K to2 department and so that's why you see unified arts on the secondary chart. Um as well as health and wellness that's a K to5 department and so that department is also listed here um and considered
within the secondary renew cycle. Again same process on the left all four stages and the action steps that we go through. We started um really revamping and reviewing our secondary curriculum councils a couple of years ago in 2223
with our science and unified arts. We're in a space where they are continuing to implement using their new resources, really starting to get a little bit more comfortable and making adjustments for the students that are in front of them. Since then, we have also been able to review our world language and our history curricular materials.
Last year, we were able to go through our health, wellness, and math curriculum. And so this year our 6 to 12 math classes are implementing brand new curricular choices and um our health and wellness really provided a lot of um
updated resources um because they have transitioned to a bit more skills based and so for those those classes it was more providing the the hands-on materials that they needed to really make sure that the students were able to to do what they wanted to do. So this
year 2526 for our 6 to2 we are focusing in on ELA that has started um it starts with meeting with our curriculum coordinator and so I met last week with Dave Pascuchi to be able to say kind of here's the process here's we have a a
slew of other documents to share um between for him and his department to really kind of guide the process and a task list and timeline for the whole year to try and prevent um any confusion or any kind of blockage that we might have throughout the year. And so it is
it is a heavy lift. It is a lot of time for the department to really be able to sit down, examine their current practices, examine their current materials and their the books that they're using and see what else is out there. So what are other districts using? And sometimes it involves going and doing school visits, seeing what
other what other schools are using and how they're using it in their classrooms. And so that's a really nice part of our curriculum view cycle too, being able to go outside of Littleton to see what's happening elsewhere and what materials people are choosing to use and in what ways. And so this year we are
focused on the ELA. Like I said, Dave and I have met to start that process. Um, and all of our other departments at this point are in that fourth stage. And so they are currently implementing their new newish materials and making sure that they align with the standards
because as we know nothing is ne necessarily perfect and so there's a lot of kind of standards alignment work that has to happen. Um and ensuring that in using these new resources and materials they're also able to use the UDL guidelines to really ensure that the
students are able to access and use the materials in an appropriate way. That was the really brief quick update on our titles. >> I'm going to take a real I really appreciate this. I I had asked for this presentation because I knew you
had this very rigorous process and I wanted you to be able to show off to everybody the the hard work you do because it's um this is, you know, this is what Desessie wants every district to do, but I don't know any other district that actually does it. And it's it's so
um planful is not a word, but >> intentional. It's very intentional and it prevents those surprises where, you know, especially at the elementary level where you're not coming in with too many new programs at once and overwhelming
people. Um, and I love the way you involve so many stakeholders in doing the needs assessment, figuring out um, what are we already doing well, what do we need, what's out there. So I guess my only question is um you know when you
get curve balls that come into your your very thoughtful plan is you know say say for example when the health and wellness framework became available did that kind of insert itself into your plan or like how did you react when there's external
forces like that? Yeah. So we try so I feel like with most things that I do it's it's not necessarily set in stone, right? And so we are able to adapt and be flexible as needed. So we knew um for a little while our world language and I
say a little while a very long time we were waiting for world language framework to update at the state level as well as the health and wellness framework to update at the state level. And so we had kind of been flexible as to what year we were actually going to put those in with regards to our
curriculum review cycle because we were waiting for the new framework to release because we we did not want to do the curriculum review cycle and then a year or two later have new standards because then you have to really reexamine. We
may have made a great choice and that the materials align with the new standards as well, but that's a risk and that's a significant financial risk too that we weren't necessarily willing to make. And so we try to be flexible and we try to plan ahead as much as we can.
It is nice that our standards are at this point updated fairly recently, although some are actually getting close to a decade old um or just over a decade old already. And so just kind of keeping that in mind with um moving forward. I
think that's a piece that being flexible will be important. Whenever I meet with um our at the elementary it's curriculum councils but with the secondaries our curriculum coordinators I do say to them this is this is the opportunity. This is
the one in six years like let's kind of put it all out there see what we got. See where we are and really kind of go big. Um, sometimes I have to talk to Kelly and Steve Mark about that a few times to say how big we want to go. Um, how big we can go. Um, but we've I mean
they've been very gracious. We've been very fortunate to be able to really do an overhaul because it has been a while um a little while since we've been able to do fully revamped curriculum reviews in all of our departments and all of our grade levels. And so it's been um it's a
process and that's why it's constantly kind of refining in order to adapt to those curve balls as as needed. >> Well, it's very impressive. Thank you for all your hard work on this. >> Thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah, I echo u's comments about the
intentionality. My my only question is in the elementary it looks so calm. You know, you refresh a math, you take a B. You refresh in LA, at YA, you take a B. >> Then for a whole year, you take a B. >> And then it's science, social studies,
math back to back. >> Any sort of like concerns, preparation? That's three years of three brand new curriculum for a a group of educators that teach at all. Yes. >> Right. Yes. >> Certainly concerned. However, what I
will say, and that's where we're flexible, right? We didn't have this 256 26 kind of built-in buffer year until I think officially it was last year or maybe the year before that I was like we're we're building this buffer in and we need it there and we're going to deal with the implications of what that means
as it approaches us, right? Um, I think the other kind of implication that we do have to consider is that when we do these curriculum reviews, we typically try to in order to kind of get the best deal, we do long-term multi-year purchase um, with regards to contracts
or anything of that sort. And so we are typically trying to get a longer contract that will get us through to the next curriculum review cycle. And so being aware of that and knowing that we're going to be coming up to a curriculum review cycle, I might have to
purchase another year of math in order to get us until we do a review cycle, right? And so I think that's kind of the push and pull of what are we willing to just extend and what are we willing to say no, we're there we can't extend it any longer. We have to make changes. And
so I think moving forward that is something for us to consider and something for us to look look forward to. And I think with regards to because it has been a little while um we've been using the same math curriculum in our elementary schools for a couple 20 years
>> and it was time for us to take a look and to do potentially an overhaul because things change, teaching practices change, examples that are in the book need to be a bit more updated, right? And so we knew that we had to make that change when we come six years down the road to the math curriculum
review again. We might decide that what and that's why it's important to do that needs assessment. >> We might decide that the program that we're using, the curriculum that we have is still sufficient and it's still working. >> And so there may not actually be a huge
overhaul of curriculum at that point in time. And I think that's why it's so important for us to have this calendar together and to have it kind of longterm to see the impact. And so that way teachers know it's very intentional that we are going to revisit this in six years. And if we're ready to take a
different step in a different direction, then we're going to look at that. But also, and I keep telling everyone that it doesn't mean that we have to get a whole new program in six years. I'm not forcing that. it we're we're not going to mess with something if it's working really well for us and we're still
seeing the benefits from it. >> It's just not reflect and maybe validate >> Exactly. Exactly. And so that's where I think as we get closer to that when we start to get a better feel for what's happening, >> we'll be able to kind of determine does it actually make sense to put a buffer
year in or to move something up or something to that. So I think that's where we're we're flexible to a certain extent. We we've really worked hard on changing the mind shift of some of our staff. Uh math curriculum, the LA curriculum 20 years old. We started this
process when Jerry Lent was director of of teaching and curriculum correctly. And I don't I know you know that this is a simple linear process. We are really good about collaborating, having
conversations, and if we need to stop and reflect and do something different, we do. And that makes us really successful what we do. But there's always a I think Beth and I are really good about catching ourselves. But when we look back at the history of this
district and the time it took to get where we are in Ali and Matt now, we still have other subjects we really need to deal with. And it's a matter of trying to balance all that so we're not pushing too fast. And it's um I mean and we're we're not the only district that
was like that. I mean everyday maths and competing with Eureka math was all I mean it was really interesting intriguing to try to tease that out because everyday math in some grades was a better fit than others. And then
we had Eureka GRA Eureka Math pop up and the grades that everyday math wasn't a good fit. They started implementing Eureka math. So we had a terminology difference and on and on and on. So I'm really proud of where we've gone at that time period and and our staff are really good at at letting us know if we're
pushing on too hard and that's okay. It's about collaboration and a balance. Yeah, I think that's an important piece of it is to take the temperature of the staff when they're telling you they're overwhelmed. I I I know obviously that you're listening to that feedback. I didn't
know if you got the information from Desi, you know how Desi has that curate process where teachers review curriculum to see if it using this rubric to see if it meets these standards for high quality instructional materials. It's a very rigorous process, but wooden wisdom was was just rated as high quality
instructional material. So, >> as soon as I saw that, I opened it very quickly. I was like, what? It has it has previously been rated ED reports, which is the national carried as a Massachusetts version, the desi version um of Ed reports, which is the national version. So, it has been rated well on ed reports. And so, it was nice to kind
of have that affirmed and confirmed uh within the state. So, it is it is nice to to know that and to kind of go back to that when we say when it's hard and we say it's hard for a reason, right? Because we know it's high quality and we know it's making sure that our students are really working hard and are thinking
about it. So, yeah. Yeah. Thanks. >> Yeah. Nice. >> Well, thank you for putting this together. >> Yeah, absolutely. >> Um I'll just say thank you for sharing the piece about having those discussions with Steve and Kelly. It's okay to talk about money in school committee meetings
when when you were going through the the schedule, you know, maybe I don't have my educator lens on. I had like dollar signs attached to all these things. >> And um it was great to hear that you felt supported, >> but um and of course, you know, maybe it would be uncomfortable to share that you
if you had the the reverse experience. Um but you could share like national trends like um you know we're noticing that lensure is going up or the cost of materials are going up or the programs are just becoming more expensive because after all like it you know one of our three primary responsibilities is
>> putting the budget together. So I just wanted to put that out there for every like it's it's okay to talk about money at school committee meetings. We don't I'm not encouraging every department to line up and share the request with us but it's nice to hear about it every now and then. So thank you for sharing that.
>> Yeah. No, I appreciate that and I think that is something that I actually talk with our groups about, right? That I don't and we're fortunate that it doesn't have to be make or break necessarily on a financial piece. However, at this point in time, right, maybe in future years where things get tighter and and that's always a conversation that I have and I I tell
people that this is what we're looking at spending. This is this is what this actually cost. This is what the quote came in at. And so, um I think it's it's something that it felt taboo previously and so I'm I'm making sure that we kind of share that information. it's public information, right? The amount of money
that we're spending, we're putting onto these resources, which is also why we want to take the time to really ensure that implementation goes well and that we're providing the ongoing continued support for it. >> Um, Steve said yes, yes, yes to the things that you mentioned, and I will reiterate, yes, yes, yes to the increase
of licenses, the increase of costs. Um, and what's interesting is that a lot of, um, curricular materials are going to have a digital component. they have a digital component as well as a lot of times it's consumable at this point in time and so that's why we try and do
six-year deals so that way we know okay this is we're covered sure >> financially and I know that the consumables are going to show up every year for the next six years um and the digital component is there >> it is it's just it's costly right because there's benefit and there's
different uses to having the digital component versus the a physical textbook component and So it is a costly um endeavor but I appreciate the many conversations that we end up having. Um sometimes you know I started as oh hey
FYI and then I run away and then I come back right like sometimes it's all about the approach. Um there's kind of like the UTL. >> Yeah. There's a a multi-year process into the decision, right? So it's >> you know if there is an increase in
spend it's well supported with the ongoing research that take place and the professional development associated with you need to make a decision >> and also a commitment to maintaining the Chromebooks because they're needed for the digital component of the curriculum.
Yes. Exactly. The hidden costs, right? >> Exactly. Right. But that's what makes these reports so very valuable, right? Is because we constantly see the benefit of the investment we've made. >> Exactly. And that's appreciated. >> Good with that one.
>> Yep. >> All right. Stay warm. >> Thank you. >> Oh, Beth, I'm feeling bad for you tonight. >> No, this is totally my wheelhouse. It's like my jam. >> I keep it. So, we're out of business. Uh, presentation five, plans for UDL targeted walkthroughs. Superintendent
Kelly Clenchy and Miss Elizabeth Seal, director of teaching learning, will provide an update for targeted walkthroughs. >> Go ahead. You're already you're already up there for pitch in. >> All right. So, UDL walkthroughs to
deepen our practices. You can jump right to the next slide, Steve, please. Thank you. So in order to talk about UDL walkthroughs, I just really briefly want to talk about UDL and what UDL is and what it means. And so we all know that
we've been talking about UDL for a while. You've heard about it in various presentations either implicitly or explicitly. It has been in basically every presentation that we have shared um over the past several years. And so
UDL is universal design for learning. And really the whole point of universal design for learning is to support students in their learning and for them to acquire student agency that is purposeful, that's authentic, that's
reflective. So really helping students become learners and have an investment in their learning. And so a lot of times when you hear UDL, you'll hear um the buffet metaphor, right? And so if um for
example, I'm having friends over for dinner and I say to my friends, "Hey, you want to know what? I'm making, you know, family recipe meat lasagna. Come on over. Come hungry." And then a friend texts me and says, "Hey, FYI, I I went vegetarian." I say, "No problem. I will make a mini veggie lasagna for you.
Please still come." Another friend calls the next day and says, "Hey, I just found out I have a gluten allergy. No worries. I will make a gluten friendly pasta for you." Right now, as the host of this dinner, I am becoming a restaurant and preparing several different meals according to the people
that are attending. Right? I've kind of expanded the work that I have to do and ensuring that everyone gets what they need. Um whereas if I were to serve a buffet and just put out a selection of various things, people could then build their own dinner. They could have what
they want without having to ne they know their own what they need and the barriers that they're going to come across and how they can prevent going into those barriers, right? And so relating that buffet example to education, when I'm cooking the the lasagna and the veggie lasagna and the
gluten-free um or gluten-free pasta, right? That's differentiated instruction. So, I'm looking at the my friends and I'm saying, "Okay, I know this person needs this. This person needs this. This person needs this." It's reactive to what people need, right? Whereas the buffet is being very
proactive to be able to say, "Anyone can come to my dinner and anyone is going to be able to eat something. They're not going to leave hungry, right?" So, that's the very proactive approach. And so, the buffet is the UDL approach, right? being able to kind of put options
out there so that the goal is that learners can figure out what their own barriers are to be able to access what they want and need out of the buffet in order to leave um feeling kind of wellfed, right? And so we want our
students to go through our system being able to engage with the teaching and the learning that's happening, picking and selecting and having a say in what's happening so that they're leaving our system as well informed citizens, right?
As well educated students, as mindful learners. It ties directly to our portrait of a learner, right? If we're doing and putting our UDL practices into place, then our students are leaving successfully kind of being able to check off those areas, the competency areas of
our portrait. And so, um, this year, our at our admin retreat, um, each school sat down and did a UDL check-in of just kind of where they're at in different areas, and they were able to kind of point out blows and
grows. um low being something that we're doing well. We're kind of proficient at it. Grow being an area that we could grow in and learn more about. And then at the first date back this year, every single grade level team, every department got together and also did a very very similar UDL check-in. And so
they also were able to kind of sit down and look through the UDL check-in and see where are they glowing and where to to grow. There's two examples on this slide here. The top left, the bottom right, kind of the white background are two of the examples of the pieces of the
check-in that our staff and our admin read through and kind of decided are they emerging in this area? Are they proficient in this area? Are they becoming students in this area? And so they were able to kind of see and and decide self assess themselves where they
are. What was really nice about this is that it really is tied. It provides really direct kind of input as to what UDL can look like in the classroom. I think sometimes when we hear UDL, we just think short and that is a piece of
UDL, but it is not kind of the main component of UDL, right? And so, um, the next couple of slides, if you can go to the next slide, Steve, please, you will see, um, a form. And so a couple of years ago, assistant principal Keith
Kimo and um former assistant principal Matt Levangi and I took a course together and it was an educator evaluation course. And in doing that course, we the three of us had decided we wanted to do a shared goal so that way we could collaborate together and move forward something that our district was really working on and focusing on.
And so we selected u a shared goal of UTL and ensuring kind of what does UTL look like in our classrooms. And so we ended up creating this form during that course and it is um to give credit to Katie Novak, it is adapted from one of
her resources. She's um really a pioneer in UDL and kind of really in UDL, especially within Massachusetts, never mind across um the country and beyond. And so this form really allows us to kind of look
specifically at areas and make them feel very tangible as to what can UDL look like beyond the choice board, right? And so the check-ins that we completed this summer and for staff at the start of the school year reflect the components that
are on this form. And so it's this is this is material that we've seen before. Everyone is aware of kind of these areas, right? Um, and like I said, the areas on this form are very specific and tangible ways to implement UDL. So, it's
kind of taking these, if you look at the guidelines, the considerations, they feel very weighty and lofty and kind of um, conceptual. This makes it very tangible and direct as to what putting UDL into place can look like in
the classroom. And so this slide, the next slide, um, and then the third slide are all all 10 of these areas really break down into the three. You look at the guidelines officially, there's three columns. Um,
there's the multiple means of action, expression, multiple means of representation, multiple means of engagement. And this hits upon all three of those areas. And so it has been interesting to really kind of make this tangible and outline here are a few
examples of how we could see multiple means of action and expression. Are you using any of them? How are you using them? How's it going? What are areas that we can grow in? Um and it's been very informative for us. So, as an admin team, we have been able to pick focus
areas for each school and really be able to go in and use this form to be able to say, "Yes, we're seeing this or no, we're see we're not seeing this, but we're seeing this other piece, right?" So, it kind of allows us to have really focused conversations and some data
collection to back up to be able to have those conversations. And so throughout the this school year, we'll be using this forum to just kind of collect information to have conversations and to really push forward those focus areas that each school has selected. And the
goal is that the focus areas we work on them for a month, month and a half. We become proficient in that area and we focus on a new area. So we're not talking about getting one focus area for the entire year. We're talking about getting some making some significant progress in a handful of focus areas
throughout the entire school year. And so moving forward, we're looking at um Thanks. Uh we're looking at the school-based UDL focus areas. Like I just said, each school has a couple focus areas to really hone in on. and then really having frequent discussions
and sharing UDL grows and grows um in kind of any capacity that we're able to whether that's professional development time, staff-based um PD time, um staff meetings and um team meetings whenever our our staff whenever we're together
being able to share some of those experiences so that we can learn from each other with them. So that is our UDL goals and um focus of how we're focusing in on the UDL practices this year.
>> Excellent. Thank you so much questions. >> Um you want to go first? >> So thank you so much for putting this together. This is exactly what I was hoping to learn about like how the rubber was going to meet the road with
UDL and um so grateful for your expertise having taken that course and develop this plan. This is amazing. Um when you say a each school is going to select a focus area, does that mean um you know one of the three like multiple
means of engagement or representation or action discretion or does that mean one of the subcategories within that >> subcategories within it? And so we have asked everyone to identify >> which of the three kind of is it
engagement, is it representation, is it right? But then we want them to get a little bit um more detailed of what specifically how are you going to show that? And so the focus areas are um very detailed with regards to what we're wanting to see. So that way we can
really work at it, improve it, and then kind of start to build onto it. And so in all reality, we should becoming proficient because it's a really targeted area that we're focusing in on. Yeah. hopefully we're able to kind of improve it and then change our into
something else and build upon without forgetting about that first focus area. So it is it is it does build up. It is a lot. Um and just today I was having a conversation with Prince McDonald at Russell Street and he was saying like it just feels like there's a lot happening but there's connection between
everything that we're doing right and so the connection between UDL and portrait of a learner it's all there. I think at times we have to remind ourselves of those really explicit connections and um and showing and sharing those with students so that they can see it too so
that they understand the goal of what we're doing is not for them to memorize content. It's for them to be able to be critical thinkers and contributors once they read Littleton. >> And this this is great. So the evaluators >> well not this is a this is more like a learning walk rather than so right. So
the so the the administrators doing the learning walks and the teachers are both familiar with this rubric. So teachers know what what the uh administrators are looking for during the learning block. Right. >> So right now the form is at varied
knowledge levels across schools. So for example I will say I know that one school worked on PD and did PD and the form was used and handed out and said oh hey look what you just did is a great example of this on this form. um in others we're it's there just
hasn't been introduced yet and so it is a work in progress people are at varying levels regardless of the knowledge of UDL is there and the knowledge of the focus of UDL is there because we did that work over our our um the first day back.
>> Yeah. Oh, this is >> so we worked with our administrators during the summertime and we we had grandiose ideas and after three hours with them we Beth and I looked at each other and and both realized that
we're losing them. They they were overwhelmed. We had to think on our feet and come back with all right, we want to we want to get the recipe right before we have them work with our staff or stay back. So we massaged it and we came to an agreement. And then after they were
in that frame of mind to go into the the the uh indicators in a little more detail, they were already starting to see connections, but we had lost them because they just were overwhelmed. So, and they identified two focus areas and
then their task was to work with their staff and see what two areas that they identified and come together and decide how are we going to select two goals a month and and develop proficiency. So, it's a I think it's a great model
and and we're going to see continuous improvement throughout the year. >> Is it still two go two goals a month or did you back away from that? Next, >> this time two goals a month. We're we're going to wait. I mean, it's like curriculum implementation. We want to make sure that we're we're moving
forward and not moving backward. It's it's tricky at times, but a lot of this is happening in the classrooms as Beth alluded to. And uh but what this does is it creates a a a common set of indicators that everybody understands.
And I think we weren't ready for that until this year. was it was a lot of conversations looking at what we're doing in their classrooms and we're seeing evidence of it, but then it was time to go to this next level and we're really excited about this. >> Yes.
Are there schools that are further down the road with this that you've visited that you've looked at or have like like it it kind of feels like you're you're you're creating this as you go along and I'm like do you have a
a something you're working towards that you've seen in the classrooms in a school? Well, we've I mean, it's interesting with with the the trainers we've been using. I mean, some of the staff that that were
into UDL years ago work with Gro Dustable School District. They're senior administrators. So, we've we've tapped into those resources and and when they left the district and and went on their own, we they still had ties to administrators
of that district that were still doing this and we've had the good fortune to have them author professional development to us as well. So, they they've been doing it for for three or four more years than we have. But, they come to the table with, you know, this is this is this is what worked well.
These are some of the things that we had to to sit back and think about and how do we how do we get to that next level. So I think one thing we still need to talk about is you know when is that opportunity to to do that again and reset the compass
moving. So, but again, it's all about not expecting too much and not going too fast. >> Balance that we need. I'm trying to understand some of it too because full disclosure my kids went to Parker and when you talk about like the the buffet
I was really we were really lucky but but I feel like I've seen another way of doing this >> you know I the project based work that they do there is every kind of learner is is involved and
um you know, some of the things that that kids are able to to access and and um so this is is a little um abstract for me because because the kind of learner I
am, I get the project idea. So I'm I'm working to understand how this results in a in an environment where all those different kinds of learners are are involved and and and are
you know fulfilled that way. >> Very direct tie to project based learning. >> Yeah, that that's what I was learn looking for in here. I was like that this here I'm almost there. >> Yeah. And I think maybe an example would help. And I I'm I'm going to hesitate on
giving the example because I let me have some conversations and see if you could maybe provide something um a bit more explicit firsthand from someone in the future with regards to a really clear explicit example. >> I don't want to put you on the spot. I just kind understand. >> Yeah. No, that's totally fine. I think um I saw a beautiful example that I
think would really help you kind of solidify and in more concrete your understanding of it um in a seventh grade social studies classroom just this week. So, let me just have some conversations and see um what we can do to maybe solidify providing that example
to you from maybe someone who actually did it. >> Oh, fine. Okay. >> Instead of kind of seeing it >> as a as an outsider. >> Cheers. >> Let me have some conversations on that. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, absolutely. >> One quick question. >> Sure. >> I think it's quick, but if it comes out,
I'll mumble micro bit. I really appreciate the buffet example. we've been hearing about UDL for a couple years. That was very tangible and understandable. And as a vegetarian, I very much appreciate the the need for uh inclusivity and access.
And I guess sort of tied to when we were talking about math and you were talking about sort of the macro and then micro for your treatment. We talked about UDL a lot in the macro and sort of serving all students and having sort of learning be accessible. I wonder if you or what
it looks like when we dig down to the macro in um so let me use the buffet example. If I go to a dinner but I've never actually tried glute, am I aware that I have a sensitivity to gluten? So
are we supporting the learners individually in knowing their own strengths? I always gravitate to this activity because I feel that's how I can access it. Do I as a learner know that or does the educator sort of stay aware of the students? Does that make sense?
>> It makes perfect sense and both would be the answer. Okay. Right. And so being able to provide the um agency and autonomy as a student to be able to say this is this is kind of the direction that I want to go. I want to study this this area,
>> right? but also as the teacher and as you get to know the students better over the year and you start to realize like oh Eno is consistently going for this type of project for this type of learning she's constantly showing me this >> then the teacher is able to kind of
guide and support the student to be able to say hey why don't you challenge yourself in this other way right or I know that you also can do it over here in this way or I want you to explore this other topic or this other area and so it happens both ways because I think sometimes the students are very aware
>> um with regards to making sure that they kind of change things up because they themselves can get bored with doing the same topic or the same way of doing things. >> Yeah. >> But also there's a double-edged sword there, right? Because they can get comfortable. And so I think as the teacher's role is to make sure that they
do kind of venture out of that zone, you know, proximal zone that they're going to be stretched a bit and that's that's teacher's role in this environment to kind of push them into other ways that might challenge them that they're not. And and it because it ties to portrait
of learner and like you know obviously we all we all went to school. I don't remember so much of the content. It's I learned about who I am as a learner. And that's a powerful thing to come out of it too. Even now with adults and and professional learning, the people that
know themselves and their strengths and bring that to it, I think are sort of the most successful. And so it's it's great to hear that that's something that's come up too. I think certainly the diversifying the different types of access and and challenging students, but also if a student has a particular
strength and access in something a certain way, are they aware of that and so that they can know that about >> themselves? Exactly. And I think kind of highlighting that too, right? Because I think building confidence in yourself >> period, right? Just in yourself individually, but then also as a
learner, I think is really important. I think this allows us to do that in a really supportive environment. >> Yeah. Great. And it's a awesome thing when your kid comes home. Mr. So and so said, "I have to do it this way. Even I know you said and then
I tried it and I'm okay with it." Like there's there's moments >> Yeah. >> at home that they do happen at home and you go like >> Yeah. And you don't say, "I told you so," but in your head you might be saying it. >> That sounds great. I am glad you gave
that a shot. >> Yeah. Exactly. Well, and I think that filled in like the metacognition piece too and the reflective piece, right, of how am I learning this? What is my strength as a learner? And I think giving that time and building that time in is as valuable as the actual project
or lesson, right? Like what did I learn from doing this? And how did I interact with others while doing it? How can I improve upon that moving forward? And I think that's a piece that is >> I think for many years was neglected. It was just pushed off to the side. And
now it really I think we h we know the benefits of it and so trying to build that time in is really important and happening more frequently. >> Bill's life on >> Exactly. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> more.
>> Well, no, just to wrap it up to wrap it up. >> Of course. >> I know you always think I'm launching into another. So this is a high priority for the district. So um I think we'd love to hear about it again like sort of midcycle to find out you know what are
the goals that the schools have chosen? How is it going? Um you know what are their action steps for the rest of the year. So I was kind of wondering when in the school year you think you might be
ready with that kind of information. Um I think giving us a couple of months to try and establish that first focus area, set up a second focus area, get going. I think we can also compare it. Um because the longer we wait, the more information we'll have over ideally,
right? Um but I also don't want to wait too long. And so I guess the other thing that's kind of running through the back of my mind, I also don't want to overload an agenda. And so kind of looking at what when it makes sense to come back and provide that information so it can really be thoughtful and maybe your principles can really kind of share the nitty-gritty of what they've done,
the action steps they've taken and what they saw work and what they had to adjust. Um, so I would I would say give us a couple months maybe just after the new year in January. Yeah. We could revive. >> Yeah. Yeah. And obvious Yeah. we would put it into
a an already light schedule so that we're not creating long meetings. But >> um yeah long meetings. >> No, no. So I I think it would be great to revisit it like mid year and then at the end of the year see how the initiative turned out. I I think this is
a fantastic way to take the pulse of how UDL is being implemented in the schools um and uh hear more about it. Excellent presentation. Great dialogue.
Great question. >> Beth is also coaching an undefeated middle school. >> Got a lot on her plate. >> I did say that. I was like, we're undefeated. Beth where she would know for anyone that actually feel is awesome. Go you.
>> It's It's Yeah, totally a highlight. I mean, there's a lot of highlights in my job, but I love really love that part. >> My high school team, the the girls would always challenge the the football team and the football team wouldn't blame him because they get run into the ground. >> Yeah,
it takes a long. >> All right, our last pres. We're all here tonight. The last presentation, which is the financial update. I'm willing to bet this is the only presentation that goes under the allotted time. That's 5 minutes is usually a lot different than 95. >> Oh no.
>> I didn't really stretch it. >> As I have it, we don't budget enough time and we overload our agendas and we are we are thankful that the staff and the administration are willing to put the time in. So, thank you Steve. >> All right. Uh, so the
budget report, the year-to- date budget report is in your packet. Um, I'm glad to answer questions. I would like to take just a minute and put a little bit of context behind some of the numbers that are reported here. Specifically the last column which is a percentage used
uh and just uh by way of explanation um if you look at regular education and special education uh and uh other instruction you notice those are significantly behind some of the other cost centers as far as percentage used.
Um just in the way of context um these three cost centers are really cost centers that have to do with teachers and students once school starts. So uh we don't we don't start incurring those costs and those cost centers uh really until school starts. And so that starts
in September. So, and then the teachers, regular education and special education salaries, if you recall from prior years, um teachers have the option to spread those payments out over 26 payments and not 21. So, those salaries are always less in the reporting because
we we save it and we pay it out as a lump sum in the summer. So, they get summer salaries. So, that put that into a little bit of context why those percentages are um a little bit lower than some of the other uh cost centers. The other cost centers are more year round cost centers. Uh facilities and
maintenance where we work all summer. We have custodians who work all summer. Um school administration is uh uh the principles and their staff and assistant principles, they work all summer. Uh system administration is myself, the superintendent's office, all of our
staff, we work all summer. So those those expenses really started at the beginning of the year, which is July. Um, so I just wanted to explain that just so people looked at the percentages say, "Hey, how come they're so low?" That's why. So, u be glad to answer
questions um and provide additional information if so desired. >> Questions for anybody? >> Clear as always. >> Yeah. Nothing uh did nothing of concern. We we have nothing of concern at this
point in time um projected to to hit the budget this year. So, uh, I think we're going to, again, it's still midepptember. Um, I think barring anything really major happening, I think we'll have another good year financially. >> Always nice to hear. All right. Thank
you very much. All right. Got two articles of old business. Uh, first of which is an update on the school committee mission statement. So last meeting we reviewed uh one version, a second version, then there was a suggested
um edit that came live during the meeting. Um so hopefully everyone had a chance to look this over. Um I'd like to propose that we review the uh draft two with the proposed edit. I'll read it
again um and then offer discussion. So the mission of the Littleton School Committee is to ensure that every student is supported in reaching their highest potential through a commitment to continuous improvement. We achieve this by setting clear policies to provide strong governance and support equitable practices, preparing and
managing a responsible school department budget that aligns resources with student needs and providing thoughtful evaluation guidance to the superintendent. Together with the community, we strive to prepare all students to be critical thinkers who are engaged citizens like Florida.
Having read that, um does the school committee feel that we wish to entertain uh any other version of a mission statement or any other proposed edits? There wasn't a lot of chatter on this over the past couple of weeks. So that's
and that's perfectly okay. It might mean that we settled on this as a group, but we wanted to give everyone a chance to think about it before we adopted it. >> Sounds like we're good or we're tired, but sounds like I we're good. We had two. >> All right. Uh I would like to the motion
that the school committee adopts the mission statement uh as presented. >> Second. >> Motion made. Motion made and seconded. All those in favor indicate by saying I. I. >> I. Great. That's something that came out of our summer workshops. >> Excellent.
>> Yeah. >> We can put that on top of our agendas for now. >> We will. >> Excellent. >> Perfect. And our next uh area of new business which will be constant until uh we get to town meeting is an update on the advocacy for Shaker Lane school
project. Ellie, would you like to Oh, sorry. I'd uh very quickly uh we did meet with the uh Council on Aging a couple of days ago. They've had breakfast. Uh special thanks to Rotary for sponsoring that breakfast and uh had
a great uh opportunity to update not only some of our senior citizens in town, but we opened it up to the community. So, it was wellreceived. Uh Beth and Lynn were with me and Alex and Dorothy and Steve. I really want to give
a shout out to Steve because he's he has spent so much time on this project and every time I I give him a call. Hey, can you come and help me do this presentation? He's always there and and you know he's he's a busy guy and for him to to commit the amount of time he
does to this building project is just really appreciated. Um I did or we did meet with Rotary. Uh Dorothy, Alex and I went to Rotary. I hope they invite me back after I did my presentation. And uh you know it was great to update them as well and uh it
was wellreceived but uh you know we want to when we're going out to to these these different entities you know we want to make sure that we're presenting the information and we respect the decisions that they make but here here are your choices very clearly. you the first choice
building a new school is going to be better on your uh your wallet and if we don't do that and take take a chance it's probably not going to turn out very well a long project it's going to cost significantly more money and it's going to be probably 20 years before you would
see a new school being built school built 59 and we're we would be tacking on it 20 more years is I mean boy that's that's That's really on moral time >> brings new meaning to working on world
time. So things are going well. Uh yes for Littleton is doing a wonderful job. Uh we finally uh were able to work with Dave Carunan put together nine uh separate smaller videos and one larger
video. And we're we were still working some kinks out today but they're already on LCTV. They're going to start uh playing on our school televisions as well. I believe the library is going to install them. Council on Aging
and uh I'm just looking to you as a school committee now in terms of what kind of advocacy can you do? How can I help you? I mean, I can soon as we figure out how to send all those uh pillars to you, I can do that if they're going to be useful to you. But I don't want to send you information that that
isn't going to be useful. So, if you like those nine pillars, do you if you have a group you can send them to or or you're you're on social media, it might be a good good idea to flood the market, but you know, get it out there because they they tell the story. And I think
that's really important at this point in time. What I keep telling people is never assume that they know about this project. That's a huge mistake. You have to go back. you have to start at at feasibility study and and go through to command design and then moving into
design because some so some people and rightly so they they're not with us all the time they don't understand all the things that we've we've done to uh make this project work. Um, again, I'm I'm a firm believer if you're comfortable knocking on doors and talking to them, I sent you that three-page summary of the
costs. Uh, I know um, one of the uh, yes for Littleton is using that. People are using that quite a bit. So, this is this is our last uh, opportunity because October 20 is going to be here before we know it. And, uh, we need to to get that
word out. We're not like unlike any other community. People are busy. Most people both both people are working and um they have children. They're out with with athletics and and other opportunities for their children and it's really really hard to capture that
time with them. But we need to, you know, keep doing what we're doing and and if you're out on a soccer field and you know you feel like you're comfortable doing it, talk to people about the project. the more we can get this word out, the more conversations we can go in and have other people talk
about it, the greater opportunity that we're going to have a knowledgeable community to to be able to make decisions with good good information. That's a little >> the pillars thing. What what a >> there are videos uh on all aspects of of
the building process. So, we have one we we've we've cut them down into about 2-minute segments. >> Okay. >> And our larger video is about 9 minutes. But we're trying to do is inject information within a two-minute period. Capture people amount of time. Why don't
you send them to us? I mean, it doesn't work perfectly. That way, you can view them and >> send us somewhere else. >> And if you want us to start playing them during the school meeting for four minutes or whatever, we can do that as well. I mean, that's up to you. you don't want to.
>> There's one up on school now. >> School for the nine minute videos up on school now, right? >> And Alex and I are going to be loading a couple of videos a week on school now just to make sure we get through the nine
>> before the town. So, we do have um so I'm I'm not going to call it canvasing because people don't like to canvas and they don't like to door knock, but we're working we're starting with a small group of um that of people
interested in going out and sharing information. I'm calling it neighbor to neighbor and I'm working on a neighbor to neighbor campaign. Um I am able to what they call cut turf. Um so I am able to create lists of anyone who's
interested in talking to their neighbors and um Anelise has worked with the um teachers union to create dorm materials that we can hand out when we do that. >> That's awesome.
>> So we have that um actually moving out. I'm going to hold kind of a training on October 2nd and my My first shot is as says Saturday the 4th at Starbucks at 10:30. Anyone who
wants to help out, I I will have lists that of people that they can talk to um some materials that they can use to talk to them. And we're going to focus on people here in town talking to people in their neighborhood.
Just like who on your street is probably has come to um town meeting has come to has voted in a um in a municipal election. Um we can identify them and suggest that you just walk two doors
down and and talk to your neighbor one afternoon and take some material, talk to them. So it's it just canvasing is scary. Uh door knocking is scary. Uh even even phone banking is is has that professionals
town and and this is all about us talking to the people that we know in town and asking them, "Hey, have you heard about Shaker? Do you have any questions about it?" I mean, I got to do that in gardening the other day because my the woman the the my neighbor who
lives behind me always talks to me and she goes, "I don't know about this two and a half override." I said, "Well, it's not a two and a half override, Ann. is actually a dead exclusion. Oh, is it huge conversation? And that was neighbor to neighbor. >> That's great.
>> So, this is, you know, um, you know, the more we can encourage people to do that, just that just that simple. Um, so we're we're on it. >> Thank you. Appreciate that. >> Yeah, >> it's great. >> I'll add I I think there's a lot of good
work um going on. Sean's not here, but he's pretty active in the process. And I, you know, for those that might be listening, I I don't want to say we need your help, but we would gladly accept your help. I think the key here is just a lot of intentional conversations between now and town meeting. Um, it's
not it's not difficult to talk to people that you already know. Stress the importance of participating in town government, right? You should go to town meeting. You should show up to town meeting as an informed voter. And then what I've taken the strategy is just sharing with those folks how I feel about it and seeing if they have any
questions about the project. they're like, "Oh, Justin, you're yes, I'm a yes." Then, then I'll save my breath. But if they have questions like your neighbor did, um, just sharing more details and letting, you know, the the idea there was we just want great participation. We want people to feel
informed and I think the information speaks for itself and we should have a favorable result. >> But it does it is important that we get our extended networks to come to town meeting, right? That's going to be the key to this thing.
>> And there will be child care services provided. >> Fantastic. >> As well. >> Yeah. Do you have details on that yet? >> I'm uh working with uh one of the town employees to work with our national national honor society
advisors. Get that cooking. I have to be a little cautious here because there's going to be some financial exchange. So I have to have to careful with how I how involved I am at this point. >> Do you know if park and rack is going to be involved in that at all by
programing? We have on the line question. >> Sure. >> If you don't mind. >> Yeah. Um why don't I wrap up our conversation on it and then I'll just move to interested citizens and I just >> and I'll take her as an interested citizen
>> since we typically don't have the public participate in our discussions. Um, do we have an Elise? We're going to get to you. Um, anyone else have anything to add on that? If not, that's fine. We'll never end. Okay. So, I'll close close all the
old business and we'll move into our second opportunity for interested citizens. Perhaps we have someone who's interested in speaking. >> Okay. Just name and address for the record. >> Of course. Uh, hello Adelise Taber. Uh
291 Goldmith. Wait a minute. One second. We're just waiting for the volume to be turned up. >> Oh, are we good? >> You're fine. And >> sorry, I jumped the gun. Um Anelise Taber, 291 Goldmith. I am the chair of the Yes for Littleton ballot question
committee, which is in support of a new Shaker Lane School. Um sorry, you know, jumping the gun trying to get into your conversation. I'm just very excited about this project. So, um I thank you again just for your advocacy, for talking about it, for um
your continued work on it because I know this is this whole campaign is not is not easy for any of us. Um so I just I I appreciate just the the continued discussion, you know, um both at at the official meetings and in the community.
Um your voices are stronger than most um especially when it comes to, you know, education. um as the school committee. So um you know I thank you for for the conversations you you've had and that you will continue to have. Um
I wanted to quickly um promote a couple events that we're having. Um so both um my group Yes for Littleton and the um Shaker Lane School Building Committee. So I'm going to list them in order of
date for anybody who's taking notes. Um, so September 29th, which is a Monday, there is a community forum at 6:00 at Shaker Lane School. Um, then the following night, September 30th, which
is a Tuesday, is um a Yes for Littleton community meeting and that is at 700 p.m. in the Murray room downstairs uh at the library. And then the next meeting after that it looks like I'm doing some math here. So
then we will be at October Fest which is October 4th um from 11 to 5 and that's at 36 King. And then after that the next event is October 14th. That is a another Yes for Littleton community meeting. That will
be our last meeting. Um, and so that is October 14th, 7 o'clock Ribbon Library Murray Room. And then the next thing after that is October 18th is another community forum hosted by the Shaker Lane School Building Committee.
And that is a Saturday. Um, and that'll be at 4:00 at the center on Shadic. And then for those who are still paying attention, we there the final event on the calendar is the final tour of Shaker Lane School and info session which is a
week before the vote. It's October 21st. It's at 6:30 and it's at Shaker Lane School. Um and we will also be at trunk or treat. Yes, for Littleton will be at trunk or treat. So we're excited for that. Um and the final final thing I
have is the um so uh piggybacking on what Dr. Clenchie was just saying. So the child care at um at at the town meeting. So part of what we're offering is the um the cafeteria in addition to
the gym. Um so the cafeteria will have another moderator, we'll have clickers for voting, we'll have a mic, we'll have everything that you need. Um, but we're welcoming young families with their children to be, I mean, obviously they could be in either space, but we're sort
of welcoming them to the cafeteria as, you know, a space where your kids could kind of, you know, be a little more relaxed. Um, and we're hoping to maybe set up a few little activities so that, you know, parents can keep an eyeball on their kids, but their kids can get their
wiggles out. So that's um you know for families that are listening that is we have been really working hard on trying to figure out the best way to make this work for families because we need all the votes we can get. So we need you know moms and dads we need everybody. So
um and the shaker lane vote will be article one um which is great. So that'll be first up right after um the consent agenda which usually goes very quickly. Um, so we are hoping to get people out of town meeting, you know, hopefully before 8
o'clock. We are going to do our very best. So, um, just, you know, wanted to reiterate that we are, um, thinking about all the young families and we're thinking about, you know, babies, the elderly people in the community who don't want to be out super late either. So, um, yeah. So, that's that's all I've
got. I just wanted to give a quick update. Um, and uh, we are in the home stretch. So, we're very it's very exciting. >> An Elise, we have one question. You want We have a question for you. Would you >> Okay.
>> Yeah. I was um right before you um called in, we were starting to talk about the advoc advocacy efforts and the canvasing and I know that you've created a lot of assets that uh people can use that are trying to spread the word in
the community. So, could you describe what those are and where people can find them? >> Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. That's a that's a great question. I appreciate you're uh teeing me off there. So, um, everything is available on yesforittleton.org, which is the sort of campaign website.
And I have on the resources page. So, it's yes forittleton.org/resources. I have what's called the Yes kit. And that has videos, flyers, um, it has our endorsements, it has, um, contact info
for, you know, me and the and the group in general. Um, and it's sort of and it's got social media posts. It's got lots of things that you can use to um to advocate um however it is that you want to do so. Um and we are also, you know,
available um you know, reach out via the contact form or however um and you know, we're happy to work with you if you'd like to help us advocate. >> Great. Thanks so much. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Any other interested citizens?
Oh, okay. Um, I'll say that I can make that um mid October Saturday uh public forum. I can't, however, make the Monday one that's coming up. It's this coming Monday. It would be great to have at least a school committee representative
there. So if someone can make it, that would be great. Um >> on the >> the 29th 29th Monday out on >> Okay. Just uh if you can check your
schedule and maybe you can chuck on it if you're not able to make it. Um all right, we'll roll through subcommittee reports rather quickly maybe. First will be uh TMBT Sean Sean John Sean's not here and I
think we've I don't know if you would have anything else to add um off Shaker Lane topic but we'll just wait to hear next meeting about that. Fair enough. Budget subcommittee reports that uh we received uh communication from the town. So hard to believe budget cycle process
is uh is is uh getting ready to be in full swing. We have a budget subcommittee meeting post um not posted scheduled for um Wednesday October 1st at 4 o'clock. >> Thank you. And we will post that because those are posted meetings. So we'll make
sure that that gets out. >> So it'll be our first crack at some capital projects. It's a preliminary budget review information. >> Uh policy subcommittee. >> We met this afternoon to make plan. We have our next three meetings planned.
October, November, and December. Get ready for a lot policies coming your way. >> We have plans for how many to go through with each meeting and >> just get her done. >> Sounds good. Uh listed as a Shaker Lane
building committee update. I think we've probably covered that. Yep, we're good. >> All right. Uh before I ask for a motion to adjurnn, I'll just announce that our next school committee meeting is October 9th, uh 2025, same time, 7 o'clock, same place,
Littleton Police Station community room. Uh and we've covered it, but October 28, this town meeting, followed by the ballot on November 1st. Two-part process. >> And I'd like to thank Dorothy for uh coming out tonight. I I said go home
Dorothy just wanted to be part of the team tonight with more time. So >> um when I walked in today I was kind of surprised to see you here and I was like oh maybe you should just be back next year. Please find something else to do.
Of >> course it's the longest meeting. Um, thank you very much Doris and Alex. We look forward to working with you. I don't want to leave you out. Okay. >> All covered. >> Yeah. Um, if there's no other new business, old business before the school committee, I'll ask for a motion to
adjourn. >> Move that you a second by second by Janine. All those in favor by saying I. >> I. We have a journ.