Good evening. Today is Tuesday, March 24th. We're at the Marbor Public School Committee meeting. The time is 7:31 and call the meeting to order. I'd like to remind everyone that we are being filmed and streamed by WMCTV. If I can have everyone rise for the pledge of allegiance, please.
I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you everyone.
We'll jump right in with the superintendent report. >> Excellent. >> Thank you, uh, Mr. Mayor. Good evening, everyone. Uh, very excited to be here tonight. Um, we have some very uh important items on our agenda and I'm
just going to uh tee up the first one. Just bear with me one moment. Uh, get our slide deck up here. should be. And I
do have some hard copies if uh anyone would prefer. We're getting those fired up. We have some of those. >> Anyone need a hard copy? >> No. >> Um I'll actually take one if you have one.
>> Yeah. No, not at all. >> There it is. >> Take notes. >> No, you want to pass them down. I think some others. Uh, >> sure. Okay. And here we go. Um, so the first item of my report this
evening is to do an overview of our uh new 6 grade 6 through 12 accelerated learning pathway that we are looking to bring forward to Malboro Public Schools for uh the start of next school year. Um, this is something that has been many
months in the making. I know we've sort of done some uh kind of teasers or overviews if you will at school committee meetings. also uh have shared some uh updates with our parents at various PTO meetings um and have talked a little bit about um this opportunity
during our um Super Saturday um episodes. And so tonight we are going to uh get uh real deep in the weeds into what this program is uh how it came about. Uh the goals that we're using to
really kind of frame out the work uh of our new pathway. Um and before we do that, I just want to um I just want to share that this is something that really was communitydriven. Uh we heard a lot
from our students, from our staff, from our families. Um, I specifically heard a lot uh since the start of my time uh in uh Malbor about the need to really take um kind of the challenging rigorous work
we have now across our secondary schools and really amp that up but do it in a way that is very inclusive and uh that uh provides opportunities for all students who want to get into this work to be able to succeed in this work. And so, uh, tonight we're going to talk a
little bit about how we came about, uh, this model. And, um, we have a few of our, uh, team members who are going to walk us through our program. So, Chris, you're up. >> It's green. That means it's on. Good morning, evening everybody. How are you
all today? Um so before we get into specifics um about the accelerated pathway uh we wanted to spend a few moments talking about uh where this work comes from and then to ground this pathway in our broader district focus.
So um the emerging results of our vision of a learner have been awesome. Uh we've had some listening sessions, we've had um teacher input, we've had our faculty input, and we're starting to see some trends in that portrait of a learner. Um
and that is that we want our students to become critical and creative thinkers, connected, collaborative contributors, independent and adaptable learners, and engaged and responsible members of our community. And one of the ways that we are looking to do that is to ensure that
we have learning experiences that are both challenging to our students but also supportive of our students. And so the accelerated learning pathway, it's a direct extension of that commitment that we're creating. So all of those domains um those four domains, the work that
we've been doing as part of our um session are all part of this um and they kind of go into the development. So, our accelerated learning pathway is designed to ensure that students who are ready to take on challenging coursework have the opportunity to do so and have the
opportunity to do so now. They do not have to wait until something comes up in their schedule until next year or um when they're older. If um they want to do it starting in middle school, we have an option for them all the way uh 6
through 12 where students can engage in that kind of work. Um, and it this is not about creating a small cohort of students or a separate experience for like a a really tiny group of kids. This is for developing a practice that we can
have all students move through uh grades 6 through 12. Um, and as you can see the structure of this pathway, it's going to encourage students um to continue the work that they do in middle school all the way up through their time at Malbero High as well. So, this also helps us um
kind of share what we have at our high school with our uh middle school students so that they can be uh successful moving all the way through. All right. So, uh we have uh some goals for this pathway. uh they're they're lofty and they're written a little small
on the slide. So I'll share them with you, but I I'll just say that at its core, the pathway is designed with the idea that students are going to engage in rigorous coursework and also be able to develop as they move
their grades a personalized and more customized high school experience. So um the idea of accelerating the learning early opens up opportunities, choices and um customizations as they get into
grades 11 and 12. So the rough overview of that is that in grade six um we are preparing for acceleration and uh principal house will share with you in a few minutes a little bit more details of how we're going to do that. And then grade seven students are going to have the opportunity to begin the accelerated
coursework in both ELA and math. In grade eight, we're going to be able to transition our grade 8 students to taking high school courses at the high school. And then um grades 9 through 12, the with some of those credits already
completed, their options um open wide up. So this is really the idea that um we want to be intentional with student choice. Uh we're going to build in a system of supports that includes counseling and academic support so that our students when they're choosing to
take some challenge that they'll be able to do that. We're also going to include multiple entry points. So if a student wants to start this in sixth grade, as you'll see the cycle beginning, it works for them. But if they're in ninth grade and they think they missed the boat, that's not true. We have multiple entry
points already identified at every grade to get students to be able to jump into the accelerated learning even sooner. So with that, Principal House will share with you the middle school plan. >> Thank you, Mr. Henry. Um so like Chris
just mentioned um with those goals, thinking about sixth grade as being like that foundational piece for students. Um, uh, I'm hoping to see, you know, 80 to 100 families opt into a pathway when we talk about 360 students entering grade 6 next year. Um, that allows us to
have them cohorted together, um, to receive an experience through their math, ELA, science, and social studies classes that doesn't accelerate through sixth grade curriculum and into seventh grade standards. Um, is still within sixth grade standards, but has opportunities to go deeper into those standards. Project-based learning can be
incorporated. um and really to talk about what skills they need to be successful learners as they go through this trajectory. So, executive functioning, time management, study skills, all of those pieces would be embedded in sixth grade. Um that doesn't
eliminate the options for world language or intervention. So, this like Mr. Henry talked about, this is open to all learners. um whether those learners have, you know, um an IEP and need services during a block in their day or maybe they need ELD instruction, um they're still able to be engaged for the
cohorted classes and then receive that individualized instruction or start a world language path. Um so with the addition of that world language teacher, we're opening up those seats and able to service more students through world language. um they still receive their unified arts whether it's you know digital media,
art, wellness, PE um all of the options there and music is still in their day. Um their UA music classes would be when they're fully with the rest of the sixth grade body for those four core areas. They are much more cohorted um with their group of students who are in this
acceleration academy with them. Um seventh grade is really when the acceleration piece begins. There's two ways to define acceleration, like moving quickly and then like combining to move through at a at a rapid rate. Um, so seventh grade, we're going to start to
begin to see students in ELA and math complete seventh grade ELA and math in one year. So they're combining their instruction from seventh and eighth grade into one year. Right now, math does that. Um, we have an accelerated course. They combined three years of
math into two. So this is a different approach. Um, our curriculum resource through HMH actually has this already built in. Um, it's something many schools do, uh, where they accelerate through seventh and eighth grade math using power standards. So, we'd be looking at adopting that resource into
the building, um, for the students who are in this cohort so that when they are ready and in eighth grade, they're in nth grade classes already. Um, so that is like a unique feature about it. And then in eighth grade, they're in early high school. So, Principal Sarapina and
I have been doing some work to align schedules. Our vision would be that students in the accelerated pathway actually start the day at MHS, receive their math, ELA, and world language course and then come back to Wickham for their remainder of the day. um really unique opportunities there in terms of engagement also with
extracurriculars whether it's marching band or after school clubs like the options really are endless how I want to expand it out but at a minimum they'd be receiving high school credits for those three courses to open up their schedule for 9th grade
any questions on middle school before we jump into high >> figure it's easier to take middle school and then high school or >> yeah I guess my quick question is how do you find these students at the fifth grade level? >> How do we Oh, that's a great question. >> My my question part of our next step.
>> How do you Yeah. How do you find these students like >> So, we're hosting an acceleration night for all families in current grades five through 10 um on April 8th and we are going to be doing a lot of work around recruiting, opting in, and making sure all of our students are aware of the
opportunity and allowing them to do some self- selection as well with family involvement. >> I was going to say, do you I'm assuming that at the fifth grade level, you can identify the students, correct? I would assume. >> So that's that's a great question. In the past we have used scores to identify students. Um the vision here is that it's an opportunity for all.
>> So inviting in as many as we can capture. Um and also then our guidance team is going to be like churning it up and doing individual interviews with all of our students to explain the pathway and gain their interest. >> Right. Okay. Thank you Katherine.
>> Thanks. So a question would be with weaving in music. Will that be something where um performance groups will be able to then function as is separate from general music? And then will that be an opportunity for
some of like the eighth grade students to then be able to be associated with the high school programs for music? So, we talked about marching band as like that entry point for some of our students. It doesn't capture all, but once our schedules align, well, those opportunities are going to continue to
grow. Um because then a student can stay an extra period to engage in whether it's chamber or whatever they're interested in jazz band at the high school level. >> Yeah. And athletic wise, I think we'd have to be cautious, I guess, because of the
waiver rules and things like that on how many years some of those kids can actually participate. So I just say that as caution. Had to sit in too many hearings on that one. >> Right. So yeah, >> Steve can uh principal Sarapina can talk a little more about MHS and how the
alignment will carry through and then we can take all sorts of questions after. >> Can I just clarify? You said um that they'd start at the high school for ELA, math, and world language, >> correct? >> So that would open up French because you don't have French at the middle school. >> Got it. Yeah. So it' be a world language
option for our current >> eighth graders. >> Seventh graders. >> Seventh graders. >> Yeah. So our seventh graders moving into eighth grade with us next year would have this open opportunity. Okay. Yeah. Current current. >> Once they're a freshman, you said they have three classes that are open. >> Yeah. So, they'll
>> Does that mean And yeah, I just want to preface. It's a probably a good lead lead in, but I guess does that mean electives? Like what? >> So, in their senior year and junior year, it could um but it could also mean some AP lit opportunities. Um, you know, AP research, QCC classes
>> at the freshman level. >> So, it would Yeah, because they're world language options. >> Okay. So essentially with with world language, if they came to us in the eighth grade, technically by the end of their
sophomore year, they would have that requirement done and they could opt into other electives, which we'll kind of talk about, >> right, >> a little bit right here. >> Okay. Um, so I think with the accelerator
program, so for us next year with ninth grade and so 9th and 10th grade will be a little bit different, right? So they didn't start in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. Um, so they're kind of starting at a different point. Um, but essentially if you if you look at the the slide, ninth and tth grade, they're
basically a year ahead. So, grade nine, they're taking English 10, ELA 10. We will provide interventions and supports because they haven't they didn't really start at the beginning, right? They're starting kind of a little bit not necessarily in the middle, but kind of
in the middle. That also speaks to the master schedule. So, we're looking at them as a schedule to a to align more with the middle school so we can make a lot of things kind of line up and easier, but we're also looking to build in some intervention and enrichment
blocks for kind of those on and off ramps for students. So, we get a kid who transfers in in the 10th grade and wants to be part of this from another school, we can we can figure that out. That will not be a barrier to students being able to do this. Um, we've made that very
clear. Chris Henry and I have had multiple meetings. We've met with guidance. We've met with other we've met with team leaders to kind of have these conversations. Um, but if you if you notice with 9th and 10th grade, then 11th and 12th, essentially what it does is really open up options for when
they're an upper classman. Excuse me. Um, actually the better slide, thanks to Chris Henry, if you could. So if you notice this slide currently we have our standard path which you see a lot of ore. The
accelerated path is a lot of and so they'll be accelerated to the point where they're going to have way more opportunities to take AP classes elective dual enrollment. We've we're in the conversation with QCC to offer more
courses through QCC which is fantastic. Internships, electives, we have a lot of things going on. And what this accelerated path is really going to do for students is when they're in 11th and 12th grade, it's going to open up their schedules a lot more. Even now with 11th
and 12th grade, they have some choice. They don't have a ton. This is going to give them a lot more choice. Um, our schedule is going to play a role in that and that's something that we've had a lot of conversations with. um internships, if we're if we're looking
at partnerships with ASU Tech, if we're looking at um work study, things like that, um we need to really spend some time on our master schedule. But we think this accelerated program is really going to do a lot for our students in
terms of opening up electives for them when they hit the upper class, when they hit upper classmen. And it doesn't mean that they're all necessarily going to take AP, but QCC is an option. internships. We're building up our AP courses um through the program of studies. We're bringing in an AP
business class. We're looking at um bringing in uh AP research. So, really trying to build that program up too because we've had a lot of conversations here where we really want to give students all of our students the opportunity to take an AP class at some point through their high school career,
which we think is really important. And we think that this pathway coupled with some of the schedule models we're looking at will help do that. >> Okay. >> All right. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I have a question, too.
>> So, >> can I ask before we go too far away? I apologize, but like when we're looking at the um the broadened and personalized advanced learning, the previous one I just want to make sure like I'm not
seeing which doesn't mean it doesn't exist because I know it's in program of studies, but like physics, our robotics conversations, CAD, all of that that's kind of been in place around supporting more like say
engineering as opposed to bio. We're not losing some of >> that's all that's all still there. That's still all still an option. It still will run. >> Okay. Kind of had that feeling but >> 100% >> rather asked that question. And then the other question I had is around um the
business courses where we've really bolstered that area to make sure that we were you know getting the financial literacy making sure we had that the business trajectory really supporting then to have that AP business course.
How's that all fitting in here? I mean, is that where we look at the other slide that Chris had pulled together where it's the the either or or and you know that we're getting some more of those business opportunities at a different
timetable. That's I'm just trying to figure out how that aligns. >> So, we're really we're really trying to not necessarily build it up. We have a lot we have a lot of foundational elements there with the retirement in that department. Um, we're going to look
at the job posting that goes out. Um, in terms of what the job posting is and what we want to offer. Um, for example, there's been a lot of things that have come up >> like the computer science classes that we used to offer that we couldn't fill
this year. Um, so we're going to look at we're going to really look at, I should say, kind of revamping what we want to offer in our business department. um we want financial literacy, uh we have marketing and all that. We want to
really be able to offer those courses for students. They're very very popular courses. Um so we want to make sure that we keep the integrity of that program intact. >> That's I guess the question I have is more around computer science and coding and things like that which are really
popular. >> Yeah, it's huge. um and not necessarily losing that >> um as an option, which again I'm assuming is kind of part of it, just not necessarily represented on here.
>> And I would say that that may be something from a pathway we probably want to consider because there are some of those kids that are going to go in that trajectory. And unfortunately, I think if we don't kind of lay it out for them, sometimes
they go, "Oh, it's not there." They they don't see it quite as easily. Um, so >> can I just add one quick piece? I think exactly to your point, um, what is uh laid out this evening are just the core Yeah. >> academic courses, but it does not encompass all of the different in kind
of enrichment and elective opportunities that we still want our students to pursue in addition to these core courses. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. So those wouldn't go away. >> And I didn't really think that they were as much as I think that we want to make sure where we've talked about our whole
student, you know, the whole child being able to build that out so that we can really show about how we can taper to um those those other areas that we offer so many courses to support. So okay, thank you.
Um, do kids, if they choose this accelerated pathway, that means all of their classes are accelerated. >> Not necessarily. >> Okay. >> So, if if if I want to jump into the accelerated pathway and I'm really an
ELA humanities person, but math isn't necessarily my thing, then I can opt into simply the ELA humanities courses. >> Great. We heard the feedback. >> I was just thinking like my kids and if
you know I could see them having done this but would have floundered if they had to take >> accelerated classes in every subject matter. So glad to hear that. And then just along the lines with um the business stuff I don't know how you two
that we do all we do in that business department with two staff people. It's unbelievable. So I I worry about us needing to add at least another business person if we're going to be expanding business off. >> It it's it's been a big topic of
conversation amongst us >> knowing that it's coming >> next year's budget. >> Okay, >> that that was going to be my broad question. First, I I applaud the ambitiousness and the innovation that this reflects. I think it's a great example of us committing to
every single way a child can succeed in creating those pathways because this is in broad terms a carve out or multiple carveouts for an individual kid's journey from 6 through
12 half of their academic career. What support do you all and this is a broad question to the leadership team >> do you think you need um from us from uh other resources
to ensure that this sustains for multiple years I think for the high school I I I kind of think that's >> it's a big multi-layered question um I think for the high school right now first and foremost we need to come up
with a master schedule that fits everything we're trying to do. Um I I really think that's paramount with all of this. Um because in that master schedule, then we can build in and start looking at those intervention enrichment
blocks that we're going to need. Um, if I'm being honest, moving forward, I think we have a really good handle on what this is going to look like, but I also think we have to go through it a little bit to really find out other things that we're going to need that we
might not be thinking about right now. Yeah, I would think there's aspects of infrastructure scheduling related and then there would be and we talked a little bit about staff needs and resources because when you create tiers of infrastructure, you
may spread your capacity, >> correct >> across places that creates holes. So, >> and even when we talk about on-ramps and off-ramps, I actually think we need to go through it a little bit to kind of iron some things out that we're probably going to have to iron out. Um, but I as
long as we're not as long as kids aren't being disallowed from joining the program because of that, I think I think we need to make sure that we'll figure if they want to be part of this, we're going to figure out how are they going to be part
of this. And I think that's I think that's the big >> Sure. >> I think that's the big piece. >> Yeah. And just to just to build on that, one of the one of the pieces we are having a lot of conversations around is the idea of and I think we've heard it a few times this evening a couple different ways, but this idea of
inclusivity uh into this particular pathway, whether it's one course or multicourses, uh multiple courses. Um, I think to your question, one of the pieces that we're going to have to uh really kind of wrestle with is what does the support mechanism look like for our English
language learners that want to engage in this work or our students of special needs that want to engage in this work or just kids who are transferring in or kids that have been here that just want to try something different and harder and new. So, I think there's going to be a support structure that my sense is is
going to probably change over time once we figure out who needs what what works and what doesn't. >> Sorry. And one other thing, I guess, in looking at this and thinking about um the the computer one-on-one situation
that we've set up, it seems like we're going to need to be much more thoughtful about the impact of utilizing um computers so that we're teaching the responsibility and the understanding of
how powerful the tool is in their hands. Right? So learning how to use Excel, learning how to use like within your science courses, your PowerPoints, things like that that are normal, commonplace
need to then start being involved within other courses, right? So it's all integrated as opposed to necessarily having to take a specific course to learn that. You know, it almost seems like that needs to be an element where it's integrated. Like when we were talking about STEM before and it was no
like steam, you know, get get everything interrelated. It just seems like that's going to have to be much more of a conversation point. >> I don't know. So, >> anything else? Next steps? Oh, sorry. Dan has Dan has one question.
>> I'm getting the sense obviously there's some physical movement of students during this. Have you figured out how you're going to handle that at this point or is that still something that's up in the air? Well, we have buses that go to the high school every morning. So, we've talked about that. And we've also talked about
um the transition between the high school um and the middle school, whether it would be a bus or whether we would have those students walking across the campus. Um one of the things that aligning the master schedule has done is it has allowed principal house and principal Serapena to like give some
flexible time for those students to pass. So whatever that would take, they would be returning back to Wickcom with enough time to join in with their classes and not miss any time because they're potentially walking from the high school to the middle school or fingers crossed taking some other mode
of transportation. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Right. So um our next steps um are certainly um many. This is just a quick snapshot of them. Uh we're working on finalizing our curriculum and identifying uh what we are going to be
doing. As uh mentioned, the middle school will focus primarily on taking a look at its HMH curriculum um and deploying the accelerated seven and eight math examining into reading to making sure that we're using the powered standards
for inter reading and so we can build our accelerated um ELA class um as well as looking at our science courses and our investigating history in the social studies courses to make sure that those are on par with the acceleration piece as well. um at the high school. Uh what
we're looking to do with these accelerated courses um is to designate them with a status of preap, which is a belief and a phil philosophy from the college board. Um that uh is
part and parcel of curricular adjustments, teaching guides, and professional development for all of our teachers who are working within the preap classes. So, historically, um, an honors class or an accelerated class,
uh, would typically mean faster, harder, stricter deadlines, right? That sometimes that's the differentiation, uh, between those two courses. Um, we're we're moving away from that strategy. Um, and so, uh, beginning this summer, we've already started to identify our,
uh, nine and 10, uh, grade courses, which would receive a pre-AP designation. And so when we talk about what is the difference, it is the same core materials with a overlay um with different instructional strategies um
and a shared philosophy across those courses. Um in terms of if a student is doing an activity in their ELA class, they may go down the hall and they may go to their math class, it's also a preap course and they're doing a very similar activity just with a different subject area. So, it's kind of
developing modes of thinking and beginning um the crosscurricular connections that way as well. Um and so we've identified uh some professional development for our staff. So, we're not just leaving them out to dry uh with this, especially at um the high school level when we're going to be
asked asking people to do this. We're hopefully going to be offering some time this summer uh for people to be able to participate in that work. Um, and then we have to continue to build our ecosystem of supports. We've already met uh with our uh department heads of EEL
and special education and figuring out what it is that students need as they have begun to unpack what this program might mean for their students. They're offering us suggestions and we're beginning to identify at each school level the supports that need to take place in order for all students to have
access to these kinds of courses. And then April 8th, there is a parent informational meeting uh about this and then we will continue to work on our schedule and our student onboarding as interest is generated.
>> If I could add one other next step that's not up here. Um uh on I believe it's Friday this week, I meeting with the school committee advisory uh students from the high school. Uh they are very interested in hearing about all Did you know that?
Where have you been? >> Another me too. >> Um they are very interested in hearing more about this particular pathway and some of the other changes and uh I'm super eager to get their feedback. Um we will be able to go through all of this
in a way that like makes sense and answer the questions that are really important to the to our uh to your advisory council. So excited for that meeting. >> Yes. >> Sorry. One more. Um, have staff been
able to say, "Yeah, I'm interested in being a part of this, interested in the PD." So that way they're self-identifying. Or are you all like looking at what your needs are and who you feel might step up or is it a combo
of both? Like just curious. >> So I know at the high school level some of it is going to be dependent upon the schedule. Um but we do have say two ninth grade teams and so we would anticipate that we would have um an accelerated course at least within each
ninth grade team for ELA and then for math which would be algebra 1 but if we have students who are already completed some of their algebra one we also need to identify teachers in geometry. So those six I guess positions, right? Two ninth grade English and four um
mathematics would be our first folks that would be getting this training and then um moving forward we would I bring that to science and world history as well. Um the middle school, >> yeah. So, at the middle school, we're hoping
for um uh every team in sixth grade to have professional development and then also ongoing PLC time to talk about it because all of them will teach one course that's considered accelerated. So, we'd like to see within their five teaching load um one accelerated
pathway course. Um again, hoping 80 to 100 students opt in. If more, then some teachers will have to teach two. Let's keep our fingers crossed for that. And then in seventh and eighth grade, we're really just looking for the seventh eighth grade accelerated math and ELA. Um, and that's through conversations
with the department looking at if we're sending up 40 kids to MHS, that opens up availability in the eighth grade teaching schedule to actually do that work. Um, but I've already had multiple people reach out like excited and eager. Okay. >> Around the work. >> All right. Thank you. >> And you have accelerated math already.
>> We do the three years into two. Yes. So, it's a shift there. >> Shift. >> Yeah. There's already a teacher >> teacher doing it. Yeah. >> Mr. >> Yep. >> What is the feedback with teachers about this program? What are some positive? >> Yeah, I can speak to the middle school. They're really excited about the
opportunity and um have been like fierce advocates of making sure that our students are aware of it and can opt into this and make sure that we can like serve all of our students through the through the pathway. Um and just they're feeling in my opinion very heard and >> sure
>> around this subgroup that of students that we have been talking about but haven't put a plan in place for yet. >> No, it's an exciting >> Yeah. >> endeavor. >> I met with a high school staff yesterday and and Steve can probably speak to this too, but uh it was a small group. There
was about 10 of them. Um and uh one of the takeaways for me and this was something that was actually said. Uh, one of the staff members said, "Don't confuse our questions. We're actually really excited about this. This is something we've wanted to do for a long time. We just want to hear a little bit more and a little bit more about the how." >> So, there seem to be some really good
energy in the room, right? >> Uh, but just um a lot of logistic type questions. Yeah. >> Well, I I think to that point, I think it's been a need for a long time, so it's nice to see. >> So, yeah. >> Yeah. I know the high the high school staff I think once they once they had a
better understanding of course >> of what it was and what it looked like I think now I think they're on board. I think they're excited about it and I think I really think this is going to take off. >> Yeah. Excellent. >> So >> good. Thank you everyone. >> Thank you.
>> Great to move on. >> That's great. >> Uh thanks so much uh to our team for being here tonight uh to share that. Um a quick um update for our community on the Witcom principal search. As you know, at our last meeting, the school committee approved the contract for Mrs.
House uh to move forward into uh the assistant superintendent of teaching learning position. So, we have since been very busy getting organized around finding uh not that there will ever be a replacement, Mrs. House, but finding someone to take the helm um for July 1.
So, we have posted the position that that posting went out on Monday. Uh we're in the process of recruiting members. Uh we'll be sending a message out to our middle school staff looking for a couple of volunteers of uh staff members from Whitcom who would like to join the search committee um and get
that process really rolling. Um we uh will be closing the posting on April 6th. We will be conducting paper screenings, so going through all the resumes on the 7th and 8th of April, and we'll have a first committee meeting on April 9th. We will be looking for a
school committee member. So, if somebody's interested, please do uh let me know. We'll call the candidates on April 10th for our first round of interviews and then conduct interviews on April 14th through the 16th. Um, we'll move forward with some reference
checks sometime the week of the 17th and then we will invite finalists back to visit the middle school for the day on April 23rd and 24th. Um, I will have uh the pleasure of final interviews with the uh candidates on the 27th and 29th
of April and then we will bring um the selected candidates forward once our uh offer is extended and contract is finalized to the school committee on May 12th. So, uh, essentially the bulk of April, you know, there's a weekend there where folks are many folks won't be around,
but, um, we'll be focused on finding our next leader for Whitcom. >> Excellent. Thank you. >> All right. Okay. And again, if you're interested in that, joining that process, don't hesitate to
let me know. Um, so for uh my last item on my report, actually very glad that we have members of our team here tonight. Um, because uh I will be sharing with the committee and
the community a midyear update on my goals. Uh the reason that I'm very pleased that we have members of our leadership team here um is because from my perspective this is not yes this is a
a midyear check-in on my performance. However, uh it is really about the work of our team. And I know I've said to this school committee uh repeatedly uh whether it was one-on-one or in a a group setting like this, uh we have a incredibly strong leadership team and
the work that we're going to see tonight as we're checking in on our goals really does reflect the work of our team. Um the work that is uh going to be shared as evidence and I'll kind of talk through how I set this up in a minute is some of the work is right from them.
It's the work that they're doing in their committees, learning walks, data meetings. Um and what has really been uh powerful for me to see is how this work has started to come together uh and really uh start to kind of fit the
pieces of the puzzle that is shaping the direction in which we're moving. And it that will sound less abstract in a minute when we actually look at the pieces of evidence. Um and so before we do that, just to reanchor the conversation and Chris talked a little bit about this in our last discussion
around the accelerated learning pathway. This is the model that we've been really following this year while we've been developing our new um strategic plan and portrait of a learner which we're going to hear a little bit about uh in a few minutes. But this idea of needing to focus on what we teach, how we teach the
whole child, and then really the adult piece, bringing the adults together around our students with that idea of helping our kids who are entrusted to us each day being the best version of themselves. Uh we'll hear about that in a minute and one situation from Jane when we talk about an amazing
opportunity for one of our high school students. Um and so this shows up in big ways and it shows up in small ways with really important opportunities and experiences that our students get to uh participate in. And so um this has been and will remain the driving force behind
our work. Although uh to Chris's point, we are starting to adapt um that focus around uh what uh we will hear about again in a few minutes around these kind of domains of our portrait of a learner and what we are promising our community
we will do for our students. Uh with that just to kind of reaclimate um the school committee decided to land on a few focus standards. As you know, the evaluation process through the department of education that uh districts have adopted um ours included
u for the superintendent is super cumbersome and there's like 36 elements or something ridiculous like that. So um this school committee uh landed on uh the four standards but specifically within each standard these elements. So you'll notice when we start to walk
through the evidence um that the evidence is tethered to a goal, but it's also listed under uh each piece which focus standards it's connected to so that u you kind of get both bites of the apple there in terms of what the
evidence is used to support. I'm not going to read our goals um to the committee or the community. Uh but the short version around our student learning goal is to help our students make progress in their growth uh as it relates to our NWA which will then we
hope carry over to uh our outcomes on our um MCCAST assessment. We've broken that down into two specific buckets. One curriculum instruction, right? So again, we think about that kind of circle from the beginning which is like you know the what and the how. So, kind of what we're teaching and how we're teaching. Um, we
have a focus on the implementation of our new math program. Uh, an additional focus on really working with our English language learners and creating more authentic learning experiences for them in the classroom and not just pulled out, we hear that term ELD, that English
learner development, thank you, uh, program, which is more of like kind of a pull out where they're not involved in the actual day-to-day instruction. Uh and so we've taken a shift in our approach this year uh particularly at the middle school to create uh more inclusive opportunities for our level
one and level two English language learners. So those are the beginners. Um the third area is really kind of in a nutshell is this idea of really getting organized around the curriculum, getting organized around our uh instructional practices, trying to
tease out what of the curriculum um curricula programs we have are working, which ones are not, trying to get a cohesive aligned review and renewal cycle in place. Um and so while we could focus on many things within our curriculum work, those were kind of the
three big buckets of work for us this year around instruction. Uh my sense is over the next few years you will you will see a continued focus on strengthening core instruction. I don't know that that's something that is ever going to be perfected. Uh I think that's always a work in progress because our
learners are always changing. Um and so uh it is incumbent upon us to keep up and hopefully ahead frankly of those uh changes. So we have a a deep focus on uh expanding our learning opportunities for students through our instruction. And then uh the last piece is really
just looking at this idea of kind of checking in on how we're doing through the use of data and utilizing our data in a way that's really informing kind of where we're going next. So those are kind of the teaching and learning pieces in a nutshell as it relates to, you know, the what we teach and the how we
teach. So just some concrete pieces of evidence and I'm not going to walk through all of these, but I just want to highlight a few. So this is an interactive uh deck that everybody received on um the school committee received on Friday, but I do have hard copies if anybody wants them. Um,
and so I'm just going to share a couple of quick pieces of evidence to just highlight some of the work that I mentioned on the uh previous slide. And this is why I was saying again, I'm really really glad that members of our team are here. Uh, because this particular piece of work was created with Chris Henry and our middle school
and our EL team. And this is something that was really important to us and I know we talked about with the school committee quite a few times is really bringing our beginning English speakers into that inclusive classroom setting u so that they're being exposed
specifically to our ELA um our ELA work standards expectations literature uh all the different components that go along with that. Um, and I'm not going to walk through every piece that's on the slide deck here, but what is here is essentially an overview of what that
co-eing model looks like that we brought forward to the middle school as we shifted our expectations of what we think our level ones and two English learners are capable of and the level of work we want to expose them to. Um, so
there is a great overview here for those uh who want to uh dive deeper into that. Um, another piece of evidence that I just want to highlight for the committee this evening is um, a uh, student teacher data protocol. Um, now I want to
be clear, this exact protocol is not being used in all of our classrooms. So you could talk to, you know, multiple teachers and you may hear about multiple strategies they're using or templates or structures they're using to have these data conversations with their students.
But the idea here was to create an opportunity, a very structured opportunity for teachers to meet with kids about their progress, particularly as it relates to our NWA data. That's an important piece because that assessment we know gives us a ton of information about how the students are progressing
both with their achievement, so how they're mastering standards or working toward that mastery and in their growth. So how they did from their last test to their current test. Um, kids want to know how they do and so we want to make sure that we're creating the space and opportunity for teachers to talk to our
students about that. Um, kids do better when they're plugged into the work. Uh, there's more buy in. They understand it better. And it's important for them to know where their strengths are and where their opportunities lie. Um, sometimes we forget, you know, what it means to be
10 and to be in fifth grade. And I can tell you I certainly wasn't thinking about adding fractions with different denominators, but it was something that we needed to do and the kids needed to learn, right? So the importance of sitting down and having these conversations with our students is is
critically important. Um and then um lastly uh just wanted to share a highlight of something that I'm very proud of. Um and I know that uh Dr. Scaza went over our middle of year data already. So I'm certainly not going to
walk through this. We just um had this conversation at the end of February and again that was intentional to kind of tee up for this discussion. So we weren't kind of integrating all that into one uh meeting. It's a lot of information and a lot of time. Um but
this work was really processed at what we now have uh at the district level as a district instructional leadership team. So that is actually different. Um you hear uh us often refer to our leadership team which we have members of here this evening but we also have a
district instructional leadership team that now meets uh so far we've met twice we'll have three meetings this year but that district ILT includes members of the school-based instructional leadership team that meet to talk about how our kids are doing what's working
and what's next. Um, and so I just wanted to highlight that, uh, because that is a really important piece of the work that I'm really proud of. And, um, it's quite powerful to sit in that room, and I know I've said this before, but with educators from all seven of our buildings in various positions. Some are
interventionists, some are assistant principles, ETL, some are classroom teachers. And just hearing them talk about the work and how hard everybody is trying to kind of push students towards greater levels of achievement and growth is really quite moving.
Um are there any specific questions on the first kind of bucket of evidence? Are we okay to keep going? Okay, perfect. Uh the next goal is around um staff development and support. Um, and again,
not going to uh read the uh the goal, but kind of the headline here is to really get clear about the level of instruction we're expecting in our classrooms and the tools and resources. And again, that idea of kind of aligning the adults around the kids. That's
really where this piece comes into play. There is not an adult in our school system who is not important and who that doesn't you know that does not matter to the growth of our students whether it's academic or it's social emotional behavioral um and so um this goal really
capitalizes on that um there's only a few pieces of evidence here because in our prior slide uh that I was kind of walking through there's some overlap so you're going to see some goals that can kind of fit in a couple of different places um and that's actually good. Uh
that means that the work is not as siloed as sometimes we may present it or think about it. Uh but it actually, you know, uh kind of integrates from one piece uh of our school day to another. So just to highlight a couple of quick pieces here. Um one of the things that
was really important to us um as a leadership team was getting really clear and uh kind of consistent in our practices around delivering feedback. We know that uh visiting classrooms and and sitting down with our educators is one
of the most important things we can do as an administrator uh or as a leader. And so uh we wanted to make sure that we took the time as a leadership team to really sync up on how we're doing that, what those conversations should sound like, and the process in which we use to
kind of navigate that whole observation or learning walk um piece. And so, not only did we train uh as a leadership team on this process, but we also shared this with all of our lead teachers. Um, this was really important uh because one
of the things that we are really striving for in this piece of work is transparency. We want to make sure our teachers, there's no guesswork in it. They know what we're doing before we come in the classroom, when we're in the classroom, and when we leave the classroom. and what does that whole process look like
from from kind of top to bottom uh or side to side, however you want to look at it. And so uh we share this material uh with our teacher leaders and I do believe Dr. Scaza shared it with our new teachers I think at one point uh to make sure that particularly our new staff coming into the district are familiar
with this process to just try to bring that anxiety down um so that they know that when we visit a classroom, we're here to help um and we're here to um you know be part of uh their improvement. Um so um wanted to share just a piece of
evidence uh from that as well. And then the last piece uh from this particular goal um and there are members on this committee who could speak to this work far better than I uh but our work around culturally responsive teaching. I am con
just continuously impressed uh and I'm going to say it and name it. uh many school districts, many organizations have have really moved away from this work in Malboro. We have leaned into it. Uh and that is something I am incredibly proud of as it relates to the work of
our ABAR committee, our antibbias, anti-racist committee this year. Uh there was a lot of work done around instruction. And one of the things that I really appreciate about that is that is the work that we can control. There is so much that happens in our culture
that bleeds into our buildings um that we um you know kind of maneuver work with navigate whatever the term is you want to use uh and that's part of our work but the piece that we really can control is what happens within those four walls of our classrooms and so our
ABAR committee who is comprised of just super talented educators from across our system have just done amazing work on really helping our teachers think about what uh culturally responsive instruction is and how it works and we've really utilized a professional
development time to implement that. So uh big shout out to our team uh who has been leading this work. So I wanted to showcase that as well. Any questions on our
uh staff support goal? So um we can't do anything if we're not safe. I know you have heard me say that repeatedly and I have said to our staff repeatedly that um I know my family expects me to come home at the end of the day. Actually, sometimes I don't. I stay here. Uh but but they expect me to
be safe at the end of the day and so uh so do our um families of our staff and our families of our students, right? Like they want our and expect our students and staff to come home safe every single day. And that is something that is my top priority. It is something
that is more important to me than anything. Uh because if we are not safe, we can't work and we can't learn. And so uh we have moved swiftly over the summer to put uh many different systems in place as it relates to the safety and security work. And just a couple of
things that I want to highlight here. Um, we cannot do the work that we are doing without uh, and I know it's hard to read, but without the members of this team, uh, our safety and security team, and I will read this because I think it's important, is comprised of our
mayor's office, of our, uh, Malboro Police. We have many members of our police department that are active members of this committee, our Malbor uh, fire department, um, department of public works, our commissioner uh, attends almost every meeting. uh members of his team do as well. Our technology
team um also attends our our regular meetings. Um and our public schools team, you would clearly expect uh a a big turnout from this group as well, but uh we have educators, we have classroom teachers from every level. Uh it is
really important that we get their feedback like what does this look like and sound like in the classroom? What are you seeing? What are you hearing? What do you need more of? Less of, what's not clear? Um so we uh they are sitting at the table with all these individuals giving us real-time feedback on our work um which I think is really
important and so um we have a very strong team um that you can see has met multiple times. We meet every month but there are a lot of meetings that happen in between these meetings to make sure that the work continues. uh we won't talk too deeply about that work as the
school committee knows that those are executive session uh topics but um rest assured there's a lot of work happening in this space. I will share um a piece of feedback that I do get often and I think it's important to name it because it's something that I'm working on is
trying to better communicate this work with our teachers. So we have a lot of people involved. We have a lot of systems and structures we're putting in place. The part that um has just been hard is getting in front of our staff on a routine basis to get this information out. Uh we have held I have held some of
my drop in um uh virtual staff meetings with this specific topic and we've had some people turn out to hear a little bit more. Um and we have a big uh district-wide Q&A coming up uh on the 31st after school uh that Sergeant Tingloff from the Malbor Police
Department and I will be uh facilitating. but uh really looking to hear directly from our staff around what questions they have. Um and then to our um families tuning in, we will have a family night uh coming up in the spring
uh where we'll do a big uh Q&A with our families and our community members. Maybe you're not maybe your child no longer is in Malbor public schools uh but you live in the neighborhood of one of our schools. We would urge you to come. uh we really really want our safety to be a community effort uh
because that is how we ensure uh as as much as we can everybody's safety. Um so that is a little bit about the work around our safety and security. Um, again, I know our school committee has been very kind of wellversed in the work
that we've been doing in that space, but any specific questions in that area on any of the evidence? Clear? >> Um, our strategic plan. This is sort of a this one's sort of a layup uh because uh I will share uh a little bit um about
uh the work to date and you are going to hear from Carrie PCEL uh who is leading the charge from focus schools uh with her uh colleague Brett and um there have been so many meetings, so many conversations, surveys, a steering
committee. uh we have done a tremendous amount of work to get to the place where Chris sort of uh forecasted earlier in our discussion which is around these domains. Uh and you have to forgive me. I'm not an uh I
don't use Canva often. So I know I probably should but um I just want to see if I can Here we go. This is what look at that. All right. This is what I wanted to show. Um so these are the domains uh where we are like tentatively
landing on as it relates to what will be the main focal points of our work as a district. Uh and again Chris kind of forecasted this this idea of critical and creative thinking uh connected and collaborative uh learners as it relates to our students and to our uh school
community. Uh students who are independent and adaptable and then students who are engaged and responsible. And so, um, this is not fully cooked. It's like, you know, you put the fork in the thing and there's still some dough on it, right? So, like, we're not all the way through there yet.
We've got some work still to do. Um, but we're getting there. Um, on April 14th, Carrie will be here to speak to the school committee. We will have a much firmer um, uh, we'll be in a much firmer place as it relates to where we think we're going to land. This is important
because the portrait of a learner is going to drive our strategic plan. Um and then those that strategic plan will then drive our new school improvement plans. So there is a method to our madness here that's being driven by uh this particular piece of work. So we're very excited about where we are at this
point. And then uh lastly, our final goal uh is around the richer project. And um again u very uh very proud of the work that the school building committee and the working group has done. Uh Lisa Richards
is here tonight. She's probably learned more things about the systems HVAC and operational kind of, you know, um, parameters of the building than ever knew before. I know I certainly have. Um, but just two pieces of evidence to highlight because I think they're important milestones, at least this
first piece. Um, this is a letter from MSBA um, accepting our, um, preferred schematic. Uh, that was a big that was a big deal uh, to get through that piece of the process. And so that was when MSBA did uh vote and officially say yes
uh Malbor you can move forward in the process with a elementary school of 950 students uh with some of the specs that we had laid out. Um and so um that was a that was an exciting uh experience and opportunity and really allowed us to move to the next level which is really
helping the building start to come to life as it relates to the designs themselves which has been very cool to see. um right the kind of progression with that. Um and uh the other piece of evidence just to quickly highlight uh is
a uh recent uh school building committee. Um but I really do appreciate this visual graphic. Again, very difficult to see at home uh I'm sure. Um and I will have this slide deck that I'm using tonight up on our web page for anybody who's interested in seeing it. Um but you can see where we are in the
stages of the work as it relates to the MSBA process. So we are moving right along as um as scheduled which is a herculean effort but one that um is is definitely moving in the right direction. >> Very aggressive schedule.
>> Yes, for sure. Um, so that is an update on um my goals um at kind of the midyear point, which I know we're a little bit past that, but um happy to answer any questions the committee might have.
>> Okay. >> Okay, let's move on. >> Okay. >> Are we sure? >> Yeah. >> Doesn't feel right. >> I know, but it's so clear. No questions. >> Thank you. >> I'm at a loss for words. All right. That concludes my report.
Uh, Mr. Mayor, >> yes. >> I would like to suspend the rules. >> Motion's on the table to suspend the rules to move up the >> item 8B, BPA National Leadership Conference. >> Motions on the table and seconded. Any
questions, comments, and concerns regarding the suspension? Seeing none, all in favor? >> Yes. >> Yes. Yes. >> Okay, we will move it on up. All righty. So now we will have the Business Professionals of America National Leader Conference which is scheduled for May
6th through the 9th. >> Good evening everyone. I'm here with student Joe Sullivan. He placed in the top three in the fundamental accounting and all three of the participants um qualified for nationals. Um the other
two students do not want to um pass up the opportunity to take their AP exams on schedule. So, and as sports conflict, but Joe is willing to come with me to Nashville and we're going to have a good time. Uh, we are leaving May 6th through
the 9th and Joe will be participating in workshops and uh taking that fundamental accounting exam. Um, we'll have other things going on. I have an itinerary that was placed inside that you can look
at. Yep. >> And Joe is wearing his medal. Say hi to everyone, Joe. >> Hi, guys. >> Okay. >> And so I'm here to ask to take Joe to the Nationals in um Nashville,
Tennessee. >> Okay. And I added more specific information um that there will be six male adviserss on the trip from Massachusetts. So if Joe needs any advising or sponsor, he will have ample
people to relate to. He's also staying in a room with um a young man from Asabet. So they are sharing a room. So they're both from Marro. Okay. >> And he is president of the state leadership team. Ryan, he's a good kid.
>> Great. >> Um, I just wanted to say thank you for the additional information. I I appreciate that. >> Um, and I'd like to make a motion to approve and say go Joe. >> Go Joe.
>> Joe, can you just speak a little bit about what you're going to do down there? Like >> Yeah. Well, um, so we leave that Wednesday, I'm pretty sure. Um, we we don't come back until that Saturday. So, when I get there, um I'm probably gonna be taking a lot of open tests. Um and if
you don't aren't aware what that is, it's basically so I'm going there for accounting, but if I really wanted to, I can pursue in marketing or fundamentals of other things um and take those tests. I don't I'm not required to, but I can. So, those that Wednesday and Thursday, I'm probably going to do that a little
bit of that. Um honestly, BPA is a little like it's a lot about social gathering as well and communication skills. So talking to people, having like good connections while I'm there is going to be a big part of it. Uh getting me ready for college next year. And then um that Friday is when I take the tests.
Um I take my FRQ and MRQ test both those days. Um I'm not sure what time yet, but I I take those both those those days. And then that Saturday, I don't know, maybe I'll get like a tan or something. I don't know. But um yeah
uh those are kind of like my plans for my four days there. >> Can you share what you got your medal for? >> Yeah. Um I got fundamental accounting um third place in the state. >> Um so yeah going into the MRQ part. I we
had to take F FRQ which is um the written part of it. We did that in Miss Haley's classroom um I I say like a week before and then going into the um conference. I had to take four tests but but the the one that I qualified in uh
fundamental accounting I took that I think the first day actually and it was around 50 questions but um or I think that's one was like 30 questions actually but yeah so that's the that's what I got the middle for. Oh, cong. I just wanted everyone at home to share
why you received the medal. So, congratulations on that. >> Thank you. And yeah, uh just like the other two students, Kyle and Shayla, um I am missing my AP tests, but um thankfully I've talked to our AP adviser about that and I'm going to be taking them the week prior. So,
>> well, thank you for representing Melber High. >> Thank you so much. Thank you. >> Appreciate it. >> Motion's on the table and seconded. Is there any other further questions for Joe or any more insight on what he's >> There'll be guest speakers and workshops and other things that we'll be doing as well along the way. >> So, not so much tanning. Is that what you That
>> maybe they just pipe it into the tanning booth so you can >> Yeah. Let you have some fun, huh? >> Joe, are you are you planning on studying business in college? >> Yeah, I'm going um >> Yeah, I'm going next year to Bridgewwater State for hospitality management. I'm also um swimming D3
there, but Awesome. Um yeah, I committed there. They gave me around almost 50k actually. Um and on top of the honors program for management program. So I am it's probably like like that's probably why I'm going to go there. But yeah, management for sure.
>> Great. >> Fantastic. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Some motions on the team. One second. All in favor? >> Yes. Motion carries. Congratulations and enjoy. Have >> fun. Best of luck to you. >> Good luck. I want to say thank you and goodbye to
the school committee. It's been a pleasure working with you. A >> yeah, >> a pleasure having you um come so often to give us updates, too. By the way, it's been great. Thank you for your work. >> Okay,
>> enjoy retirement. >> So, we're moving back to the uh order of the agenda. So, item number four, assistance for teaching and learning. Dr. Scott. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor, spring MCCAST testing is here. Our
schools are preparing to administer the MCCAST test in ELA, math, science, and history. Uh Marbor High School held a successful practice test on March 12th. Um and Marbor High School did finish their first session of ELA testing this
morning. Uh Mr. Henry was there supporting the testing, the test administration along with uh Mr. Travers and aside from a few glitches with this system, the testing went successful and we are done with day one. So session two
uh will be tomorrow, March 25th. And then during the upcoming months, the high school will administer the math test on May 19th and 20th and the science test on June 2nd and 3rd. Practice test for Wickcom in the elementary schools, grades 3 through 8, will take place on March 31st. And then
the official MCCAST testing for Wickholm and the elementary schools launches the first session of ELA scheduled for Tuesday, April 7th and session two of ELA on Wednesday, April 8th. The grades 3 through 8 math test will be on Tuesday, May 12th and Wednesday, May 13th. And then the science, technology,
and engineering test for grades three and through 8 will be administered on Monday, Monday, May 18th and Tuesday, May 19th. And then finally, grade 8 civics performance test will be on Wednesday, May 27th. and the end of course exam on Thursday, May 28th.
Again, supported by Chris Henry and Michael Assert, our assistant principles and educational team leaders are doing a great job preparing for the administration of these high stakes assessments. Moving on, we have a grant award um on the horizon. We're actually headed to
Norwood tomorrow to the grant convening. Uh this is for the investigating histories grant. I'm pleased to announce that we have been awarded a grant from the 18 Foundation for our investigating history magnify program. The investigating history curriculum is currently used in our grades 5 through 7
social studies blocks and classrooms. And the grant award offers MPS the ability to introduce the curriculum into our grade three and four classrooms. We are thrilled to have our teachers and students participating in highquality learning through investigating history and are excited about the impact of this
IH curriculum professional development and aligned supports we will have for our students. Special thank you to our elementary principles who have led the charge with the grant applications and requirements. Our current IH teachers in grades 5 through 7 attend their next training are attended today, March 24th.
and the elementary principles and I attend an investigating history leader session tomorrow, March 25th. We're headed to Norwood, Mass. I will continue to inform the school committee on the progress of this largecale curriculum adoption. We have a big night coming up on the
horizon. It's a um two for one event here, the citywide art show and the wellness night. Our annual citywide art show and wellness night is scheduled for Thursday, April 9th. Student artwork, exhibits will open for display. Please enter through the rear entrance by the registration office at 5:30 p.m. for the
art show. And then shortly thereafter at 6:00 p.m. we will begin our wellness night festivities. Please enter through the front door by the main Wickhome office for the wellness night. We are excited to showcase our students creativity and provide our families and caregivers with important information on a number of topics such as healthy
habits, managing social media use, supporting academics at home, and community supports and programs offered in Marro. We hope to see you there. And then finally, we have a great opportunity coming up for our administrative team. The case
conference, otherwise known as compensatory education conference, um is on the horizon and scheduled for April 9th and 10th. The conference is designed to support districts uh with strategic planning around instructional practices
and priorities and principal house and Chris Henry will be leading our team of attending administrators. While there, the goal of this group is to create the next iteration of the district's roadmap for instruction. Information regarding the outcome of this opportunity will be shared with the school committee at a
future meeting. As a reminder, this conference opportunity is funded through our title one grant. And that is all I have for the school committee tonight. Happy to answer any questions related to any of those. >> Um I just really wanted to thank R.J. for some conversation about the
investigating history. Um, we had just had kind of like a a side conversation where I was just interested in how that was going to be piloted and he had let me know that um, Richard and Jarrick had um, have a number of different classes that are kind of moving forward on
piloting that which I think is great so that hopefully they can then help on pushing it out for peer work. But I just it was interesting to just see when you're talking about the curriculum alignment and then getting into cycles about you know people and expectations
about how much you're going to have to learn. It was nice to see how you're trying to fold this in and to work with what's already in place for five to seven as well. So thank you. >> Yeah. Thank you for mentioning that. We're really excited about this curriculum that the teachers who are piloting it or have been teaching it
seem to be very um comfortable with it and finding the benefit especially since we have had uh I'll refer to it as an outdated social studies curriculum at the elementary level for a number of years and the students seem to be responding really well to it too. I've been in a number of classrooms where they've been teaching investigating
history and it's a vibrant uh environment with a lot of active discourse and engagement. So the curriculum itself seems to be um wellreceived. >> Just for clarity, so if I want to go to the art show, but also the wellness, can
I go through the building? >> You can. >> It's just very do I have to leave front door? >> That's what I assume, but I just want to make sure. So if you attend both, you can do that. >> Yeah. If you if you come to the art show first and that's the and you intend to go to both, you can just walk up the
stairs there. I just want to make sure just Okay. Yeah. Thank you. >> Thanks for the clarity. >> Can I just ask how long will the art be up because I unfortunately am going to be out of town that day. >> Let's say do we leave it up for two weeks? Thank you. Two weeks after the night, it will still be on display.
>> Great. Thank you. >> What time does the event end? >> Uh art shows 5:30 to 7:30. The oldest night is 6:00 to 8. >> Okay. Thank you. Anything else? >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Moving on.
uh school business manager, Mr. Muhammad. >> Good evening. >> Good evening. >> Um so the first item I have on uh my list is the uh budget update. You guys now you have the uh final
um updated draft in um the level service FY27 level service budget. And um I wanted to share that we will be holding the public uh hearing on April 14th, school committee meeting and uh followed by the final review and the uh school
committee certification. The second item is uh I have is the transportation related everybody's favorite. Um so I just wanted to provide a brief update on um the our upcoming uh
year planning. Um we are um the district is planning to um restore four buses um increasing the fleet from 25 to 29 and uh expanding the service beginning this fall.
Uh so this will this will allow us um for the reconfiguration of the bus routes to better meet the needs of our students and families. Uh so we are actually uh analyzing and um verifying student addresses, looking at uh
reviewing walking zones and also evaluating um mileage thresholds thresholds um to identify potential groups of walkers and groups of students that um that may become eligible for
transportation in the upcoming school year. So um so these the these proactive approach will ensure that we are um well prepared for our next year transportation needs.
So just want to give you an update and also uh we'll we'll keep you updated as we go through this process. Excellent. Okay. Well, thank you. Any else questions? Okay, let's move on. Acceptance of
minutes of February 24th, 2026 school committee meeting. >> Motion to approve the minutes of February 24th, 2026. >> Motion's on the table and seconded. Questions, comments, concerns regarding February 24th meeting. Seeing none, all in favor? Motion carries. Moving on to
minutes of March 10th, 2026 school committee meeting. >> Motion to approve the minutes of March 10th, 2026. >> Thank you. Motion on table and seconded. Questions, comments, or concerns? Seeing none, all in favor. Thank you. Motion carries. Been approved.
Public comment. Is there any public comment going once? Seeing none, any public comment going twice. Seeing none, public comment. Last and final offer for public comment. Seeing
none, we will close public comment and moving on. Action items and reports. We have a donations for the new scholarship for Carol Driscoll Memorial Scholarship. So generous offer helps support our graduates for $1,500.
>> Um so I'd like to make a motion to approve. Um just asking that we um make sure there's a process discussion with guidance. I've had some conversation with the superintendent just to make sure that this aligns with what we are
doing with other individual um individual scholarships as opposed to a board um scholarship if that makes sense. So >> thank you. >> So there was a motion correct motion was
on the table and second to approve. Questions, comments, concerns? Seeing none in favor of approving the grant? Motion carries. Thank you. We already approved the business professionals of America. So we are
moving down to fiscal year 26 FC 510 optional Gleam 6 through 12th extension grant for supports in improvement to schools multi-tiered system of support of literacy for $31,000. >> Uh motion to approve.
>> Motion to approve is on the table and seconded. Questions, comments, concerns? Seeing none, all in favor grant for 31,000 has been approved. Thank you. And then we need a motion to request to submit fiscal year 26 budget for public
hearing >> that will be set for doc for Muhammad's report April. >> Need a motion to have a public hearing. Move to approve uh AP it's April 14th, right? Correct. >> April 14th for the public hearing on the
FY27 budget. >> Motion's on the table and seconded. Questions, comments, concerns? Seeing none, all in favor having the public hearing. Motion carries. Thank you. Moving on to reports of school committee subcommittee.
Going once. Going twice. None. Okay. Moving on. members forum. >> Mr. Tartul, >> hello. I do have good news today. Uh so this past week, we have been notified by VEX that we did qualify.
>> Yes. >> Really? >> So apparently I think uh we were on the wait list. We signed up for the weight list and because we were one point away and we did win an award um they brought us on. So we got invited to go >> for the second time in Malbor High School history. So that's really cool. And consecutive years. So, we'll be
hopefully going to St. Louis. Um, I'm sure they'll bring up something just like the PPA did, but >> yeah. So, now we're working on our new robot and it's pretty cool. Yeah. >> What are the dates? >> Fantastic. >> It's April break, so it fits perfectly. Um, we won't miss any AP exams this year, so >> that's great. Congratulations.
>> That's awesome. >> Very exciting. >> Anything else? Yeah. >> Um, just I had reviewed the warrant. I had a couple questions which Muhammad was able to answer. Just to make sure that you all are aware, there was a
larger um payment for the TNTP. Um that's anticipated, but I I just so you guys know. Okay. >> Everything's good and I'll sign it. Thank you. >> Anyone else? >> Um I just want to say great job to the
um middle school u production of Newsies was fantastic. It's really great, >> really great show. And also a shout out to this coming weekend. The music department has several Micah um competitions. The concert and coral
festival is this weekend and for wind ensemble and concert band and um lots of other ac capella as well. >> Okay, >> thank you. Y >> I want to echo uh the congratulations to
the middle school and I was really impressed. I mean the talent of the kids >> they were really great >> in middle school was like remarkable but there were a lot of high school students that came down to help the process which I thought was amazing. They were
backstage. They were supporting. They were in the front. They were they really um went down and showed some really great leadership. Yeah. On top of the entire week leading up to >> leading up to it. Yeah. >> So >> felt like a high school production, the
singing, the dancing that like Yeah. It was really great. >> And and I think an alumni came an alumnest of the district came back to help with the lighting >> sound >> or sound. >> Yeah. So um it was really a community effort and the and the staff, you know,
obviously when you're dealing with middle school students, they probably need a little bit more guidance than high school students. So the staff um that are involved really work very hard. >> Yeah. >> Was it was amazing. >> Yes. We'll go right around. >> Yeah.
>> I know we have a saying choose Marorrow. And I think tonight we heard several compelling examples as to why that's the right choice. from the accelerated pathways program to the superintendent's midyear report to the music theater
accolades. Uh and gosh it was Friday last week vice chair Michelle and I had the chance to spend time with candidates for our Acaruno Japan exchange program. Uh that to me is another great opportunity and offering as part of the
Marro school system. So wanted to just formally recognize that in addition to everything else we've heard tonight. Thank you. Mr. Cross, I'm gonna echo also. I am having been charged with putting on a number of shows when I middle school.
I always avoided mattes because in my experience, people who come to matinea are the ones who have already seen the show twice. So if they're jokes, they don't necessarily laugh because I've already heard them and sometimes the cast obviously has something to do. These kids were not. They kept they started with a great momentum. kept it
going and brought the audience right along with them from beginning to end. And from my standpoint, that's an amazing thing to do because I can get them to do it when I taught. >> Excellent. Thank you. >> Yes. >> Um, one other thing, um, a number of us
will be attending Day on the Hill for, um, school committee. So, that's going to be this next Monday. Um, hopefully speaking with some of our legislators to keep them on their toes. How about that? And as well, um, next week on Thursday,
um, MIAA is having their annual meeting. I know that our principal and our athletic director will be there and I'll be there for the the board, but just wanted to make you aware. >> Okay. Thank you. Oh, and I guess I have looking ahead,
our next meeting is the 14th. So, I will be um the week prior um at the NSBA National Conference in San Antonio >> from the 9th to the 13th, but I will be home in time for the meeting. >> Excellent. Mayor, can I just add
something that um a tool conveniently left out, I don't think he wants to brag on himself, but tomorrow is the Worcester County Superintendent Association Scholar uh lunchon. >> We will be recognizing a tool and Shayla Raone um with 75 other scholars uh from
each of our Worcester County uh districts. and um as someone who's on that board and put that event together like crazy proud of our of our two uh honores. So can't wait to celebrate with them tomorrow at Holy Cross. >> A tool. I don't like when you're holding out on user.
>> Sorry, I was going to embarrass you. >> Thank you. >> Congratulations at >> Okay. Anything else? >> You know what I need? >> Move to appro uh ajourn. >> No, the other a word. Ajourn. Motion's
on the table and second to adjurnn. All in favor? We are journed at 858. Thank you everyone.