All right, good evening everyone. We have a full house. I will call the uh October 20th, 2025 meeting of the Plymouth School Committee to order at 7:02 p.m. For everyone, please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> All right. Thank you. Uh Miss Jackson, if you could read our land acknowledgement.
We acknowledge that we are meeting on the unseated ancestral homeland of the indigenous people whose enduring presence we humbly recognize. We honor the Wampaoag people as the original stewards and the herring pond wa Noag as the surviving tribe indigenous to these
lands. In our commitment to lifelong learning, we acknowledge historical injustices to the native people of this land and vow to educate ourselves, our community, and our students on the first peoples and the hardships they endured. We offer this as a small but essential
step towards building a culture of respect, truth, and accountability. >> Thank you, Miss Jackson. All right. Uh, next up, if there's no objections from the rest of the committee, I would like to move up our uh, student recognition uh, agenda item uh, up next on the
agenda because we have a packed house and I'm sure folks are eager to get their awards and uh, get out of here not through the rest of our uh, boring meeting. So, okay, we will move on to freckle. >> Excellent. >> Good evening everyone. So, in a moment we're going to recognize your your
students. We really appreciate you coming here and and doing um and supporting our school department. So, Dr. Betatineis a few years ago started this tradition of um having our students come uh and celebrate the amazing work that they did over the summer months
regarding uh their their math work through Freckle. So, I'm going to get Dr. Betinas if she's ready. And in a moment, what we'll do is we'll call your students names. We'll come up here. Uh Mr. Pazano and I uh will greet your students. will give an opportunity for them to get on camera as well. Uh we
also have a swag bag for them to go away with. They're getting a certificate in the hallway. Um and their opportunity to be on television is too. And that will be recorded. So if you have people that weren't able to see this or be here tonight, you can always go back and and review that. So again, thank you for your support and supporting your
students um education here in Plymouth. And we hope that it's uh one that you've enjoyed so far. So um let me see if I can find Dr. Patinez. I'm going to move those microphones so they don't trip. >> I'm there with you.
>> The excitement out there. I appreciate everyone being flexible. >> Well, Dr. White, the former, I was high school. Dr. might have had to help me quiet things down. >> Where would you like me to sneak into? >> Yeah, wherever you would like. All
right. Thank you all for coming. Uh we are here today to celebrate our summer freckle. Um I can throw up some lovely statistics for you if Mr. Graia would want to show us that. So we had over 250 students participate in Summer Freckles.
So you can see what you're seeing today is the best of the best. Um, in total, students spent over 17,000 minutes participating in Freckle, which is amazing. And our top winner, who you will meet today, spent over 3,500
minutes participating in Freckle. And, uh, the data is out there that the more minutes we practice, the better our math achievement is. So, you know, I really appreciate you encouraging your students to do this, or maybe they just chose to do it on their own. Even better. Um, but I'm Kelly Batinis. I'm the K12 math
coordinator here and this is one of my favorite favorite things to celebrate. So, thank you for being here. Um, and we couldn't do this without our community partners. So, your students will come in, they will receive a gift bag that has donations from Renaissance, who's the company that creates Freckle, as
well as community partnerships with some gift cards in there. So, please, please, there there is a gift card with money attached to it in the bag. Everyone gets one. Okay. Um, there's some other swag in there, too, but there's money attached. So, we have Sweet Frog, Ryan's Family Amusement, Rose and Vicky's Crumble Cookie, Chick-fil-A, and Seaside
Ice Cream all contributed to gift cards for your kids here today. So, um we couldn't do it without them. So, again, thank you for being here. Um I will announce all students names. We did have some students who were not able to attend today, but I'd like to say everyone's name. Um and then, uh the
students that come in, they will grab a gift bag, greet, and uh and come back to you. And then once we get to the last student, um, you're all welcome to head on out and enjoy your gift cards to an establishment of your choice tonight if you so choose. Okay. >> Yes, please.
>> I'm just paranoid about the kids tripping over this. >> Okay. Where do you want me to go? >> Maybe go over here. I can do that. The microphone. We have no >> no tripping hazards. >> All right. And Dr. White is out there helping to coordinate the line. All right. So again, just so you can expect
when your children will be coming, I'm going alphabetical by school with our two middle schools going last. Okay? And then within that, alpha by name. So first up, I have um from Cold Spring, Michaela Borges. [Applause] Also from Cold Spring, Kiara Nunes, who
I don't know if she is. Uh, now on to Federal Furnace Elementary School. Oh, come on in, Kiara. Is that Kiara? Kiara, right? Yeah. Come on in, honey. From Federal Furnace Elementary, I have
Clark Glasgow. Not to be outdone, I have also from Federal Furnace, Ronan Glasgow. [Applause] From Federal Furnace, I have Finley McKenna.
[Applause] Also from Federal Furnace, Evan Rhodess. And last but not least from Federal Furnace, Tessa Rhodess from Hedge Elementary, I have Riley
Ariel. Also from Hedge, Douglas Armor from Hedge, River Coler. And also from Hedge, Maxwell McCollum. And now we are on to Indian Brook. I have Madison Gagny. Uh, I have my first two students who
were unable to attend, Charlotte Long and Dalia Polls from Indian Brook. And here at Indian Brook, I have Megan Walsh. [Applause] Also from Indian Brook, Lucas Walsh.
And finally from Indian Brook, Miles Winger. And now on to Manmat, I have Madison Ambrose [Music] from Manomet. Olivia L from Manmat. Matthew my
from Manmat. Bailey Mott. And finally from Manomet Leia Nahas. Next up I have Nathaniel Morton. I have Knox French. from Nathaniel Morton. Anam Malik [Applause]
from Nathaniel Morton, Curran Morehead. And finally from Nathaniel Morton, Davi Torizani. from South Elementary School. I have Henry Costa from South Elementary. I have Laya Margarite from South Elementary. I have Dylan
Margarite from South Elementary. I have Xander Shepard. [Applause] And finally from South Elementary, I have William Zapati. The sibling rivalry is real in here. And
we're not done yet. I love it. Um, from West Elementary now, I have Ryan Janulowitz. Also from West Elementary, I have Alexander Lovely. From West Elementary, I have Ellie Mashado.
[Applause] From West Elementary, I have Anna Willis. [Applause] And from West Elementary, I have June Willis. All right, now we are on to the middle
schools. I'll start with PCIS. So, first up we have Finn Paley from Nathaniel Morton. Now, PCIS, I have Payton Graden from PCIS [Applause]
and I have Joseph White from PCIS. And then finally, we are at South Middle School. Thank you for your patience. I have Tyler Gagy from Indianbrook, now PSM. Uh I have Leland Lung from Plymouth South Middle School.
And last but not least, and a con conveniently again, last and my biggest with 3,595 minutes spent on practicing summer math, I have Dolly Reynolds. [Applause] Again, I can't thank you all enough for
attending. Celebrating math is so important. I love that students are doing math. Again, I love the sibling rivalry. I'm seeing some repeat clients, which I love. In math, we will take repeat clients. We will take new timers. We will take anybody. Um, so again, thank you. And, um, you're welcome to
head out. Um, go spend those gift cards. All right. Thank you. [Applause] >> I think the two goes a one. Everyone leaves. Yeah.
>> All right. Thank you everyone. That's always a fun fun night each each year. Definitely some impressive uh work put in over the summer. All right. Uh next up we have uh public uh public public comment. Uh just as a minor public comment is not an opportunity for discussion, debate or dialogue between
individuals and the school committee. It is an individual's opportunity to express an opinion or concern with this uh on issues within the school committee's authority and scope. Uh each speaker is allowed up to three minutes to present their material and must begin their comments by stating their name and address. Um so who do we have up first
tonight? Good evening. My name is Brian Fitzgibbons, 26 Eel River Circle. I have two daughters at PCIS. I'm here this evening to request that this committee and the superintendent postpone the new sexual health curriculum planned to begin this
Thursday for three principal reasons. One, the school department has not met its obligations under Mass General law. Specifically, that to the extent practicable, program instruction material shall be made reasonably accessible to parents and guardians for
inspection and review. The current pro process allows only for parents who are capable of physically reviewing the materials in person in school department offices to access the materials. It is both practical and reasonable that all
these materials be made published digitally for any eth grade parent to review. It wasn't until my name appeared to speak tonight just hours before this meeting that I got access to all the videos. This process lacks transparency, creates barriers, and leaves parents
uninformed about what's being hidden. Two, the school department is not allowed for adequate time for parents to appeal in accordance with your policy. If parents believe they've not receive the adequate access to the materials, this committee's policy lays out a six-week window for parents to make an
appeal to the superintendent, to the committee, and then to the department of ed with the announcement on October 8th and the start date on the 23rd. This process outlined by your policy is impossible to be executed. Three, the
school department has not ensured that the materials are age appropriate and communicate factual information with regards to Massachusetts consent law. The content many of the videos explicitly communicates to the viewers, in this case our 13 and 14year-old
children, that they are able to consent to sexual activity. Mass general law clearly defines that anyone under the age of 16 is not capable of giving consent with no close in age exemptions. Any content that normalizes sexual
activity by our 13 and 14year-old children ought to be removed for these three reasons. This curriculum is not ready to be introduced to our children. The laws of the Commonwealth should not be contradicted in our
classrooms. This committee's policy should be able to be carried out and the content should be age appropriate. And if those reasons weren't enough to convince you to delay this program, let the actions today of the school department make my case for me. Since
our serious concerns became public, four out of the 11 videos that were set to be shown on Thursday have now been removed. Case closed. This this content isn't ready. It needs review. This committee has an obligation to
protect the rights of parents and students. School department officials, you have a duty to be transparent. I ask that you consider my request and postpone this curriculum. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you for your comments.
>> All right, who do we have next? Anyone else, please? I'm Father Joe Rikum, one of the pastors in this community. I've had the great privilege of being priest for 45 years, um, dealing with
this age group all of these years. And I find these children to be beautiful and need to be respected. And many of these children come from families where they don't have a comfortable relationship with their
own parents. And so the authority figures in their lives, the only authority figure that they seemingly might have in their in their lives are their teachers. These children come into classes very
often. They've had an argument with their sibling or their friends or their parents. They're fragile. And I feel like that we need to protect these children.
We cannot be giving them all of this information when they're emotionally, psychologically not ready for it. And if the authority figures in their lives, their teachers are telling them this is
how you do it. This is what you can do, you're implicitly encouraging them to go forward and have sex. And we all know that these children are not going to have a sustained relationship with these people that they
might have sex with. And we don't want these children who are already damaged. They're so addicted to their their phones. We don't want them to be any more damaged or more vulnerable. And I feel that the program that that is being
offered, all of these videos are so dangerous to vulnerable children. In the time that I've been here in Plymouth in seven years, I've also become aware that there are a number of people who have been human traffked
right here in Plymouth. And we work with the police system. We give them bags of love for people who have been human traffked. And most often those people who've been human traffked, they began by looking for attention,
needing someone to tell them they're pretty and then they get abused and then they can't escape it. We do not need more people who are in that vulnerable situation. We need to protect our children. We need to encourage the
children to grow emotionally. We need to help them with their self-esteem, not give them something like this that two weeks after they've had sex with someone, that person is talking about them and they're permanently damaged. We need to
reverence our children. We need to protect them and guide them into this. They're not ready for sexual activity. They're not. And if they enter into sexual activity, are their teachers going to be there
when they come back to school brokenhearted because that person that they gave their body to is now making fun of them or walking and moving weight from them to someone else. Let's think what's best for these
children. Bombarding them with all of this information is too much. They're not ready for it. I ask that you postpone this. All right. Do we have anyone else wishing to speak tonight?
>> Yep. >> One more. >> Yep. Come on up. Got it. Let's go. Thank you. [Applause] [Applause] >> Good evening. Uh Connor Pratt, 25 Dundy
Way, Plymouth. Um so as a lifelong member of Plymouth, Massachusetts, um both my parents grew up here. Uh my mom did 34 years at Federal Furnace. Uh my dad was, uh worked in the worked in the town, uh doing sports. Uh once the
Plymouth North versus Pil South game at Fenway Park was announced and basically approved, um uh growing up in the town and so many people giving back to me, I wanted to do it the other way. So I partnered with Kyle Hayes from G&G
Silkcreen. Um and we created an an apparel store that is on your flyer. Um, all the donations from anything that is bought is going to be going to a holiday fund for um, ARIS students in our town. Um, I have a lot of community
involvement as well. You can see some of uh, some donations and some events that are going to happen and all of that is basically going to go back to the kids. Um, so I'm just here tonight to just give you an update. Um, the store is going to close November 2nd. I'm going to shut off donations December sec uh
November 2nd to give two weeks of shipping and um settling in before the game so everything is sent to families. >> Excellent. Thank you, Mr. Pratt. >> All right. All right. You have anything
else tonight? If not, we'll move on to our student uh high school representatives reports. I think tonight we have Emerson Snee and Charlie Walker. >> Good evening everybody. The Plymouth North Interact Club and the Center for
Active Living are organizing a community fall leaf cleanup event to take place in November. The CAL will provide us with a list of 10 homes of senior citizens who do not have family in the area or cannot afford to hire a company to help them with yard cleanup. We look forward to
seeing the special community volunteer event and we can't wait to witness the connection across different generations within the community. Roughly 183 members of the junior class registered to take the PSATs during the school day
on Tuesday o Thursday sorry October 16th. This is design the design day by the college board for juniors to take the test. These help prepare all of our students for the SATs, but their scores could also qualify them for the National
Merit Scholarship. The guidance office is offering college application help sessions each Tuesday and Thursday after school during the month of October. This is a great opportunity for seniors needing assistance with the process. For up-to-date information to stay
current with the guidance department and what they are offering, please check out our website with all the webinars we are suggesting to parents/ students. Class of 2025 important yearbook news and information. Parents and members of the class of 2025 should visit the Plymouth
North website or view the PNHS daily bulletin located on our school's television daily for important up-to-date yearbook deadlines and information. The information on the PNHS website in the daily bulletin contains important information that will prevent
you from missing any yearbook deadlines. Plymouth North National Honor Society members are continuing with their positive impact on the environment. Members collect recycled paper around PNHS. On September 29th, NHS students
went to Long Nelson in White Horse Beach. They collected bags of trash that they coordinated with the town to be picked up after the cleanup. National Honor Society officers have reached out to organizations that work with the environment and have invited
them to speak at their monthly meeting. In October, the speaker was Miss Jennifer Kelly from the whale and dolphin conver conservation organization. NHS members also continue to support Plymouth Elementary Schools by
volunteering at school functions such as fall celebrations and reading nights. Every Tuesday and Thursday, members go to PCIS to tutor students and help with homework. The Plymouth Marching Band will be performing at the Massachusetts Instrumental and Coral Conductors
Association or MICCA State Marching Band Finals on Sunday, October 26th. The band is performing their 2025 field show, Little Shop of Horrors. Plymouth will be on at 2:45
p.m. The event is at the Veterans Memorial Stadium Stadium in Quincy and is open to the public. Tickets will be on sale at the gate. The Plymouth North Players will be presenting the 25th annual Putnham County Spelling B on
Friday, October 24th and Saturday, October 25th. Shows are at 700 p.m. with a 300 PM mainten on Saturday. Tickets are $10 and are available at Plymouth Northplayers.com. Plymouth North Coral concert is
Thursday, November 20th at 700 p.m. in the Plymouth North Performing Arts Center. This concert is free. Please come hear the North High School Chorus and Choir perform. Um, Plymouth North Class Councils will be hosting a haunted hallway from 5 to 8
on Wednesday, October 29th. Tickets are $5 for adults and $4 per kid. Tickets are available at the door or on Goofan. There will be games, trick-or-treating, and crafts during the familyfriendly portion of the night until 7:00.
>> Thank you, Emerson. >> Thank you. We recently had a fantastic homecoming weekend at Plymouth South High School. It began with the homecoming willing rally. Then on Friday, we had a number of athletic events and it concluded with the dance where we had well over 600
students attending on Saturday night. Last week, we also hosted the district's college fair and had an incredible amount of families from North and South as well as students from other Southshore high schools attend. There was a great showing of colleges and universities in the area.
The PSAT for juniors was also last week at Plymouth South. We had over 150 students elect to participate in the College Board exam. The Plymouth North Plymouth South Unified Basketball Mega Bowl will be held at South on November 5th at 3 p.m.
in the school gymnasium. A special congratulations to Dr. Melon and Mrs. Wolf who were honored to speak at the Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools Conference on Friday, October 10th. Pummisout's application for a national banner school stood out for all
of the unique and caring ways our students have ingrained inclusion into every aspect of our school culture and as a result were featured at the conference. Thank you Lauren and Casey for being such champions of this great program. We will be revealing the national banner at the annual
Thanksgiving pep day pep rally on November 25th at Plymouth South. Thank you to South Volleyball for highlighting the nonprofit Morgan's message at a recent volleyball game. Your efforts to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health are to be commended.
Plymouth South High School MIAA students ambassadors Jordan Elliot, Tim D. Roger, and Reed Morgan recently attended the student leadership summit. Thank you to Ellis Landscaping for donating and planting beautiful mums at the entrances to both Plymouth South
High and Middle School. They look amazing. We celebrated our fall sports captains last week at the annual captain's breakfast at Plymouth North. Thank you to guest speaker and former Plymouth athlete Tim Tom Pinto, sorry, for sharing words of wisdom with the student
athletes. November 7th marks the payment deadline for advanced placement exams. Information was sent home with AP students this the week of September 22nd, including the payment forum and AP inspection inspections, I'm sorry. In
addition, a copy of these materials were emailed to families. The Plymouth South Interact Club hosted a pickle ball tournament yesterday with proceeds being donated to Bes. This foundation, which is based out of Kingston, supports small village communities in Ethiopia. In particular,
it strives to build to build schools and provide uniforms and basic school supplies to local village children. They are looking to add an additional classroom to their school and ensure that tuition is paid for in full for all students. Interact in conjunction with the Village Sports Center in the Pine
Hills decided to host this tournament to paddle for a cause. [Applause] Don't miss the 4th annual Horror Fest on Wednesday, October 29th at 4:30 p.m. at South. Graphic design and visual communication students create short
horror films that are to airing for all at the event. Powderpuff Powderpuff football signups are before school tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. in their respective locations based on their class. And finally, it is hard to believe that this quarter will be ending
next Friday on October 31st. The second quarter begins on November 3rd. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you, Charlie. Good update as always. Do we have any questions for either of our high school reps? >> All right. Thank you both. All right. Uh
next up, I'd like to uh see if we can entertain another um schedule change. I'd like to move up our um policy um discussions section six ahead of our program updates. If there's no objections from the committee or our doctors that would have to wait for some
presentations. So we good. All right. >> All righty. >> All righty. So that >> All right. Perfect. All righty. So that will make make our next item an out of town overnight uh
field trip request. Over that >> just um so I told Mr. cable, he could stay home tonight. Um, this is a request for students to go to Rhode Island to um see the play Wicked at the Providence
Performing Arts Center. >> Pretty straightforward. Do we have any questions on this one? >> All right. If not, I will entertain a motion. >> I move that we approve the out of town field trip to
Province, Rhode Island as presented. >> All right, M. Jackson moves. >> Second, >> Mr. SMG Dallas Seconds. All right. We shall vote. All right. All right. And you wisely saved Mr.
Cable a trip since it's five. >> All right. >> He does. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thanks for that. All right. Uh, next up we have our uh, policy discussions for uh, middle school um, and CCT policies. >> Sure. So, I'm going to invite Principal
Fry and Director Duffy on up. Um, so we spoke about the first half of this policy at the last school committee meeting on October 6th. There's a second half of the policy that has to be voted on tonight. There were also a couple of edits that we made to the initial policy. Um, no content was changed, but
just some clarification. Um so Mark, do you want to talk a little bit about the middle school pathway exploratory program? Sure. >> Or policy, sorry. >> Um so the the um middle school pathway exploration policy is is um something a
little bit different. I don't think it's been done in the past for CCT across the Commonwealth. Um it's basically um a way for for middle schools to um identify um their exploratory programs and how they're teaching career
exploration and providing information uh to the schools that they would be sending their students to for CCT. For us as a comprehensive program, it's it's pretty easy because that's always embedded here in in Plymouth Public Schools. It's really more so for uh the
regional vocational schools where they may have 10 or 12 or 13 communities that are sending sending kids um to one regional vocational school. So we're in my opinion in a wonderful place in Plymouth because we have been doing these things for years way before uh I came into this role. Um so that's kudos
to the people that have been involved with the programming here in Plymouth Public Schools. Uh but this formal policy now um puts it in writing, I suppose. Um, and we can attest that back to the state that we're doing what we're supposed to be doing. But again, I can't stress it enough. Plymouth has been doing this for a really long time, uh,
in terms of their middle school policy. Um, and this just formalizes it. >> Do you have anything? >> No, I just reiterate what Mark said. It has been, we've enhanced it over the years. Um, and it really I think the families in the middle school, a lot of you have had children go through the middle school. It's very alive and well,
the communication. And um we have day programs and years ago we started to invite the seventh graders. We used to just invite the eighth graders but honestly seventh graders when they start to figure it all out to a degree and then 8th grade is really more the final year when they would apply or make those
final choices. Um and also the evening portion we linked with both high schools with our academic night. So we made an intentional decision about seven or eight years ago to have the parent academic orientation the same night as the tech expo night. So that is from 5:00 to 7:00 the tech expo part parents
see what the kids saw during the day and all the upper classmen are there and it's a pretty special night then they can just go into the evening portion as well. So it it flowed well but I as Mark said a lot of other schools are kind of scrambling because they didn't have those pieces. And a really special part that I like is Mark goes over with some
student some seniors and they speak to different parts of the program. They speak to Skills USA and they kind of just expose all the seventh and eighth graders at both middle schools. You hear from the kids which is fantastic. So >> yeah. Yeah. Other than documenting it in policy form, is there anything new? Like when I read through it, I was like,
"Yeah, this is what we do." Like I didn't nothing struck out at me, but you know, I'm not, you know, didn't have it memorized, but it seemed very straightforward. So, but that's what you're doing here. >> It's very straightforward. It's not like um Principal Fry said, it's nothing that we haven't done already, but it just
formalizes it in a policy. I think the only addition would be the date change for an initial electronic communication school >> if that's that's really it. It just it's a little bit earlier there. But the >> process is so
>> um we immerse the kids as Patty and Mark just said in opportunities to not only explore it but to get feedback from students and for families to get feedback from students and and to actually witness it. So, you know, to Mark's earlier comments, we were in a
really good place. This is a lot of work for other communities to try to figure this out, but we've been doing this to your point, Mr. Pisano, for a long time. >> Yeah. Do we have any questions from the committee? >> Yeah, I got a question. >> Yeah, Mark. So, one thing that's I'm
curious about is last year at this time under the uh umbrella of a non-p policy, we took a vote at the last school committee meeting to uh back the policy that Desi put in place. Right. So, at this time last year when we were
holding, you said we've been doing it for a long time, right? We've been holding these informational nights and talking about the program, great things. the parents and kids are under the impression that there was merit to their graves. All right. So,
you know, we got to unwind that thinking because we've just pulled the rug out from Well, we didn't. We were forced to do that. How is that dynamic in play? That's one question. But secondly, at this time last year, would you have recommended a change to the long-standing approach you've been
taking that's been successful? I'll answer the second question first. >> Thank you. >> Because I I'm only bringing this up because Westfield, the school committee voted it down. I was unaware we could do that, right? And I was part of the subcommittee on policy and my understanding was this is a mandate and
you're just, you know, flying into the wind, but Westfield voted it down. I know there's some chapter 74 funding that could come into play, but I typically like to back administration experts, building principles, and across the board, since I left the last meeting, I've been getting consistent
feedback that this change probably wouldn't have been adopted unless it was given to us. So, I just want I mean, you're you're the expert, so I wanted to get your >> You want to go first? >> Sure. I want to go first. >> Yeah.
Um, to answer your question, Paul, I think a year ago, in my honest, I'm pretty honest person. Um, pretty direct to I think it's a a positive and a negative at times. Um, I think that this wouldn't have been a change that I would initiate, frankly. Um, I think it was
the state came forward, the board of education was very clear. There were lots of communications. The Plymouth public schools policy for admission into tech studies, I have looked at, I have studied, I have worked with many, many people over the last 20 years. The trickiest part is our criteria is much
more equitable and fair than some of the vocational schools. So we're a comprehensive high school and so our model in order to be in the vocational program you take the exact same educational pathway. So you take the exact same English, math, social studies, science. 25 years ago at Plymouth South it was they had what was
called a weekabout model. And that was not good for anyone because you had kids who were in the tech program learning math one week and then kids who weren't in the tech program the other week. And that brings down a level of academia for lack of a better word. So the place that we were at last October was outstanding
because there was merit. It was merit-based. Um but the criteria was not very it was not extreme at all. And it's something that what happens is we'd love to take every single student, but we don't have the personnel to teach them English, math, social studies, science. And that's what people forget. They take
the identical course of study. So I think a roundabout way, would it have been my recommendation to bring to the school committee? No, it wouldn't. Is it something the state has come down with, been very clear that it's their policy and usually we work in alignment with them and I understand it. Um, the part that I struggle with personally is that
the eighth exactly what you just said, the current eighth graders were told a very different message when they were seventh graders. And similar if we were to add a high school graduation requirement right now to change, we put in personal finance as a requirement to graduate. I would never put that in to
juniors. we would come to you, get the support of the superintendent and put it in for incoming ninth graders, if that makes sense. >> It Well, it's akin to saying, "Oh, by the way, the MCATs are now gonna count two weeks before, you know, you take the test." Like I I >> And so that's the trick. And so I think like my long-winded version is that, you
know, we're kind of here. We're going to do what's right by kids no matter what. Um, but I think there's a lot of families that have been, you know, working very hard and may get a difficult message in March. And it's going to be difficult because it changed now, not when they went into middle
school, which is where those conversations start through middle school guidance. And that's the kind of complex part that the state has put us in, not anyone in this room or you know, unfortunately. So, >> and Mark, could you expand last meeting I asked about the numbers? So, tell me
where I'm wrong. Roughly say 600 kids are in the eighth grade roughly, right? Um and then about for the past four years about 440 have actually submitted an application, right? And then about 75 of those students roughly do not get
accepted. So under this system, we still haven't solved. Now if all 600 go into the lottery, we're we're going to have a higher percentage of kids because of our capacity that get turned down. there's no mechanism in place to bolster those kids because we're just handing them a
scratch ticket and saying you got one ping pong ball. Um, have we ever tracked for the kids who get turned down? Have we ever looked at, you know, are they getting are they going to get turned down for the same reasons just based upon the percentage of outcomes that we
can have capacity-wise? And then what's our plan? Like I want to reward good behavior, but I also want to care about the kids who can be in that program. like is there any thing we can do? You know, we can't offer more capacity because then we'll be uh qualified
um percentage- wise as a trade school, right? >> It's more the academic base. So, years ago there was a policy that it was a 50% base and the state has not they've gotten away from that piece, but the problem is there's a definite number back to they have to take English, math, social studies, science. So, we don't
have if we took everyone. So, say there were hundred students who didn't get in. If we took those 100 kids, we don't have enough CCTE teachers, we don't have enough content area teachers, we don't have enough fizzed teachers, world lang because they all take world language um we don't have enough special ed
teachers. So because the capacity would go up if that makes sense. So that's the trick why there is a a line drawn in the sand with it there. It is a very fluid document. I want Mark to share. He's the numbers guy. Um, we like when the tech
applications come in in January, any student who didn't get in last year to 9th grade also gets a reapply. Kids move all the time. Kids leave the tech program. Kids go to South who lived in North who vice I'm said it wrong. If they live in North and they're at South and they choose to leave the tech program, they go back to North. It's a
very, very scripted process. Same thing vice versa with both schools. Um, Mr. Parcel and I communicate all the time. We have quarterly timelines. Um, and it people get off the wait list. They openings come up. Certain programs are more popular than others. So there may be openings in such and such program in
a particular year. There's not a lot of kids who want one of them. And we pull in sophomores and juniors to go in. Um the ones that don't have a lot of flexibility are the like electrical is one of the most wanted shops always. We only have two electrical teachers. Um we
have a great facility for it, but it's a captive number of kids. in that program. You can't just add kids into electrical as a senior because of the content base, if that makes sense. So, each one has specific outcomes and and numbers that are associated with it, but it is I I
don't think people realize, not you folks, but how fluid it is and how ever changing it is throughout high school. And we've been able to work with kids who didn't get in the first time, showed an interest, did we have um like at South High, we have academic tech, so we have autoacademic. if they they learn a
little bit there, then they move into it later on in their time if an opening happens and things like that. So, but Mark spends a lot of time on that list. So, >> and I think Paul, you've pointed out our biggest challenges is that we don't have enough seats for the for the demand that we're facing. Um, the state came up with
this as a solution. Um, but it just reallocates seats to who they're going to. It doesn't satisfy the the demand, right? It doesn't meet the demand. Um and that obviously becomes a challenge to to any local um school community because you're talking staffing as Patty said, you have you staffing issues not
only with your CCT programs, but that effect in math, science, English, history, world language, wherever that might be to meet the demands of that increase in terms of of your students. So um you know, we're we're roughly around 70% I'd say 70 75% on that initial grade eight and a grade nine
acceptance. Um that won't change because we haven't added seats. So, even with the new lottery, we'll still be around that for acceptance. Um, those following years, as Patty said, when people reapply, we're probably around, you know, 40 to 50% of of of success rate in
terms of the reapply. But there's a huge variable there. And that depends on the existing families in the program saying I'm no longer interested in CCT, right? I'm going to have to give up my seat because it's not like we've added seats. We haven't, you know, magically been able to add staffing to say, oh, we can increase, you know, our our seats to
meet the demand. And so that's our challenge, you know, and that's what I think every community is facing is as the demand for CCTE continues to increase um is trying to meet that demand. >> The number of um financial incentive grants that have been talked about through CCTE are really about space and
things of that nature, not about personnel. So the the trick is the people to work with the kids. You can't just put all the kids in without the right staffing ratios and things like that. And they also CCT has suggested staffing ratios and and our staff takes we we go above that to be honest in all
our programs. But the P extension of space to you know build a pro add a program is not as easy as it sounds because again they they take that's their their path their pathway but then the core classes the same it's the same graduation requirements for both sets of kids which is great which has risen the
level of our student body and the students in the program. But students who get in, we have a very high special ed population in the tech program. If you look deep into the numbers, um our criteria was the criteria was reduced about four or five years ago and the discipline used to be much more of a
factor. And I thought that was actually a good move. It was a change where it went to really there. It's called 37H and H and a half, which is more of severe discipline, assault on a staff, possession of a weapon. They did that, but now they've taken away the teacher recommendation and the counselor piece.
Those are the biggest shifts. >> I don't want to penalize kids for being in middle school and acting up. We all know, but I'm talking about taking away the incentive of working hard. And career tech administrators, you got a meeting coming up with Thursday. The career tech administrators
are all against this, too. So, it's almost like we're we're in education, but we get educated feedback, but then we go opposite that, and that just doesn't sit well with me. So, I mean, I'm only bringing this up because I I know we took a vote, but, you know,
there are votes to reconsider. Um, you know, there are things we should have our ears open with as it proceeds because, you know, it's it's something that could change. I mean, just because it's there's been unfunded mandates on a federal level, right? And they've done
more harm than good. There's been mandates on a state level that don't know the local communities. So, um I I'm not wasn't putting you on the spot. I just wanted to know a year ago at this time, you wouldn't have came to us and said, "Hey, I got a problem. Change the system."
>> No. And I and I say that as you know, as I started to join the the public meetings that were being held by the board of elementary and secondary ed, right? It wasn't just Essie. was it was the K to6 system and listening to the rationale and and and inquiring and and taking a peek at our historical data um
because one of the one of the one of the themes that they kept coming back to was was to look at your special populations um to see if and if you had disproportionality within any of your particular um populations and Plymouth wasn't flagged you know we w we're not
one of the school systems that was flagged we we we and they take a very close look at that across the Commonwealth every regional vacational school, every comprehensive high school. Um, and that's again a lot of the work that has been done prior to me getting here and working at on a policy that worked for Plymouth. Um, and that didn't
do that, that didn't present those types of barriers where you would see it in the numbers, right? Because there's a lot of opinions, right? There's going to be a lot of opinions on either side of this conversation and discussion, but in the end, we do come back to the percentages in the numbers to see what the what what if there were systemic barriers that were put into place
because of a policy. and and Plymouth was not flagged for for that. >> All right. Thanks, Sean. >> Um I know that it sounds like you're doing this already obviously, but um I don't know if it would help because obviously this is a Desi policy that
we're we're putting in our policies. So, that's kind of something that we that we have to do. We don't really have much of a choice on that. We can't really say no. Um, but you know, looking at the kids and and hearing from parents whose kids, you
know, have tried really hard and and now this is like kind of like, you know, the rug's getting pulled out from under them in the in the final moments. Um, and I can absolutely, you know, empathize with that. Maybe um just doing a little more outreach to families and like letting them know that that that there is a
second chance, that there's that this isn't like you didn't get in and now you're never going to. Um I've talked to a few people that have approached me like at my job just to talk about it. Um it's usually like I have a bone to pick with you and I'm like I didn't do it. Um but you know encouraging people to know
that there's more to the process than that one time that they get entered into the lottery that there's weight list that there's ways that they could get in otherwise. And you know, obviously when you're in eighth grade, it's a tough time anyway and it's really hard to learn life
lessons, but you know, this kind of stuff happens to adults all the time. Um, just my own personal experience, the mask mandates on airplanes, I couldn't bring my son on an airplane for like 2 years. Finally, we got to a point where I could get him to wear a mask and we were like, "We're going to see Mickey
Mouse. You got to wear your mask." And he's like, "I'm going to do it." And the day before we left, they released them. They took the mask mandates away. And I was like, well, we have to do it. Like, I can't. We we we did all we set all the groundwork. We we got here and so now we
have to. But so so I, you know, in a lesser way, I understand. But hopefully with some more outreach and more understanding with those families that are that are directly being impacted right now uh with those eighth grade students, just letting them know that that there's more than it more than one
chance for them to access the program to be in the program and just doing um a little more outreach, which it does sound like you're doing anyway, but you know, just taking special care with those families that are in that little pocket that are kind of getting screwed
by this. But we do that now and we'll enhance it. I think the the tricky part I've learned as an educator is that this will become much more of an issue in March, right? >> And the I'm not a leader. I'm a lot of things, but I try to own any decision I make if it's good, bad, or ugly. And I
it's worked for me over my career. And I don't do well with saying I'm sorry, this is a Department of Education mandate. I don't I don't say Dr. Campbell told me. I don't work that way. They can tell you that. I'll own it. Good, bad, and I've had plenty of ugly over the years. So, I'm going to struggle personally if you call me as a mom and say, "My daughter has done
everything right for all these years. She's dreamt of that because they literally Dr. Campbell's received a few letters and I say, "I'm sorry. The Department of Ed changed the mark." And I I just am not going to do that. Well, and I'll say >> I'm sorry because >> that's what did happen. That's the truth. And you always I always try to go back to the truth when I'm communicating
with parents even when we make mistakes, which we do. So, it's tough and you know, we'll get through it. But it I think the intentions are great. I think the roll out which is kind of typical in some of the department of ed pieces is where the issue is because the kids who are getting the letter also who we told
last year work really hard in grade nine and you'll get to reapply. They're also a lottery. So they're also have been told the wrong message. So um it's just if they wanted I wish it started with fifth graders. That's if I had a crystal ball if this was, you know, to be looked
at and I wish they understood and talked to the schools about the s the incredible success stories that we could rattle off at both North and South about connections because it is the the talking points that are not accurate are oh this kid is a tech kid because that's left 25 years ago because of the
academic focus and they they all get the same diploma and you know Chris knows that's why our schools have gone have done so well to be really frank. So, but we'll we'll push through and you know, we we have people who care about kids in Plymouth, which is the number one piece, but it's going to be tough. We try to
not get things dumped on you guys either. You don't deserve that. So, we'll try to keep it >> in our buildings, but it's complex. >> Um well, our discussion um has been um more on the next policy
than this one. Um but that being said, I don't want to be uh left out. So uh I I made my comments the our last meeting in regards to this. I made my vote based on my uh my feelings and just like my
colleague over here um I have people have reached out to me as well uh about this and are disappointed with it um and um and some teachers and administrators as well. So, you know, a lottery is like
buying a Powerball ticket. I think it does no injustice to anyone whether you're a uh high performing student or not. I just don't think that's the way you do it. These folks freckles math that we're here today, especially middle
school ones. Um, normally that would go along with their other academics and um, attendance go a long way towards them possibly getting into a program, but now we've come you probably shouldn't have done Freckles math. It's not going to help you. So, you know, again, this is
more towards the next policy, but um, and it's a state desi decision. So, my vote on these policies is not against the policy or the efforts of the policy subcommittee. is against the the mandate.
>> All right. So, I think we need a vote on the first one. Definitely. >> Yes, that's new. So, we have a motion on the first one. >> I move to approve as presented. >> All right. We have a second. >> A second. >> All right. Jackson seconds. All right.
And again, this is just for the actual exploration or >> middle school pathway exploration policy that we already do. So this this one is the only part that's really mandated by the state here is that we actually document a policy. >> All right, that one is unanimous.
All right. >> It sounds like the CCT lottery admissions policy is a slightly updated version of what was voted on. >> I believe it's just a date. >> There was a date that was changed. I forget. Mark, do you remember where it is? What paragraph? >> I think it may have been about the due
date of the of the application. Maybe January. So, under the application, thank you for reminding me. Um, under the application process, we just delineated. So, applications will be available on November 1st and will be public on on the PPS website. And then the second bullet, the application
deadline is generally the end of January. This information will be shared annual annually with families through the guidance office at the middle school. >> The timeline you is um so we all we do the program of studies this time of year and it's it's all very scripted, but November 1st, the application will be
public. The application is very simple, believe it or not, to do. It's a check off boxes. Um, but it'll be open that time. All the recruiting efforts and everything we spoke of the tech expo, those go on in December and January. Then the applications are due January. It's like the schedule in my brain, the
end of January, always like around the 30th, 31st. Then Mark's office goes through the applications right through February vacation. And then after February vacation, the decisions are made and they're aligned with the biomedical applications as well because it works better for the middle school families that they're kind of thinking
both applications and the the decision letters actually go out on the same day and that was an intentional decision we did years ago with Miss Rearen. Um and so then all of that lottery piece will go on in there in March. And the key it goes on then because whether they wherever they end up their middle school
guidance counselor schedule the kids appropriately and the week of April vacation is when I start to schedule the high school and Mr. Parson due for the next year. So it's all kind of aligned with all that and aligned with the budget and staffing and all that. So but the end of J it's always the end of
January that they're submitted >> any later and they wouldn't get a schedule. we wouldn't get a schedule in time because we finish all those the first second week in May and then it's a lot the master schedule is a lot of work. So, >> so quick question. >> So, the lottery itself is when January. >> No, the
>> No, I think we're first week of March. >> Can't see. >> So, the lottery is the first week of March. Did we >> by by taking the vote last week, did we jump in too early to ratify the policy to see if any other communities like,
you know, we're have approved by November? We have to have this submitted to the Department of Education by November 1st. >> Okay. So Desi's decision on our vote was by November 1st. >> The only reason why we've we've pushed this so aggressively so early is because of that >> they were asking for an answer.
>> Um All right. So as is right now, Mr. Chair, do we have to vote again on the policy because there's an amendment from the last meeting? >> Yeah, we're just my understand we're just voting on the updates to this policy. So if we voted no on this
policy, the policy that the committee voted into place two weeks ago would be the policy of the district. >> So >> it's just the date change. >> Yeah. So I would recommend >> policy's already been approved. So it's just the change in the date that we're approving now.
>> Correct. You we would best end up with a policy that has incorrect dates in it. So I would regardless of how we people feel against I would probably recommend against that since I don't think we do want at least to have an accurate policy out there. Again people can do what they want but it doesn't change the fact that
the policy is already in place. All right. Um, under Robert's rules of order, does the maker of the motion have to submit a reconsideration of the motion? Is that what we follow here? >> I think it's someone on the >> Someone that someone Yeah, someone that uh voted in in favor of the policy can
vote or call for a reconsideration. >> So, I voted in favor of it. All right, we can table that for now, but this is just >> Yeah. And if Yeah. Yeah. I mean, this is it's like all policies, it's living. We can always >> It was just a point of order. Um, but let's make the motion on this. I'll make
the motion for the amendments that we just discussed. >> Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> M. Jackson seconds. Make a vote. All right, we have four in favor, one opposed. The motion passes.
>> Great. Thank you both. >> Thank you both. >> Thank you. >> All right. Drs. White and Betinas. I thank you for your patience and flexibility. Uh, who's up first? Uh, >> if I go by the order, it says Dr.
Betinas first, but >> you guys can decide. >> That's correct. They're both They're both staying for the duration, so that's good. We're good. It's all good. >> Thank you, doctor. Get >> All right. See that? >> I know. I know.
>> It might be more for the heat factor. >> Here, I'll keep keep it is either really cold or really warm. >> All right. 1872 >> layers. Yeah. Layers. >> Um, so it's a it's a mathtastic evening.
Here I am to talk more about math. >> My favorite subject. >> So I my again my name is Kelly Batineas. I'm the K12 math coordinator. Um I have a brief update on math because I was here in the spring so not a lot has changed. Um so I'll I just wanted to highlight some of the things we're doing
in math really. And then um Lisa is going to talk about her new role in curriculum and instruction but then lead into an MCCAST conversation. So I'll hop back in with some MCCAST data. So I'm not I don't have anything in my presentation pertaining to MCCAST just so you know. Um, so I just wanted to
talk about what is new. Um, so I might have talked last spring. We have >> clicker. There's a clicker right there in >> Oh, thank you. Um, we have number corner in kindergarten last year, which is a program uh it's a standardsbased program
for elementary kiddos. Some people, I don't want to say confuse it, but maybe think it is replicating like morning meeting or calendar. Um, some teachers choose to integrate it as their morning meeting or calendar, but you can use it at any point of the day. Um, my favorite
part of number corner is when they reference a certain song that you're supposed to sing the days of the week to, and some of our younger teachers don't know what the song is and have to ask or look it up. That's one of my favorite things when they have to figure out the beat to the song. Um, but anyway, it was super successful. um
walking into classrooms, things that students are saying like, "Oh, um that's five more than 10." Or talking about differences. Okay, I know you asked me to add, but I'd like to tell you the difference between those two numbers. And it's the last week of September in kindergarten. Um the the the the
questions that the students are thinking of on their own when they're talking about number relationships is amazing. Um the teachers really enjoy it. So, we brought it into first grade this year. Um some have asked, "What about second grade?" And I don't want to scare any teachers because we haven't gone that road yet. We always get the input from
the teachers first. But I would say um you know K to2 I would say maybe similar to to reading but I won't go there because I don't know but like you know K to2 indicators of early that early numerousy is significant for how
students perform in later grades. you know that second third grade where a student is at with their number sense their number recognition is is critical to their future success as a mathematician. So um would I advocate for running it through second grade? Sure. We're taking it one grade at a
time. Um and and from there we will see. But uh I do believe this is really really helping with our growth and just um you know giving students a level playing field when they get here too as far as recognizing numbers, talking about numbers, counting, you know um we're all coming from different
backgrounds of um preschool and whatnot. So uh I really think this program is wonderful and um and we've expanded it to first grade. Uh we've been working with our special educators on IEP goal writing intervention and progress monitoring. that has been huge. Um,
we've just started using the tools that we have better to accurately identify where students need help with math. Focusing on three domains, which is like your ratios, proportions, fractions, um, your number sense, and your algebraic thinking. And just honing in on those
three things amongst the cajillion things. Um, that's not an official math term, but there's it feels like there's a cajillion things to learn. um honing in on those foundational skills has helped our students grow, have helped our students feel more confident as math learners. Um so, you know, having the
facetime with the special educators to talk about that has been amazing and we've been able to do that K to2 and we're really seeing results from that. Um um I believe someone No, that was an earlier meeting today. I was going to say someone talked about HQIM, so that was a different meeting I was in today.
Um but when I talk about reveal and Alex in the high school so that is our new curriculum in high school that we're um piloting this year. We have some lab classrooms. So we have some teachers trying it out. This is the reveal curriculum is the curriculum that the teachers decided they chose it the the
high school teachers but uh not everyone wanted to go allin this year. So I have some lab classrooms. It is the highest rated curriculum in the state. So I was really proud that without knowing that our teachers chose that. So I think they have good taste and know what they're looking for. Um so we're working on
that. Alex is a diagnostic component that goes along with that. So it's really shifted our conversation even at the high school which is amazing of um here's where my students are at and here's where I need to get them to. Um and that's been really great. Um and
we've had in-house courses. I love this about Plymouth. Those those pack courses are amazing because we have some very talented people in the district who can offer content related to what we're doing in Plymouth at a very affordable price and it's a very meaty um course and uh we've so we've done building
thinking classrooms which is like a new trend um trend I don't like that word but it's um the new research on where math education is going like learning through task problem based uh cooperative learning and um specialized math instruction which again is that
outreach to our special education friends in the world. Um I I mean I think you can imagine too it's kind of common in elementary and maybe even with our special educators that math is not their forte just because of their background. You find a lot of special
educators and elementary teachers I think are focused on reading. Uh you know when they were in college I'm saying when they studied to become a teacher that's where a lot of the folk don't get me started on teacher prep math for math teachers. That's that's another session probably not for you for someone else. But um you know, math is
not a a confident area for some of our teachers. So that specialized math instruction course, we were able to fill two courses last summer, two courses this summer, and now kind of in that train the trainer model to expand it. >> I'm sorry. >> There you go. >> Oh, yeah. Oh, the clicker. Yeah. I
didn't know if there were any we'll save questions till the end. So, um based on what I just said, we came up with some district-wide goals and expectations that we communicate with our teachers. And I'm not going to say these are, you know, we're not going through with a checklist into their classrooms and looking for them. But when someone says to me, you know, Kelly, what do you
think good equitable math instruction looks like? This is what we decided as a department. So in elementary um using talk moves um during planned math activities. Um so getting students to just talk about math. Tell me what you think. Throwing up a a formula and you
know throwing up the quadratic formula in high school which is so thrilling. and just saying, you know, tell me everything you know about this formula, you know, just to get kiddos talking about it and and everyone has an entry point to that conversation. Um, so, you know, elementary and um and middle high,
we talk about, you know, using those first minutes of class to just talk about math. Um, in elementary, we we focus on choice. So, you might hear it referred to as math menu, math workshop, but allowing students um, you know, some targeted choice activities to get their
just right level of math. And then of course teachers using that time for to intervene um as needed. In the high school that main lesson looks more like a um a problem solving task which I I'll show you some examples of that. Um but again ways for all students to show
their math knowledge like in high school and middle school we should not just have students do wrote calculations that mean nothing. You know they should be reasoning with their math. Um, and then finally, you know, uh, equity. Of course, we want to make sure that all students can communicate their thinking,
um, can argue with each other's thinking. There's nothing better, I think I say this every year, than a student telling you a wrong answer, swearing it's the the the right answer, and then being able to talk themselves out of it and understanding what the correct answer is. That's what we want
to see is that revised thinking and and we think that provides equity for everybody. So, I just want to show you some ex now I got it. Some examples. I have three examples. I've just brought with me an elementary, a middle, and a high just to show you because people talk about this new math. And I always apologize every
year to the folks at home for any um arguments I've started at the dinner table. If I had a nickel for every time someone shares that meme with me on Facebook, it's not funny. We don't mean to make people upset. Um, you know, we think it's fun. So, look at this grade
three task. It's an arithmetic pattern. um you know maybe for those of us that went on to study advanced math you know we learned about the nth you know occurrence of something so here in grade three like we're talking about that but we're just talking about cakes and uh you know the cakes are in rows and how
many each has so you know at the elementary level I always tell my high school teachers you know don't stress like you're not teaching the students anything new per se we're expanding upon their knowledge like they are learning to identify patterns and to talk about,
you know, what it looks like in the ninth row of cakes and and why do you think that and draw a picture, you know? So, we're just we allow we want students to interact with math in a lot of different ways. We want them to think, we want them to talk, we want them to draw. Do I want do do I want a a 15-year-old child drawing the nth series
of a pattern? Certainly not. you know, we talk about what's an appropriate time to, you know, get into that algorithm and to get into more standard way of thinking, but, you know, it starts in grade three and they the kids have some some really cool things. I'll give kudos. Um, we had a a another district
whose math scores have been very stagnant over the last few years ask to come to one of our elementary schools and they went to three different classrooms at kindergarten to see number corner and then I want to say they went to a fourth and fifth or maybe a third and fifth and they were blown away with the conversations they were hearing in
class by these kids. Um, so that is a a really awesome thing. So, grade seven, um, you know, we get into estimations, ratios, and proportions, you know, and some some people say when you talk about math, like, "Do I care that Stacy bought 24 pineapples at the store?" No, I
don't. And I think that's ridiculous. So, they do, you know, the text that we use. So, grade seven, we use um, illustrative math, again, the highest rated curriculum in the state for middle school. Um, you know, when they talk about the the chichinita and they talk
about the how high the the top of the pyramid is off the ground and how many steps and how high above would would you be if you were standing on the 50th step. It's a silly question, but what I love about this question is no one's no one is expecting
no one wants the student to take the pen and paper and start writing this standard equation with this kind of a question. And I think what I'm proud of about our math program is that a seventh grader probably isn't doing that. They're they're rationalizing the answer. As a teacher, you know, we talk
to teachers about what do you think a really ridiculous answer is? What's too high? Maybe we could start with that, right? I I mean, you would have kids panic at this question. So, my first question as a teacher is, all right, well, what's an answer that would be ridiculous? Like, what's an answer we can toss out? What's an answer that's way too small? And we can toss that out
and just to get those conversations going. Um, so I wouldn't expect a student to walk into this with any kind of a formula, but I'd be thrilled if they had a rationale for it and could kind of like get to an idea of where we're going because again, it's about estimation. We estimate. We'll make our way to the ratio and proportion. We'll
make our way to the equation, but it's a gradual process and that's what these curriculums really provide um is an entrance point and then to build up to where we're going, which is writing the equation to solve this problem. And then finally, grade 10. Oh, I taught
complimentary and supplementary angles. Like, who cares? Two angles add up to 90, two angles add up to 180. Why do we care? I memorize it. I remember. Um, so then they, you know, they take this example with the leaning tower of Pisa and they just take into account how far
it has length bent over if you will at how many degrees and they just ask the think about that, you know, as a again complimentary and supple angels angles. Why do we care about 90 and 180? We're playing around with these numbers. We're looking at what happens in real life like you know who studies these things
and why. Um so this is from reveal math which is the new one. Um I can tell you when I taught comp complimentary and supplementary angles in a very long time ago um you know I'm not going to say it was as thrilling as this but I did not have real world examples to provide. I
taught at South High so we tried to use the tech department as much as we could um to provide examples but that gets old. Um, and again, this provides just a lens for students to talk about something really cool and just talk about why it happened. So, that is what
we are doing in math. We're trying to apply it to real world examples, make it exciting, get the kids thinking, and give everyone an entry point to the conversation of what we're trying to get at. >> You have any questions for Dr. Petas? Mr. Jackson? >> Uh, not necessarily a question, but more
of a statement. >> Okay. Um, like with the elementary stuff when we were doing our learning walks, I could see how accessible stuff was for especially like going into the classroom and the talking points >> and having everybody feel like they had
a voice in the conversation and it was just really nice to see >> like that equity that you're talking about when we were at head school and you could see the students all interacting and nothing was a bad answer. >> No. And that was really nice because nobody felt like they weren't the brightest student in the class, you know
what I mean? And so it makes it like people want to come back to something like that. >> Yeah, I appreciate that. And I like that you said that there was no bad answer because that's what some parents think is that we say there's no wrong answer. Like no, math is math. Like there's a wrong answer. But you know, again, it's
the magic of convincing yourself or having your peers help you understand what the right answer is because it's about understanding. You know, if we don't get the answer right the first time and we revise our thinking, then hopefully we get the right answer maybe on the first shot the next time and the time after that and the time after that. >> Yeah, my eighth grader is coming home
and talking about her math lesson. So, I mean, >> and I don't think I was ever coming home and talking about my math lessons. I was doing my math and getting good grades, but I don't think it was a conversation about my math lesson. >> It's and I will tell you the the teachers are are meeting that energy. They was my really one of my goals. A
lot of this transformation happened um especially middle and high after co where I think especially secondary teachers felt like um you know ele I mean I'm not going to say elementary I would never be an elementary teacher but I think the essence of like game and play is built into the day and I felt
like um our secondary teachers um just speaking as a former one I think were very deflated after the pandemic about the interaction that they got from the students online or even in hybrid and they could not go back to the classroom. full time and keep feeling that. And I think a lot of these changes gave them a
rebirth and they're very, very happy. The teachers are happy teaching. I think you can see it when you walk in their classrooms. It's a change. Yeah, for sure. >> Any other questions? Dr. Matz, >> I think you are making math cool. Your
>> presentation and your energy. >> My dad was a math teacher for 40 years and like he would always rewind the Goodwill hunting scene when he's proven the theorem. >> Yeah. because Andrew Wilds is like a hero to him. Like >> um >> but I think it's a grind and that you're
right, there are wrong answers in math and that accountability in anything I think is is critical. but to make it cool and exciting. >> Mhm. >> Um especially if it comes from the top >> and if you're pushing that type of
energy towards folks, I I applaud you because I think you you can see it and I I like how you're >> going after it. So, thanks. >> I appreciate it. we say I talked to a parent today, a high school parent and about a tricky situation and I just you know referring to their children as mathematicians like that
>> feels good you know and that's those that's the type of vocabulary I think our teachers are employing too um yeah it's it's an exciting time to be in math in Plymouth I think I'm proud of it I'm proud of the teachers and the kids thank you >> all right
thank you for that yeah >> and you I need your answers for those three questions too by the end of the Okay. >> And then I'll check them with the teachers cuz >> I will shamefully tell you that I was work working on them because I am the math nerd at at the table. >> Love it. >> No, I worked in finance for 15 years. I
could probably do the math problems. >> Yeah, but you were you were forced to. >> I don't like math, but word problems were always my thing. >> I'm addicted to word problems. >> Yeah, but I pathologically could go. They're my favorite. >> That's a trick question. >> For anyone wondering, there are 63 cakes
and it's 13 m. But But that's >> I'll double check. I have to have my >> Go for it. Let me know. >> We're not going the kilometers anytime soon. >> I I used pizza a lot in my teaching back in the day. >> All right. All right. Dr. White, all
yours. >> Sure. Hi everyone. So, um I have been here many years um talking about the ELA department and so um I will continue to do that. Obviously, I am wearing two hats. Um, but I thought it would be helpful tonight to talk a little bit
about the newer hat that I'm wearing this year. Um, and talk a little bit about the position um, of director of curriculum and instruction. So, I know that you've talked about this with Dr. Rogers about some of the restructuring
of positions. And so really the job goal for this role um is specifically around curriculum um development and implementation and professional development. Sorry, I haven't been here
too long today. Um and really the job is to continue the work that we all do as academic coordinators, but to have a little bit more consistency and um collaboration around that. continue that process in a more formal way.
So again, responsibilities really are around um bringing cohesion to all of our departments in the district um to provide an additional layer of instructional support to uh coordinators and principles um to really put into
practice those district and school initiatives that are outlined in our strategic plan. You're going to see me reference the strategic plan uh throughout um PD as I mentioned is a is a very big one looking looking at our assessment and evaluation data and then
obviously there's a a fiscal component to this in terms of resources. So again, just taking right from the strategic plan, we want to cultivate creativity, resilience, and innovation in a safe, inclusive educational environment, empowering all learners to thrive and
contribute as members of the local and global community. And I know several of you were on this committee that worked on this statement, and it it's a a short statement, but it took a long time to get to that. Um, but I think there's a lot in there that hopefully you'll
you'll see referenced. So really the first area is that idea of curriculum development and instructional leadership. And one of our strategic goals is to improve the outcome of all of our learners through inclusive, equitable, and innovative teaching and learning experiences. And you heard
Kelly talk a little bit about that in math um for example. So this is a very large part of the role. And I would say that some of the the goals that we've identified for this first year, one is just continuing to evaluate um on an
ongoing basis all of our core academic programs. And you're going to hear from the other academic coordinators more specifically about what that looks like. Um we have reinstituted bimonthly meetings with all coordinators and directors um just to again provide
enough time to discuss what we're all working on um so that we're not in our little silos and that we can bring that work together in a cohesive way and also to present um messaging to our teachers around all of these various initiatives
so they don't feel scattered and and separate. particularly I would say for our elementary teachers who are teaching all of these subject areas um and have all of these um pieces to sort of juggle on a daily basis. One of my major goals
is to update um a K5 curriculum map um that really provides an overview of what's happening at all grade levels and all subject areas. um really to have that in a a visual format that is easy to look at to help um all of us and and
all of our teachers to see the connections that can be made. If there's a certain unit happening in science at the same time as a certain unit in math, you know, maybe there's a great connection that we can make there. Um we also talked about this the other day in terms of our um visual and performing
arts departments for example, you know, so that if they're aware of units that are happening in some of the grade levels in content areas, they can also make connections. So really just having that all in one document is a is an ongoing goal. And then a second one, you've heard this I think uh from Mrs.
fry earlier. Um, but we are trying to implement a common template for all of our high school courses. This came out of a NEAS recommendation, but we really feel like it's also just something as a district we want to do. Um, so we all have this information, but trying to put
it in a a common template that makes it easier again for everyone to to access and understand. So those are just a couple of goals, you know, in that in that area. In terms of professional development, again going back to to our strategic
plan, we have goals in there around professional development to support culturally responsive teaching practices. That's something that every department is working towards. And so how are we helping that? Um how are we helping our teachers with that? And then
the second one is talking about universal design for learning or UDL which is the idea of um planning from the beginning units and lessons that allow for multiple access points for all of our students. So instead of creating
a lesson and then having to make all of these different adaptations of the lesson, how can we design the lesson from the beginning to allow for access points for all of our learners? So to that point, we have um a couple of
things that we've put into place for um just our non-professional status teachers. So these would be teachers in their first, second, or third year of teaching in Plymouth. So at our orientation day at the beginning of the year, we have two days before everyone
starts. We offered a number of different sessions. What does teaching and learning look like in Plymouth? That was with all of our coordinators. Creating a culturally proficient classroom. That's a a session that um Kate Fitzgerald and I did for our new teachers. And then literacy across the curriculum for our
secondary um teachers and curriculum overviews for K to5. So again, just grounding our new teachers in what this looks like in Plymouth and really giving them um the basic philosophy and frameworks for what we believe in. We're
also offering a district-directed pathway for non-professional teachers this year. It has three sessions. We entitled it building your educator's toolkit, core strategies for student success. And we have different principles and coordinators. Um Stacy's
doing part of that. Uh department heads running sessions that are really for all departments and all levels. U just what is good teaching look like in the district again just to continue um to provide that level of support for our new educators. And then we ongoing have
new teacher literacy and mathmies for our elementary teachers because again they have a lot on their plate when they come into an elementary teaching position. And so giving them some more support with that as well as coaching cycles. And then for all of our teachers um we
have um pretty large focus u of PD this year on artificial intelligence. That is a big topic as you know in the education sphere. It's a big topic in any sphere I think right now. Um, but we're really
trying to do a lot of education around this with our teachers. Um, and also with our high school students around developing AI literacy and really understanding the benefits and the pitfalls of AI and the direction that AI
is going. I know I had a a session with my high school ELA department last week and it's it's there's a lot to talk about. You know, there really is there's a lot to really talk through and think about. So, that's one of our areas. And then another one is again just ongoing
PD on meeting the needs of our of our diverse learners. So, culturally responsive practices and language acquisition strategies for multilingual learners. as you know, that's a a growing population and something that we want to make sure all of our teachers feel comfortable with.
Another very large focus has been um learning walks. And this is not new. You've heard um Dr. Campbell talk about this, I'm sure, in the past. Um and Dr. Rogers, this is actually year five of our administrator learning walks. I know some of you have been on those learning
walks as you referenced Kathy earlier. Um, so it's our fifth year of doing that. And so for our admin learning walks, we're really at the point of refining what we're looking for. You know, what are our specific goals that we want to take a lens and and really drill down and look at for those. And
then for uh teacher learning walks, we started those. This is the third year for doing those. And those are walks that include teachers. And that has been wonderful opportunity for teachers to get into other classrooms within their own buildings and really see how things
are building across the grade levels and get inspired from from their colleagues. Often we added this year um the new component is that we do have some teachers from other buildings now joining. That was a request that a lot of teachers had especially those teachers that teach at those transition
grade levels. So, for example, at a PCIs teacher walk um that we had a couple of weeks ago, there was a fifth grade teacher on that learning walk and then we had two ninth grade teachers on that learning walk. So, for them to see again the progression of of what happens in
our schools has been really great and it has built a nice um collegiality really. Teachers um remarked afterwards, you know, can I talk to that teacher about what she was doing? I'd love to steal that idea, you know. So, I think that's been a really nice component of the work this year.
>> And then, just so you know what we're looking for, um, we have a long list of, uh, things that we developed as far as our our focus areas, but we really wanted to, um, I guess focus in a little more for people and make it a little
easier to look across the big long chart. And so we identified five areas that we're really having our administrators and teachers look at. Um beliefs and mindset, that's a big part of our theme this year, uh which is the power of yet. Um do we have a culture of
risk-taking? Do we have a culture of students feeling empowered? Um and that they may not know it now, but you know, they're going to to learn that in the future. Um the second one is clarity and structure and that's really this idea of um being very specific about what the
objectives are and then using a gradual release model in our teaching where the teacher demonstrates some models and then we do some collaborative work and then students independently put that into practice. Authentic and relevant tasks. Are we
providing our students with tasks that are relevant to their lives? That goes into that culturally responsive piece. Um, you heard Kelly mention that a couple of times in terms of math problems. Um, but in all of our content areas, you know, are we engaging our students with content? And then can
students explain, you know, not just what they're learning, but why it matters that they're learning this. The fourth one is teacher and student talk. We've had a lot of great conversations about who's doing the work and who's doing the talk in the
classroom. And we really want to see classrooms where students are doing the majority of the talking and they're not just kind of sitting and taking in information. And then the last one is differentiation and that UDL piece of um are we seeing
places where we're able to change what we're doing or how we're doing it to meet the various needs of our students and our learners in the classroom. And then the engagement continuum is something that we we use on all of our learning walks. Many of our buildings
have embraced this as a schoolwide initiative and they have this all up in, you know, in every classroom. And the idea with this continuum is we often talk about what is it what does it mean for a student to be engaged? Right? That's a very amorphous term often is
what is engagement? Is it just that they're sitting there paying attention, you know, or is it more than that? And so you'll see that the way we look at that is there are three areas on the left hand side that have behaviors that are sort of less than ideal where
students are either disrupting, avoiding, or withdrawing from what's happening in the classroom. Some of those are more active and some are more passive. Um, but they're all things that we really don't want to see happening in our in our classrooms. And then on the
other side you have the more um positive behaviors that we want to see. So we have participating, investing and driving. And participating is sort of what we call the the the basic level that we want to see happening. We want to see our students um at least
participating in some way in what's happening in the classroom. And there's times when participation is perfectly fine, you know, when you're first presenting a lesson or a concept for the first time. But what we really want is to get our students investing in driving their own learning. And so we talk to
teachers about what kinds of learning activities allow for that. What kinds of tasks allow us to have our students be invested in in their learning and driving what they're learning. And so this has raised some really good conversations among our teachers in
terms of task design and in terms of structures, you know, that we put in place in our classrooms. So again, I think this has been very wellreceived. And then these are just some quotes. So when we go around and do our learning walks, we really talk to students um and
we sort of ask them why they're doing what they're doing. And these were just a few that I had jotted down from recent walks that I was on. Um one student said, "We are giving each other advice to make our writing better." That was a a partner work activity that they were
doing. Um, another student said they were um they were acting out a scene from a book that they were reading and they said acting it out helps us to get into the minds of the characters in the book. So again, they're not just saying what they're doing, but why? That's a helpful thing. And then this is my
favorite. Um, often we'll ask the students, is this assignment or this task that you're doing hard, easy, or just right? And the student said, this assignment is just right for me. It's a little challenging, but it stretches my brain in a good way. And that's the kind
of thing we want to have our students telling us is that, you know, they're they're being challenged, but in a way that they feel um positive about and not negative about that they see challenge as a positive thing.
And um school and district initiatives. So, we have some strategic plan areas that really talk about community engagement and how we're um utilizing the community resources that we have. Plymouth is a wealth of resources. We
have so many um amazing organizations. Are we utilizing those, you know, in the best way possible to enhance the opportunities that we have for our students? And so, these are just some of the ways that we're doing that. Um we have title one family engagement nights.
This is something we're changing a little this year. Um Dr. Rogers and I had discussed the fact that um you something like the lending library at Hedge Elementary School has been going on for years. It's very successful for the hedge school population, but we're
not necessarily getting students from other schools um to that event. And so we thought we really need to do more building based family engagement events. and that helps with transportation and it helps with families understanding where to go, you know, for these these
opportunities. So, we're trying to do a little more um sitebased um family engagement this year. The MLK breakfast is something that we've worked on for the past several years. So, we're continuing to work um on that this year. We have some great plans in the works
for that breakfast. Um and then from Dr. Campbell's goals. I'm sure you've heard about his district newsletter that we're resurrecting. Um, a few times a year, we're going to send out a district newsletter and the focus of that is to really highlight some of the programs that we do and some of the academic
pieces. Um, we have an amazing um, ed TV uh, facility. We have amazing social media. The schools do an amazing job with with the events. Um, but we wanted to highlight beyond the sports games and the concerts and all of those things
like what is happening in our classrooms on a daily basis. And so we're hoping that we can do that through the newsletter. And then the last one, uh, we have a meeting on Friday at the Center for Active Living. We're really trying to build, um, a Plymouth, um,
volunteer program, and this is really after the Felmouth program that we've been learning a lot from them. They have an amazing program in Felmouth. Um, so we took their acronym and we added a a P. So now it's VIPS with two P's. Uh,
volunteering in the Plymouth Public Schools. So we're very excited about this. We're going to talk um at the Cal on Friday and um just explain what it is and really try to get um some of our people in the community that have so
many um amazing um backgrounds to come and help our students and volunteer in our schools. Um we have a very um growing retirement population in Plymouth as you all know and um a lot of people that want to help and so we're
really looking forward to seeing how we can match the needs of our schools and our students with what um our volunteers have to offer. So that's we're we're excited to bring you an update on that later in the year. And then the last one is really about
assessment and evaluation. So, um, we're constantly looking at our data, um, to try to drive our decision-m, not just our big picture data, which you'll hear about in a minute with MCCAST, but also our local data, you know, the tests that we give our students, um, whether it's,
you know, STAR reading or math, whether it's common assessments at the secondary level, um, whether it's surveys, you know, we we do a lot of surveying of our students. How do we use that information um to target what we need to work on as
a as a school or as a department or as a district? And again, um I just mentioned some of those pieces that are in there. I would also add that we look at data like attendance. We look at data um like what support services are students receiving
and try to triangulate all of that data um to figure out you know what are the what are the root causes of some of the you know issues that might appear um and what can we do about that how can we develop a plan for that so that's just a
little bit about the role and about what some of the you know early goals are um I've been very excited you know to tackle some of these things um and continue the work that we've been doing in the district for a very long time um in a little more of a formal capacity
and working with Dr. Rogers has been wonderful because I really do think that we're bringing together um the general ed and the special ed pieces um even more than you know we have in the past. So any questions about that before we go
on to MCCAST? I just wanted to say I really like the idea of the crosscurriculum. I feel like that's such a powerful thing to tie all of those things together. I know like in my classes they scheduled
them in such a way in graduate school that you're like one class is tying in with the other class and when you start to make those connections it just reinforces things so much and I feel like then things just start to build upon each other because you're always reinforcing them. So I think that's a
great goal to have. >> Thank you. >> I think the volunteering is great because I think it also gives back something to retirees who are >> I mean aging in place and give them something to do. I mean there's always something that you can do to make
communities tighter. >> And I think people sometimes overlook when you give back >> what it does for peace of mind. um you know and I I think that's important for the students but also for perspective. So I'm glad you're doing that. Now the
Falmouth program has been around and um is there any is there any like budgetary impact that we have to consider because I'd be 100% in favor of it. So throw a line item in somewhere. >> Yes. Um we're sort of we're sort of
starting small. Um but we do have some thoughts about as the program develops the capacity, you know, for someone to be um more in charge of pulling together, you know, I think of it as
like a matching game of here's some needs that we have in the schools and here's what people have to offer and how can we match those people together? >> Yeah. And it could be townwide with a senior center. I mean those are things that also the schools can be the driving force in doing some things to to build
other areas of the communities and uh you know I think it's it's the same thing with with how we look at like fields and using it then with youth groups. I mean everyone's part of the same town so I applaud you for doing that. >> Yes, we probably will at some point be
looking for for for more of that. I think um we we have a we have a lot of um hope that this will >> become larger than what we can you know do in our >> day-to-day >> day-to-day capacity and that we will need a person you know to to really
support that. We have some ideas about some partial support that we can >> cool >> we can do with that. But and I will say again the the center for active living has was enthusiastic and very much supportive um and has put out flyers and
you know it really feels like this could be a great partnership for them as well. >> I agree. I mean we have a lot of very young retirees also in our in our town. Um, and I think that, you know, some people want to do
something a little more daily or, you know, weekly and some people might just want a couple of events that they might want to help out with. Um, I think that's what we're trying to find out is really what people want and how we can maximize, you know, what they want to
bring to us. >> I just want to thank um, Dr. Lisa White for jumping on the crazy train with me. Um, but it's been an amazing partnership. Like I said, when I presented a couple weeks um with Becky, I I couldn't do my job without Lisa and without Becky. So, it's been I've gotten
to know and um appreciate Lisa in new ways. We've worked together for 16 years, but we're working much more closely now. And um I just appreciate the collaboration and I I appreciate that um you know, we're able to work so closely together and and get a lot of
great things done. And our personalities definitely complement each other. She's much better at some things than I am. >> Team Teamwork makes you dream work. >> I agree. >> Teamwork. >> That's the teamwork. Yeah. >> Yes. Um, so we just decided since we
were here, um, I'm going to put my ELA hat on now for a minute. Uh, and Kelly is here from math. >> I have to keep making math cool. Try anyway. You see the numbers, but we'll we'll dress it up a bit. Um, we just thought
we'd do this is, you know, a very quick version of of this. Um, and then you will hear more about the science um, MCCAST with Allison when she comes and uh, the civics um, with Kate when she comes for her presentation. So, we're just the EL math contingent while we're
here. Um, so I wanted to just start with the state results because I do think it's really important to put that into context in terms of what um what we're seeing as a state with our with our MCCAST scores. So um obviously there's a
a large um interest in how scores have um changed over the past five years in particular, five or six years. Um so the state uh is often using 2019 as a
benchmark which was prior to the pandemic um to kind of look at pre and post pandemic. So when you look at that and you look at grades 3 to 8 um for ELA the 2025 percentage um was 42% this is
statewide um and that is meets and exceeds put together. So those those two categories together. Um and so you can see the change for 3 to8 from 24 to 25 was a positive change plus three percentage
points. But when you go back to 2019 um to 2025 statewide you have a 10point you know loss if you will um in terms of scores. And then when you look at grade 10 you have the 2025 for this state is 51%.
the percentage from 24 to 25 statewide went down six percentage points. We're going to talk a little more about why that is uh in a minute. Um and then when you look at 19 to 25, the percentage total is actually the same as the 3 to8, but more of that negative number is made
up of last year at the high school level. So there's different reasons for that, but again, just to kind of put that into some some context for our our district scores. And then math you're going to see something um somewhat different. So for three to eight um the
percentage is 41%. The change from last year to this year was nothing. There was it was similar uh exactly the same. Um but again if you look 19 to 25 you're going to see that negative8 percentage points. And then for grade 10 the state
is uh 45% meets and exceeds. that was a three percentage point difference um over last year and then if you look at 19 to 25 you have a 14 percentage point. So I think in general we're seeing this
at the state level. Um I think there's a number of reasons for this that um have a lot to do with societal pieces. Um I think there's a lot to do with the screen time component that you hear a lot about right now in the news. Um I
think there's um pieces around attendance and and sort of expectations around that. Um I think there's attentional pieces to to that as well. So there's a number of factors that I think we're seeing um at the state and
national level around these numbers when you look at our district results. So this is just an historical graph in ELA and math. Um and you can just see the 2022 23 24 and 25 categories. Um
there are not um drastic differences yeartoear that you you will notice in there. Um but you will see from you know the 2022 to 2025 especially when you talk um the the um meets and exceed
numbers. The real change that I see is between the meats and the needs improvement numbers. So you'll see the meats going down and the needs improvement going up which means that there's a lot of students on the bubble if you will um between those those categories.
Uh this is just another way of looking at that. Some people like graphs, some people like different representations, charts and graphs. Um but again that kind of shows for ELA 3 to eight. Um you'll notice that there's also not a um
straight progression with that. It does fluctuate. Um we do have different students, you know, obviously and different reasons for why that might change. So for example, you'll see like 2023, you know, higher than than last year and
the year before that. But again, you'll kind of see the general trajectory there. And then this is math. Um you saw um in math a big dip and then sort of a going up trajectory and then an evening off trajectory um in math. And again that's
3 to eight. So comparatively if you look at the difference um I did it by 3 to 5 ELA in math and then um six to eight ELA math. So elementary and middle school. Um so you'll notice the the PPS 3 to 5
percentage is 49% meets and exceeds compared to the state which is 40. So we are we we do have a positive 9% um that is higher than the state um in those areas. Math you'll see something similar 45 to 42. So it's a plus three
difference there. For our middle school students uh PPS to the state differential was plus seven. Um, for the math middle school, it's negative -7. Kelly's going to refer a little bit to that in her in her portion there, but that just gives you a little bit of the
comparative piece with the state. And then when you look at the high school piece historically, um, I think it's really important to notice the 2022 2023 numbers um, as they are significantly higher. The reason for the
change between um 2023 and 2024 is that the bar went up. So the department of ed raised the level that students needed to reach to achieve meets and exceeds. So
um that is more a function of the bar being raised than the the performance necessarily being that much of a of a difference. Um the 24 to 25 difference um as you could probably predict um is
likely a result of question two. So um this was the first year that MCCAST didn't quote unquote count um for our 10th graders in terms of the graduation requirement. Um and statewide we saw the
results of that um in terms of uh the numbers going pretty drastically down from 24 to 25. So again you you'll see that big difference in 24 and 25 for two different fac you know reasons essentially.
>> Um and that's a similar situation in in math as well. >> And again this is just a another representation of that. So you can see that 2019 to 202 um3 is pretty
um constant >> in terms of performance and then you see those two those two dips in those two other years same for math. So what are our thoughts and our goals moving forward? Um,
so we are, you know, obviously we would rather have our 3 to8 ELA scores being consistently higher than the state than lower than the state. Um, we don't think that that is enough of a benchmark. We'd like to be, you know, substantially above the state. Um, but we do feel like
we have been, you know, exceeding what has happened at the state level. Um, and some grade levels are closer to prepandemic levels. So we do have some grade levels who are back to or higher than they were prior to the pandemic. Um writing has remained a strength for our
district over a number of years at every grade level. So that is something we feel proud of. We put a lot of time and effort into our writing instruction in this district and I think that shows in in the scores that we're getting. Um we always look at our subgroups and we
certainly have subgroups that need additional attention. So we we frequently will look at our EL population for example. We look at our special education population. We look at our high needs populations and we do try to identify if there are things in those
subgroups that we need to focus on with a little bit more with those those groups. Um and so in order to do that we we are maintaining our current focus on foundational skill development. So that would be our you know our phonics and
our phmic awareness and our v vocabulary. Um but we're keeping that along with our attention to comprehensive comprehensive higher level thinking and writing. So we're not substituting one for the other. We're adding both because both are important
to um success of our students. I mentioned that we do our early literacy screening. We have data teams. We look at that data. We analyze that data. We create plans for students based on that data. I think that's been something that um has really helped us in the last three or four years. And then we
continue to refine our small group instruction. And as I mentioned earlier, really focusing on student engagement. Um we work really hard to have our students um set goals for themselves so it's not like something's being done to them, but they they have agency in how
they do as a learner. Um we feel like that's really important at the high school level. Um we have had as I mentioned many years of consistent scores above the state level. Um we do have declines over those past two years for the factors that I that I
identified. Um we are concerned that the the numbers this year were we had a bigger um negative effect in with our high school students than than at the state level. And so that is something that I've met
with my high school departments about to try to think through a little bit more. Um, and so we're really tackling that in a couple of ways. We're obviously we are looking at our um curriculum and our units and and our test prep type um
pieces that we've always sort of looked at. But we also have had quite an extensive um conversation about motivation um and how do we motivate our 10th grade students on a test that they know is not counting in the same way
that it counted before. Um we have not figured that out entirely, but we do have some thoughts about ways that we could hopefully do some work in that area. Um so that we really can feel like the results that we're getting are truly
indicative of what students know and are able to do versus an an effort that they're putting forth. Um and so we we really are strategizing on what that can look like for our high school population. It's not an easy
conversation to have. I pass to Kelly. >> Um, so with math, I think, you know, similar things to what Lisa said, I always like to think about what frustrates me about math is like I've said, our teachers are working really, really hard. Our students are working really, really hard. And then when I
look at the difference with the state, I say, well, well, what's different? It must be different somewhere. I don't know if we can work any harder than we are or any, you know, more energetically than we are. But like Lisa mentioned earlier, our our elementary schools, so
start with elementary, you know, they have different characteristics. So, um, and different needs, different subgroups, different topics that the principles may want to bite at. So, um, with the we have two, um, elementary math coaches who are a gift and they each support four schools. So, I'll be
meeting with the coaches and the principles and the schools that they support. We have every school signed up for a dedicated meeting to talk about what the principles want to talk about because, you know, it's not a one-sizefits-all. We have eight elementary schools and everyone has their own unique needs. Um, so we'll be
doing that. In middle school, um, I will say even though we are not meeting the state, um, this year's scores, seventh grade stood out to me in particular at one of our middle schools went up seven percentage points in meets
and exceeds from last year to this year. the state only increased by one. Uh we are in the third year of our new curriculum. So I do believe we're closing the gap. Um and again just to har I like I always think about you know what's different? What is different than maybe other parts of the state. So just
to give you a quick snapshot in middle school um our schedule changed in uh right at like March 12th, right? We left March 13th for COVID. So, I think March 12th, 2020, we voted on a brand new schedule to go 45 minutes to 68 minutes
in a middle school block. I will tell you, my math teachers, uh, when we were in the 45 minutes, the end of every class was, "All right, here's what we didn't cover. There's your homework assignment. You cannot I'm not going to speak for any other subject, but I will tell you in math, you know, no seventh graders going home, teaching theirelves
ratios and proportions on their own, and then coming back to school the next day ready to go with it all banked in there. So I think the schedule change going to that longer block has sign my my math teachers I will tell you did not blink. They praised that extra time and that came at the same time that we were
bringing on the new curriculum and just different like pedagogical things that we were working on. So we are seeing an increase. We may not be meeting the state yet but I am seeing the work pay off and I and I'm very proud and I've I've told the teachers that and they should be proud too. Um but we will be
looking at that data more. So on the PD day in November, we're actually going to look at the release questions from the middle school test and our current curriculum because again, we're in year three. And I said to them today in our department meeting, uh, we're not looking to pick this apart. They all very much enjoy the new curriculum, but let's just look at it and say, oh wow,
it doesn't ask the question that way or I thought I could skip that. Now I know I can't or you know, just having those conversations of of how this new curriculum aligns with what the test looks like. um you know, continuing to focus on that small group instruction and just grit working through. I think
if there's anything maybe that we do as teachers because we're human is looking at something and saying, "Nope, that's too hard." And intervening before we can even see if it is too hard for our students. So, you know, that's something we're we're always talking about. Um in
high school, yeah, high school, um you know, there's that question two component. I will say for me personally, I started in this role in 2016, four months pregnant. That was a great time. That was, you know, a challenge. And I say that because the standards
changed in 2017. And we're talking about a test. You know, I wasn't here physically in the building to kind of talk the teachers through. I think in Plymouth, we do a very good job being proactive. And you know, uh, I'm not saying my predecessor didn't do that, but you know, I I wonder what was out
there to get us ready for this standards change in 2017. Then in high school, the math test went electronic for the first time in 2019 and then the pandemic hit and then they gave us an abbreviated test and then they changed the target. Um but again I comparing us to the state
like clearly somewhere it's working because you know we're below the state numbers but um I have also told the math department um you know hold off we'll get there because I think we just had some work to do with um structure and
what we expected of students and uh I did a lot of work in the elementary grades with the workshop model and I think you'll see now we're in our ninth year of that and I think our elementary scores are very strong and now that product of student is moving on to
middle school and now they're moving on to high school. So I'm confident that with the work we've been doing in the younger grades changing math and making it more engaging for students and then them working their way up to high school and now with that new high school
curriculum. I will tell you some of the texts that we use are from 2014. They are outdated. We are not asking students the right questions. We've tried very hard to make some homegrown materials in high school to meet the types of questions they're being asked to
interact with on the MCCAST exam. And it's, you know, it's it's been a process. It's been a cat-and- mouse game for sure. And I and I do I do think the work is going to pay off. It's just going to take a little bit of of time. And I think given my own timeline coming into this role and the timeline of how
math has changed in the district, um, you know, I'm confident it's coming, but there's no secret that the the scores are lower than than the state. But if I'm telling you if our students are having a great math experience, they are, and I know it will show. It's just going to take a little time.
>> All right. Thank you. >> Any questions? >> You have any questions? >> I I think things do take time. I I served 10 years under uh No Child Left Behind. That was the act, right? So I was on a school committee. Let's see from 06 to about 14 or maybe I forget
now. But then you know with every student succeeds and the flexibilities that it would afford our state. I think that's great for a state that performs well, but it's going to create some disparity versus affluent districts that
don't have to deal with, you know, certain challenges that other districts might. Um, but I think there's also the aspect of the absenteeism that is huge. >> And the fact that kids took the MCCAST with legislation saying it doesn't
count, they're kids. You don't think there was some fake squares not filled in or some I mean let's be realistic here that the numbers just didn't drop because all of a sudden you know the performance was that you know egregious to the the negative. So I think you know
having that flexibility that this state of Massachusetts could actually do the right thing with it does take time to filter out to all communities. So you will see some districts against the state average performing so high like a Lexington or a
Weston or a needle, right? They'll stay there, but I think gradually you'll see because of those flexibilities the the traveling upward of the other districts. Um, and you just don't want those gaps in achievement by students being
so pronounced that people start believing the headlines and they say, "Well, that community is not somewhere with a good educational system." That's that's why I could not stand when the Globe would come out >> and they'd rank West and one. And I'd say, "Well, okay, let's look at, you know, there's different challenges in
each district, right?" Um, so I I think you guys are on the right path >> and and I appreciate I really enjoy the um, you know, to give a a kudos to our all of our principles and team and teachers. You know, I really enjoy the accountability report like Lisa alluded to before that. You know, we look at
data on graduation rate, absenteeism. You know, we're here as the curriculum people to talk about our subject, but when you look at some of our schools accountability reports, they're amazing. and the and the principles work so hard to chase these targets but also keep the
best interests of our Plymouth students in mind and um you know ours is just a a factor in that but our accountability is you know we do wonderful things for kids for sure >> else right thank you both >> right
>> thank you >> I think you missed tub time too >> I'm sorry >> so I think you missed tub time. So >> I did. Well, I got a text. Do you mind if he stays in my bed till you get home? So now I got to go kick him out of my bed. But I did not have to do tub or dinner. So thank you. >> You can blame me. Yeah. Well, or thank
me. I don't know which one it is. >> Let's see how he is tomorrow if I get a call from Principal Man Freddy and I will direct her to you. >> All right. Next up, uh we have Dr. Campbell superintendent report. >> Thank you. Uh just a few things that promised to be brief. Uh first one just
talking about data attendance data for uh staff will be released in the coming weeks from the department of education. So they are actually tracking that and we'll be publicizing that by school. I just want to give um sort of uh
my concerns regarding this so that people understand that the release of this data based on um the way that's being reported in my opinion will be a little bit flawed. So um first there's there's issues with how the staff are categorized. So for example department
heads are often counted as both teachers and administrators. So you'll see >> you will have a staff member who teaches but also department head. They're being counted twice. Two full-time equivalencies for the reports. So that that's misleading. So if you have
someone who is absent say six times, they're being counted as being absent six times as an administrator, as a department head, and six times as a teacher. So that's a concern of of mine as we look at that the double counting can skew attendance rate to make um make
it seem inflated. In addition, uh the data includes all staff in the roster, including those on extended leave. So you have someone who's on extended leave. We we know that they're out they're on a leave, but they're being counted in the attendance and and or
their absences. So that sort of complicates how we understand sort of the operational impact of that absence because it's not the same as someone who is periodically absent in the classroom. So I just wanted to make the committee aware of that. So as that comes out understanding that it's not going to
tell the the whole story that data and some of it is inflated and it can be misleading particularly for um people who are being counted twice potentially or on extended leave where we have a long-term substitute. Um we talked about surveys tonight too.
So, as you know, I asked the families to take part in two surveys this fall. First to look at topics and things that they'd be interested in in terms of our uh quarterly news publication as well as forums. Um, and of and I mentioned this before, of the nearly 800 families that
responded to that first survey, over 70% were interested in learning more about safety and security. Um, so given that, we'll have we're working on two initiatives. First, we're working um developing a comprehensive school safety and security website. So, I presented some of the topics at our safety
committee meeting um last at our last meeting which took place um I think it was last Tuesday. So, we we are in the process um we've worked as a subcommittee on what topics would be included in that. So, we'll be rolling out in the near future a comprehensive
website that explains sort of the the the entire approach of how we how we tackle school safety and security from preparedness to responsiveness to um how we react to emergency situations, the mental health component, etc. So, there'll be a lot of topics such as
general safety, emergency procedures, school safety measures, bullying prevention, mental health, drills, cyber security, etc. So, we're excited about that. Also working on developing a virtual forum where we'll share this information and have some of our community members and school
administration and others take part to really kind of bring it to life. Um, so look forward to providing an update with more specifics as those things get developed. Um, so the Department of Education, Commissioner Martinez will be visiting PCIS. I mentioned that um
before. I actually got a call from one of his assistants today. Um, so the commissioner will be coming on November 12th. I believe that's a Wednesday. It was originally going to be 12:30. It's now 2:00 unfortunately. Um, I say
unfortunately because it's it's right at the end of the day. Um, the commissioner can only stay for an hour. So we will welcome him at that time and and make the most out of um that opportunity that we have with him really to get him in
front of students, some of our staff. You all of course are are welcome and invited to that as well. I'll send out an email reminder so so you don't have to think um drop that down. Um but we'll be looking to set up an opportunity uh to welcome the new commissioner to
Plymouth. Um and I just wanted to touch upon town meeting. So happy to announce our meeting overwhelmingly supported the supplemental appropriation for the school department uh budget for our current fiscal year. So um this is really I think particularly important as we anticipate a a potential decline in
state revenue for the coming year um and sort of the unknown of federal dollars moving forward. So um really appreciate the town support on that, the town members support on that. And then lastly, the only other thing I think
that's really important to highlight u from the result of town meeting is springtown meeting was moved from April 4th because of the holiday weekend to April 11th. So it will now be Saturday, April 11th. And that's all I have this evening, Mr. Bizano.
>> Any questions for Dr. Campbell? >> All right. Thank you very much. >> Moving on. Uh committee member reports. Do we have any uh members wish update committee Mr. Jackson? >> Uh Dr. Campbell already talked about safety
committee but I also had the opportunity to uh attend the CPAC leadership meeting online and then also Dr. Rogers meet the director meeting which uh went for a really long time because there were a
lot of questions and a lot of people but I think it was really overwhelmingly positive. I think people learned a lot and had a lot of good things to say. So, um there were a lot of questions answered and they appreciate that she
spent so long >> Yeah. >> spending all that time individually talking to everybody and I think it made a big difference. >> Sure. >> Thank you for that. All right. Anybody else? All right. Mr. Morgan, uh, planning
committee and building committee. >> All right, building committee. So, we did meet last week. Uh, we got an update on the DPW building. Um, an RFP for the design architect has been um, sent to Pomerite
Associates. So, um, $10 million has been added to the FY28 budget or in the 10-year plan for construction. um police department, HVAC, a um a um a
um GC was selected as well as an electrician. Um and the facilities directors going to do uh did a walk through and um they're in discussion about start times and whatnot. Um and then Memorial Hall, there's really not
much of an update. They're still dealing with some infrastructure issues there. Um they're quietly trying to fix the water intrusion issue and the electrical compon uh components. Um fire stations.
Um there's a design update in for at our November meeting for station 4, station five. They're wrapping up uh with the L landscaper and station two, which is West Plymouth. um the um what we call man doors. The not the apparatus doors,
but the regular doors are going out to bid next week. Um and then there was an inquiry regarding the um MS MSPA uh update. We said there really is no update at this time um regarding the um uh the elementary school. So that's it
for the uh building committee and no update on the master planning committee. >> Thank you, Mr. Morgan. I was on the uh uh there's obviously a ton of interest in the potential for building new school. Obviously, we know we're not going to be in the October uh meeting
since we know what's the date for the December one. So, we can really I believe it's December 12th. I can tell you in one second, but I believe that meeting will be >> Yes, December 12th. >> 12th. Okay.
>> Yes. We haven't We never received an invite to the October meeting, which we didn't anticipate. They just said there was potential. >> Yeah. All right. >> Didn't happen. >> But now we're definitively in the December 12th meeting. So, we'll either have a yes or no for the feasibility phase, right?
>> All right. All right. Next up, uh Mr. Tofy, personnel reports. >> Good evening. Uh tonight, I can share with you we did have three classified appointments. Uh we did approve three medical leaves and then we did accept two resignations. >> All right. Thank you very much. We have
any unfinished business or new business any members want to put on the table? Moving on. All right. Next up, uh approval of consent agenda. We just have some uh minutes, some homeschooling plans, and some uh warrants up for
review. Any anything that anyone needs to pull from the consent agenda? All right. If not, do we have a motion to approve the agenda? >> All right, Mr. Morgan. >> I make a motion to approve the uh consent agenda as presented. >> All right. And a second.
>> Second. >> All right. Mr. Smart Dell seconds. Make a vote. All right. And that is unanimous. All right. And that brings us to the end of our uh agenda. If there's nothing else, I will call the meeting to close
at 9:17 p.m. Thank you.