o'clock. Um, we are running on a skeleton crew this evening and we have one of our members coming from a spelling bee who will be here in just a few minutes. So, we're going to start as soon as she gets here. So, thanks for everybody's patience. Usually we're very timely with our starts, but we have a little few few
complications this evening. >> Okay. Security. call the January 22nd meeting of the school committee to order. Um getting a little bit of a late start this evening. Um and we do have a a uh member on Zoom, so we'll do everything by roll call. Um
we're going to start tonight by by opening uh by doing our public hearing on the budget. Um so that'll actually be our roll call to order. Um will be the opening the public hearing. So Tom, can we start with a motion? >> Sure. Motion to the open the public hearing on the FY27 budget.
>> Is there a second on that? >> Second. >> Seconded by Laura. Um Sarah, I'll start with you. >> Yes. >> Tom, >> yes. >> Laura, >> yes. >> And Sean, yes. So the hearing is open. Um all right. So, we're in uh meeting two of three on our budget process. We do have another item on the agenda this
evening for budget discussion. So, this doesn't have to be the only time we discuss it this evening, but um from a public participation perspective, this is the public hearing. Um if there's anybody in the crowd who'd like to ask any questions on the budget, I'm staring staring at you, Dr. Cororum. Um you can
do so now. You can also, you know, we'll have the opportunity again later in the evening. So, um, but this is the >> as well as the finance committee meeting >> as well as the finance committee meeting. You've got a few opportunities. So, and another meeting next week as well. So, um, okay. So, with that then
just one reminder to folks that if they could they do have any written questions to get them in by end of tonight if they could please so we can get our Q&A prepared for next week's meeting. >> Okay. All right. Um, with that, we'll take another motion.
Motion to close the public hearing on FY27 budget and return to regular session. >> Seconded. >> Seconded by Laura. Um Sarah, >> yes. >> Tom, >> yes. >> Laura, >> yes. >> And Sean, yes. And the hearing is closed. All right. Um we'll move now to
uh let me just do a quick walk through the agenda and then we'll we'll jump in. Um so we'll start with public comment. We'll vote on our consent agenda. Uh we'll have a very brief report section tonight and then and then in new business we've got two two exciting items. Um we have two naming facilities
naming requests um which we'll hear the first meeting or the first um discussion. We'll have the first discussion of this evening. Um I'll set the stage for kind of how that works when we get there in a few minutes. But um you know very exciting to hear both those this evening. We'll have a learning and teaching update. Um, we've
got three uh scholarship funds that we will vote to award dollars from this year. Um, we'll revisit the the FY27 budget discussion and then we'll have a um a discussion about the superintendent search. Um, I'll share some updates and then I do want to take a vote to approve
our revised timeline this evening and that will bring us to the end of the evening, probably hopefully short and sweet tonight. So, all right, with that, let's go first um public comment. So, anybody in the audience who wants to speak to anything that's not on the agenda this evening, speak now or
forever hold your peace. All right, we are good on that. Uh, let's move to the consent agenda. Is there a motion? >> Move to approve the consent agenda. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Seconded by Laura. Uh, Sarah, >> yes. >> Tom, >> yes. >> Laura, >> yes.
>> And Sean, yes. Okay. Um, reports this evening. Um, folks may notice Dr. Milichesky is not here this evening. He did say we could share he had a knee surgery on Tuesday. Um relatively routine stuff, you know, not not anything to be alarmed about, but um is probably watching us on Zoom at home and
we told him not to come tonight. So um so uh you know, best wishes to Dr. Milichesky for quick recovery from his his knee procedure. Um we do not have we're not going to do staff reports this evening. Are there any liaison reports? I'll just open the floor.
>> None here. >> Nope. >> No liaison reports. All right. we are cruising right along. All right. So then with that um we can move into new business. So we've got two facility naming requests this evening. Uh so for you know those those who are here to speak to those and those who are here
are watching at home. Um we've got a policy it's it's a school committee policy FF on on facilities naming. It's a it's got a lot of steps to it. It's got a few steps to it. Um you know these naming processes processes are taken pretty seriously. So don't take anything that we say or don't say tonight or the
fact that there are a few feels like there are a few hurdles to jump through as any indication you know of how the committee um feels about you know kind of these these particular nominations. Um the process from here will be this evening we'll hear the nomination from the nominating parties. Um we may ask
some clarifying questions. We we don't have any discussion on the merits of the of the uh nomination this evening but we may ask some clarifying questions. We may ask nothing. Um in fact most times we we do ask nothing and you sort of say your piece, we say thank you and off you go. Um at a future meeting which we
expect which will be next week um we will uh have a discussion and a vote on whether or not to refer the nominations to a uh uh to an advisory committee to the school committee. If if we choose to refer it to an an advisory committee um that'll be made up of a sort of
cross-section of community members, a representative from uh the high school in both of these cases. um uh a member of the business community, somebody from the school committee. There's a few, you know, it's kind of a predetermined set of folks that would participate in that. Um my intent would be that if both of
these nominations are uh accepted for for referral to a a nomination advisory committee, we'll form a single committee to hear and advise on both given that they're both affiliated with the high school um sort of with the high school complex. Um, from there that committee
will have, you know, it usually takes, you know, a meeting or two for them to do their work and to just have a discussion about the about the nominations. Come back to us with a recommendation. Um, you know, probably in the early spring time frame would be my guess. Late late winter, early spring time frame. Um, and then at that point,
we'll take the vote on whether or not to accept the nomination and move forward with with the uh with the renaming. So really sort of three steps uh three or four steps depending on how you count it in the journey here. Um you know just designed to ensure that we take this seriously but again not not not there to
be impediments per se. Um, okay. So, with that, uh, why don't we start, um, Claudia with the, uh, we've got the nomination on the, uh, weight room and fitness center. And if you would like to join us up here at the deis, um, it'll be best from a microphone perspective.
>> Just sit anywhere. >> Uh, maybe closest to us is probably >> you can pull that one over. You can even join, Tom. >> That way, it's even easier for the camera to pick you up as well. I'll pull you over. >> I don't bite. I promise. >> Yeah, we have so much room tonight. I was going to be on TV. Oh yeah, sorry about that. Should have warned you.
>> So many people watch too. >> I will say on most nights, you know, if you're kind of on the wings, you don't end up on TV safe, but tonight we're a little little short staffed. >> Must see >> appointment TV. Yeah. >> Take it away. >> Okay. Well, it's um I'm thrilled to be
here. I um this has been an initiative that's you know $550,000 um effort which started in April of this year with a call to the athletic director um and then uh the the
superintendent and I met probably a half dozen times before August with uh Tom Zer as well and then we introduced Nick Sweat from uh Matrix um equipment into the into the uh
picture and within 120 days we had this project completely put together and I don't think to this to this minute we've had any hiccups. It's been very smooth. They were great to work with and I'm thrilled. Um so
grew up in this town um went to Joshua Eaton uh Parker and then graduated from the high school. It's always been Reading's always been my home. Um, don't live here anymore, but I have family in town. And, uh, my dad did teach here in
1959-61, two years before going to Wakefield, where he spent another 30 years there. Um, or 30 plus years, I guess. But at any rate, um, always wanted to give back to this community, wanted to give back to the school, the teachers, the
athletes, the students, mentors, coaches. So, with that, I'm asking that, um, the fitness center be named in my parents' name, uh, Robert and O. Elizabeth Mixon.
Um, and donated or gifted in loving memory of her parents. Uh, Claudia Mixon, class of 1971. Pretty straightforward on that. Um, the athletic training room. I know that I
had sent this uh to the superintendent a month or so ago. Um, limiting that to um the memory of my father. uh could either be Robert Mixon or Coach Robert Mixon. Again, in loving memory of her father,
Claudia Mixon. >> That's >> Any questions? >> What did your dad coach? >> Uh here he actually he went to school uh at um UNH with John Hollingsworth. I think that's probably how he ended up here because he went to Melrose for a
couple years before uh we left New Hampshire. We lived up in North Conway. Um he taught science here, but he ended up teaching history for the rest of his life uh at Wakefield. He coached here um as an assistant football coach. I think
a few other um sports as an assistant coach, but I can't be sure. I went through yearbooks and couldn't find completely everything. Um and then he taught he coached three or four sports over at Wakefield. through the years.
>> Sarah, any questions on your end? No. So, as I said, we we can't um we won't discuss the nomination, but what we can do is, you know, offer our, you know, first in-person public thank you for the incredible generosity of the gift. It's >> welcome. >> Um, incredibly generous is probably the
only set of words I can come up with. And, and I know we're all really excited about the ribbon cutting coming up here in a few weeks as well. So, >> um, if there's nothing else, you're off the hook and we will >> I just have a quick question on the ribbon cutting. Uh, since you said it's a two month could be a long two-month
process, it sounds like there won't be a dedication on the 12th. >> Um, yeah, it's the way the process I should say. >> Yeah, the way the process is laid out, it's unlikely that we'll be able to progress it um before the ribbon cutting.
>> Okay. Um, so you know, I think I can speak for the administration. We'd probably love to have you back when we're ready to, you know, we're ready to dedicated if the naming process goes through. >> Okay. Yeah. >> Great. Well, thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Uh, Pete,
>> good evening. >> You want to >> uh Yeah, you can all come up or whoever whoever wants to speak. >> Um, over the other microphone too spread out across these three seats here.
Okay. Wherever you'd like to be, sir. Thank you. All righty. >> Well, good evening. My name's Pete Moscarello, and I was a 35-y year teacher and coach here at RMHS and a
high school classmate of Claudia's. We graduated together. Uh so I'm here with Kim Penny and Phil Vicaro and uh we are very grateful for this opportunity to propose that the press box at John Hollingsworth Field be officially named to Ted Bryson
announcing booth. If at any time between 1976 and the present day you attended Reading Memorial High School or had a child who did or even went to a Reading High football or basketball game, then you know Ted Bryson. During those 50 years, Ted has served
RMHS and the Reading community in countless ways with unmatched loyalty, humility, and integrity. Over Ted's half century of commitment to RMHS, he was a longtime physical education teacher and department head, assistant baseball coach, head girls varsity basketball
coach, varsity and JV boys basketball coach, assistant golf coach, and of course, public address announcer for football and basketball games. All told, Ted has given us a mind-boggling 137 seasons of service.
One of the great privileges of my own career was to work alongside Coach Bryson every spring. I quickly came to admire his knowledge of the game, his ability to connect with kids, his unselfish commitment, and his devoted friendship. Thus, Ted Bryson has had a profound impact on my life
professionally and personally. But most notably, Ace, as he is affectionately called, is recognized as the voice of the Rockets, having announced RMHS home football games for 49 consecutive seasons and basketball games for 22 years. Thousands of residents have
enjoyed hearing Ted's clear, comforting, familiar voice at hundreds of sporting events. He always arrives early, prepares thoroughly, and takes pride in its craft. That is why his announcing is as good as any you'd hear at a college or pro event. Now, Ted recently shared
that this past football season was his last, which makes now the perfect time to honor him. Regarding the Reading School Committee's criteria for facility naming, Ted doesn't just check all the boxes. He exceeds those standards by virtue of his contributions to education, superior
level of performance, great community service, and higher standards of ethics. Ace is just a genuinely kind, thoughtful, humble man of character who has been a steady, positive role model for generations of students, colleagues, and families. That in itself deserves
recognition. We know there's widespread community support for this proposal as coach Bryson is respected, admired, and loved by all who know him. Reading residents and RMHS personnel have already begun to provide testimony in writing and will continue to show support by attending future meetings.
So, thank you for your consideration. It's now my pleasure to introduce Kim Penny. >> Yeah, just >> you can speak. It'll pick you up. Great. >> Um, my name is Kim Penny. Thank you for the introduction, Pete. Uh, I have been a co-chair for, well, I'm not here
anymore, but I was here for 15 years. Uh, Phil Vicaro hired me and it was one of the best 15 years in my, you know, stages of my life. So, be honored. I'm honored to be here tonight. It's my distinct pleasure to speak to you in strong support of naming the press box
at Reading Memorial High School's John Hollingsworth Field in honor of longtime public announcer Ted Bryson. Ted has dedicated more than 50 years of his life to the Reading Rockets in countless roles. Teacher, coach, equipment manager, administrator, as you just heard from Pete, uh, and so much more.
When I began my 15-year career as varsity girls basketball coach here at Reading in 1997, I think, yeah, Ted was one of the very first members of the community to welcome me with open arms. He immediately made sure I had access to the storage room for uniforms,
basketballs, equipment, and from our very first interaction, I sensed that Ted was genuine, someone I could trust and rely on. quickly learned that Ted Bryson, known as Ace, was the lynchpin of game day operations alongside
athletic director Phil Vicaro at every varsity girls and boys home basketball game. Ted was unwavering in his commitment, arriving early, staying late to ensure proper setup and breakdown, often for multiple double headers each week.
He led an outstanding team that included his wife Jane who kept the scorebook, a loyal friend Jay Dumas, who operated the game clock. And yet, it was Ted's exceptional play-by-play, announcing that truly elevated the experience and helped foster the culture of excellence I was striving to build as a young coach
at that time within our program. Ted's deep, commanding voice echoing through the fieldhouse became a staple of every home game for players, families, fans, and even opponents. When you played a game at Reading, you knew you were entering a program that took its craft seriously. And Ted's voice was
the anchor of that professionalism for decades. Still is today. His unwavering presence at the scorers table right right beside where I stood coaching from the bench instilled confidence in me. On countless occasions, a simple knowing glance from Ted during a controversial
call was all I needed to stay composed and focused. Ted was not only a remarkable announcer, he truly understood the game and I deeply valued his perspective. I firmly firmly believe that success takes a village when our girls basketball program after more than
150 home games reached the ultimate pinnacle with a state championship in 2012. I credited a meaningful part of that success to Ted and his steadfast dedication to his role as he called playbyplay for every single one of those games. Over time, Ted became far more
than a a trusted colleague. He became a friend. He and Jane regularly attended our end of season banquetss and were and continue to be cherished members of our Reading basketball family. Ted Bryson has positively positively impacted countless lives over more than five
decades of service to the Reading community. With deep gratitude, I respectfully ask that you give favorable consideration to officially honoring him by naming the Reading Memorial High School Press Box the Ted Bryson Announcing Boof. In doing so, you will
help preserve the legacy of a man who whose exceptional voice and even more exceptional character has meant so much to so many, ensuring it endures for generations to come. Thank you. >> Good job, Kim. >> And I introduce Phil Zakar.
Thank you. Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to speak on Ted's behalf. I am respectfully requesting that the announcer booth be named in honor of Ted Bryson in recognition of his exceptional service and lasting
contributions to our athletic programs in our community. I make this request having served as TED supervisor for 18 years in my role as athletic director. Ted Bryson was far more than an announcer. He was a trusted voice and a
consistent, dependable presence who helped establish the tone and professionalism of every event. Through his integrity, attention to detail, and commitment to excellence, he enhanced
the experience of athletes, officials, spectators, and families. One of Ted's most significant contributions was his unwavering commitment to sportsmanship. From the announcers booth, he
consistently promoted respect for players, coaches, officials, and opponents. When emotions ran high, Ted address situations calmly and professionally, helping to deescalate rowdy behavior and restore a
positive atmosphere. Ted also understood the critical importance of spectator safety. He was always prepared to communicate unusual or unexpected safety directives, including instructions regarding
emergency exits, evacuation procedures, and appropriate actions during emergencies. You can tell I was the guy responsible for that because I so much appreciated his preparation. In addition to his announcing duties,
Ted regularly assisted with game administration. He helped set up and break down venue requirements, supported event staffs and officials, and willingly stepped in whenever assistance was needed to ensure
events ran smoothly. If you attended any games, uh, especially in the basketball, you would see him there putting out the chairs and when the game was over, he was taking them in. And that was not his responsibility in his job description,
but Ted was always willing to lend a a helping hand. He also served as a highly conscientious equipment manager. He was responsible for collecting uniforms at the conclusion of each season, maintaining accurate inventories,
and monitoring the need for replacement of lost or worn equipment. His diligence and organization ensured that our programs were consistently well prepared. The announcers's room is a fitting
tribute and it represents leadership, preparation, and trust. The very qualities Ted Bryson demonstrate demonstrated throughout his many years of service. Therefore, I too respectfully propose that the announcers booth be officially named the Ted Bryson
announcers booth. This designation would recognize not only Ted's years of service, but also the professionalism, sportsmanship, and dedication he brought to every event. Thank you for your time and your consideration.
>> You are happy to answer any any questions and just also want to add that um Ted has been inducted into the RMHS athletic hall of fame a few years back and Mr. Brand has a link to a video that was um shown at the induction ceremony that depicts his career and
accomplishments. >> Are there any questions? >> If you've been to a game, you would hear I'm from Somerville. You can tell I don't pronounce my Rs, but he came from Indiana and he everybody knows Ted as the ball
is out of bounds. And for me, from a kid from Somerville, I just love listening to Ted. >> Yeah, he's a great guy. >> You you all I think you said you wanted to be the Ted Bryson announcing booth, but you a couple of you mentioned specifically he's known as Ace. >> Yeah.
>> Is is there is there a reason to exclude Ted Ted quote ace quote Bryson from the from the name? >> I can speak to that. Um when we talked to Ted about this proposal, we asked what what would you like it be? Because our first thought was Ted Ace Bryson
press box. He said I would like Ted Bryson announcing booth. That can still be a discussion. I I think but um that's that's it. Ace he uh in his first year coaching JV baseball in 1977. He threw a
lot of batting practice. He's a lefty and one of the players called him our ace left-hander. And that's how Ace has stuck for over 50 years. >> So has he hated the nickname for 50 years and we're just now finding out? Is that is that Yeah. No. Okay. Uh All right. Well, thank you all very much. >> Thanks for the opportunity.
>> We will bring this up again next week. >> Okay. Great. >> Thank you. See you then. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> All right. Um Chris, I'm going to need an assist here. We timed out and we're locked out of the laptop. Um All right. So, with that, we will move to
uh the learning and teaching update and I will bring the slides up here in just a minute. Erin and Maryanne, are you gonna do you want to join us on the deis? Dr. Hardy, are you kicking us off while I pull these up?
>> Do you um do you want to drive or do you want me to? Do you have a preference? I'm finding a way. >> If it's easy enough to bring over here, I can do it. I can just know I'm so bad. >> Make it doesn't need to get plugged in. I don't know. We'll see. >> Okay.
>> Well, over here. >> Good evening everyone. We are thrilled to be here to give you a midyear learning and teaching update. I'm joined by two members of my team, Erin Burchil, who's our K8 humanities co curriculum coordinator, Maryann Lynn, who's our K
to8 STEM curriculum coordinator. Um this evening, we're going to walk you through some of the key projects that our department is working on this year in the area of curriculum and um instruction and assessment.
All right. Uh so you can see on the screen that we've put together a little ven diagram that sort of shows you the bucket of work buckets of work that our department takes on and tonight we really are planning to focus on the top one which is monitoring and supporting curriculum. Um this is that sort of
continuous review of the curriculum that's in use with our students um and the support of implementing that curriculum. um you it obviously overlaps with our other buckets of work prof you're going to hear us talk a lot about professional development as well and of course it overlaps with um student support systems but when you see this
list of projects that we're going to talk with you about tonight we're really proud that our department is tackling all of these um curriculum projects this year this has built over the last four to five years we certainly weren't in this um position to have so many ongoing
projects um a bit ago and that's really because of our philosophy that once we start a project, we really stick with it and it doesn't drop off after that first year or two of implementation. And in fact, what we hope you'll see tonight is that the longer we work on a curriculum project, the more impact we start to see
on student growth and learning um because we really are able to move to a point where um things start to work uh cohesively. And our goal tonight is for you to see how these aren't just separate individual projects, but really work together to build a system where we
are going to see more success for all students. Okay. Um so as you know the end of our endofear learning and teaching update we is really when we start to talk to you about student data and outcomes for the year. This year's this presentation is
really focused on sort of our ongoing work. We did of course want to throw one slide in there just to let you know that we of course are always throughout the year monitoring student progress and that even though some of the initiatives we're talking to you about tonight are really new um we do see some promising
outcomes um already happen happening for our student achievement on MCCAST um you know some of our internal indicators like I also um some nice attention from external experts um just letting us know we're sort of headed on the right back.
And when we're talking about curriculum tonight, I want to remind you that we're not just talking about materials. So, it's not just the what is in students hands or in front of teachers. It's really the how instruction is happening. Instructional practices, assessment, the order that content um is taught in. And
so throughout a curriculum review process, all of these items are in play. Tonight when as we're discussing the ongoing projects with you, we decided to let you in on a bit of a frame that we've been talking about in our office.
Um, and this is really three practices that we believe um really lead to the best outcomes for students. Uh just to fill you in quickly, these three practices, belonging, consistency, and coherence, they come from a study that
was published by TNTP in 2004. And in that study, they examined schools from all across the country, looking for schools that had trajectory changing um outcomes for students. So those places that really were closing the gap, which we know is is hard to do in education
and can be rare. Uh and then they took a small cohort of those schools and studied them in depth to see like what practices are in place, why is this happening? And what they found across those schools were these practices were consistently in place and and in use. So with belonging, we're really talking
about staff and students feeling respected and accepted. So they have that foundational um safety as they're entering into learning. Consistency meaning that each and every classroom lii reliably has those strong teaching
experiences in place and that students are all being held to rigorous expectation. And then coherence being when those core materials, interventions, and assessments all work together to advance the progress of students. And so as we talk about the
pro the different programs um the different projects we have in place, we're going to sort of fill you in through the lens of these three themes. A reminder as well that our curriculum review process here in writing is based on this graphic on the right. This comes
from Jesse's implement MA. Um and we really modeled uh the process that we take. You'll see that um as a process goes it builds in complexity. And so we also tonight want to just um sort of demonstrate to you that these three
practices also build as we move through the cycles. Um and what you're going to hopefully also see is a throughine of regarding professional learning. We also think that an important piece of all of this work is um acknowledging our one of
our most important assets and that's our teachers and our staff and making sure that um they are seeing continuous growth. Um so in the original packet we had organized the projects by content area with humanities first and STEM
second. We've rearranged them a little for tonight um to instead sort of be in the order of this implementation cycle. So we're going to start with projects that are the newest and then work up to projects that have been underway the longest. We think that um will make it the easiest to to make our make our
point as we go. >> All right. So, we're going to launch right in with um some reviews and implementation that are in year one. So, for each project, we are not going to go through all the bullets on the slide. Um we know that everyone can read
that um at your leisure. Instead, we're just going to highlight for you a little bit about the purposes um and then how we see this really starting to fulfill those um three practices that we're moving towards. So, the first curriculum review is a brand new one that we just launched this
year. It's with the middle school social studies department. Um, I'm really lucky to be joined with an outstanding leadership team in running that review. Um, Eric Goldstein and Stephanie Malone from the middle school, Carolyn Allison, and Megan Howy from the high school. Um, the reason that we launched this
curriculum review is that the middle school social studies had not been looked at um in over eight years. And um even though a new scope and sequence was developed at that time when there was a change in the standards um there really hasn't been work around maintaining that. And so what happens over time is
teachers start to drift away from that scope and sequence and sort of do a little bit more on their own um and away from what um that scope and sequence defines. And that means that not all of our students are having that access to the same content and the same grade level expectations. So really the work
this year has been um around um establishing a vision uh for what social studies instruction looks like at the middle school level. This is a way that we start to build that belonging in the staff that they all are working towards a common goal um and um have that sort
of motivation um to improve outcomes for students. Additionally, cons building consistency is really important in the first year um of any of our curriculum reviews. It's really a time for us to examine what is
uh the latest evidence on um best instructional practices and for teachers to build consensus and start to build um their vocabulary around their subject area and um agree to what those grade level standards are going to be for students. And so the work of the
committee this year is really to start to define those things. Um I did want to mention too that we are doing that work during the department meetings on the early release days. We are doing this for all of the middle school curriculum work. This is a shift we made two years ago based on feedback that we got from
teachers. With elementary um we've typically done that in an afterchool committee that teachers are compensated for. Um, but with the middle school departments, especially since it's a fewer number of teachers, we really felt that in order to really build that belonging for the teachers, we needed to
have every voice at the table for this work. So, in general, um, the goal with this committee is really starting to align instruction and practices so all of our students are having the same um, high level of expectations in social studies.
Awesome. And I'm going to turn it over to Maryanne to fill us in on elementary science and grades seven and eight math. >> Yeah. And so, similar to the social studies curriculum review, elementary hadn't had a curriculum review in many, many years. And so, since the last
review, a lot has changed in terms of recommendations for approaches to teaching science. And there have been shifts not only in instruction, but also in methods of assessment more recently. Um, and so the focus of the curriculum review, just like with social studies,
has really been centered around belonging consistency in this year one of the project. And so, regarding belonging, we really wanted to make sure that the elementary perspective is represented in our science vision
statement. And that statement was developed a few years ago when we had the secondary science curriculum review. But we wanted to make sure that elementary um was represented there. And another way that we wanted to increase belonging
was to administer a survey to all elementary school teachers so that even those who didn't have the afterchool time to serve on the committee could have their voice heard in this process. And so, um, in terms of consistency,
we're really working on building the consistency by using research to explore these pedagogical shifts in science education, um, in order to build shared expectations around what good instruction looks like um, and the quality of the content that we are
presenting to our students. And so, what we've been doing at some of our council meetings early on is discussing science articles. We had some teachers who were able to go to the Misella conference this year in Marlboro and hear from the
keynote speaker TJ McKenna who is a BU professor who is a leader in the field of STEM education. And then in November there were some members of the curriculum council who headed into out to western Massachusetts to Quabin
Regional where they are implementing a brand new open sed curriculum. And so teachers got to spend time in classrooms and hearing from teachers who are implementing a curriculum that embraces these pedagogical shifts.
And I know that I keep talking about pedagogical shifts. And so I would say that and you'll hear it again when we're talking about middle school science. And really the shift is that the units that we're building are really anchored in
some type of phenomena that really just t and that's really just tapping into students natural curiosity. And then the teacher is really carefully developing the lessons to build the
content knowledge and the vocabulary as you go through the unit. once you have the students interest and get their questions. Um, and so the teacher then is strategically using those questions to drive the rest of the unit. Um, and
is actively involved in making sure that she or he is guiding the students towards the science vocabulary and concepts that we want them to walk away with at the end of a unit.
And then for grades seven and eight math curriculum review, um the reason why we're doing that review this year is because our current curriculum which is envisions is expiring and so we needed to look at the curriculum and we knew
that teachers did not want to renew Envision um and mostly because it employs a very traditional approach to math education. um and doesn't align with the work that teachers have been doing over the past few years to really build thinking
classrooms centered around complex math tasks. So, at this stage in the review process, we're focused on belonging and consistency because it is year one. um belonging for teachers because the process honors teachers as the experts
and they're the ones choosing which of the HQIM we're going to evaluate and belonging for students because we know that the current program is not working in meeting the needs of all learners and we really want to adopt a curriculum
that ensures that all students are able to see themselves as mathematicians and so regarding consist consistency. Teachers started by looking at the guiding principles set forth in the Massachusetts frameworks and really dove
into bettering their understanding of what those principles mean and then calibrating to see where we currently have strengths in implementing those principles and where there are needs that we will hope that a new curriculum
will help us to address. So the goal of this work is really to build a consistent understanding of good math instruction and to reduce variation in the quality of materials and the quality of instruction from classroom to
classroom. And I want to give a big shout out to Ramsay Merritt and Lana Montero who are facilitating these curriculum review meetings. >> All right, one more for in our first year. So this year we were really excited to launch year one of our ESL
curriculum uh implementation of National Geographic. You may remember in the spring that uh our ML director Cass Hall came and we were able to present to you the process we went through in the selection. And so we are in year one. Uh this is an important year where we pair the uh work of learning the new program
with highquality professional learning for teachers. This is a key to building that piece of consistency. We want to make sure that teachers that are implementing any new program, but in this case, this program, um, are aligning or understand how that instruction aligns with the WEDA standards. Um, and so that is a way that
we build a clear vocabulary. Um, and we can, you know, as best we can be assured that students are getting the same learning experience regardless of which teacher or which classroom um, they are in. And so we um, are hearing great things about the start of this program. our teachers really are reporting that
the materials have an assetbased lens for our multilingual learners, which is really great for building that sense of belonging for our students. So, more to come on this, I'm sure, but wanted to let that you know that that is underway and going well. All right, we'll shift now into um some of our curriculum pro
projects that are a little bit uh have been with us a little bit longer, things that are in years uh two and three. And the first one up is our social studies curriculum review up at the high school. This is being led by um Carolyn Allison and Megan Howy. And this was launched
last year really as a way uh to look at um the instructional practices that were being used across the department and also because there was a want or a need to build some systems for capturing units and lessons so that consistency could be
built across the department. Some of the really exciting work that's happened is looking at the historical thinking skills and as a department well the curriculum council has been able to help facilitate the work for the department to build some common assessments for
those historical thinking skills. And so this year, part of building consistency was that a that common assessment was given and then the department and the the council were able to score those common assessments and really start to identify the expectations for students
as they're developing those skills. Uh the council has helped to outline that the each grade 9, 10, and 11 is going to have a different skill that they focus on. Ninth grade is focusing on sourcing. 10th grade is on contextualization
and 11th grade is on collaboration and the assessments aligned with those. So this is a really good example of how the curriculum review process builds consistency so that a student regardless of which 10th grade classroom they are in are going to have access to that
historical thinking skill. And the common assessment gives teachers structures for really great collaborative conversations. All right, we'll shift gear into our first humanities review or actually implementation I should say. Um so
middle school ELA um we are in year two of implementation of amplify ELA um which is our core curriculum in 6 to8 um we had gone through two years of a curriculum review in middle school ELA we took two years to do it last year was our first year of implementation so this
is year two um we're really focused on building consistency and also leading a little bit towards coherence um because when we adopted amplify ELA Today we adopted the 100 lesson pathway if you remember. Um and then we're going to
build out the scope in sequence for the rest of the year with common units and common resources and that's sort of the work we've entered into this year. Um so we have sort of two mechanisms for doing that. One is in department meetings um which are run and led by um Andy Spanali
who's the curriculum lead. Um he's a seventh grade ELA teacher at Parker. Um and the focus there is really on student engagement um and instructional practices in terms of student engagement within the new curriculum. Um again really consistency building in terms of
what engagement practices are we using across um both vertically and horizontally in classrooms. Um the other mechanism that we're using um I'm calling them grade level coherence days. Um, and what they are are full work days
where we have the full grade level team of teachers in ELA come together and really start to work on a couple of different things. Um, I nerdily called it the bridge and the blueprint. That's like sort of the theme for the year. Um, so the bridge piece is really more the
coherence piece in terms of of thinking about like the standards and skills in the grade levels before you and your standards and skills and what are we doing to bridge those things and make sure they're much more coherent for kids um in terms of student experience. I'll talk about that um in a second. Um, and
the blueprint piece is really building out that that scope and sequence for the year with Amplify's 100 lesson pathway as like the core curriculum, but then like the what else are we doing and how does it connect to the core curriculum. Um, so we're going to have two of those
days this year. Um, the building leadership at both Parker and Kulage has been incredibly supportive in finding subs for like a whole grade level of teachers. Um, each of those three days. We had our first round last week. Um
they were very fun if I say so myself. Um but again, we're really trying to build consistency by examining the cognitive shifts and then agreeing to key learning at each grade level. Um so it's it's consistency and coherence
sort of building at once. Um I think the coherence piece is really important in the middle grades. Um middle school is three years. It's the shortest amount of time kids are in a space in a school and they're coming from elementary school and being there for six years and then
going to high school and being there for four years. Um, so it has to connect on both ends. So that's one of the things we're really working on building out and thinking about what are our fifth graders coming in with and what do our eighth graders need to leave with and what sort of does that look like in
between vertically. Um so this month, like last, not this month, last week when we had these coherence days, um sixth grade teachers looked at fifth grade standards and sixth grade standards and looked at where sort of the cognitive leaps were. Talked a lot
about like, okay, this is what they did in fifth grade. This is what they're expected to do in sixth grade. Sixth grade did it uh seventh grade did it for sixth grade and then seventh and eighth grade did it for seventh and eighth. And then our next one in March, we're going to do the opposite. will do our grade level standards and the grade level beyond to sort of just make sure we're
thinking coherently about student experiences in ELA and how they connect. So, next up, middle school science. And as you might recall from our June update, the middle school curriculum review did not follow the um typical
trajectory in adopting an HQIM and mostly because there were just such limited choices out there and teachers had field tested one and rejected the other one before without even field
testing it. And so last spring, the middle school science teachers decided that the best route was for them to revise the current scope and sequence, recognizing how much work that was going to be. But in doing so, they were hoping to condense units to make them more
thematic and then to embed these shifts in instructional practices and in methods of assessments because they weren't present in the STEM scopes curriculum that they were using. Um, teachers are also, in addition to
building out the content in the units, are really focused, as we've been saying throughout the night, on the instructional practices that teachers are using and making sure that um their classrooms have consistent and predictable routines
and methods for investigation. And in doing so, hopefully that's going to free up mental energy for students really just to focus on the science content and the science skills rather than not having clear expectations
as to what they need to be doing at any given time during the class by having these routines that they will use throughout their middle school years. So teachers aren't spending a lot of time building those routines because students hopefully as we get farther along in
this work will already have those routines in place. We saw that really effectively with our IM curriculum in elementary school and so we're hoping to that that actually will work for middle school science as well. And um Kim
Peterson is our middle school curriculum lead for science and she's been t playing an integral role in helping to build out these units. We also were able to have a half-day release time for teachers to work on building out science
units this year. And we hope to as we build them once teachers plan out and execute the units for the first time then to come back and to figure out what worked, what didn't, and how we might make need to make changes. So hoping for one more day in the spring
to do some of that work as well. But see this as a pro process that will take a good amount of time because teachers are doing creating the units as they go. >> All right. And we have a couple of projects, believe it or not, that are in
year four or greater. Um, so I'm really excited to talk about elementary lit lab. Really excited. Um, so we are in year four of ARC for literacy in grades three through five. We're in year three for
grades K through two. Um, so we started a version of lit labs last year. um but took some feedback in teachers and leaders on how to improve it. Um what lit labs are um is really a are not at like a sustainable structure for
continued learning and growth in collaboration with teachers working together. Um, last year we had like one grade level, one representative from like the grade band 3 to five, one representative from the grade band K to2 at each of the schools. And this year
we've expanded it to um we have a grade level representative from every school at every grade level. And what we do is we have lit labs happen in one day. K to2 is there for half of the day. 3 to 5 is there for the other half of the day. I'm there for the whole day. Um and this
year we have um consultants from both ARC, Melissa Man who's been with us um since the beginning of ARC um and Ka Delera from the Hill for literacy and both of those folks come um as sort of the experts in ARC and at like the
different routines um from the Hill and we really come together for some group learning um on different topics. um one of my favorite days of the year, but it's five days, so it's like really like six, five, six days. Favorite days of the year. Um I think like one of the reasons we started playing with this
structure last year is because we knew coaching with ARC was coming to an end and we don't have literacy coaches and probably won't like in the foreseeable future. So we needed a really sustainable and scalable way to keep this learning going and keep a lot of
the initiatives moving that we had started and a lot of the learning started um in terms of like best practices both inside the curriculum and outside the curriculum that we're bringing in that we know are best for kids. Um before I go on, I think like like I just
thanked the middle school principles for making principles and assistant principles for making space and time for this because it's not easy when we pull teachers from a building. Um same with the elementary principles and assistant principles like the lift doesn't go unnoticed but
also the impact is really huge on the people that come um and then their colleagues later on. Um, so in terms of belonging, all grade level teams are represented at each school. Um, and that allows folks to really go back organically and authentically back to
their teams during times that they have to talk about the learning that just happened in the decisions that were made and bring them right back to their colleagues at their school. They don't need a faculty meeting like they don't need to wait a couple weeks for faculty meeting. They don't need to wait for like an elementary workshop six weeks later. They can go back and do it that
day. Um it also really is empowering teachers as leaders in ways that are pretty authentic. Um folks volunteered to come um and they give up time in their classrooms but they know they are bringing things back that are really important to their students. Um it also
really helps us to make strong connections across schools which doesn't happen all the time too. Um, but the real big push is for coherence, right? So, we have the materials, we know what's supposed to happen, we have consistency with what's happening across
the elementary schools, across grade levels, classrooms, all of it. Um, and this is really about how we're using the things to best meet the needs of our kids. Um it really is like a deeper way of looking at implementation um and
furthering it along um by looking at instructional practices and like what instructional practices and best evidence-based practices match with what our kids need. Um so for example this year um if you remember last year all of our K to2 teachers took the asynchronous
primary science of reading course from the hill for literacy. That's all of their professional development time was for that last year. So that was really great in terms of like building shared knowledge, but it was we didn't have time to come together and be like, "Okay, so now what? Like what do we do? We have all these
instructional routines that are great. We have this curriculum that we're still learning. How does it all go back go together?" Lit labs are really the place where we're figuring out where those things go together. Um, so we've talked about the different instructional practices and Cara and Melissa have
really helped us like look at our core lessons that are whole group lessons with kids and think about where to add in a lot of those instructional routines. We've talked about it in terms of small group strategic instruction, what's working best there. Our literacy specialists are using a lot of the hill strategies, too. So, they're talking
about how they're doing it with their kids and what's working and what's not. So, it's been a really great place in Kada 2 where we're coherently talking about if we're using these instructional routines strategically and consistently. It takes a cognitive load off of like
the how kids are do being asked to do things um and they can really focus on the orthographic mapping, the things that are really important um in terms of the content. Um same with three to not same with three to five, a little different with three to five. been really focused on fluency and vocabulary
routines and being really consistent in those and how to add those into core instruction um in ARK 2 um in ways that are consistent and also build off of one another um in classrooms. Um so to I'm not going to list all of the lit lab
people and the teachers that like come, but um it's been pretty fantastic um to have everybody come together um and really work to make this curriculum like even better than it has been in years past.
There's a graphic on the next page I should have said too, that sort of helps explain it a little bit more um in the back and forth. >> Right, last project. So, we're also at a really exciting point or in an exciting
point in the implementation of IM. So, K through2 is in year four and three through six is in year five of implementation. And so we saw a need and actually teachers were asking for really a shared reliable way of assessing what
students were learning in math, where there might be gaps um across schools and classrooms. And they really wanted something that was going to be well aligned with the IM curriculum. And so this school year we worked on creating
and administering administering um benchmark assessments three times a year. So beginning of year, middle of year, end of year for grades two through five. And so grade 2 is transitioning away from the AMC assessment towards
these um IM assessments. And so this actually gives us just like another tool too for monitoring student progress which is something that teachers and we were very interested in having. And so the purpose of the benchmarks is really
to drive instruction and then interventions and enrichments. The math coaches are supporting the building leaders and facilitating data team meetings. And a huge shout out to the building administrators for really prioritizing those data meetings and
working with us to support teachers um because they really allow us to provide more targeted intervention when needed um for students who aren't meeting the grade level standards. So as part of this project, we're also
building out an IM aligned resource bank for teachers to use for those interventions and enrichment. And so our goal is really to build a coherent system of intervention so that students
are seeing IM related topics in those intervention sessions that they are having. So that really what's happening in intervention is mirroring what's happening in the classroom instruction.
Um and really just want to give a really big thank you as I said to our building leaders but also to our math coaches. Lana Mont Lana Montero has been spearheading this initiative this year and Tammy Marziki has been highly
involved in creating that resource bank and both have been um highly involved in the data team meetings and helping to facilitate them. >> Awesome. >> All right, so as we wrap up um I just want to kind of call your attention to
some of the through lines that connect each of these projects whether it's in year one or year five or six. Uh we really believe that um creating those shared expectations that common language um is essential in um the work that
happens. It's really like one of the priorities for all of our projects. And then the job embedded teacher um learning is also what we think really drives continuous improvement. And um from the very start of any curriculum review, we let folks know that are
joining the team that this is also a professional learning opportunity. It isn't just coming together to review materials that folks that come on that team are expected to want to learn, want to review um the latest research and um you know start to apply those practices
in their classroom. As I mentioned at the beginning um we throughout the process um have lots of different indicators that we monitor for all of these processes. Um, of course, you know, one of the first visible things are those adult actions, sort of
the visible uh implementation of the materials and the items. And so you see some examples there. The other thing too is just what we start to hear from our student experiences. Um, we are lucky to have the opportunity to do walkthroughs with our principles. Also another part
of this process um is supporting our principles in the look fors as they start to support teachers through their um observations as well. Um and then of course you know those final student outcomes are really what we're looking
to each year. Um we know that MCCAST is um you know an important indicator for us just to see not only our student achievement but also growth and then as we build out our district common assessments those are really helpful as well in different screenings to just monitoring as we go how our students are
growing. All right. So, we would love to answer um any questions that you have about any of these projects um or our curriculum review process in general. >> Who wants to go first? I've got
questions. >> Go ahead. >> Why does everybody look at me? >> Don't know why. Why would we look at you? I don't know. >> Um >> I'll I'll make a few observations and then I have questions, right? Um,
so as you as you talk through this and as you um talk about the through lines and fortunately Dr. Hardy and I got to spend a little bit of time last night talking through some of this as well. >> Um, one of the things that that jumps out to me uh and I would have never used
the word belonging before >> when it comes to teachers but I think is is huge in this regard. Um, prior to this administration, I would consistently and comp and every time hear about professional development being not aligned to what a teacher
really wants to learn >> or to their job. Um, and it was just random. Like we almost literally had an underwater basket weaving professional development class at one point with the previous administration. Um and so I think seeing how this aligns and how the
buyin of the teachers is being brought into the process is is um is really great to see, right? Um so I think that's that's number one. Um there are s you know I want to say that um but there are some things that still kind of red
flag me as we go through this as well. Uh I mentioned a little bit to Sarah last night. Um, you know, there's I think it's uh it's the elementary science one. You know, the word the wording that is used in some of this from an update perspective does cause me
a little bit of concern. Um, you know, strong desire for curriculum that supports students figuring out phenomena rather than just learning about science. I know the intent, right? Um but the concern I have
uh is the potential if not executed properly to actually lead to more anxiety for a student than them not knowing in in the not knowing part of it. Um and I say that as a construct of um some of the challenges we faced last
year here at the high school with some of the instructional patterns in in biology in particular. Um, and so, you know, I know that's not the intent in this, but I think it's just something to watch out for. Like, how do we make sure that the instructional patterns
we're doing do not cause more harm than good, right? Especially if it's a new instructional pattern that doesn't have a true deep research basis beneath it. Um I have a little bit of cog you know cognitive dissonance of TCRPw TCRWP as a
result of that was the newest best thing at the point in time and we have since obviously seen that was not a good thing. Um, so I just I want to be cautious of following the the biggest, best, brightest thing, right? Instead of just making sure we're following truly
uh successfully researched practices with high e efficacy scores against them and not just the newest best thing, right? Um, so I know that's not the intent, but I just want to just throw that caution flag out there, right, as we go through it. Um, a couple other
quick observations as we go through this is, uh, I always when we started rolling out ARC, you know, I would I would ask Erin, I would ask you, I ask Sarah, do they know the why? Not just the how. Do they know the why? And so I think it's phenomenal as we look at the lit labs
that we're bringing the why with the how in the room together with the teachers, right? That Hilford literacy is there with ARC, that ARC is willing to expose themselves to having Hilford literacy in the room at the same time. um is a really I think it's a really great demonstration of the partnership
in addition to the material improvements that they've done for our K through2 uh stuff over the last year or so to show that they're truly trying to go after the science not just stamping we're science of reading on the on the papers right um and so I think that's that's
phenomenal to see to see as well um the other red flag that I would add is we're our teachers are creat creating the materials and not because our teachers can't create the materials um but because it frequently leads to
misalignment with standards historically. >> Um and there are whether we want to whether they're the best. I think we decided last year they're not ready for it yet. Not ready for prime time, which is fine. There are materials out there in the science space at this point in time. Um,
and I think it's just a matter of how do we make sure that we are implementing a curriculum that a follows the standards but b is accessible for everybody. C has true
measurement capabilities against it, right? Um, that can tie into the rest of our data platforms. Uh, D E is connected to what we're trying to do in some of the other other things as well. um like ARC has a ton of science topics in it as
an example, right? I think um amplify does as well. Uh the same thing with social studies, right? There's a lot of social studies built into the topics of those things. So, are we also thinking about how we align some of the the science with ARC in terms of
scope and sequence and social studies with ARC/amplify as we go through some of this too. Um, so yes, the the ability to create materials is great, but there is so much that goes into creating really strong, deep,
detailed, accessible materials. And frankly, many teachers don't have the time for that because guess what? They're teaching, right? So, uh, and I know Miss Peterson really well, right? So, there's no no shade on her at all. She's awesome. I just want to make sure that we're conscious of some of those
things when we when we put them out there in the ether, for lack of a better way to say it. So, that was more commentary than questions, but um hopefully it makes sense. >> Go ahead. >> No, >> no.
Um Sarah, anything on your end? No, I guess I would just say um building a com building off of that point. I think ahead and building on that idea of pull through across subject matter areas and also and how we pull that through to tier two support as well. So making sure
our teaching practices across and then through hearing more about how we're doing that as well. Yeah. All right, I'll go. Um, I think I think there Tom made a lot of
fair points. I some of them I I would think of as probably yellow flags versus red flags, so I I might soften a little bit, but I I think there's some fair points in there. Um, I I do have some specific questions. Um, in the elementary science uh curriculum review, there was a discussion about uh or a
point about uh the time on learning not being sufficient to support the HQM that are out there. I mean there are about 10 other places where we say we would say we don't have enough time on learning you know are there any you know I know it's early days on this but you know outside of the big one which is
elementary school halfday Fridays like is are there any do we see any glimmers of hope for how we might address that and be able to carve out enough time to support HQIM in science. I mean, one of the things that we are actually thinking about and looking at
is that ARC integration, right? And and granted, like that does not do enough for science instruction because they're just two very different subjects where one is really skills focused. So, they are getting the
content in or some content in ARC. And so I don't want to say that that's going to be the cure, but looking at ways that we might be able to streamline or connect the subjects is something that we're definitely looking at. Other than that, we're still working on that puzzle
of trying to figure out how to get more consistent time for science. So I would take it as one more checkbox for, you know, why we need to figure out how to get after that at some point, you know, over these next few years because >> again, it's like the fourth or fifth
thing that we would look at. We'd say there's not enough time for it in the schedule and we got to we got to figure out how to solve for that. Um >> uh Marian, one other question that was for you specifically, the the um the middle school math license, when does the current license expire? >> In June. >> In June. Okay.
>> Yeah. >> Okay. Um we feel good about being on track to be ready in June for >> We do. >> Yeah. Okay. >> We have we have um hopefully some we have definitely publishers presenting in
February before an early March meeting. So, February, early March, and then narrowing down the choices of curriculum um and doing some local site visits in the spring to talk to teachers who are
implementing the curriculum that they're interested in. Okay. I I remember years ago um at some point during the early implementation of IM we we talked about you know maybe one day would make sense to think about a consistent you know consistent curriculum provider across is
is IM in that consideration set. I'm not I don't want to put my thumb on the scale for it but are they in that consideration set or >> it's definitely on the list of HQ IM um and so but I'm not sure that the teachers I where the teachers will go. >> Yeah I I don't I I really don't want to
put our thumb on the scale for it. just I was just asking the question. So >> um and then um Erin the the you made the comment about uh you know we don't have literacy coaches and the sort of embedded um training that comes with our our purchase of ARC is going away. >> Um do we is there an option for us to
bring those you know bring those folks back on like a contract basis for those kinds of days? >> For sure. For sure. >> Are we looking at that for next year? Yeah, I mean in all honesty, Lit Labs I think would probably be the way to do that and build it out and have like
>> continue the partnership with Hill too. Um because I think it's both. I don't think it's a like either or. I think it's a like both. >> Um kind of situation. Um but like doing that I think at each school would be very costly. Um so I think the lit labs
are sort of the mechanism. That's that's kind of what I was getting at like just in a in a targeted way, not the same. >> We can absolutely um and I think that like that speaks to the partnership with both, right? And like really trying to make sure we maintain that partnership even if we don't have as like the professional learning that we've had the
past couple of years because we don't need that kind of professional learning, right? We need a different kind. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Um love all of the focus on evidence-based practices. Um, you know, I think that there's so much good research happening
out there right now in terms of what does and does not work for student engagement and student retention. Um, I also really love the degree of ownership that you are giving to teachers in terms of being involved
in the process. And I understand what Tom is saying in terms of the potential for misalignment. Um, and you know, I I hear my kids, uh, my daughter in the middle school talk about, oh, our team's doing this and the other team is doing this, and it's not quite, uh, not quite equal. Um, but I also know that from the
the educator perspective, it's it it really does help to be able to include your own input and to be able to include something that you are passionate about. And so, I I don't mind a little bit of kind of personalization in there. I think it it can really um be
very stimulating when the students see like oh this is something that this educator is really excited to teach about and I know that not all teachers are excited to teach about all topics and that if you're using a common curriculum you know sometimes you might end up teaching you know in ELA you might have to do a whole unit on a book
that you're not particularly fond of or something like that. So, I really do um appreciate kind of the effort to give teachers a voice in the process because I think that that does translate to um benefits for the students. Um
you know, I I I don't have any specific I think questions about any of the the projects that have been discussed tonight. I I still have um I guess some broader questions about um how
these kinds of curricular considerations are responding to continued changes that are happening sort of outside the classroom and and terms of things like the introduction of AI and um you know obviously there's an increased reliance in the classroom as well on technology.
I'm sort of just wondering how much of a consideration in these curricular evaluations is being given to um you know what's happening when the students go to apply these skills outside of the classroom environment during the day. Um
is that something that's being discussed at all? Is it something that the teachers are talking about? Uh is it something that's not really on anyone's radar? What's what's the status of that as sort of an external factor that might be affecting the learning process for
students? >> That's a really interesting question. >> It is. >> Yeah. >> Um I will say, you know, um the topic of AI comes up now in many of our conversations where it didn't even a year ago. >> Okay. Um but I would say like a lot of
our PD around AI is in that introductory phase where it is sort of this separate thing and not fully integrated. But having said that um we do start to see AI pop up in some of the broader >> um trainings and whatnot. Um, I'm just
thinking of a training um, Cass Hall ran for staff around supporting ML learners where she, you know, gave them like this very detailed prompt that can help you align your lesson objectives with WEDO standards. Like that's just a simple example, but um, that is starting to to
come into play, this sort of alignment and this giving teachers ideas of how technology can support. I think that especially at the elementary level perhaps we haven't um made all those connections all the way through where middle school certainly high school when we're talking about some of the projects
we didn't talk about today >> that that idea of where our students are headed and sort of what >> how their careers are going to look different >> um the jobs they're going into are going to look different that conversation is starting to come up >> um but I think it's evolving for us
right now as far as how that fits into like our curriculum >> move I'm also I'm thinking about in terms of you were talking about the the Amplify program and sort of the analysis of what are the skills that they're they have in sixth grade going into seventh grade from seventh grade going eighth grade and so forth and um you know
thinking about what I see when I'm grading student writing at the college level and um you know it it's not great right now in terms of the students ability to engage with some basic kinds of writing skills because they're falling back on AI as a crutch and so I
I'm curious to know if there's a way to kind of integrate that into the discussion to make sure that the skills that are being emphasized in the classroom aren't being or to try to minimize the likelihood that those skills are being undercut outside of the
classroom >> by virtue of the availability of this kind of technology. Um, and I don't think there's an easy answer to that. Certainly at the higher ed level, we have not even begun to figure out a good answer to that. Um, but I do think it's a conversation worth having.
>> I will say on the flip side too that a lot of the curricula like IM has its own bot that at this point like teachers can use. So if they want more practice problems that are IM related, they can they can use this. And at the student
level, there are some bots that will help students work through a math problem and not giving them the answer, but like supporting them in going through and >> Okay. >> Yeah. So, there there's definitely I know that there's some negatives and
there's also some positives as well for for AI in >> in education. >> Thank you. >> Anything else? >> No. Awesome. >> All right. Thank you both.
>> Lot of great work. Lot of great work. >> All right. Uh we have three scholarship awards to uh release funding for, I suppose, um or authorized expenditures from. So Tom, do we have motions on those? >> We do. >> But before I do the first one, I have a
question. >> Sure. >> Because the first one's a Libby one, >> right? I believe the actual documentation for the Libby scholarship calls for $4,000 per scholarship.
Did we Where did the 40,000 come from? In the past, we've done 88,000. Was this purposeful or did somebody? I don't have the details on that. If there's a question about it, we probably should just hold it for next week and we can we can look into it.
>> I didn't I would have said something to Sarah last night, but I forgot about it. So, we could have researched ahead of time, but then I was looking at it and I was like, "Wait a second, that number seems really low for 22 people." >> You looked at last year's and it was,000. >> Yeah, I have uh I looked at >> I wonder if the funding the funding
>> funding's over a million still, right? It is. >> It's up to a million last I saw, but maybe uh our CFO knows. Um but I looked at which which packet is this? Um this is 2015 313. So March of last year
20 sorry 2025 March of last year we distributed 88,000 over 22 scholarships. And I'm pretty sure at one point I looked at this scholarship and the language says 4,000 per scholarship. >> Okay. Let's um
>> you want to table that one? >> Yeah, let's t let's table that one. >> Okay. So, um, move to table. >> Well, we haven't made a motion yet, so we don't have to table it. We don't have to formally table it, right? >> Oh, go ahead. >> You can table the agenda item, right?
>> Sure. Go for it. >> Move to table the David B. Libby scholarship pending review of the amount to be dis dispersed. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Second by Laura. Sarah, >> yes. >> Tom, >> yes. >> Laura, >> yes.
>> And Sean, yes. >> Okay. Actually, I think we took that out of order, so apologies, Sean, but >> yeah. Okay. So, Carla's notes are in the wrong order. >> So, it's the Dave Savio one. >> Savio now. So, uh motion to approve the expenditure of $251 from the David Savio
Law Enforcement Scholarship to be provided to one senior in alignment with the scholarship criteria. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Seconded by Laura. Sarah, >> yes. >> Tom, >> yes. >> Laura, >> yes. >> And Sean, yes. And then Arthur Spencer. ly >> motion to approve the expenditure of 400 from the Arthur L. Spencer Memorial
Scholarship to be provided to one senior in alignment with the scholarship criteria. >> Second. >> Seconded by Laura. Sarah, >> yes. >> Tom, >> yes. >> Laura, >> yes. >> And Sean, yes. Okay. All right. We'll move on to old business. Um, so we will open the floor for any additional
discussion that folks have about the budget. Um, I know, you know, obviously it's a relatively straightforward budget being level service. Um, I don't believe there were any questions from the committee that were provided, you know, last week, but if anybody's got anything they want to discuss this evening, now's
your chance. >> Just one guy question to see if the administration had a chance to look at any other funding that would not use all of the school choice in the first year. uh or if it or if this is the locked in
expectation right now unless like we said last time we have more retirements or resignations that fund a little bit more in the budget. >> This is the plan as of right now. But you know we do have the ability to move around within the various funds that we have depending on what the balances look
like. But um in terms of looking at other any other revenue sources, no, we have not looked at anything else in the last two weeks. If anyone wants to give us a nice large donation, I'll be happy to take that. Okay. Anything else,
Dr. Cororm? Anything on your mind? >> All right. All right. Uh, so we'll move to the superintendent search. Um, so in there's a there's a revised timeline in the packet, but before I'll give kind of a broader update before we we go to that timeline. Um you know obviously with our
a bridged a bridged uh process here um the first you know sort of focus was on getting the community input mechanism set up. So we got the survey launched. We have focus groups scheduled for next week. Um we've certainly gone well down the path on recruiting the screening
committee. Um we've had a good a good response or a few pockets. You know some of those where we specified you have to have one at each level. We've got a few a few gaps there. So, we'll have to do some uh more targeted recruiting to fill in some of those holes, but I do think we'll probably be in a position to to ask the committee to approve um the
membership next week. Um the uh um so that that was the sort of the first focus. The the focus now is on actually getting ready for the posting, which you know, we currently are planning for February 2nd. So, developing the role description, um some of the marketing materials and so forth. Um so, working
with uh you know, working with folks in the administration to do that. I was hoping tonight to have a draft of the role description for us to review. Um we don't we don't have that. So we'll uh we'll share something we'll share that you know as early as we can next week and then um you know have time to review it and if we need to make edits on the
floor on uh on Thursday. Um but uh that's the general update in terms of where we are. Um, one other thing that's on my radar is, um, I need to grab time. I I've got to reach out to Colby and get time just for a refresher on, you know, sort of the open meeting
elements and some of the things we need to be cautious of in terms of how the commit the screening committee does their work and that kind of thing. Um, you know, it's been I know you're more or less familiar with it, but it's also been five plus years. So, um, a refresher would be helpful on that. Um,
Tom and Laura are going to be the school committee participants on the screening committee. Um and then you know the rest we'll we'll as I said we'll sort out next week and um you know bring a proposal for this for this group to vote on. So those are the general uh general
updates. Um and then again the you know the sort of action I'd like to take tonight would be to approve the updated search timeline I guess with the amendment of d of dropping that um draft review from January 22nd. But let me just kind of take a walk through it and share the the thinking and the rationale
here. Um, so, you know, last time we met, we talked about finding a way to accelerate the timeline so that we can take a vote to appoint a new superintendent um, prior to the election. And so, we've kind of targeted April 6th is sort of the drop dead date for that with the election being on
April 7th. Um, so working backwards from there, you know, that's kind of how this timeline came to be. Um, the opening, you know, the intent is to post the opening on February 2nd. It'll be open for uh, four weeks, give or take. Um so it'll close on March 1st. Um before the
posting closes, we will hold the orientation meeting for the screening committee on February 24th. Everybody who's been reaching out to participate has, you know, been able to confirm their availability for that. So we should have full attendance for that. Um the application will close on March 1st and then, you know, we'll submit the uh
or we'll share the applicant info um at that point to the screening committee. The screening committee will meet three days later on March 4th to choose from among the applicants who they want to bring in, who they want to identify as semi- finalists and bring in for interviews. Also to do some preparation
for interviews. So we'll um you know a little bit of a um you know here's how the interviews are going to work. You know, here are the roles everyone will play. Uh and also to you know share some information about how the how the question development will go. Um the screening committee will have about three days from there to submit any
questions they'd like to see asked in these screening interviews um to the chair of the screening committee who will we'll have to identify uh during the orientation meeting. Um and then uh the chair will will take on the responsibility of developing the
question set that will be asked consistently of all uh of all applicants. Um once we once we get the um the applicant the the list of semi-finalists from the screening committee on March 4th, we'll immediately go to work on scheduling um
scheduling applicants into windows between March 9th and March 18th. And in my um in the note we sent out to the community last week, we laid this out, but the 9th, 10th, and 11th, which is a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, the 16th, 17th, and 18th. Uh and then the mo the
evenings on those six days and then the morning of whatever the Saturday is in between the >> 14th I guess it is. >> Um the morning of that day will be the windows that we'll target. Um you know depending on how many uh semi-finalists the screening committee selects. you know, we hopefully can fit that into
three to four, you know, three to four of those seven windows and not use all of them and ideally frontload those as much as possible. Um so that we can get the screening interviews done, you know, on the earlier side there. Um the screening committee will come or at least the chair of the screening
committee will come to us on the 19th um and present the list of finalists. we have a formality to sort of approve that list of finalists, you know, ask ask questions that we might have of the screening committee and then the screening committee is discharged. At that point, even before the screening
committee comes to us and presents a list of finalists, we'll get to work on on um on notifying the folks that have been, you know, selected or recommended as finalists by the screening committee. we'll get to work on notifying those folks and and pulling together um both site visits and interview schedules um
so that we again can get those scheduled as quickly as we can. Uh March 23rd through April 3rd is kind of the the full window there, but if we've got three or four finalists and can squeeze them all into that first week, uh we'll try to do that and then um that'll put us in position to maybe be taking our
vote on April 2nd, even advancing it uh a few days um rather than having a special meeting on the 6th. Uh, so that is the that's the timeline as it sits. It's fast and daunting and there's a lot to do. Um, I think it's
doable, but it's it's fast. So, um, the good news is, you know, February is a little bit of a quiet period. So, it'll be good time to sort of get all our ducks in a row in terms of, you know, even drafting the emails are going to go go to candidates saying, "Hey, if you're, you know, if you're offered a finalist um slot, this is what we'll
need from you." And, you know, this is what you the scheduling considerations that you should start thinking about now, we'll be prepared to sort of get all that stuff out um you know, as soon as we hit the milestones in March and cruise right along in March, which is when all the action will happen.
So let me pause there for questions on the schedule or any any of the other updates I shared >> just on the committee itself. Um have have we already received feedback from the CPAC or have do we need to pro proactively reach out to them? >> That's one of the the gaps we currently have. We we have a number of parents
who've reached out but none of them have selfidentified as I'm involved in CPAC or you know I have a I have a student you know student uh on an IEP or what have you. So um I will um do two things. One is to follow up with those parents just to ask if any of them do have that experience and two is, you know, to
reach out proactively to CPAC to ask that they um contact their membership and and encourage folks to apply. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> And the same with our MECO. Do we have that? >> We're in the same situation with me currently. Yeah. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> So, we can leverage maybe Friends of
Ready Mechco board and ask >> Friends of Ready Mechco and I'll reach out to Jerica and Cindy as well. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> Yeah. Those are those follow-ups are all on my agenda for tomorrow. >> Okay. Any other
>> All right. Well, if there are no other questions, we can take a motion. We'll just call it as amended, I suppose. >> Yep, that's fine. Uh move to approve prop uh proposed superintendent search timeline as amended for the draft role description. >> Seconded by Laura. Sarah,
>> yes. >> Tom, >> yes. Laura, >> yes. >> And Sean, yes. Okay. Uh, that brings us to the end of our agenda. Is there another motion? >> Motion to dismiss. >> Ajourn. >> Ajurnn. Sorry. Sorry. I'm in classroom mode. >> I'll take it. Ajourn.
>> Uh, seconded by Tom. Sarah. >> Yes. >> Tom, >> yes. >> Laura, yes. >> And Sean, yes, we're adjourned. Thanks, everyone.