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Date: 6/15/2022
EAST LONGMEADOW – Ahead of the school year’s conclusion, Superintendent Gordon Smith provided a self-evaluation of the district’s progress during the School Committee’s June 6 meeting.
“This has been a year that has, in many cases, unexpected challenges…Even with all of that, I think it’s been a very productive year,” said Smith.
Smith said the district made positive progress in several facets. Based on individual grade assessments, Smith noted that “good growth” occurred across all grade levels.
The superintendent shared the district achieved two math curriculum initiatives that will be implemented next school year for kindergarten through 8th grade and kindergarten through 12th grade.
“We’ll be starting to implement those next year. Just getting to that point was quite a feat to bring that many grade levels in two curricular areas to this point…I think it’s going to pay dividends as we go forward,” said Smith.
Smith also highlighted the district’s continued relationship with the Center for Leadership and Educational Equity. For this school year, the superintendent said the district focused on creating a more equitable hiring process for staff.
“[We reviewed] all aspects of our recruitment, which had not been a focal point of the district prior to this year…We’re looking for highly-qualified candidates and we would like to diversify our staff in all areas,” said Smith. The superintendent shared the district made “good headway” in advancing its hiring practices.
Another highlight of the school year was the district’s advancement of their Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) study for East Longmeadow High School. With a design firm and project manager hired, the district will undergo three “visioning workshops” for the educational leadership team along with a community workshop with the public.
“That’s a huge step forward,” said Smith. The community forum took place on June 15 as the district discussed whether to renovate, add to or construct a new campus for the East Longmeadow High School.
The superintendent shared the district also finalized a contract with food services, custodians and secretaries. In his closing remarks, Smith said these achievements will help improve the district.
“All of that, I look at as great accomplishments to move the district forward in many areas,” said Smith.