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Date: 6/25/2015
EAST LONGMEADOW – Principals from the district’s elementary schools revealed their end-of-the-year presentations for each of the their three respective schools during the School Committee’s June 22 meeting.
Mountain View Elementary School Principal Elaine Santaniello said her schools had three specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely (SMART) goals for the year, which included aligning the school’s English language arts and math programs via the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) test from Renaissance Learning.
“I’m happy to say that we did make positive gains [with] 100 percent of our students,” she added.
Santaniello said in grade three, students performed on par with the STAR math assessment in the spring compared with one taken in the fall. Both received 83 percent students ranking at or above the benchmark.
She noted that the lack of increased results from students was likely due to “weeks of testing” throughout the year, which included the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test.
“I think by the time we gave the STAR to everyone, I think it was totally fatigue testing,” Santaniello said. “I wouldn’t want to give the STAR before the PARCC because it would be too early and we wouldn’t be getting the right benchmark, but yes, I think it was a matter of too much.”
Mapleshade Elementary School Principal Michael Fredette said one of his school’s SMART goals were to have all students improve comprehension and understanding of grade level text through balanced literacy programs.
Another SMART goal was for the school to foster a safe, nurturing, and respectful learning and working environment, he noted.
“Some key action steps for that was that we really wanted children to have the opportunity to share their uniqueness and plan programming and practices of that, which was very effective,” Fredette said.
A response survey from exiting fifth grade students showed that 73 percent of student believed other students treated them with respect and that 66 percent of students felt there were adults in place to help with social, family, and friendship issues.
School Committee Chair Richard Freccero said the question was phrased badly, which likely contributed to the low number of positive responses.
Another SMART goal at Mapleshade was to put an emphasis on science, technology, and engineering programs, which included the addition of robotics for grades four and five during the 2014-2015 school year, he noted. The school plans to offer robotics to third graders beginning in the next school year.
Mapleshade improved in reading STAR assessments from 83 percent of students at or above target in the fall to 85 percent in the spring. Math scores also jumped up eight percent, from 81 percent in the fall to 89 percent in the spring.
Meadow Brook Elementary School Principal Lisa Dakin said the school developed a new mission and vision statement this year that reads, “Our vision is to become a Pre K-2 school that is highly regarded for its academic excellence. Through innovative instructional approaches we will develop curious and creative learners who persevere through challenging tasks. Our students will leave prepared to achieve at high levels in a diverse and ever changing world.”
Dakin said during the past three years the school has focused considerably on its first SMART goal, which is to improve reading and writing in science programs.
The school also collaborated with Blueberry Hill Elementary School in Longmeadow to better understand the Eureka Math assessment, which Meadow Brook School hopes to implement in the future, she noted.
According to the Eureka website, the math program is a Pre K-12 curriculum and professional development platform that is aligned with the Common Core State Standards.