Schools outline improvement goals

By Courtney Llewellyn

Reminder Assistant Editor

EAST LONGMEADOW The principals of the five schools in the East Longmeadow school district met with the School Committee last week to describe their individual school improvement plans. These plans focused on everything from adding a literacy closet to increasing character education to building a "peaceful playground."

The eight principals and assistant principals took turns presenting their improvement plans and goals using the "SMART" method. Superintendent Edward Costa explained what each letter of the acronym meant.

"'S' is specific and strategic, 'M' is for measurable and monitored, 'A' is for action-oriented and agreed upon, 'R' is for realistic and results oriented and 'T' is for timed and tracked," Costa explained.

East Longmeadow High School

Each school presented three SMART goals in its improvement plan. East Longmeadow High School principal Richard Freccero and assistant principal Michael Knybel discussed their plans to expand the science curriculum, repair the school so it doesn't lose its New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) accreditation and work with students toward MCAS testing improvements.

"Now that MCAS science testing is mandated for the class of 2010, we've decided to review and revise the offerings in the science department," Freccero told the School Committee. "The science curriculum has been expanded for the 2008-09 school year, making it comparable to other local schools."

The physical science (also known as earth science) class has been removed, with freshmen taking biology, sophomores taking chemistry and juniors taking physics. The expanded curriculum will allow for a fourth year of science. Currently available electives include human anatomy and physiology, environmental science and ecology. New courses will go into the program of studies in December with student reviews taking place in March.

ELHS needs to complete 53 recommended items by March 1 to maintain its accreditation by NEASC. Both the principal and the assistant principal were confident this goal could be accomplished easily.

"The items that need to be addressed can be listed as completed, in progress, planned for the future or rejected," Freccero explained. "I'm confident most will be completed by the deadline."

The third goal for the high school is to increase composite scores for English, math and special education on the MCAS tests. Test scores will be analyzed and those students who are labeled as "at risk" will be offered tutoring. Days in January, March and May will also be set aside as MCAS preparation days.

School Committee vice-chairman Thomas McGowan lauded the school of what it has already done in terms of MCAS testing. "Kudos to the teachers and the students for doing so well," he said. "This shows East Longmeadow doesn't settle for the status quo."

Birchland Park Middle School

Principal Kathleen Hill and assistant principal Paul Plummer announced plans for a continued focus on numeracy and literacy as one of the middle school's goals.

"We want to increase math, reading and writing achievements," Hill said. Like the high school, students having trouble with math will be offered assistance by attending an additional math class during the course of the day instead of an elective.

"We want to work with students to refine their writing skills and put more focus on non-fiction reading and writing," Hill added. Another goal is to further develop an advisory program. "We want a safe, healthy school environment," Plummer stated. There are currently 52 advisors at Birchland Park, each with a group of 12 or 13 students under their direction. Plummer said the aim is to "fine tune" the program this year and gather feedback from the students.

The final SMART goal for the middle school is to develop professional learning communities for staff. These communities are made up of study groups of six to eight teachers who come together for "focused and meaningful growth opportunities," according to Hill. The groups will focus on the needs in their departments, and each group will present a product by the end of the school year.

Mapleshade Elementary

The first goal listed by principal Wayne Wilson is to investigate strategies to identify English language learners (ELL) and help them to achieve more at school. "We'll research ways to screen and identify ELL students earlier," Wilson said. "There will professional training of the staff and different tools in the classroom to help with their education."

Costa added that the ELL program is being reviewed and redefined district-wide.

Increasing the composite performance of special education students in English was the second goal. Mapleshade will add a "literacy closet" for leveled readers, with a focus on non-fiction titles.

The third goal is to increase school and community spirit within the school. Wilson said there will be more character education in classrooms and community service projects for children will be promoted as well. "These projects include things like the Coats for Kids drive, writing letters to servicemen overseas, and we're looking for more," Wilson said.

Mountain View Elementary

A focus on differentiating instruction was one of the goals presented by principal Carolyn Wallace. This would allow for teachers to work with individual student needs instead of the classroom as a whole. There would be more guided reading with students so true reading levels could be determined and teachers could figure out how to move students forward on their academic journeys. A new computer profile program also lets students and teachers get to know each other and work together through the program.

"There will be a different focus with differentiating instruction," Wallace said. "Instead of all the students reading the same story and doing the same work, they can read different stories but focus on the same skills. It's about fitting instruction to the child, not fitting the child to the instruction. It will mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people."

"Teachers have a lack of freedom in the classroom," School Committee Chairman Bob Mazzariello said. "We have talented teachers but have been decreasing that talent because of what they're required to do."

Mazzariello and Costa both showed their support for this school improvement plan. "Differentiation is an outcry against teaching for tests," Costa said. "We need to bring creativity back."

Wallace said a focus on a positive school culture is another goal.

"Mountain View's gone through a lot of changes this year. There's no more school-wide snack time, lunch times have been moved around, certain amounts of time have been set aside for each subject and there's a totally new fourth grade section," she explained. "We're looking at both the positive and negative impact of these changes."

The final goal is to continue the fractions unit from third grade through fifth grade, a program that began last school year.

Meadow Brook Elementary

The "Peaceful Playground" project was presented as a goal by Judy Fletcher, principal, and Alaena Podmore, assistant principal. This will include the addition of 100 new games and activities for the outdoor playground. All staff will be trained on how to monitor the area and a playground committee will be utilized to discuss the placement of the equipment. The main goal of the playground is to teach children about conflict resolution.

"It's a great idea to get kids to resolve their own conflicts," School Committee member William Fonseca said. "It's a refreshing concept."

Meadow Brook is also looking to implement a pre-referral program for special education, one which would be comparable to national and state models.

Fletcher said the school is also looking into developing a writing rubric for first and second graders. The rubric would outline the skills each grade level should work on as well as assess student writing.

"Many of these goals have applicability across the district," Costa said.

No Child Left Behind

Many of the schools' goals involve preparing students for MCAS testing. At the high school and middle school especially, there is a focus on Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).

"We call it 'Are You Perfect?'" Costa said. "The No Child Left Behind bill measures every school in the country on a diagonal line, from 2000 through 2014. By the end of the program, every child should be on the same level.

"It's a utopian goal," he continued. "It says every child will be proficient by the end, meaning at 100 percent or perfect. It's a good goal, but this congress wrote it as a legislation, not a goal."

Costa is optimistic about how the East Longmeadow Public Schools are doing.

"All the schools in East Longmeadow are on target," he said. "We're a high-performing school district despite what our statistics say we should be."

Costa implied the school improvement plans may help keep the district on its upward path.