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Date: 12/6/2023
LONGMEADOW — The leadership from all six Longmeadow Schools presented their state-required school improvement plans to the School Committee on Nov. 28. The plans were designed to reinforce the district goals around incorporating multi-tiered systems of support, universal design for learning and bolstering a renewed interest in student success in its many forms.
“When you put your goals on paper, it requires you to be accountable,” Superintendent M. Martin O’Shea said.
The first goal the principals discussed was aligning the culture and practices regarding multi-tiered systems of support. Blueberry Hill School Principal David Allen said that assessments given at Blueberry Hill School provide a baseline understanding of each student’s grade-level readiness. From there, support can be provided to the students who require it. Blueberry Hill School uses the data platform Forefront and the bridges assessment to monitor academic achievement. Wolf Swamp Road School Principal Jared Materas added that the data that the schools collect can be disaggregated to see the progress of a single student, a classroom or the school as a whole and covers academic and social-emotional learning.
Williams Middle School Principal Nicole Forys said the middle school students experience a significant amount of stress because they are going through changes in their environments and personal lives. She praised Director of Student and Family Support Nilda Irizarry for supporting educators. Forys said emotional self-awareness in teachers can help them to help their students with their social-emotional learning. Irizarry said the work done by the Social-Emotional Learning Implementation Team will create a “better sense of belonging” for middle schoolers. There are five social-emotional professional development sessions planned for the year.
Glenbrook Middle School Principal Nikcole Allen told the School Committee about Glenbrook Middle School’s student support center, which will be available later in the school year. She said the room would be “welcoming and comforting” for students. “So many kids just need a space to check in,” Allen said. The school plans to contact other schools that already operate a student support center to help determine how the room will be run. However, she did say there would be supervision and safeguards would be put in place to keep it from becoming solely a chance for students to socialize.
East Lonmeadow High School Principal Thomas Landers discussed access and inclusion at the high school, including eliminating barriers in the language used in the program of studies, and access to the writing center and the Student Support Center. The Students Support Center has helped approximately 100 students in the past two years, including 58 students this year alone, Landers said. It is designed to help those who would otherwise “fall through the cracks,” he said, adding that students are referred by parents, counselors or teachers.
The writing center operates with 60 trained student tutors and a teacher. Landers said that more than 350 students have received help in the writing center. Changes made at the high school were based on the recommendations of a recent audit by the New England School Development Council, which provides the school with its accreditation.
The schools are implementing Universal Design for Learning by focusing on representation, engagement, and action and expression. Allen said engagement is increased by providing different methods for learning, such as group activities, individual study and the use of reading, videos and even podcasts. She said you can see how excited students are when they are engaged in their learning. Forys added that middle school students are embracing multiple learning formats and provided an example in which some students used math manipulatives while another used a worksheet and checklist.
Center School Principal Donna Hutton said that elementary teachers use arts, visual mediums and games to teach lessons and Materas commented that students engaged in learning are more apt to take those lessons into other areas of their life. O’Shea said that the schools “bake” these principles into the curriculum and lessons.
The schools have identified various initiatives and programs to help students excel. Glenbrook is piloting a standards-based grading system for the eighth-grade science program. Rather than a letter grade, student achievement will be categorized as emerging, developing, proficiency, or mastering for each of the curriculum standards, or learning goals. Allen said the goal is to give parents a better understanding of their child’s progress and challenges by allowing them to access their data through a website, although she acknowledged there had been some difficulties with the website.
O’Shea said it is a tool for “putting kids in charge of their own learning,” adding that it is “powerful” for students to see their growth over a year. School Committee member Mary Keane asked about feedback on the grading system. O’Shea said it was mostly positive, but admitted some parents would prefer the traditional grading system. He said providing parents with information about the purpose of the grading system “builds community, builds partnership.”
Forys discussed the Witness Stones Project, in which seventh grade students have a choice of researching one of about 14 historical figures. Rather than simply reading about their subjects, the students will work with the Historical Society to source their information.
Longmeadow High School is developing a capstone course that will allow students to take “a deeper dive” into a topics and improve their research skills ahead of entering college. He noted that a poll of the Class of 2022 showed students said they would have benefited from more research. The class is expected to be available at the beginning of the 2024-25 school year.
Another initiative at the high school, the internship program, is in its third year of providing “real-life, experiential opportunities” for students, Landers said. Students spend a portion of their academic time working in businesses, service areas and schools. Student Representative Andrew Medeiros commented that his brother had completed an internship while in high school and went on to work with the community partner. He said it was a “great opportunity” to let students learn more about areas in which they have a passion before graduation.
On a related topic, Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Elizabeth Nelson said an examination of the elementary-level literacy curriculum was underway. She explained that teachers had largely lost confidence in the existing curriculum. Available curricula had been narrowed to four as on Nov. 28 and were expected to be further reduced to two final options on Dec. 1. Those two programs will be piloted beginning in January and recommendations on which one to adopt will be delivered at the end of May. While Nelson acknowledged the timeline is “aggressive,” she said it was necessary.