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Date: 1/18/2023
MONSON – While students’ success is paramount, Monson Superintendent Cheryl Clarke plans to focus on staff needs as well in 2023.
Every year, Clarke creates a theme with the staff. For the 2022-2023 school year, the theme is “your health and wellness.”
“What are we doing to help support everyone’s health and wellness in any way?” asked Clarke.
She informed Reminder Publishing that she received a health-related grant and created what she calls “the Health and Wellness Center” – essentially a gym. Inside the Health and Wellness Center are various machines including treadmills, bikes, a weight station and more. The space is open to staff before and after school as well as Saturday mornings – free of charge.
Along with the fitness center, Clarke said there is a monthly calendar of free wellness classes including holistic nutrition, belly dancing, yoga and Zumba, to name a few. This year, pickleball will be added, along with childcare on Saturdays so that the “barriers are removed” and more staff can participate.
In fall 2022, a vaccine clinic was offered to support staff, along with the purchasing of salad bar carts for the staff lounges.
“A major project is supporting staff,” shared Clarke.
She noted that 2023 is the first year everyone is hoping to have a “normal year” since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
For the students, Clarke said a “project” would be to make up for the learning loss that many experienced throughout COVID-19. She noted that they want to support social-emotional growth. “It was tough for many coming back after being away for so long,” said Clarke. She shared that additional counselors have joined the district – seven in total – supporting preschoolers up to grade 12. For the number of students enrolled in Monson, she said this is a “great ratio.” Aside from individual counseling, group counseling is offered as well.
Clarke went on to discuss the positive, behavioral, intervention and support (PBIS) health project. She explained that it has three tiers – supporting kids behaviorally, academically and socially – which is all “positive reinforcement instead of more punitive.” While the PBIS project was already in place for grades 1-6, it has been expanded to include grades 7 and 8.
“It’s really important to me that the arts continue for our kids,” said Clarke.
She shared that they have expanded the art program offering clubs at Granite Valley School and the high school. Granite Valley also has a before school band which started this year.
In terms of learning at the high school, the schedule has changed. Clarke said they “got away from the long block.” Now, there are shorter classes which are yearlong instead of one semester. By adjusting the schedule, she said it has “substantially” increased the number of minutes that students are receiving in the core academic classes.
Also at the high school, the “team model” has been brought back for grades 7 and 8. Clarke explained that these grades are now operating on a “middle school model” – allowing students to make stronger connections with their teachers.
The high school advisory group is being “revamped” as they wish to hear more from the students. Clarke said adjustments are needed as students’ needs evolve over the years. Similarly, the student council will be expanded to grades 7 and 8 as the school wants to give those students a greater voice as well.
Clarke shared, they have been working with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to implement a curriculum called APPLE Seed, which is “all about early literacy.” She noted that the teachers are undergoing a lot of professional development and have been provided support to ensure that this is being implemented correctly. “This is really aimed at narrowing gaps and accelerating learning,” added Clarke. The school is also implementing AVMR which is early numeracy development.
One of the district’s goals for this year is to expand on the existing traditions such as the winter carnival at the high school. Although the event did not take place during COVID-19, it returned last year. This year, Clarke said they want to expand it and will host a mini carnival for grades 7 and 8. “We want to keep our traditions alive,” she shared. This includes the Day of Service at the high school in April, along with the Veterans Day assembly which returned to Granite Valley in 2022.
Clarke said creating the operating budget for fiscal year 2024 will be a challenge. “We are not sure what that is going to look like,” she explained. “We have the ESSER [Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief] funds – the federal grants – that came down to support schools during COVID[-19] and so that’s not going to be around forever.”
She continued, “Next year we will have that money as well but what does it look like moving forward when that money is gone and how does it look in the support of our students and staff.” Now more than ever, student support in terms of curriculum and staffing is needed, noted Clarke. Additionally, she is hopeful to maintain what is already in place, which will be challenging.
In terms of enrollment, Clarke said numbers are steady. As the year progresses, she shared that the district wants to look at keeping the current students and attracting more students from other districts. “We have over 70 students who school choice-in our district from various towns in the area,” she said. However, a challenge will be keeping the current numbers and attracting those outside students, as enrollment has dropped across the state since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
On the horizon for many Monson students is MCAS testing. “We’re really looking at all the support for our kids because we want them to experience success with MCAS,” said Clarke.
“It’s been a great year so far and we’re really excited about not only the things that we’re doing academically but the other [things] like the traditions and some really fun activities for kids and getting them to feel good about school,” shared Clarke.
She went on to recognize the staff of Monson Public Schools. Coinciding with this year’s health and wellness theme, she said, “That’s why I felt it was so important to acknowledge and recognize the hard work that the staff has done throughout the [coronavirus] pandemic and after in supporting our kids. You often hear, ‘Of course you need to support our students and catch them up and feel empowered,’ but we also need to do that for our staff,” noted Clarke.