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Date: 12/7/2021
CHICOPEE – In continuation of the Nov. 15 meeting, the School Committee reviewed part two of the State of the District presentation during their Dec. 1 meeting.
Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Accountability Matthew Francis spotlighted the presentation, which highlighted avenues the district is taking to recover from learning loss generated by the pandemic. “In Spring of 2021, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) recognized, along with all the districts in the commonwealth, that the pandemic and learning loss was going to have a great impact on our students and staff,” said Francis.
To compensate, Francis detailed how DESE released an equitable learning plan entitled The Acceleration Roadmap. The assistant superintendent explained the program will continuously monitor student understanding of material while also ensuring grade-appropriate instruction. The current-grade material would then be supplemented by the reinforcement of prior grade material to boost students’ comprehension, according to Francis. “I feel like we have a strong plan moving forward,” said Francis.
Francis then highlighted an extensive plan of how the district is implementing The Acceleration Roadmap. After planning supplemented learning and utilizing curriculum embedded assessments during the initial months of the school year, the assistant superintendent spoke on the district’s plans to further implement assessments to stress what material needs reinforcement before summative assessments at the conclusion of the school year.
“Even without the pandemic, we have to constantly address learning loss … if we don’t address it aggressively now, then this is going to be a long-term problem,” said Francis. In the district’s efforts to combat learning loss, a number of initiatives are being implemented. Francis highlighted several of the programs, including offering acceleration academies during summer months and providing literacy labs at the elementary level.
Mayor John Vieau spoke passionately about the school district’s tireless effort to compensate for a worldwide problem. “It’s no secret that COVID [-19] has taken its toll on students in learning loss and social/emotional impacts. I’d like to take a moment to commend our school district here in Chicopee. I know how hard they are working …they’ve taken on a challenge that is unprecedented in any of our lifetimes,” said Vieau.
Francis revealed that full information from the State of the District report will be available for the public shortly.
COVID-19 Update
The mayor also provided an update on the city’s COVID-19 cases. He explained that there is an uptick of cases, with a third of the 481 cases at the time of the meeting coming from the youth populous. “There is some concern, and we will continue to encourage people to get vaccines,” said Vieau.
Superintendent Lynn Clark spoke on how the district is working to limit COVID-19 cases. “The district continues to follow the Department of Public Heath, DESE guidelines and quarantine protocols,” said Clark.
The Chicopee School Committee will meet again on Dec. 15.