Teaching & Learning submitted by Assistant Superintendent, Charlie Caliri
- District Arts Night What a glorious celebration of the arts on March 13th! We had a tremendous turnout for this event. Based on our program distribution, we estimated that we had about 700 guests come through the annual arts night. In addition to all of the wonderful performances, demonstration of artwork, and creative workstations (i.e., fabric weaving in the cafeteria, textured drawings in the art room, pinch pot making at the potter’s wheel), the performance of the night was the K-12 chorus. Special thanks to our arts staff, student volunteers, and student performers for all of their efforts in coordinating such a wonderful event.
- NEASC Visit The high school is in full swing in preparation for the Collaborative Conference NEASC Visit on April 23 and 24. The high school staff has been completing its self study, and writing detailed reflections about each of the five standards for accreditation. Each of the reports is being finalized and voted on by the high school faculty. The staff should be commended for their diligence in finalizing this reflective process. Under the collective leadership of Principal Christie, Dr. Meyer, and Mr. Gubellini, the high school staff has made tremendous strides in completing this process, and should be proud of the work they have done. The two-day collaborative conference in April will provide the school with some additional guidance in preparation for the decennial visit in the spring of 2021.
- Implementation of Inclusive Practices In preparation for continuing to focus on the implementation of inclusive practices in the district (i.e., Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support (PBIS), and Social Emotional Learning (SEL)), a team of teachers, counselors, and administrators recently attended the Annual MA SEL Conference at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The conference included workshops facilitated by the SEL staff from Adlai Stevenson High School in Illinois. Adlai Stevenson is most famous for its implementation of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). With their approach to supporting all students, they implemented tiered systems of supports for students with a focus on developing the social emotional skills of its students. We look forward to debriefing with our team in the near future to take some key elements from this conference.
- “See Through the Smoke”Student & Parent/Guardian Presentation on Teen Vaping The ASPTO, Student Council, and Social Relations Committee sponsored this presentation for students and the school community. Approximately 50 parents/guardians were in attendance. Vaping among our young people (as young as 10) has become a grave concern in school districts and in our communities. We need to educate the public on its dangers and educate our youngsters on prevention.
- “Choose Respect” Week We have designated April 8-12, 2019, as “Choose Respect” week. Each school will design their activities and messaging around kindness, respect, and anti-bullying.
- ASRHS Fields Work We are conducting work on the fields to ensure student safety for spring sports. Mr. Briggs is leading the work which includes work on the jumping pits, work on the sinkholes around the drains, smoothing out ruts in the grass, and raking the triple jump and adding new sand.
- Education Finance Hearing This hearing was held on Friday, March 22, 2019, at the State House in Boston. There were many hours of testimony by superintendents, mayors, teachers, members of M.A.S.S. Executive Board, and even players from the Patriots. These groups were advocating for the legislature to fund the recommendations in the FBRCs report and ensure equity for every student in the Commonwealth. The urban districts are particularly hardest hit as their communities do not have the tax base to support even the basic needs of its students. As Superintendent Kathleen Smith of Brockton pointed out, in 2017 Brockton spent $1 per student for supplies while Weston spent $275 per student. M.A.S.S. has written a priority paper which I have included in your packets and linked here.
- KAIROS: Mapping Our Way Forward, Jeffrey C. Riley, Commissioner of Education (Definition of KAIROS: a time when conditions are right for the accomplishment of a crucial action : the opportune and decisive moment) This was a 2019 statewide conference to reimagine K-12 public education in Massachusetts. Commissioner Riley’s keynote focused on bringing creativity and play back into learning. The Commissioner stated “we must move our focus to deeper learning and get students more engaged in collaborative activities with tangible and relatable outcomes.” The Commissioner believes that learning encompasses “the whole child” such as learning in the performing arts. There were several student performances sprinkled throughout the day. All attendees at the conference participated in a group activity called the Subarctic Survival Simulation and participated in experiential learning activities throughout the day. I was able to build a model rocket, build mathematical schema with ST math (instructional software program), and attend a session on the strategic planning process in the Lawrence Public Schools.
- Congratulations to Autumn Tomao, ASRHS senior, whose poetry piece titled Des-o-late has been selected for publication in the 2019 National Young Writers Poetry Contest anthology.
- The Andromeda One Competition at Reading High School went very well. Andromeda One ranked third out of 38 teams at the end of qualification matches. They received the Imagery Award: “This award celebrates attractiveness in engineering and outstanding visual aesthetic integration of machine and team appearance.” Their two new trophies and plaques are in the trophy case at the high school across from the gym door. The team also spent a lot of quality time with Governor Baker. He drove their robot (only their robot) and had a blast. He took a picture with his own cell phone and tweeted it with the team’s twitter page link. To see details, team photos and pictures with the Governor, you can check out any of their frc4905 social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat). They are currently ranked 5th in New England. Their next competition is at WPI April 11-13. Congratulations to the team and their coaches!
- The Class of 2020 hosted a Talent Show last Friday night and I heard it was a hit. Much talent among our students and faculty. A big thank you to Class Advisor, Mrs. Capasso and all those who helped make the show a success.
- Boys basketball earned the Mid/Wach E Sportsmanship award and CJ Holmes was named a league All-Star. Hayley Sheriff and Riley Murphy were named all stars for the girls team.
- Track, baseball, softball, and lacrosse are off to great starts. Unified track held its first ever practice last week. We are a in co-op with Leominster and they have approximately 10 students as do we. Middle school softball and baseball starts next Monday.
Assumption College
Bentley University
Binghamton University
Boston College
Bridgewater State University
Champlain College
Clark University
Columbus College of Art & Design
College of the Holy Cross
Curry College
Emmanuel College
Endicott College
Fitchburg State University
Fordham University
Franklin Pierce University
George Mason University
Hofstra University
Maine Maritime Academy
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Massachusetts Maritime Academy
Merrimack College
Mount Wachusett Community College
New England College
Northeastern University
Pennsylvania State University
Plymouth State University
Quinnipiac College
Roger Williams University
Salem State University
Southern New Hampshire University
State University of New York Potsdam
St. Michael's College
Stonehill College
Syracuse University
University of Connecticut
University of Maine
University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Massachusetts Boston
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
University of Massachusetts Lowell
University of New England
University of New Hampshire
University of North Carolina
University of Southern Maine
Western New England University
Westfield State University
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester State University
