By NEIL ZOLOT
WAKEFIELD — School principals briefed the School Committee on their progress in meeting goals in their School Improvement Plans, at their meeting Tuesday, June 11.
“There’s a lot of creativity happening across a lot of classrooms,” Galvin Middle School principal Megan Webb said, primarily in reference to her own school, but applicable to the others as well.
Webb appeared in tandem with Wakefield Memorial High School principal Amy McLeod. One of their goals was for the faculty and staff to “have access to the information, resources and support they need to provide students with opportunities to engage with grade level work that is culturally relevant, authentic and interactive to foster an environment that promotes the use of engaging teaching strategies and encourages teachers to participate in peer learning and professional development, leading to improved instructional practices and student outcomes.”
In addition to professional development days, peer reviews and meetings, Shout-Outs during morning announcements and Learning Walks helped achieve the goals. “We encourage teachers to look outside their academic area for support because we’re very siloed at the High School,” McLeod said in reference to the fact teachers in subjects that might dovetail, such as reading literature related to the study of an era in history, are not near each other.
Nearly 89 percent of teachers attending a March 5 workshop agreed or strongly agreed it helped them reflect on and adjust their teaching style.
Elementary school principals Tiffany Back (Greenwood School), Matthew Carter (Woodville), T.J. Liberti (Dolbeare) and Brian Schmitt (Walton) also presented their report together. One of their goals was to “have all students have access to high quality instructional materials and engage in a consistent scope and sequence of content by grade level and department,” and for “the staff to continue to foster strong collaboration and curriculum alignment across schools through implementation of a new English Language curriculum.”
“All grade levels are focusing on core literacy an hour a day and we’ve made a ton of progress on this,” Schmitt reported. “When we started it was a little daunting. There were many trials and challenges along the way, which is always the case when implementing a new curriculum. It takes time for teachers to learn to teach a new curriculum effectively.”
He also reported and showed examples of student writing on trees, birds and other subjects at various grade levels. He said he had discussions with students about birds at his school and feels “it’s impressive how deep a knowledge they’ve developed about various topics.”
Liberti added professionals from other districts are “approaching us to learn about our programs. We’ve been put on the map.”
“Wakefield was a place where we visited other school systems, but now people come to us,” Superintendent Doug Lyons confirmed. “It’s a testament to the leadership in this room.”
One goal at the Doyle Early Childhood Center was similar to that at the Middle and High Schools, specifically that “faculty and staff have access to the information, resources and support they need to provide students with opportunities to engage with grade level work that is culturally relevant, authentic and interactive,” but having “teachers in age based classrooms use the Heggarty curriculum to support teaching literacy.”
“Heggarty is something teachers really enjoy and we plan on continuing it next year,” principal Shannon Blacker reported. “Our plan moving forward is to take the things we like and weave it into what we already have.”
Her portion of the overall School Improvement Plans Progress Update included graphs showing 18 of 20 4 year olds chosen as a cross section of the age group mastered lowercase letter identification and 15 mastered uppercase letter identification and letter sounds. “We’re passing this information onto the elementary schools,” Blacker added.
Before the meeting, the School Committee held a reception for retiring teachers in the Warriors Cafe in the High School. Of the 13 retiring teachers and staff members High School romance language teacher Lucia DeMello, Woodville nurse Cheryl LeBlanc and High School guidance counselor Rick McKenna attended. Lyons also recognized them in the subsequent meeting.
RETIRING FROM THE school system are WMHS guidance counselor Rick McKenna, Romance language teacher Lucia DeMello and Woodville nurse Cheryl LeBlanc. They are here with Supt. of Schools Doug Lyons, right. (Neil Zolot Photo)
