By DAN TOMASELLO

LYNNFIELD — The Administrative Leadership Team presented the school improvement plans for the 2024-2025 academic year during a recent School Committee meeting.

Superintendent Tom Geary said school improvement plans are “legally required by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) annually.”

“We are focused on student learning and meeting the needs of every child,” said Geary. “This drives every initiative that we have in the district.”

In addition to the plans for all four schools, Geary said educators will be receiving professional development focusing on school security. He also said staff members will receive “safety care training” to make sure they know what practices to use when students are behaving in an “aggressive” manner.

“It is becoming more and more relevant each day in our schools,” said Geary about students’ behavioral issues.

Geary said educators have and will continue receiving professional development about DESE’s new statewide Individual Education Program (IEP). He also said all four schools will continue prioritizing social-emotional learning. He also said all four schools will be focusing on citizenship in order to improve school culture as well as identifying “what it means to be a Lynnfield Pioneer.”

The superintendent also said each school be working to bring back its own handbook as opposed to using the current district-wide handbook.

Elementary schools

Summer Street School Principal Karen Cronin and Huckleberry Hill School Principal Lauren King gave an overview of the improvement plan for both elementary schools.

Cronin said educators and school officials will continue using “universal screening data to adjust instruction in math and literacy to support student achievement.” She said both elementary schools will continue using the Star Renaissance computer-based testing program in order to monitor student achievement.

“It gives us overarching pictures so that we can drill down into specific skills,” said Cronin.

Cronin said both elementary schools will be using two separate “What I Need” (WIN) intervention blocks for English language arts and math. She said interventions for both subjects were included in a single block previously. She said students will be receiving interventions for both subjects “throughout the week.”

King said the elementary schools have formed a Math Curriculum Review Team that will be tasked with reviewing and selecting a new math curriculum that will be implemented next year. She said Elementary Math/Science Curriculum Director Christina Perry will be spearheading the initiative.

“The curriculum team will try out some lessons,” said King. “Hopefully a new curriculum will be chosen in the spring and an implementation plan will be rolled out.”

Cronin said both elementary schools will be implementing the literacy curriculum’s third year. She said the elementary schools received a literacy grant, which allowed the schools to form the new Literacy Leads group. She said the new group is tasked with supporting instruction and ensuring “curriculum implementation is consistent” in order to “meet the needs of Lynnfield students.” She said a collaborative process will be utilized.

King said a Homework Review Committee has been formed in order to “examine what the elementary schools are doing for homework.”

“We have grade level representation at every school and every grade,” said King. “We are going to make sure any decision that we make is really meaningful for the children of Lynnfield. We will roll out a plan at the end of the year.”

Cronin said both schools will continue prioritizing social-emotional learning.

“We truly believe children need instruction with social skills,” said Cronin. “They need to be able to adjust appropriately to different social expectations in their lives. They need to be able to deepen their interpersonal skills, strengthen their conflict resolution techniques and become a well-rounded, empathetic and tolerant citizen. They need to be able to practice this every day.”

King said “student voice” will be a priority at both elementary schools this year.

“Students need to have a voice with what they are doing and their voice needs to be heard,” said King. “We have students doing morning announcements and we have student surveys. Students are leading and taking part in assemblies. We have a fourth grade Student Council. We are building the leaders of the future, so need to start laying those building blocks as early as preschool.”

Both principals said educators helped develop the improvement plan for the elementary schools.

LMS

Principal Stephen Ralston discussed the improvement plan for Lynnfield Middle School.

Ralston said middle school educators will begin “exploring” the new Renaissance Star Custom computer-based assessment to “adjust instruction in math and English to support student achievement.”  He recalled that the middle school has used a different version of Renaissance Star the last several years.

“It will allow us to really customize particular skills in math and literacy as we see fit,” said Ralston about the new program.

Ralston said teachers will continue to share “effective instructional and assessment practices.” He said the middle school’s interventionists, who were brought back this year, will be providing support to students who need extra help.

Additionally, Ralston said ELA/History Coordinator Dr. Robin McInerney and teachers will be reviewing the Summer Reading program for grades 5 and 6.

“The feedback we have received so far is very positive in the experiment we tried in grades 7 and 8 that was run more like a book club,” said Ralston. “We are looking at what we might be able to do to involve more student choice in grades 5 and 6.”

Ralston said the middle school will be prioritizing citizenship along with the other three schools. He said the middle school’s core values of “kindness, effort and citizenship” will be a focus area in classes, assemblies, and programs.

Additionally, Ralston said LMS officials and educators will be reviewing the Advisory Program’s timing and structure. He also said the middle school is looking to expand the Student Council’s responsibilities.

LHS

Principal Tricia Puglisi gave an overview of the improvement plan for Lynnfield High School.

Puglisi said LHS will resume working to implement the Vision of the Graduate initiative that is now being required by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). She paused the initiative last year.

“We are accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges,” said Puglisi. “It’s a 10-year cycle of review. We just completed our cycle last fall, and we are starting a new 10-year cycle now. The cornerstone for accreditation since 2020 has been Vision of the Graduate. It’s about life skills, dispositions and transferable skills that kids need to be successful in their future.”

Puglisi said Vision of the Graduate seeks to help students develop “communication skills, resilience, literacy skills, global citizenship and problem solving skills.”

Additionally, Puglisi said the high school will be “investigating” the possibility of launching a new schedule.

“We are investigating because what we might find out is what we have now checks the right boxes,” said Puglisi. “We also might find out there are some better models out there.”

Puglisi also said the high school will be developing a new Freshman Academy.

“It is important to make kids’ transition into high school as simple as possible,” said Puglisi. “Our freshmen teachers are working together to create common practices, routines and strategies in their classrooms. We have also put freshmen in study halls with teachers who teach freshmen so that those routines can be followed up throughout the school day. Freshmen have less freedom in study hall than the other levels. As they get older, they get more freedom.”

Puglisi also said the high school is looking to implement interdisciplinary courses down the road. She also said educators will be receiving professional development on “the appropriate use of artificial intelligence as a classroom tool.”

“We want to teach kids how to use it appropriately,” said Puglisi.