Tremblay wrapping up first year on the job

Published in the June 17, 2015 edition

By DAN TOMASELLO

LYNNFIELD — With the 2014-2015 school year drawing to a close, Superintendent of Schools Jane Tremblay gave an update of her first year on the job to the School Committee June 9.

Tremblay presented the mid-cycle report to the school board, which the committee will use to help evaluate the first-year superintendent’s performance as Lynnfield’s schools’ chief. The School Committee will evaluate Tremblay’s performance next January.

The three goals Tremblay created this year pertain to district improvement, student improvement and professional practice.

District improvement

Tremblay established two district improvement plan goals for the 2014-2015 school year.

The first district improvement goal Tremblay established was improving communication with different interest groups including students, parents, faculty members, School Committee and the entire community.

According to Tremblay, she has been communicating regularly with people throughout the school year. She said made communication a top priority this year.

“Communication with all of the stakeholders is incredibly important to the growth of the district and the growth of the schools,” said Tremblay. “Communication is ongoing and paramount to the success of our school district.”

In addition to meeting regularly with teachers and school administrators, Tremblay has also met regularly with Town Administrator Jim Boudreau and Police Chief David Breen.

“We have been keeping each other up to date on things that have been happening,” said Tremblay.

Tremblay has also met regularly with all five schools’ PTOs and SEPAC. After Tremblay collected the data she compiled as part of her entry plan, she met with the different PTOs and personally presented the results.

Additionally, Tremblay has been regularly posting school news on Twitter and on her superintendent’s blog.

School Committee member Dorothy Presser asked Tremblay if the school board could assist her with reaching out to residents who do not have children in the school system.

Tremblay said reaching out to residents who don’t have kids in the schools is a big priority even though she acknowledged she hasn’t accomplished the goal yet. She said the selectmen raised the issue with her while she was compiling data for her entry plan. She said she is going to address it.

“We need to make sure we our doing outreach to other people who don’t have kids in the schools,” said Tremblay.

The second district improvement goal Tremblay developed was “integrating technology effectively to enhance the knowledge of all students.”

Tremblay said technology is “embedded throughout the school district,” particularly the high school’s one-to-one technology initiative. She said technology is playing a major role in each school and students are using technology in a variety of different ways.

“We would not be where we are without technology,” said Tremblay.

Tremblay said Technology Director Vincent Ruocco is “one of the best additions we have made to our team.” She said the new technology director has been working closely with teachers and is attending faculty meetings regularly.

Student improvement

Tremblay’s student improvement goal is evaluating teachers in a fair and effective manner.

The superintendent said she strived to make sure teachers have a clear understanding of excellent teaching practices in order to help students succeed. She said school administrators have repeatedly discussed teacher evaluations to provide feedback in a clear and concise manner. School officials have also begun discussing ways to improve the evaluation system.

“We need to be consistent,” said Tremblay. “If there is a teacher at the high school working under (Principal) Bob Cleary and if there is a Huckleberry Hill teacher working under (Principal) Brian Bemiss, they should be getting similar feedback from both of those administrators.”

Tremblay said she has been working to make sure teachers at different grade levels and schools are collaborating regularly, particularly about curriculum and assessments.

“One of my goals is to make this district a true K-12 one unity, one community, where we all understand what it means for teaching and learning to be excellent,” said Tremblay.

Professional practice

Tremblay’s professional practice goal entails completing the first year of the superintendent induction program. She said participating in the program has been an “invaluable experience.”

The superintendent has been working with a lot of new superintendents on the North Shore including North Reading Superintendent Jon Bernard. She said she has repeatedly reached out to them about ways to improve her practice.

SC reaction

School Committee member Salvatore Cammarata asked Tremblay what areas does the school system need to improve.

Tremblay said school officials are always taking a closer look at different teaching practices to see how the district can move forward.

“We do great things in this district but we are not perfect,” said Tremblay. “There are always areas for improvement and there are always areas for growth.”

School Committee member Jamie Hayman commended Tremblay for doing an “admirable job for moving the district forward while learning to be a superintendent.” He asked if the school system is where she wants it to be or does she want to take it in a new direction.

Tremblay said her goal for this year was to learn what it takes to be a superintendent but also “take little steps to move us forward.” She said her two biggest learning curves were the middle and high schools and said her goal was to earn the faculty at both schools’ “trust and respect” this year. She said that is critical in order to move the school system forward.