What were the highlights of your summer?
“We spent a lot of the summer preparing my oldest child to go off to college. So, we were doing a lot of preparation for that and that was really exciting. We did a lot of small things on weekends. I have another high school child too, so [I spent a lot of time with] my wife and two daughters doing a variety of things locally. We didn’t do a lot of traveling, but it was mostly preparing my oldest [daughter] to go off to Smith College.”
How has the beginning of the school year been going for you so far?
“It’s been a good start. It’s been really nice. The weather’s been lovely. Sometimes, you know, if you get gloomy, rainy, cold weather, it can kind of set a tone we don’t love. The senior class always sets the tone for the building. I think they’ve done a nice job, so that’s been good.”
“We installed a lot of new technology over the summer, and that has gone really well. We installed a whole bunch of new [interactive screens] in the building and those all went in smoothly. The adoption has been a smooth one and we did a big renovation in the Black Box Theater to have improved technology up there. Whenever you’re doing a big renovation or technical installation, things can go wrong or parts can be delayed or it can get more expensive than anticipated and none of those things happened.”
What are you most looking forward to this school year in particular?
“This school year, making sure the technological adoption works really well, that’s a major priority. We made a big push for governing cell phone usage in the classroom, so making sure kids are doing what’s asked of them and teachers are applying a real, standard approach to that. We’re seeing good results from that so far, so I’m hoping that it [continues onward].
“We’re looking, this fall, at examining our Program of Studies. We haven’t done a real, close examination of our Program of Studies and our graduation requirements in a very long time. So, we’re doing that work this year and I am excited to see what results that will generate. So, those are kind of the big picture things we’re hopeful for.”
“We have a few new staff members, so making sure they’re feeling supported and that they are enjoying themselves, but also having the impact we hope they have. It’s always exciting to see new people join our building.”
What prompted a change to the math graduation requirements?
“Last November, voters approved having MCAS be eliminated as a graduation requirement. DESE then had to pivot to require schools to determine how they were going to identify how students reached that same level of competency. So, schools had to name which courses aligned with MCAS and that passing those courses would achieve the same goals that MCAS formerly did. We did that work in January and February of last year and produced a memo to the school committee, which was approved, which just outlined those things. That document names that passing Geometry and one of the two Algebras, Algebra I or Algebra II, were required. That was something we named in the spring of last year and we are going to have to go back to do some more editing and refining.”
“All schools are now, since that first step was taken, required to more fully articulate what that looks like. So, we are in the process of doing that. What we are contemplating is to make a change to our broader graduation requirements and make four years of math required. That is something that about half the schools in the state require, and we do not. Most of our kids do past four years of math, but we only require three. We are considering adding a fourth year math, along with a few other changes. It’s a change that would impact about ten percent of our kids, as that’s about the number of kids who don’t graduate with four years of math. If and when we make that change, it wouldn’t impact [students] until the next year’s rising ninth graders [enroll in high school], and then it would only apply to them and all the students behind them.”
Is there anything else you would like to add?
“I feel like we are off to a good start. It’s been a pretty quiet start. It’ll be fun to see our athletic teams start to get out there. So all those rhythms of the fall school year are starting to take shape, and that’s always really fun.”
