Last evening, Supt. Taymore addressed questions posed by
middle and high school parents at a joint PTO meeting at Melrose High. Here are
some quick take-aways:
·
Challenges that have been discovered and are
being addressed: increasing level of rigor for those students who need
additional challenge (adding AP courses, and MS students enrolling in a high
school course); improvement in teaching of content for special needs students
who were spending too much time in pull-out classes; more professional
development (PD) for teachers (from grant funding and concerted training
efforts by Asst. Supt. Adams); ensuring students can fit in all necessary
courses while meeting their interests (e.g. expanding virtual and blended learning);
curriculum is now fully aligned with frameworks (i.e. what is being taught is
what’s supposed to be taught).
·
Challenges that need additional work: MHS
conferences (the old fall/spring and nothing in-between model didn’t give
parents the info they needed to help students, but the current approach is
difficult for parents and teachers to navigate); MS MCAS scores (a “tough nut”
across the state, but we need to have higher expectations for students – we’ve
increased blocks from 47-57 mins. and increased PD for teachers); Aspen –
training is on-going and helping but it’s becoming clear that there are
technology issues that need addressing; little flexibility in budget to
increase PD/add staff/technology/employ pilot programs that could lead to
improved student outcomes due to constraints (state/federal mandates, Melrose
is 96% residential, etc.).
·
Why choose MHS?: There are increasing and
high-quality options and paths to achievement (AP, visual/blended classes,
STEM/GEM/Humanities/Fine Arts Pathways, etc.) based on meeting Common Core
standards and attuned to student interests; students aren’t tracked – they will
receive high-quality instruction in the same content (just not as deep)
depending on whether a class is CP or Honors (so a student could be in CP
English and Honors Calculus); 5 global languages – one of the few HS in the
state to offer this; large number of athletics, clubs, fine and performing arts
opportunities; dual enrollment with colleges (potentially increasing next
year); “public school is what life is – different people have to find a way to
collaborate.”
·
Summary: Enacting change in a school
district is difficult because all staff members must be moving in the same
direction at the same time at a quick pace. The administration is working hard
at this and so are teachers, paraprofessionals, and other staff members.
Parents can support their children and help the district grow by making
observations around things like homework, projects, and tests and asking teachers
if they have questions, concerns, or see success that they want replicated.
Importantly, as a community we must agree that we are not <fill in any
other town here>. So who should Melrose be and what does that look like?
