At last Tuesday’s City
Wide PTO meeting, Supt. Taymore spent over an hour with the group speaking to a
number of issues in the district. Here are the highlights from my perspective:
Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Annual Report
By September 30th
of each year the district (like all in the state) is required to submit a comprehensive financial report to DESE for the prior year. The school budget in Melrose does not include
employee benefits (equal to about a third of total salary expense) or
maintenance. The report was submitted on time and in full. An audit of the
report is conducted annually and is usually presented in the March timeframe.
Staffing
Longevity of teaching
staff is cyclical, and we are currently in a cycle of teachers who are
relatively early in their careers. Turnover in the world of teaching is
changing to become more like private industry; teachers change jobs much more
frequently (vs. staying in one district for their entire career), they may
relocate due to relocation of a working spouse, or they may decide to take time
off to raise a family. In Melrose, the reasons for turnover are split pretty
evenly among retirements, leaving for a larger salary, and relocations. Melrose
has developed excellent professional development and in some cases, teachers
are “poached” because they have developed knowledge and skills sought by other
districts. Upcoming professional development includes training in science work,
the new elementary reading series, Google, social studies curricula (stemming
from the Social Studies review cycle completed earlier in the year), and
special education for regular education teachers.
Science Fairs
Supt. Taymore has been
working with a group of parents and administrators to make elementary science
fairs more applicable to today’s model of education. There was much discussion
around ensuring that all students had the opportunity to participate (regardless
of their parent’s ability to help). The new model will be a “science
conference” and there will be two elements. All elementary students must
participate in the first element, and it’s tied to the curriculum and best
teaching and learning practices. They will be given the option to then craft an
independent project. Students will present in the afternoon and will be judged
by other students using a consistent rubric. Adults will be invited to see the
work in the evening. There will be no prizes. Timeframe is May/June. Hoover
Principal Jenny Corduck is developing a Powerpoint presentation to explain the
concept in more detail.
Competency-Based
Learning
The Supt. reviewed much of
the information presented at the 10/6 School Committee meeting and reminded the group
that this concept has “taken hold” in the higher education world. She indicated
that the district has come a long way in measuring student ability by assessing
standards and this is the next logical step.
Odds & Ends
·
Bids for the
Learning Commons are in, and it looks like the project may begin 4-6 weeks
earlier than originally projected. Should it come in under budget the “first
alternate” for work is a “maker space,” which would allow for the hands-on
creation of projects (like a marshmallow cannon to explore physics concepts).
It incorporates the arts into STEM (to make STEAM), and would include
technology like a 3D printer.
·
The German and
French students are overlapping their visits with Melrose hosts this year. MHS
and MVMMS are one of the few secondary campuses in the state to offer five
languages – especially at the two individual levels.
·
School choice
will be discussed at the evening’s Committee meeting. We’ll be considering
offering ten openings each at the freshman and sophomore levels and five at the
junior level. We receive $5K for each student from the sending district and in
the past have used it for MHS staff.
·
We will
educate two Brazilian students beginning in January based on our participation
in the Educatius program.
·
We are
educating no kindergarten-level METCO students this year since the Melrose
population was so significant that we had no more room.
* City Wide
members continue to work with the Chamber to determine actions we can take to
respect the kindness the businesses show the schools without overburdening
them.
