Supt. Taymore led a
veritable clinic on selected thoughts, hopes, and challenges for the district
in today’s Citywide PTO meeting.
First the nuts and
bolts:
·
The district
is getting back on its feet after two snow days. The DPW did a great job!
·
PARCC vs. MCAS
2.0 testing: * Some of the questions are now available, but student results by
question are not and may not be given that Pearson owns them, and Pearson is a
business with their own business model. (And no one should forget that
education is a business.) * The Commissioner has called for volunteers to help
craft MCAS 2.0 and our representative will be Director of English Angela
Singer. * There were many problems with PARCC (which is why the pencil/paper
results were better than the same tests taken on computer), including the learning
curve related to online testing (including lack of training time), computers
crashed/froze due to hardware problems or bandwidth access, etc.
·
Executive
Service Corps is a non-profit consultant who is working with Dr. Heather
Josephson to plan changes to Education Stations that will make it sustainable
and manageable (having grown from scratch to 700 students in six buildings).
·
Are you or
someone you know interested in theater production? Mr. McCall,
our Production Manager extraordinaire is retiring and a replacement is
essential. Must be competent in sound, lighting, and props; and payment is on a per- production basis. If interested, please contact the Supt.
·
Athletic
Director and Director of Health, Wellness, and PE Pat Ruggiero is retiring and
our challenge is determining whether we can financially afford (and employ with
required certifications), a replacement within that job configuration, or
whether the position needs to be reconfigured. After that is determined, there
will be a search committee to recommend a candidate (or candidates) to the
Supt.
·
The Supt.
opined, “This city has a tremendous amount of knowledgeable and skilled
residents.” She gave as an example a recent survey done by Director of Science
Jon Morris that showed that in his sample, 40% of Melrose parents work in the STEM
field. They are giving their time at the High School’s Career Day, helping with
grant opportunities, etc. She is also excited about the training opportunities
for staff members who have been accepted into specialized programs in the STEM
field (ref: the Announcements of the Supt. in tonight’s School Committee
meeting packet). A Citywide PTO parent commented how excited MHS students get
when someone working in the content area of a class comes in to talk about
his/her work and how related student work is necessary for success in that
field. Supt. Taymore indicated that students are good advocates for themselves, seeking ways to think about these opportunities. An elementary
parent noted that she would like to see more parents in elementary classrooms
talking about the same kinds of things.
Don't miss Part 2 of 3 on Competency Based Education - coming soon!
