Sportsmanship at Melrose High

Ladies and gentlemen, that is what we call sportsmanship. Nice work Melrose Girls Track athletes and coaches. (Ref: Boston Globe, 1/20/15, p. D6 and thanks to fellow MHS parent KD for sharing!)

How Do We Know How We’re Doing, and Where Do We Go From Here?

When we want to consider our effectiveness as a school district, we turn more and more to data to provide evidence of successes and challenges. Last October 28th, MHS Principal Marianne Farrell came before the School Committee to present a data dashboard for the high school (agenda and Powerpoint here: http://melrosecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=1582). The work of Ms. Farrell and her team was not only a way to provide information to the community in a transparent way with respect to student performance, it was also a pilot for the elementary and secondary levels so they could think about how to present their unique information. Elementary level data has now been published, as has significant district data. To find it, you can go to the Melrose Schools website, find “Families” in the toolbar, and select the last item: “District Dashboard,” or you can click here: http://melroseschools.com/administration/district-dashboard/.

Please share this location and/or information with your Melrose friends and colleagues, and think about additional evidence that you think offers a window into district accountability and future needs. Where do you think the district is successful? Where do you think our challenges lie? What other evidence will help inform your opinions? As we head into the budget season, I’ll be looking closely at a wide variety of data and information to assess and form opinions on the Supt.’s Budget Message (presented on 1/6: http://melrosecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=1680) and on the budget that she will present in late February. What are your questions, comments, and opinions????

Technology at the Secondary Level

The second part of last night’s joint MVMMS/MHS PTO meeting provided Melrose Chief Information Officer Jorge Pazos the opportunity to talk with parents about technology in the middle and high schools. He spoke to the need for 21^st century schools based in technology driven instruction and the fact that Melrose schools currently employ aging technology; in fact, the newest building-wide hardware is in MVMMS and that is seven years old. (He recognized that Chromebooks can be found in pockets of the district, but considers them pilot programs since they aren’t available district-wide.) He contends that Melrose has a “chicken and egg” situation in that we need 21^st century technologies but don’t have a secure foundation on which to build it, but how do we know what foundation to build if we don’t know what technologies will be needed? To break this cycle, Mr. Pazos suggests that we need to employ a simultaneous bundle of quality equipment, training, and management of technological services.

Addressing this challenge will begin with a technology plan. The city has contracted with consultants who have completed substantial data collection and much evaluation of that data. They are now working on preparing an action plan (answering the question noted above: what is needed to drive instruction?) and expect to present it in early April. While the Melrose Public Schools can now only budget $40K/year on hardware for the schools, Mr. Pazos expects the technology plan to recommend spending somewhere in the neighborhood of $300K/year to update the technology and get on an appropriate replacement cycle. (Ideally, computers have a three-year life but he acknowledged that four to five years is more realistic. Chromebooks come with a recommended life so owners can plan better for replacements.)

Mr. Pazos is heartened by the fact that teachers are engaging more and more with technology, and now come to him requesting the types of technology that will be most beneficial to students in their classrooms. He says that this is an important shift. Watch the School Committee rolling agendas as we approach April and mark your calendar to hear the presentation of the plan!

Start Melrose Middle and High Schools Later?

At last night’s joint MVMMS/MHS PTO meeting, Melrose parent, family physician, and Board of Health member Frank Brincheiro brought a concept before the group called “Start School Later.” (Link to national chapter here: http://www.startschoollater.net/.) He explained that teen sleep deprivation (regular sleep length of less than 8.5-9.5 hours/night), caused by melatonin secretions in the brain happening around 11 p.m. for teens (which bring on the urge to sleep) combined with early school start times, leads to consequences like increased risk of car accidents, weight gain, and depression. More sleep is shown to improve academic performance and result in an overall improved quality of life. Evidence was presented from the American Academy of Pediatrics (http://tinyurl.com/k2g9d4a) and the National Sleep Foundation (http://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-news/backgrounder-later-school-start-times). He also stated that starting the school day at 8:30 a.m. is considered appropriate and beneficial. Obstacles in other communities have included busing (which Melrose does not do), resistance to change, and lack of public education. Dr. Brincheiro indicated that a number of districts in the state have shifted times successfully, (including Arlington, Needham, Hingham, Marblehead, Sharon, Easton, and Marlborough) and that after-school activities would be shifted later without consequence (i.e. competing teams could adapt to new contest times). The Melrose Board of Health is expected to approve this proposal today, at which time it would come to the district for consideration including discussion with staff members. Dr. Brincheiro is advocating for the change to be enacted this fall.

1/13/15 School Committee Meeting

Last night was our first regular Committee meeting of 2015. Chair Kristin Thorp announced the subcommittee and liaison assignments for 2015. Supt. Taymore provided an update on ECC and Kindergarten registrations (details are on the website), the Lincoln Principal search (the search committee, on which I have the privilege to serve, has had an organizational meeting and our first set of interviews with the intention of completing our work by the beginning of February), and a proposal for a new agreement with SEEM Collaborative (where some of our students with special needs attend).

In Educational Programs and Personnel, MVMMS Principal Brent Conway and Director of Mathematics Gr. 6-12 Christina Cardella presented a proposal to re-sequence math at the middle school level as a response to new frameworks from the state.  (If you want to see the presentation, click here: http://www.mmtv3.org/index.php?categoryid=28 and start the video at 15:35. It lasts just under an hour.)

Under Finance and Facilities, we voted to accept a one-time infusion of $40K that the Board of Aldermen approved, and will be using to address recurring technology challenges as well as purchase a requisition system that will improve efficiencies in our business office.

In Policy and Planning, we discussed policies around background checks for adults with direct access to students, student photographs (i.e. school pictures), the physical inventories we intend the Supt. to take, school admissions and enrollment (including kindergarten and grade one), and staffing. Policies that were put on the agenda for information purposes (to be discussed on 1/27) include those addressing student attendance, student activity funds, student discipline, gifts and contributions to schools (including DonorsChoose.org), and field trips. A year-end summary report was provided that details the completion of the review, updating, and revision of the MPS Policy Manual – a two-year effort.

Read about the above topics on our website at http://melrosecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=1523 or watch on MMTV or their website (location noted above).  Next meeting is 1/27/15 at 7:00 in the Aldermanic Chamber of City Hall!

1/13/15 Citywide PTO Meeting

Citywide PTO kicked off its first meeting of the new calendar year at 8:45 this morning. Superintendent Taymore had a previously scheduled meeting and could not attend. We discussed tonight’s School Committee presentation by administrators regarding implementation of the new math frameworks and proposed sequencing, with a focus on middle and high school. (The meeting agenda is here: http://melrosecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=1523. The two documents relevant to this discussion are under the EP&P subcommittee agenda: 8.A.1. Update – Implementation of New Math Frameworks.) There was some confusion regarding how and when this kind of information is communicated to the school community, with the Supt. having e-mailed Bridge Director Jennifer McAllister that administration must inform the Committee prior to presenting to families or other stakeholder groups. There will be a Parent Information Session scheduled in February at the Middle School.

Calendar/information sharing included announcement of a family movie night at the ECC, as well as their kick-off on 2/12 of fundraising efforts for a new playground. Tomorrow night (1/14) in the MVMMS Library, immediately following brief business meetings to be held at 7:00, the MVMMS and MHS PTO’s will host parent and pediatrician Frank Brinchiero who will briefly present an initiative to adjust middle and high school start times so they are later. The joint session will then feature Melrose Chief Information Officer Jorge Pazos who will discuss technology in the schools.

Next Citywide meeting is on February 10^th!

Taking a Gap Year – Worth Considering?

Just finished reading Susan Greenberg’s post “In Fervent Support of the Gap Year” from January 4^th’s Motherlode blog in the New York Times (http://goo.gl/JjaOe6). She speaks to her daughter’s high school experience, and the family’s subsequent decision to agree that a year as a paid au pair would allow said daughter to experience elements of work, travel, and personal growth that would support improved motivation and performance in college the following year. The 4/29/14 Leadership column of Forbes provides some good questions to talk through this option (http://goo.gl/iIiMlu), and although gap year data is still relatively fresh and potentially uncorroborated (http://www.americangap.org/data-benefits.php), it does raise some interesting questions around whether this experience might be an increasingly relevant, useful, and popular trend in the U.S. The Melrose High School Guidance Dept. has posted information on two Gap Year Fairs to be held at the beginning of February in the Greater Boston area (http://melroseschools.com/2014/12/gap-year-fairs/.  As our seniors wrap up their first semester and college letters (both long and short) roll in, maybe it’s an alternative worth considering.