Abington School Committee Tackles Curriculum Changes, Student Achievements
School leaders present improvement plans, highlight efforts to enhance grading practices and literacy
ABINGTON - May 27 - The Abington School Committee receives updates on several educational initiatives during its May meeting, including a new standards-based grading approach at the high school and enhanced literacy curriculum at the elementary level.
Abington High School Principal Jonathan Bourn presents plans to implement standards-based grading in the world language department next year, starting with Spanish 1 classes.
"We will make a tremendous effort to speak to our parents at open house, back to school nights about what they can expect on their report card," Bourn says.
The new approach aims to provide more informative feedback to students and parents about specific skills rather than just assigning letter grades.
"Hopefully what we'd be doing is presenting the parents instead of a typical letter grade or number grade that they're familiar with is instead a standards-based report card that might speak to either certain content standards, just bodies of knowledge, but more hopefully reading, writing, speaking, listening, and then a rating that explains how that student is doing," Bourn explains.
The high school has spent the current year examining grading practices and developing more equitable approaches to assessment. This work included updating academic integrity language in the handbook and establishing schoolwide common language about late work, retakes and extensions.
Bourn notes that the high school's second improvement goal focuses on defining and exploring "rigor, relevance and depth of knowledge" in curriculum and assessment.
Committee member Melanie Whitney emphasizes the importance of maintaining a balanced approach to rigor.
"I like that you have the word relevance in here because although we want to see rigor in certain areas, there are still areas that are relevant that are outside of academic rigor," Whitney says.
At the elementary level, Beaver Brook Elementary School Principal Julie Thompson presents three improvement goals for the upcoming year, including maximizing student literacy experiences.
"We will convene a curriculum review team for the purpose of researching high quality literacy curriculum for implementation K-5," Thompson says. "We're looking for some continuity K-5, but also some rigorous and relevant high quality literacy curriculum."
Other Beaver Brook goals include supporting social development through cross-grade learning projects and strengthening school-family partnerships through more consistent communication methods.
The committee also hears from Karin Daisy, Director of Wellness for K-12, who discusses ongoing curriculum alignment work in her department. Daisy highlights a successful school-wide health fair held at the high school in March.
"Kids came to school and they pre-picked during a mentor group what session they wanted to go to, and they had dozens and dozens of choices that they could go to on anything ranging from mental health to physical health," Daisy says.
Committee member Heidi Hernandez praises the event's success.
"When you have high school students say that was way better than I thought it would be, when they're standing in the school saying I can't wait to do this again next year, that was time well spent," Hernandez says.
Elizabeth Despres, English Learner Education Director for pre-K through 12, reports that English learners and former English learners now make up about 16 percent of the total student population in Abington. Students come from 16 different language backgrounds, with Portuguese speakers forming the largest group.
Despres outlines department goals for the coming year, including enhancing social-emotional support for English learners and developing clearer guidance for the referral process when English learners may need additional services.
Superintendent Dr. Felicia Moschella presents her self-assessment based on the four standards identified by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education: instructional leadership, management and operations, family and community engagement, and professional culture.
Moschella highlights the successful implementation of the i-Ready assessment system for grades K-6, which shows significant growth from fall to winter administrations.
"We saw significant growth from our fall administration to our winter administration," Moschella says. "The spring administration is happening in these weeks right now, and we anticipate we'll also see growth from the winter to the spring."
The committee also approves several other items during the meeting:
• The elementary school handbook attendance policy update, which will now include communication to families about both excused and unexcused absences
• Recognition of several award recipients, including Ben Franey, recipient of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents Award for Academic Excellence
The committee's next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 17, at 6:30 p.m., which will be the last meeting of the school year.
Important upcoming dates include senior athletic awards night on May 28, senior awards night on May 30, and graduation on the Abington High School front lawn on May 31 at 10 a.m.
