We have a few updates from UHS this week.

 

Grade 8 iReady diagnostic

 

On Friday we were able to share our grade 8 iReady results with families. While testing does not tell the whole story of a student’s growth or performance, assessment data becomes one critical component that we use to examine trends in curriculum, student learning, and future class placement. Particularly for students in grade 8, as we consider class selections for next year, having an idea of where students fall in terms of grade level curriculum standards can help us identify recommendations and needs for the future.

 

In general, we still pleased with the progress our students have made, while also still seeing places to grow. In both English and math we see a shift from the fall to the winter, with the number of students scoring “mid” or “above” grade level growing for both disciplines. The number of students who were categorized as three or more grade levels below has also decreased significantly, which supports a trend of improvement. In general, we have specific standards on which the curriculum will focus in the coming months, and we anticipate additional improvements as a result.

 

Performance Lab - Exciting News

 

At the end of last school year, we received notification that UHS was the recipient of a Skills Capital Grant in the amount of $142000. The Workforce Skills Capital Grant Program will award grants for the purchase and installation of equipment and related improvements and renovations necessary for installation and use of such equipment to support vocational and technical training. This equipment will upgrade and expand career technical education and training programs that are aligned to regional economic and workforce development priorities for in-demand industries, provided that grant applications facilitate collaboration to provide students training pathways to career opportunities in high-skill, high-demand industry sectors.

We have been fortunate to receive Skills Capital grants in the past, which we have used to purchase equipment like our anatomy table, 3D printers, digital cameras and technology for our media program, robotics kits, screen and embroidery printers, and classroom furniture. When we earn these grants, we can both enhance equipment expenses for the district and minimize costs to the town for some of our upkeep and maintenance of existing classroom spaces.

 

In that spirit, this year’s grant will advance the renovation of our weight room, which has been in need of renovation for a couple of years, as equipment has fallen into disrepair, become obsolete, or simply needed replacement. This has been an item we have included in our school’s capital requests for the past five years. Using the Skills Capital grant, we will be able to restore and renovate two classroom spaces, which coincides with the revision to our wellness program and adjustments to our biomedical program, turning a traditional high school weight room into a true performance lab that will prepare our students for the world of work in the biomedical fields, including athletic training, personal fitness, premedical, physical therapy, and nursing. This will also assist our athletic program, and we hope, in time, to investigate ways to share this space with a broader population. We look forward to sharing more information about this in the coming weeks.

 

CAPS Diploma

 

Parents of juniors and seniors: be on the lookout for a notification regarding the CAPS diploma, which is an advanced diploma option that we are including in our policy revision regarding graduation requirements. The school committee approved its first read of the policy, and we are hopeful that the second read will be approved in the coming week. When (and if) that occurs, we will be able to share application information for the CAPS diploma so that we can properly recognize and plan for the Classes of 2025 and 2026.

 

School Council: February Meeting

 

Our School Council’s next meeting will include two agenda items for discussion that we think are important to note. First, the Massachusetts Attorney General and the legislature have introduced bills to ban cell phones in schools during instructional hours. We realize that this could be influential to our own decision-making and procedures here, particularly if we need to come up with ways for students to lockdown devices throughout the day, if they are not permitted. Second, we will be looking at some of the School Improvement goals we have had for this year, in the interest of some continuity for next year. We will likely send out a couple of surveys for feedback in the coming weeks relative to a few different topics.

 

Finally, we recognize that the budget that the School Council supported, and which included the restoration or enhancement of 2-3 positions at UHS, will not pass muster with the School Committee. As the School Committee has been bound to a 3% increase from this year’s budget to next year, we are looking at budget cuts across the board and for all three schools, as well as continuing to have athletic fees. 

 

At last week’s School Committee meeting, there was some mention that the town may not be meeting its foundation budget requirements for the Commonwealth, which results in a penalty being paid. The town is also dealing with increases from insurance providers, which creates fiscal cliffs for all departments. From a school level perspective, we are simply trying to ensure that programs, supports, and classroom instruction are not significantly compromised. Either way, we will do our best to communicate objectively and factually what the school’s asks have been in terms of both item and purpose.

 

As always, we thank you for the support.