Superintendent’s Corner: Five Month Update

As I approach the 5-month mark since assuming my new position I would like to update the community on the progress of our schools.  The following are some of the initiatives that we have begun to implement in our schools: 

•  MMSI (Massachusetts Math and Science Initiative) – Expand our advanced placement offerings at BHS for students in Mathematics and Science and offer a pre-advanced program for our students in grades 7 and 8. Currently Barnstable is a finalist among 26 schools to receive funding for this program. 

•  Adopt a School Program – Working closely with our Barnstable Police Department, police officers will spend time in all of our schools working with students and staff on Internet Safety, Stranger/Danger, Cyber-bullying, and Bicycle Safety. 

•  RTTT – Race to the Top – Our schools received approximately $500,000 in state funding to provide ongoing professional development for the new educator evaluation framework.  Staff will be working on committees to develop district-wide assessments and assess the culture in our schools. 

•  Staff and Parent Surveys – Utilizing K-12 Insight we will begin to gather feedback from our parents and our staff on how we can continue to improve our schools. 

•  Recruitment, Retention and Engagement Initiative – “You Belong in Barnstable” video was developed by students and staff and will be aired on local radio and TV stations.  We will continue to actively reach out to our students and families to highlight the many diverse opportunities (academic, music, arts, athletics, languages, extra-curricular) we offer in our PreK-12 school system. 

•  Superintendent House Calls – Parents have opened up their homes to me in an effort to better communicate and collaborate on the issues involving our students and parents.   

•  A Day in the Life of a Superintendent – A grade 2 classroom from Hyannis West visited me at my office to learn more about the job responsibilities of a superintendent.  They toured our administration building including our Human Resources and Finance Departments and enjoyed pizza with the superintendent in our conference room. 

•  Barnstable iForum – The Acting Town Manager, Mr. Lynch invited the schools to participate in an online forum in order to reach out to parents, the staff, and the community.  An online poll was posted to ask about our start date to the next school year.  

We received approximately 50 responses to this poll.   

As the Superintendent of Schools I look forward to our work together to make Barnstable Public Schools the premiere school district in the Commonwealth.  It is only through the collaborative efforts of our staff, students, parents, school committee, town council and community can this become reality