Melrose Schools Seek $130K in Race to the Top Grants

The Melrose Public School district has submitted an application for about $130,000 in Race to the Top grant funds, including for technology improvements and teacher training.

Superintendent of Schools Joe Casey said the administration has tied the different initiatives to the district's strategic plan. 

"We're not taking on an initiative that we can't fund and can't accomplish," Casey said. "We tied everything to the strategic plan  ... we were very careful in how we wrote the grant."

Casey announced the initiatives the district has applied for at Tuesday's meeting of the School Committee.

"It gives us a good step up and lets us keep pace with Massachusetts as a leader in the nation," Casey said.

There are some requirements the district must abide by in order to accept the funds.

Melrose schools will have to align curriculum with the state Common Core standards—the state education board voted over the summer to adopt the national standards—as well as implement a state-wide evaluation framework for teacher and principal effectiveness.

Casey said the district has already been working to align with Common Core standards.

The district is also applying for funds to upgrade technology, including the ability to access a state-wide Education Data Warehouse, and training for teachers on effective use of student data.

"I commend the superintendent for the range of initiatives you've chosen," said committee member J.D. LaRock. "It's a really admirable mix that will strengthen teachers and provide assistance to students and parents."

The grant initiatives the district is applying are listed below, according to a memo distributed by Casey at Tuesday's meeting:

• Improve teacher and principal effectiveness based on performance
  • Implement the state-wide evaluation framework
• Ensure effective teachers and leaders in every school and classroom
  • Align curriculum to the Common Core state standards
  • Strengthen climate, conditions, and school culture
  • Support experienced teachers to participate in online training to become mentors
  • Strengthen human resources systems
  • Support licensed teachers to participate in online coursework to learn ESL or special education endorsements
  • Access ESE-sponsored or approved professional development in priority areas
• Use data to inform instruction
  • Create near-real-time access to data in the Education Data warehouse by implementing the Schools Interoperability Framework
  • Access ESE-sponsored or approved professional development on effective use of student data
• Increase college and career readiness
  • Set and meet ambitious but attainable targets for increasing the number of students completing MassCore
  • Implement YourPlanforCollege.com: Get ready for Life After High School
• Help develop and implement a state-wide teaching and learning system
  • Implement one or more components of state-wide teaching and learning system