All Elementary Schools Set Goals to Improve in English and Math

The principals of the four Wakefield elementary schools appeared before the School Committee to present their improvement plans for the upcoming 2011-12 school year at last night’s meeting.

The improvement goals shared a common theme of improving student performance in the MCAS, improving the school’s technological infrastructure, and improving school culture.

Woodville
Outgoing Woodville Principal Brian Middleton-Cox said Woodville's goals included a two percent improvement in MCAS test scores among third and fourth graders in English/Language Arts and Math, improvement of the school’s special education students, ensuring that health and safety measures are properly followed, increasing community involvement in the Woodville school and increasing the use of technology.

Middleton-Cox said that MCAS scores and teacher evaluations would be the main measure for the student performance goals, feedback and reviews from parents and staff for the health, safety and culture goals, and meaningful technological improvement for the technology goals.

One rather shocking revelation regarding technology was that numerous new SmartBoards, which had already been installed, went unused for most of the year because nobody could get them to work. It wasn’t until a teacher figured out how to activate them that the SmartBoards started to see some use, and that did not occur until about three weeks ago.

Middleton-Cox and the School Committee agreed that situations like that were unacceptable and needed to be addressed.

At the conclusion of the Woodville presentation, the School Committee offered Middleton-Cox their thanks for his work as school principal.

“I just want to say thank you, you are going to be very, very, very missed,” said School Committee member Anthony Guardia. “I openly recommended that everyone give you a bad recommendation so that you wouldn’t leave.”

At the beginning of the meeting, a note from Superintendent Joan Landers, who was not in attendance, was read. Landers expressed her disappointment that she couldn’t be there to see Middleton-Cox off, and wished him the best as well.

Dolbeare
Dolbeare’s goals had a lot of similarities with Woodville’s, including improvement in English/Language Arts and Math, and improvement in school culture.

Specifically with regards to school culture, Dolbeare plans to implement new Anti-Bullying measures while promoting school events more aggressively, using the school’s website and email list, along with local newspapers.

Walton, Greenwood
Walton and Greenwood schools, when presenting their goals, shared many of these goals as well, including both English/Language Arts and Math improvement and school culture. Walton and Greenwood both also listed improvement in social studies as one of their goals, and Walton listed science in addition to that as well.

The School Committee voted unanimously to approve each school's goals.