Report: PD Update

Transcript (~9 min @ 37:38)

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▶ 37:22 Speaker 5: I'm seeing none. Do I have a motion to approve this year's district officers? So moved. Motioned by Ms. Halloran, second by Ms. Leo. All in favor? That's four in favor, three absent. Thank you. Okay, moving on to our professional development update. Thank you so much for being here, both of you. I appreciate it. Hope you're getting geared up and excited for the new school year. It's happening, but it's a slow ramp this year, it looks like to me. So-

▶ 37:54 Speaker 9: It kind of feels slow.

▶ 37:55 Speaker 4: So sure. I'd like to introduce Ms. Melanie Azevedo. So she is our executive directors... Director. Just one. Quad clone her. Sometimes she functions like two when she doesn't sleep. But yeah. So she's a director- ... of academics and accountability. And also would like to welcome Jen O'Brien to our table. She is a newly hired administrator in our district, but a long-term Melrose teacher, so we're really happy that you've moved to the dark side. So welcome. And she will be the assistant principal at the Winthrop Elementary School, and also partnering as the elementary curriculum coordinator. So as we implement new curriculum at the elementary school this year, both at our K through two with our reading instruction, our phonics instruction, and also our Reveal Math, really going to play an integral part at the elementary school. So we're certainly happy to have you, and I will turn it over to Melanie to highlight some of the key pieces of the professional development plan.

▶ 38:59 Speaker 9: Sure. So thank you for having us. Back in June, I came with Michelle Theodor, our co-facilitator of the PD committee, and we shared our vision and where we thought we were going with PD this year, but it wasn't an actual plan. I'm going to be very honest, this is still not an actual plan, but we're getting closer. And we're doing that strategically because we want to plan in small chunks with some curriculum implementation this year. I want to be very careful about throwing too much at our educators too fast, too soon. So we're trying to think about, what are the little pieces that people need to keep going? And plan strategically throughout the year based on their feedback, but also based on student outcomes and student feedback that we're getting from assessment data, classroom observations, walkthroughs, all of that kind of stuff. So what you have in front of you is a brief overview of where we were in June. The four pillars that we've decided based on the PD survey and the work that we did last year. The four pillars are tied to our current strategic plan, but are flexible enough that if we were to make shifts, that we would be able to ensure that these also met our new strategic plan. They're also tied to our school improvement plans that principals are developing. And really thinking about that objective one, which is academic skills and outcomes of our plan, and objective four, which is around professional culture. I have detailed many things in the memo, and I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have.

▶ 40:37 Speaker 5: Thank you so much. Any questions or comments from the committee? Yes, Mr.

▶ 40:43 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: Driskell, go ahead. I just want to say thank you for the very detailed memo. Much appreciated. And because of that, I have no questions-

▶ 40:50 Speaker 9: ... but I wanted to say thank you.

▶ 40:53 Speaker 5: Thank you. Well said, Mr. Driskell. Anyone else? Yes, go ahead, Ms. Leo.

▶ 40:57 Speaker 8: Thank you. I'm just going to second what Mr. Driskell said. But also, it feels very intentional. It feels like the focus is on bringing it back to the goals, and I'm really excited to hear how the start of the school year goes in implementing the first few days of this PD. Yeah, it feels very cohesive. So thank you very much for putting this all together and the time and the work that goes into it.

▶ 41:31 Speaker 5: Ms. Leo, go ahead.

▶ 41:33 Speaker 2: Also thank you. I had a question about the new educator orientation. I thought that was particularly robust and good to see. And just wanted to know, to what extent is this standard that we all do this every year? Is it customized? And how much have you gotten educator feedback from previous new educators that has helped shape this?

▶ 41:56 Speaker 9: So we started this breaking up of the different kinds of days maybe three or four years ago. I've been involved with the new educator program since I was a classroom teacher. So I've always been heavily involved in orientation piece. Jess Patti has also been very heavily involved in shaping where we went. We got feedback from teachers every year. We always survey them at the end of day one. We take that feedback at the end of day one, try to make the minor adjustments that we can for day two. And then we obviously use their feedback to make adjustments moving forward. So I think this is the third year we've done like a district day, where we're really focusing on building relationships, getting to know each other, looking at Melrose policies. Yesterday was our MTSS retreat day, which included all of the administrators and several teacher leaders. We do a mini, like what is MTSS in Melrose? What is special ed in Melrose? So kind of those big overarching topics. And then day two, the directors are involved, some teacher leaders at the elementary are involved, and we really dive into curriculum. And then day three, we typically will put that back on the principals and say, "You know what your new teachers need to be successful in your own building." So they report to their buildings, and they work with their principals for the day. So we take that feedback every year, make adjustments. One of the things we heard last year, and throughout the year as I work with the new teachers monthly, is they weren't sure who to go to when. So that was part of where one of the things I'm really excited about this year is the community partnership fair that we're going to be hosting. That will be open obviously for our new educators, but we're inviting any Melrose educator to attend, and putting all of our both in-house MPS partners and our community partners under one roof where our educators can go and talk to people and see how they can help support their classroom and support their students. And we're also thinking a lot about families and what are the resources that families need. So how are our community partners able to help enhance what's happening in the classroom, but also provide some connections, and help new teachers in particular know what resources are available in Melrose? So that'll be at the end of our day one orientation. And I believe, Ms. Leo, I think you're slotted to attend with us As the school committee member. So, that's where we kind of get that information. Thank you. Mm-hmm.

▶ 44:41 Speaker 5: So there's no need for a vote on this. I'd like to welcome Ms. O'Brien into your new positions. Thank you so much. Just like Melrose to have you do two things at once, not just one.

▶ 44:52 Speaker 9: We're very excited as we're implementing curriculum with Ms. O'Brien's experience and her leadership she's had throughout the district, to welcome her to the curriculum team, as well as the assistant principal team.

▶ 45:06 Speaker 5: That's wonderful. Thank you so much. Congratulations.

▶ 45:08 Speaker 9: To share her with Dr. Tracy.

▶ 45:10 Speaker 4: It's going to be a great team.

▶ 45:12 Speaker 2: Honor. Honor to work with Mel as well as Dr. Tracy. Yes. Yeah. It's great.

▶ 45:15 Speaker 5: I think in terms of what we heard from Superintendent Berman at the beginning of her time as a superintendent, it's really about back to basics. You're building systems, not that they haven't been there, but you're really making sure people understand them. You're going to be doing a lot of observations, a lot of things. There are going to be walkthroughs. I think educators are going to be helping each other with their practice. So I'm really excited for this year, and I think that while it's not completed, in schools, there's very few things that actually get completed. And that's okay. So as long as you have a good vision and a good plan, even if it's not completely done yet, it's great. So I hope you have a great start to your year. Thank you. Thank you for all the work that you put in this summer and at the end of the school year, and we wish you well.

▶ 46:02 Speaker 9: Thank you very much. Thank you.

▶ 46:05 Speaker 5: Thank you, and that concludes this part of our agenda. Thank you.