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| Superintendent's Corner
Mark Donovan |
Summer vacation is a time for some rest and recreation, but as this newsletter shows, there are many activities going on in our school system. Our custodians and maintenance workers are hard at work to prepare our buildings for the start of school. Some staff members who have the summer off still come by from time to time. Our two new elementary principals, Mrs. Carroll Willa (Reeves) and Mr. Christopher Heath (Clapp-Goodyear) have been spending many days getting to know their new schools. They've also been participating in weekly orientation sessions with Dr. Reese and me.
While we miss the regular contributions of our student reporters during the summer, we hope that you will enjoy catching up on what's been going on in the Woburn Public Schools. And don't worry--there's plenty of time left to enjoy the summer.
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Literacy Across the Content Areas
Dr. Gary Reese
Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum
| Literacy continues to be an area of focus for the Woburn Public Schools. Last year, with support from grants through Title I, Special  education, and a Literacy Grant through the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, we were able to provide training for all staff in grades 3-7 in the Key Three Routine. These routines help teachers to provide effective comprehension instruction to their students within their content areas. We also were able to organize a team of K-12 staff members who worked very hard to develop a five year literacy plan. This plan is still in the draft phase and will be finalized in the fall. We will use the literacy plan as our guiding document to drive our curriculum planning, assessment, and professional development needs for the next five years in the area of literacy. We will continue to solicit your input in the development and review of the document.
This school year, we will expand the Key Three literacy training to our eighth grade teachers and into the high school. We hope to receive another grant from the Deparment of Education to support our efforts!
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Implementing the New Bullying Legislation
| On June 30, Dr. Gary Reese and I attended a workshop at Bridgewater State College to learn more about how to implement the new bullying legislation. The workshop was conducted by the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center with the cooperation of the Massachusetts Department of Click image to visit their web site  | Elementary and Secondary Education. The workshop provided us with some very practical strategies for effectively implementing some additional procedures so that we can provide students with an appropriate learning environment. After that workshop, we had a preliminary meeting with members of the Woburn Police Department. Chief Philip Mahoney attended this meeting.
This topic is a difficult one to manage for students, parents, and our school district. I'm confident that we will be able to develop a process that will examine cases and deal with them in a way that's both effective and fair.
I encourage you to visit the web site of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center to learn more about the fine work of this organization. You can find them at http://webhost.bridgew.edu/marc/ or click on the logo above.
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Update: New Goodyear School
| The construction of the new Goodyear Elementary School is moving along nicely. The School Building Committee continues to meet during the summer. Even though there was a delay in the project, it is amazing to see a project go from being a design on paper to an impressive steel structure. There should be a great deal of progress over the next few months. The new school will open in September of 2011. In case you haven't seen the progress lately, you can get some idea from the photo provided by Gilbane, our construction management company.
Photo taken on 7/28/10  |
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| Please forward our newsletter! | | |
 We're trying to spread the good news about the Woburn Public Schools. You can help by forwarding this newsletter to anyone who you think might be interested--grandparents, aunts and uncles, students away at college, current and former residents of Woburn, etc. Please encourage them to subscribe to our newsletter.
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ESL Summer Camp--2010
Laura Shanahan Teacher of English Language Learners | Woburn Public School's ESL Camp 2010 was attended by over 20 students in grades K-6 across the city, for two weeks in July at the Reeves Elementary School. Campers, high school aides and teachers enjoyed many activities which included water balloon games, popsicle stick boxes, papier mache heads and beaded lanyards to take home. The crowd favorite by far was the last day performance for parents where students put on their Reader's Theater plays such as: The Old Gray Mare, Dinah Won't You Blow Your Horn, and The Ant and The Grasshopper. The hot and humid weather didn't keep these students from making new friends, playing games and enjoying their summer vacation. Everyone hopes to see each other in the new school year at the annual ESL Winter Supper.
This program is funded by a federal Title III grant managed by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
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| Our New and Improved Web Site | |
Be sure to visit woburnpublicschools.com for information as the school year approaches. Tha nks to David Mastronardi from our technology department, we have some new features, and navigating the site is much easier. We still have to fill in some blanks, so continue to check in after the school year begins. |
Key Three Literacy Training--Strategies for Building Vocabulary
| Through the efforts of Dr. Gary Reese, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, and Donna Matrinko, Title I Director, many teachers attended a two-day workshop to learn new ways to build the vocabulary of their students. Colleen Yasenchock from Keys to Literacy engage d teachers in research-based teaching strategies that will help their students learn--and remember--new words. Many teachers from kindergarten through grade six were joined by English Language Learner teachers, foreign language teachers, Title I teachers and an art teacher as they improved their skills in this area.
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Massachusetts Adopts Common Core Learning Standards
| On July 21, 2010, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and
Secondary Education voted to adopt the Common Core State Standards. The Board
adopted standards in both Mathematics and English Language Arts and Literacy.
The English Language Arts standards include reading and writing across
curriculum areas such as History/Social Studies, Science, and technical
subjects. At this point, a total of 28 states have signed on to the Common
Core, and other states are likely to accept them soon.
In response to some concern about adopting new learning
Click on this Image for More Information  | standards for Massachusetts students, the Commissioner of the Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education, Mitchell Chester noted, "I've stated all along that I would only
recommend adoption of the Common Core Standards if they were as strong as or
stronger than our existing standards and, after conducting numerous studies and
receiving detailed feedback from panels of Massachusetts K-12 educators and
higher education faculty, I am confident that this is the case. The focus on
reading and writing across all curriculum areas and the carefully designed
progressions of concepts and skills in the mathematics standards are just two
of the strengths that I see in the Common Core." He further notes that
Massachusetts can add some additional standards to the common core as it sees
fit. Some of this work is expected to be completed by late fall. Commission
Chester has also explained that the effect on MCAS testing will be gradual. The
testing for 2011 will be based on the learning standards currently in use.
From my point of
view, the Common Core standards will allow teachers to focus their instruction
more carefully. Currently, mathematics teachers at all level are expected to
cover a long list of learning standards. While the Common Core also identifies
a list of standards, the list is shorter and, more importantly, some areas are
selected as a priority for instruction. For example, teachers in grade four
will focus on three areas.
In summary, the
Common Core standards provide us a new opportunity to examine the curriculum
that we provide for our students. It is my strong hope the final version of the
standards will provide teachers with a level of clarity that will give them a
clearer focus so that they can provide the best instruction possible for our
students.
For much more
information about the Common Core, go to www.doe.mass.edu/candi/commoncore or simply click on the image in this article.
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