Superintendent's Report to SC 2.8.24

 

SWAMPSCOTT PUBLIC SCHOOLS

TO: Swampscott School Committee

FROM:  Superintendent Angelakis

DATE:  February 8, 2024

RE:  Superintendent’s Report 

Mock Town Meeting at the High School

• Mr. Kohut and I were presented with the idea and opportunity to hold a Mock Town Meeting with our 16-- and 17-year-old students.

• This is not an attempt to manipulate an election but rather an excellent opportunity for our students to engage in our Town Government experience. 

• Having grown up in a city my whole life, it took me a while, as an adult, to understand how different the town's government structure is. This is a fantastic opportunity to 3educate our students at a much younger age. 

• The warrant will have two “articles” - the pickleball courts and the voting age.

• Mr. Kohut is working out the details of the actual date of training the students, setting the stage with them, and then the actual Mock Town Meeting date.

• This Mock Town Meeting is not open to the public, but I welcome the attendance of Select Board and School Committee members not as participants but as silent observers on the day of the Mock Town Meeting. 

• The tentative date at this time is February 27th.

Swampscott Elementary School (SES)

• This afternoon, Principal Sanborn, Assistant Principal Knowles, Officer Wilson, and the YMCA Extended Day staff toured the site with our Owner’s Project Manager (OPM) and me. 

• This is the first look they have had inside. The excitement is palpable.

• In the coming weeks, we will be giving tours to the Central Office and other building leaders prior to the elementary faculty and staff tours scheduled for March.

• Working together - the SES administrative team and I are developing regular communications to share with elementary families.

Recognition - Ms. Comparato - Financial Literacy Leader

In 2019, the Swampscott Public Schools proudly established Personal Financial Literacy as a graduation requirement, marking a significant milestone in our commitment to preparing students for real-world challenges. At the forefront of this transformative initiative is our dedicated SHS teacher, Susan Comparato. Not only has she championed this cause for Swampscott, but she has also become a passionate advocate for students across the entire Commonwealth.

Since the inception of this graduation requirement, Ms. Comparato has demonstrated unwavering dedication to enhancing her knowledge and expertise in the field. She has pursued further education and earned numerous certifications, solidifying her position as a leader in Personal Financial Literacy education.

In a recent and noteworthy development, Ms. Comparato took her advocacy to the State House, testifying on behalf of all students about the crucial importance of incorporating Financial Literacy into graduation requirements statewide. Her compelling testimony garnered attention and earned her an interview with WBZ, where she eloquently shared her insights on why Financial Literacy is integral to students' holistic education.

Adding a student perspective to this crucial narrative, our own Sam Snitkovsky was also interviewed, providing valuable insights into the impact of Personal Financial Literacy education from a student's viewpoint.

The culmination of these efforts will be showcased in an upcoming feature scheduled to air on Monday, February 12th, at 6:00 PM. We invite you to join us in tuning in to witness this inspiring story that highlights the dedication of our educators and the importance of financial literacy in shaping the future success of our students. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Superintendent's Report to SC 11.2.23

 

SWAMPSCOTT PUBLIC SCHOOLS

TO: Swampscott School Committee

FROM:  Superintendent Angelakis

DATE:  November 2, 2023

RE:  Superintendent’s Report 

District Crisis Team Meeting Update:

• Each school has its own building-based Crisis Team that meets throughout each school year. These teams are led by the Principal, Assistant Principal (where applicable), and our School Resource Officer. 

• In addition, we have a District Crisis Team that includes town agencies, including Police, Fire, and DPW. 

• We convene three times yearly or more as needed - Fall, Winter, and Spring.

• The fall meeting was held on October 11th. 

• Updated Crisis Response and Medical Emergency Response Plans are shared for every school with the town agencies. These plans outline the roles and responsibilities of faculty and staff in the event of an emergency.

• Plans are not shared more broadly because that would defeat their purpose.

• Goals of the Crisis Teams:

• Mitigation

• Prevention

• Preparedness

• Response 

• Recovery

• Introduced “I Love U Guys” to the town agencies.

• Evacuation Spaces for each school have been changed and were reviewed.

• Swampscott High School Public Address System (PA) issues were discussed. Agencies informed of the grant that was applied for and estimated timeline for notification of grant recipients. 

• In 2024-2025, a new law requires that Medical Emergency Response Plans include procedures to address behavioral health medical emergencies.  

• DESE Model Crisis Plan

Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Grant $310,000:

• COPS Grant Notification

• COPS Grant Press Release

Superintendent's Report to SC 9.28.23

 

 

SWAMPSCOTT PUBLIC SCHOOLS

TO: Swampscott School Committee

FROM:  Superintendent Angelakis

DATE:  September 28, 2023

RE:  Superintendent’s Report 

Financial Literacy Boston Globe Article

I am proud that Susan Comparato and Swampscott High School are part of this state conversation. 

Financial Lit Article

Enrollment Specific Information

Please remember this is not the official and final data. You will receive that information after filing the required October 1 report. Of the 152 students who registered for SPS, 51 require English Language services—five students enrolled from other countries, including Spain, Bangladesh, the Dominican Republic, and Israel. 

Newcomers, or beginners, federally require more daily service minutes than intermediate students. This has already resulted in an unanticipated increase in an EL teacher from .5 FTE to a 1.0 FTE.

School Committee CORE Training

FROM: Dr. Jean Bacon

Per your interest and request at the September 14th School Committee meeting, we invite you to participate in one of our CORE PD opportunities this year, per your interest/availability:

CORE Foundational PD (that we require of all SPS staff). Participants explore their own social identities and learn how diverse social identities impact our students/families and educational opportunities/outcomes more generally.

There will be two cohorts this year:

Fall: October 5, October 25, and December 6

Winter: January 10, February 7, and March 6

They meet from 12:15 to 3:15 or 12:40 to 3:40

SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity).  This PD will be on all 6 of the PD half days noted above. It follows the curriculum of the National SEED Institute out of Wellesley College and is facilitated by two SPS staff members who have completed their SEED leadership training. It is a deeper exploration of the social identities and implications for educational practice covered in the CORE Foundational training. All members of the SPS administration and our CORE teacher leaders completed this PD in 2021-22.

Please let me know if you are interested in participating in either of these opportunities. If these sessions are not convenient/possible for you because of the timing, we can work out a training schedule for the School Committee to better meet your interests and needs.

MCAS - Overview

SPS outperformed the state at the elementary level (grades 3 to 5) by a significant margin (5% to 15% more of our students met or exceeded expectations than students across the state). Results in grades 6 to 10 were more mixed. SPS students performed at or below the state average in some subjects and grade levels.

In almost all grade levels and subject areas, SPS students are still performing below their pre-pandemic levels of achievement, as is the case for students across the state. The one exception is in elementary mathematics, where SPS students in grades 3 and 4, with two years of steady progress, now outperformed their 2019 achievement level by about 9% (58% met/exceeded the standard compared to 49% in 2019).

At our next meeting on October 12th, Dr. Jean Bacon will present a more in-depth look at our MCAS results.

Superintendent's Report to SC 9.14.23

 

SWAMPSCOTT PUBLIC SCHOOLS

TO: Swampscott School Committee

FROM:  Superintendent Angelakis

DATE:  September 14, 2023

RE:  Superintendent’s Report 

Interfaith Leadership Conversation

Police Chief Quesada invited me to participate in a conversation with interfaith leaders of the community regarding recent hate events in our community. Mr. Jason Calichman and School Resource Officer Brian Wilson attended with me. Some of these incidents involve juveniles, so this was an excellent opportunity for Mr. Calichman and I to share our proactive and educational approach in our schools. District Attorney Paul Tucker was also a guest speaker in attendance. 

School Committee ParentSquare Traning

Mrs. Mackey Knowles has offered to train all School Committee members on our new communication tool, ParentSquare, at 5:00 p.m. before the next School Committee meeting on September 14th.  I will need to confirm with her. 

Leadership Retreat

On August 9th and 10th, I held our annual Leadership Retreat from 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. each day for principals, assistant principals, and directors, held in the high school innovation center.

Over twelve different sessions were held with presentations from Director of Human Resources, Lisa Coults, Director of Technology and Innovation and Digital Learning Manager Lytania Mackey and Kerri O’Donnell,  High School Principal, and Assistant Principal Dennis Kohut & Colleen Finn, Director of Counseling and Social Emotional Learning, Craig Harris, Director of Teaching and Learning Jean Bacon, Assistant Superintendent, Martha Raymond, and School Resource Officer, Brian Wilson. 

Over the last few years, we have invited the Swampscott Education Association union leadership team for a session with our team.  We jointly develop an agenda for this session, which centers around reflecting on the past year and looking ahead to the new school year. We have found this to be an invaluable time together to problem solve and continue our collaborative approach to our work .

A few highlights included I Love U Guys, Tech Time - Creating Hubs, and Reviewing our SPS Brand with Sperling Interactive.

I Love U Guys (https://iloveuguys.org/) is a standard response protocol we are implementing moving forward this year and replacing ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate). It is a gentler version of ALICE that requires a multi-year rollout. Officer Wilson is scheduling a parent/guardian night meeting so families can learn about it, which will occur in the early fall. 

On September 27th, 2006, a gunman entered Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, Colorado, held seven girls hostage, and ultimately shot and killed Emily Keyes. During the time she was held hostage, Emily sent her parents text messages. ”I love you guys,” and I love you guys. k?” 

In addition to our School Resource Officer attending training on August 7th & 8th, the district sent members of our Leadership Team to train the trainer training, including Dennis Kohut, Colleen Finn, Jason Calichman, Christopher Norkun, Craig Harris, Jay Knowles, and Lytania Mackey. These leaders will assist Officer Wilson and lead their buildings in the drills and implementation. Craig and Lytania, as district leaders, will assist at Stanley/Blaney.  

Creating Hubs was one piece of various topics during our technology session, but one that excited our team. These “dashboards” can be made for students, teachers, and families—another tool in our technology toolbox.  

Instructional Hub 

The Swampscott Public Schools Brand At the School Committee workshop, Ms. Wright and I shared the work we have been doing as part of the Swampscott Elementary School project regarding branding for our district Pre-K-12. The Sperling team presented the logo and tagline and solicited feedback from the Leadership Team. After working on something in a small group for so long, hearing other perspectives is always interesting. 

Elementary Transition Planning

On March 31, 2023, I met with PTO leadership from all three elementary schools to discuss my desire to have them working more collaboratively for this upcoming school year.  On August 17th, we met again, and the elementary principals also attended this meeting. The PTOs had worked collaboratively to map out almost monthly events that all three schools would hold jointly—for example, Trunk or Treat and Field Day.  

In addition, I shared the role and responsibilities of school councils and the importance of their development and collaboration this year as we move towards merging for the next school year. I sent a ParentSquare notice to all elementary families soliciting participation in these critical organizations. We decided there would be one elementary school council with equal representation from all three schools, led by the three administrators. They will create one elementary school improvement plan for implementation in the 2024-2025 school year. 

The CORE Plan - Our District Strategy

A district strategy is a multi-year plan that outlines the goals and priorities of the district. School Improvement Plan goals should align with the District Strategy at the school level. Our CORE Plan (which we have been working on for the last two years) is our District Strategy, but we will always refer to it as our CORE Plan. 

CORE Plan (District Strategy)

Proposed Superintendent Goals 2023-2025