We had several 3rd graders and several 4th graders present to School Committee last Monday night. They were excited to tell people about what they have been reading, writing, and discussing during their literacy instruction with our new curriculum resource, CKLA in our traditional classes, and Caminos in our Spanish Immersion classes. The students did an awesome job teaching School Committee about the new vocabulary skills they have been working on, as well as sharing about some of the writing they have done, such as personal narratives in 4th grade.
After the students presented, Principal Bell from Memorial, and I shared the elementary school improvement plan with School Committee. We have 4 main goals that are part of our school improvement plan, with various action steps to support each goal:
Goal 1: By June 2027, all students (K-4) will demonstrate increased knowledge and application of the Portrait of a Learner competencies as they navigate their POL Journey, moving from noticing and naming competencies in K-2 to practicing and connecting competencies to authentic problems in grades 3-4.
Goal 2: By June 2027, both elementary schools will have successfully launched the first year of the new ELA curriculum, PK to 4, ensuring all staff receive ongoing professional development, with 100% of teachers utilizing data-driven decisions to provide high-quality Tier 1 instruction that actively works to reduce the ELA performance gap for all students.
Goal 3: By June 2027, both Clough and Memorial will foster an inclusive environment where every student is known, valued, celebrated, and supported by operationalizing the Whole Student Reviews to provide strength-based instruction and tiered interventions, resulting in increased student self-efficacy, a stronger sense of belonging for students and staff, and a measurable reduction in subgroup performance gaps.
Goal 4: By June of 2027, Clough and Memorial will intentionally transform and utilize public spaces throughout the schools to reflect our values, cultures, identities, instructional focus areas, and vision for student learning. This will be demonstrated by displays and environments that highlight student thinking, voice, agency, collaboration, reflection, the PoL, and our dual language education.
Looking forward to working with Clough staff to accomplish these goals this year.
We are excited to connect with caregivers this week during conferences. Hopefully you were able to schedule a time that works for you. I know conferences are short, but it is valuable time that allows teachers to be able to connect with you and share updates on how your child is learning and growing this year. Thank you for partnering with us and for being understanding that teachers have limited time for each conference.
Don't forget that we have three half days in November. Two during parent conference week this week and one the day before Thanksgiving. I just want to remind families of the lunch change where we will be serving lunch on those days. Students are also able to bring lunch from home on those days. K and 1 will eat lunch in the cafeteria and 2nd, 3rd, and 4th will eat in their classrooms.
Thank you,
Liz Garden
Principal
P.S. The Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving, 11/25, we will be having our annual Breakfast and BINGO event. Families will be able to come to the cafeteria before school to eat breakfast and play BINGO! We will have Thanksgiving food items as prizes. Be sure and RSVP here so we can plan for how much breakfast food we need.
