Hi North Adams Public Schools Students, Families, and Staff,
This is a lengthy message with some updates, but if you don't have time to read the whole thing, here's the short version: I am still collecting information for my Entry Plan report of findings, and we have work to do but much to celebrate in our school system, including our impressive Early College program, the quality of the classroom learning experiences in all of our schools, award-winning students and teachers, and significant grant awards that will provide more opportunities to our learners.
Here's the longer version, with links if you'd like to dive deeper into some of the topics:
Based on the responses to the family communication survey, and in conversations with folks across the district, most people prefer less-frequent email updates from district leaders (everyone is busy, and they have things to do!) and it seems that "as-needed" or periodical updates are more important than a monthly newsletter from the superintendent's office. That's reassuring to hear, as that was how I felt as parent of two children -- less is more when it comes to email communication from the district.
But for those who are curious, I do have some information to share!
One thing to note is that we share quite a bit of information via our official North Adams Public Schools Facebook page and our Instagram page. If you are interested in regularly seeing the cool things we are doing in our district, along with information and annoucements, please check out our social media.
As I mentioned in my short-form version above, I am progressing through my Superintendent's Entry Plan process, reading reports, visiting classrooms (frequently), talking to students, staff, and caregivers, collecting survey data, and assessing the current status of our schools and programs. I still have some additional listening sessions to conduct over the next week and into early January, and I anticipate the initial report of my findings to be presented to School Committee in February.
One of the clear shining stars in our district is our Drury Early College program -- the only program of its kind in northern Berkshire County -- which is designed for all students in our district to complete 30+ college credits before high school graduation. This has led to over $661,000 in savings for North Adams families in just our first two years of implementation, as students bank transferable credits and are able to attend college full-time without a mountain of debt. Our update to this program is that we have been officially awarded Innovation Pathway designation for Healthcare and Social Assistance by the state, which means students will be able to complete a 100 hour internship in the field after completing two technical and two advanced courses in that employment sector. Great for our students and our community!
The school leaders and I have also been working to finalize and receive approval for our various goals and plans for this school year and for coming years. My two-year Superintendent Goals have been approved by the School Committee as have the multi-year District Strategic Plan and the annual School Improvement Plans.
We've implemented the new Code of Conduct, Character, and Support at each school this year, and the initial feedback this fall from students and teachers is that they have seen a major impact in providing clear supports to students and consequences for behavior violations and they have seen fewer disruptions to learning.
In our classroom walkthroughs, we have seen minimal disruptions as well, with classes regularly observed engaged in grade-appropriate, standards-aligned instuctional activities. An "eye-test" we like to use is: would we like our own children to be in these classes? And we leave those classes thinking, "Yes! Absolutely!" We aren't looking for perfection, but rather for high quality learning experiences and students engaged in thinking and "doing" what's appropriate for their grade level. We use an observation tool when we visit classrooms to look at school-wide trends, and we want to see an increase in high scores year-over-year as we collaborately work within our schools and across schools for continous improvement. We still have work to do to be where we want to be with our student outcome data from state and local testing to ensure preparedness for high school and beyond but we are making progress!
We also have some recognized programs, students, and educators to celebrate. Our Food Service program was recognized by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education who sent their marketing team to capture photos of our farm-to-school meal program. Art teacher Kyle Strack was named iBerkshires Teacher of the Month this fall, and our 2025 John and Abigail Adams Scholarship Award winners were announced. Lots to cheer about!
The city also has the new Greylock Elementary Building Project in its final stages, with the project now out to bid to subcontractors and General Contractors for an anticipated winter/spring 2025 groundbreaking and a fall 2027 opening for our PreK through grade 2 students (which means our younger students will actually have bathrooms connected to their classrooms, which is a big deal if you are an early childhood educator!).
The district continues to pursue competitive grants to expand and fund programming to help our students, and in addition to grants for Social Emotional Learning, Service Learning, Early College, and Workforce Development, we have also received two new major grants: a $105,995 grant to support Life Sciences education in grades 6-12, and a $500,000 grant to support mental health and partner with Northern Berkshire Community Coalition to bolster our comprehensive health and wellness learning experiences. These grants will expand services and programs that directly help our students in our schools.
If you made it to the end of this email, I congratulate you and thank you for your support!
I'm honored to be the superintendent of the North Adams Public Schools and I hope we can all continue to work toward our goal of improving experiences and outcomes for all of our students!
Timothy Callahan, Ed.D.
Superintendent
North Adams Public Schools