RPS Superintendent's Update
Dr. Branco - 3/21/23
Spring is here. There is no better time to celebrate our students.
Dear RPS Community,
RPS has had a busy and productive few months since my last update. Our students continue to work hard and succeed in the classroom, on the fields, in their performance groups, and through extracurriculars and community involvement. Over the past few months, I have had the privilege of meeting with many of them during lunches and in organized meet and greets in an effort to hear directly from them about what makes RPS meaningful and effective from their perspective, and what we can do to improve their experiences in and out of the classroom. I look forward to working with adult and student leaders to find a way to meet regularly with a variety of students to continue these conversations. As we transition into longer days and warmer weather, I am excited to celebrate the ongoing growth and achievement of our students and invite everyone in our community to check out a game, attend a performance, or keep an eye out for academic highlights and celebrations. We have remarkable young people in our community who benefit greatly from our community's support.
Capital Improvement Planning & FY24 Proposed Budget
Since late fall, the District Leadership Team has been busy developing a capital improvement plan to present to the town’s Capital Improvement Planning Committee, and the FY24 Proposed Budget for the School Committee, Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee, and ultimately, town meeting.
The capital request includes the replacement of outdated furniture in our MS science classrooms and MS/HS STEM/Engineering labs, updated flooring for elementary school classrooms, replacement window shades in all PreK-12 classrooms to support our safety protocols, a new tractor, and a new pick-up truck. At this time, we believe that future needs could include a newer activities bus and an upgrade to the interior lighting in the middle school. Both the Capital Improvement Planning Committee and the Finance Committee have recently given this plan a favorable review.
After the District Leadership Team held a series of budget development workshops, the School Committee held three public budget development sessions on 12/7/22, 1/12/23, and 1/19/23. The committee approved The FY24 Proposed Budget on 1/19/23. Subsequently, the Board of Selectmen unanimously supported the proposed budget on February 14th and the Finance Committee unanimously supported it on March 2nd.
As I wrote in the budget book, The FY24 Proposed Budget reflects the District’s priorities for the 2023-2024 school year and establishes budgetary, programmatic, and resource baselines that will allow the District Leadership Team to thoughtfully plan for the future needs of our students. The budget plan will dovetail with the Superintendent's Report of Entry Findings and will support the development of a new Strategy for District Improvement. The District is grateful for the community’s partnership and support, and remains committed to ensuring that we continue to provide all of our students with the high-quality education and support they deserve, while doing so in a way that assures community members that we are careful stewards of taxpayer funding. We look forward to the community supporting this budget at town meeting on April 1st.
Superintendent's Report of Entry Findings
Over the past seven months, I have been engaged in a process of gathering and analyzing data in order to identify themes and patterns that emerge as indicative of the Rockport Public Schools. As a result, I recently completed the Superintendent’s Report of Entry Findings (also available on the District website). I presented this report publicly to the School Committee on March 15th. This report, foreshadowed in the Superintendent’s Entry Plan last August, is a synthesis of information gathered from stakeholder surveys, interviews, and focus groups; observations of schools and classrooms; and a review of key documents and data.
This report highlights the data collected and analyzed in relation to three major overarching themes, and will provide corresponding strengths as well as areas for opportunity and inquiry. I look forward to collaborating with stakeholders within our learning community to develop a Strategy for District Improvement (SDI) that reflects our shared vision and supports the social, emotional, and academic growth and achievement of all of our students.
Communication
The District Leadership Team continues to work on developing a communication plan that will outline the procedures and tools that will be used to support our efforts to communicate transparently and consistently with all RPS stakeholders. To date, recent updates to our communication tools include: (1) Each school and central office is now using the smore platform for all of our newsletters/updates.(2) We have upgraded the calendar tool on the District website. You can now select one or any combination of our calendars which will allow you to view everything in one place. (3) We continue to change the User Interface (UI) of the website in an effort to make information easier to access and improve the overall user experience. We anticipate the website to be completely overhauled by the end of the school year or mid summer at the latest.
Additionally, we have recently updated our social media presence.
Each school now has a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/RockportElementary/
https://www.facebook.com/RockportHS/
https://www.facebook.com/RockportMiddleSchool/
The District, each school, and the athletic department now have a Twitter account:
The District, each school, and the athletic department now have an Instagram account:
The District also has a Linked In account to assist us with HR efforts and our professional profile. https://www.linkedin.com/company/61857925/
On all of these platforms, we will be using #RKPTVikings to assist in searching for all things RPS.
Last day of school
Due to the snow day that occurred on Friday, December 23rd, our last day of school will be Thursday, June 15th and will be a half-day for students and staff. Wednesday, June 14th will now be a full-day of school for all. We have updated the District calendar on the website to reflect this.
Rockport Public Schools
Email: mbranco@rpk12.org
Website: rpk12.org/
Location: 32 Jerdens Lane, Rockport, MA, USA
Phone: (978)546-1200
Twitter: @Mark_Branco