School Committee Meeting Summary
February 9, 2023
RECOGNITIONS
Johnson Middle School 8th grade student Swara S. represented Walpole as the Ambassador of Project 351. Project 351 is a community day of service where student volunteers from
Massachusetts' 351 communities participate in a day of service. Project 351 challenges,
motivates and supports young leaders to unite, act and lead at a celebration and serve day in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dylan M. is a Grade 8 Johnson Middle School student who, after participating in the Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) programs at school, took it upon himself to develop an Instagram page dedicated to raising awareness and support for mental health issues. Dylan’s page has nearly 1,000 followers to date. Dylan's Instagram handle can be accessed at Dylanplaysmusic.
Walpole High School Student Report
Students have successfully ended a second term as well as the first semester of this school year. Overall, the school year is moving smoothly and great things are on the horizon.
Students involved in the trips to Thailand and Spain are making their final preparations as they will depart shortly. The trip to Thailand will be a great opportunity to experience new culture and help elephants in need with a sanctuary. The trip to Spain will be a great chance for students to practice real life applications of the language as well as expand their knowledge of Spanish culture.
Winter sports are soon coming to an end as many teams have had a great season. The girl’s basketball team won another game last week. The gymnastics team has also experienced success this season as they have won another meet. The girls track team overcame a challenging season and the boys produced great results. Both the hockey teams worked hard this season as the boys finished with a winning record.
- Clubs continue to run smoothly as they have been all year. The Speech and Debate Team competed in one of two national qualifying tournaments last weekend. Two of our WHS students will compete at Nationals in Phoenix, Arizona in June.
Last week, the music honors society, Tri-M, ended a successful Valentines’ Day fundraiser. The proceeds will go towards VH1's Save The Music Foundation.
The Unicef Club is in the middle of their More Than Words drive and planning their Easter fundraiser for April.
The Community Service Club hosted a fundraiser for the American Heart Foundation where they sold ribbons.
Finally, the Student Council hosted a Hypnotist on Monday and students were able to be hypnotized and watch with a lot of laughs.
New Business
1. Out-ofState Field Trip Requests: The School Committee approved the following out-of-state field -trip requests:
- Old Post Road Hot Hoppers to Kittery, ME on March 11, 2023
- Old Post Road Hot Hoppers to Keene, NH on May 6, 2023
- Walpole High School Robotics to North Scituate, RI from March 10 through March 12, 2023
- Walpole High School Robotics to Houston, TX from April 18 through April 23, 2023
2. History Update: History Department Chairperson Michael Donahue and Middle School Humanities Coordinator, Jodi O'Rourke provided an update to the School Committee. The full report can be viewed here at time marker 25:00.
Superintendent Report
Dr. Gough reported:
- There was a great turnout for last week's Title I Night. Children's book author, Paul Reynolds, was on hand and gave a presentation to students and their families titled The Joy of Reading. Every student in attendance received literacy and math resources and a signed copy of his book, Going Places.
The updated Curriculum website can now be found on our district's website. This website is intended to provide a general overview for our K-12 curriculum.
Term 1 Elementary Report Cards will be shared with families, tomorrow, Friday, February 10th. The report cards will be available via the Aspen Family Portal. The Term I report card communicates student progress toward meeting end of the year learning standards. A slight, but important, change to the descriptors of the Academic Performance Levels is the phrase “at this time”. The purpose of adding this phrase is to share with families where their students are academically, at this time of the year. Teachers assess student performance against these learning standards, which are specific and observable grade level skills. Our report cards reflect the learning standards as outlined in the current Massachusetts State Frameworks. Teachers assess by measuring individual student performance against the identified concrete learning standards, rather than in relation to the performance of other students. For further informaton, click HERE to access the WPS website with each grade level’s Standard Based Report Card and Parent/Guardian Guide.
Dr. Gough provided an update regarding Kindergarten registration numbers.
As a reminder, there is no school 2/20-2/24 (February break).
Middle School Building Project
Mr. Breen provided an update to the middle school building project. He indicated that the foundation footings for the new building are still being poured. A project timeline and three-week look ahead schedule can be located on the middle school webpage. The community is encouraged to visit the webpage and reach out to the Middle School Project team with any questions or comments via email at middleschoolproject@walpole.k12.ma.us.