Monfredo: Worcester Public Schools Continue to See Many Positives

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Saturday, November 02, 2019

John Monfredo, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

The Worcester Public Schools has continued to move forward with much success. Just recently the School Committee received additional information highlighting their accomplishments.  Unfortunately, some in the community have failed to give the district credit and continue to pound away with negativity.  It’s unfortunate that one doesn’t look at the positives.

Let me just give a sampling of what has taken place.  Under the leadership of Superintendent Binienda our school district has been successful and has accomplished a great deal. The district continues to works in collaboration with all stakeholders, community groups, parents and educators to strengthen and improve our schools. The overall goal is to improve outcomes so that ALL students feel safe, supported and valued.

The district continues to work on a “Welcoming School” environment and has implemented ways of assisting students in need. All schools have a committee made up of parents, students, and teachers and meet monthly to address ways of having a “Welcoming environment.”  The district has “Andy’s Attic Clothing at South High, pantry closets at many of the secondary schools, behavioral health services at the School-Based Health Centers, and washer-dryer programs in partnership with UMASS Medical School.  There is the HEARS  initiative to support trauma-responsive practices and school climate. In addition, all schools focus on school climate in their School Accountability Plans and the Special Education Behavioral Specialist provides school-based targeted help to classroom teachers and school-based teams are present at the schools.

The district has a great three-year technology plan and has purchased Chromebooks, iPads, and additional training for staff and students is taking place. There has been an expansion of ELL instructors and an English Language Learners Parent Advisory Council is in place.  High School students have additional course selection offerings and advanced placement courses. The AP courses have an open-enrollment policy and this has resulted in an increase in student participation.  There has continued to be an increase in AP offerings with 28 AP classes being available across the district. Added, also, is the advanced AP Capstone program for this program is an innovative college-level program that helps the student stand-out in the college admission process by developing the critical skills needed to succeed in college and life.

The district has expanded its AVID program to support our students in the middle and provide tutoring. Students also learn how to take notes and how to study.

Other outstanding programs are our Dual Language programs, Seal of Biliteracy, 100  Males to College, Early College, history electives including studies on African Americans, expansion of Chapter 74 career courses, Virtual High School, our Goddard Scholars, and Hanover Academy programs continue to meet the needs of our high achieving students, CPR-Heimlich training takes place in our secondary schools, and our Fine Arts programs continue to flourish.  We have safe schools as a priority with extensive training of staff in how to keep our students from harm’s way and the School Safety Officers in our high schools are there to assist.

The district continuously reviews and updates the curriculum and when appropriate reflects the many cultures within our student population. Educators have continued to integrate professional opportunities across the content areas around culturally relevant teaching which essentially means that teachers create a bridge between students’ home and school lives and acknowledge the assets of students and families while still meeting the expectations of the Massachusetts State Standards.  An example of this practice would the new Massachusetts History and Social Science Frameworks offerings. They offer expanded examples of primary sources representing people of diverse backgrounds in the United States and in World History.

Worcester does have an outstanding school district, but we all know that there is still much more to do. The Worcester Public Schools lead all Gateway districts in achievement and in many other categories. As we move forward, let’s all work together for in the words of Helen Keller, “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.”

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