Carlisle Public Schools

Carlisle Public Schools The Carlisle Public School and the Carlisle School Committee worked together in 2016 to provide an excellent educational experience for the children of Carlisle. There were some changes that inevitably occur in an organization, but our mission statement continued to guide all that we do: The mission of the Carlisle Public Schools is to provide a collaborative and caring community in which each student is known, understood, and valued so that students can learn to their fullest potential in a safe, inclusive environment with high expectations and clear standards for all. The School Committee managed the biggest change in the district in 2016 with the hiring of a new superintendent, James F. O’Shea, following the resignation of Dr. Joan Wickman at the end of 2015. Parents, students, and community members were involved in the superintendent search, which was an exhaustive and thorough process, facilitated by the consulting firm of HYA Associates. In addition to the mission statement cited above, the district vision statement provided a yardstick for evaluating candidates for the school’s leadership: The vision of the Carlisle Public Schools is to inspire intellectual and ethical excellence so our students are prepared to participate with integrity in a global community. Mr. O’Shea began his work in Carlisle in August and immediately engaged staff and parents, and in September, met our students. He spent the first months of his tenure learning about the school and about Carlisle through attending both town and school events and meeting citizens and town officials. In other personnel changes, two long- serving teachers, Mimi Chandler and Patricia Comeau, retired after many years of dedicated service. Jack Tiano, Student Services Director, departed, and in September we welcomed Mr. Will Verbits to this position. Although the Carlisle Public School District is a single K-8 school, there are two entities within our one school: the Middle School and the Elementary School. The two have different activities and goals each year, and in this year’s town report, we would like to present some of the work of each. The Middle School, which includes grades 5 – 8, is led by principal Carrie Wilson. This highlight summary is purposefully linked to the school improvement plan goals that focus on social emotional learning and well being, anti-bullying common language, technology within the curriculum, and alignment of science and math to new state standards of instruction. We consciously link our activities and efforts to our school and district goals, and this linkage models the school vision, stated above, that we share with our students and families on a daily basis. This calendar year, faculty has participated in a school and community study of the well being/balance of our students through a partnership with the Challenge Success initiative from Stanford University. This work anchored our subsequent involvement with the Responsive Classroom (morning meeting) approach with our children, the inclusion of student social emotional awareness in our faculty study of homework and extra curricular activities, the inclusion of mindfulness in the grade 8 advisory programs, and the beginning rollout of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. Academically, middle grade students have shown success in all areas of their learning. We continue to demonstrate superior achievement on the yearly state assessment as seen in our overall ranking within the top three schools in the state in all measured areas (Math, English Language Arts, and Science and Technology). Our students have been involved and rewarded for our contributions to the Scholastic Arts and Writing programs (35 gold, silver, and honorable mention), our participation in the MICCA competition (18 band/instrument participants and winners and 10 choral winners), Model UN participants and winners (our second year of involvement), and our participation and success in the math league and math counts competitions. In addition to our continuing dedication to academic excellence, our students participated in world language celebrations, the 2016 community multi cultural event, and sports teams in the areas of cross country, basketball, softball and baseball. Our involvement in community outreach remains strong as seen in our participation with the Council on Aging breakfast and lunch, the Memorial Day parade, and Old Home Day. This year, our Early Act Service to Others Club, in conjunction with the Junior Rotary Club, has supported Razia’s Ray of Hope, Kids for Cameroon, local outreach to the families in Lowell, and Cradles to Crayons. Our technology plan and student one-to-one computing continues to be integrated within all of our classroom work. Students have participated in engineering and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) class activities, computer coding classes, and use of our 3-D printer. On a beautiful spring evening in June, about 80 eighth graders completed their journey through the Carlisle School at their graduation ceremony. We wish them well as they continue their education at CCHS, Minuteman, or private schools. The majority of our students attend Concord-Carlisle High School, and Ms. Wilson met several times with her peers at CCHS to ensure a seamless transition for our students. Our student data was incorporated into the on-line scheduling system, allowing 8th graders to schedule their high school classes on-line for the first time. Parents and students attended multiple orientation sessions, and all reports from CCHS indicate that the transition went smoothly. Our middle school model, with its team approach has proven to work well both in educating our students at CPS and in providing a foundation for success in secondary school. This year the elementary school, which includes grades Pre-K to 4 and is led by principal Dennet Sidell, expanded the social/emotional program “The Incredible Flexible You” into the first grade. The success of this program, used last year in kindergarten, was evident with students using the language of the program with teachers, administration and with peers. Grade two started lessons with the program "Zones of Regulation” while grades three and four took part in a student survey, “Challenge Success” which asked students their views about classroom, homework, stress, sleep and extracurricular activities. The results of this survey have been discussed with teachers at each grade level and changes to our homework practices have been reviewed and in places modified. As in the Middle School, the implementation of the Olweus anti-bullying program began in the elementary grades with the formation of a faculty committee and the initiation of a training program. The selection of Olweus was made following a review of various anti- bullying systems, and the elementary teachers are looking forward to a full roll-out of this highly regarded program. In December the work of several years came into fruition with the release of the new elementary skills-based report card. The purpose of these changes to the report card was to send a clear message from the teacher to the parents or guardians on how their son or daughter was performing for each skill taught. Teachers worked as a multi-grade level team to create a report card with one format for kindergarten through grade four. Specific skills are listed under each academic domain, so anyone who views the report card knows how the child is performing in regards to grade level. In a first for Carlisle, principal Sidell created a video explaining the changes to the report card, which was posted on the school website. Academically, elementary students demonstrated their mastery of skills through strong performance on both internal and state-wide testing. The new literacy specialist began her position in September and worked closely with both students and teachers in the early grades to enhance student reading skills. The math specialist engaged children both during class and in early morning supplemental sessions to reinforce math concepts. Teachers began to use iPads in small group instruction to practice and strengthen classroom learning, with a variety of applications that not only helped students but also assisted teachers in planning future lessons. All elementary grade levels continued to work on engineering projects, such as constructing valentine mailboxes and water retention systems. In the spring, after much discussion, research and information gathering from parents including a parent presentation evening, as well as a parent survey, the administration and School Committee made a decision to expand the Kindergarten program to five full days. In September the transition took place and children now have more time to explore, practice and master the needed academic, social, emotional and behavioral skills needed for successful learning. Also in the spring, the Math Committee sponsored a Family Fun Math Night to showcase how elementary math is differentiated depending on the need of each child. Each grade level was in charge of an activity that was then differentiated into three levels all teaching the same skill. Families traveled from room to room to play and experience the different activities. Over seventy-five families participated in this wonderful event. Our fourth graders are the “senior” members of the elementary school, and their leadership played a vital role in assisting our kindergarten, first and second graders during lunch and recess. Fourth grade students volunteered their time twice a month to eat lunch with the younger students, not only to help them, but also to build relationships with younger students, which hopefully will continue in the middle school. In addition, a group of fourth graders took charge of the school’s composting program, again providing leadership for the younger students. Every day our elementary faculty and students reflect, collaborate, and work hard to become excellent teachers, learners and citizens of Carlisle, and we are truly proud of their efforts and accomplishments. In addition to the major task of hiring a superintendent, the School Committee fulfilled other responsibilities during the year.

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