AGAWAM – The Agawam School Committee meeting was hosted on March 14 and featured a presentation from Mitchell Taylor and Karen Albano. Taylor is Lead Teacher at Phelps Elementary School and Clark Elementary School. Albano is Lead Teacher at Granger Elementary School and Robinson Park Elementary School.

Superintendent Steven Lemanski introduced the presentation, stating, “We thought it would be important for them to come and share what their experiences have been and what they have been doing at all of the schools and be able to share with us the progress that they’re making. They’re great people, we’ve talked to them many times and have enjoyed hearing of the success they’re having.”

Taylor and Albano began by sharing their individual “student learning goals” and “professional practice goals.” Taylor’s student learning goal is to “support MCAS proficiency” and his professional practice goal is “working to increase and/or support student engagement, as evidenced by teacher generated data and/or peer observations with feedback.” Albano’s student learning goal is to “improve student social, emotional, and behavioral well-being (as evidenced by SWIS PBIS Data)” and her professional practice goal is to “support relationship building among students and staff (as evidenced by various formal and informal activities and structures.)”

Taylor explained, “A lot of the work that Karen and I have done this year, we have tried to pay attention to the three strategic goals that go along with the mission and vision of the Agawam Public Schools.”

The three strategic goals of Agawam Public Schools are student engagement, student support and technology.

Taylor explained that he and Albano were able to focus on student engagement in ways such as using the Disney movie “Inside Out” in classrooms, unpacking ELA standards for teachers, modeling lessons, involvement in classroom makeovers, MCAS analysis and new instructional techniques.

Albano explained that a “menu day” method of professional development, which gives professionals the option of which programs they focus on during professional development days, has been successful over the course of the 2018-2019 school year. “Professional development menu day has been a really exciting shift in this idea that certain days, educators get this opportunity to select the learning that they engage in and that really increases their buy-in. It’s been a really positive part of this school year,” Albano said.

Albano shared that the utilization of “break-out rooms,” similar to the idea of popular escape rooms, has presented positive feedback on the overall model of classroom learning. Albano and Robinson Park Elementary School Principal Nicholas Bernier hosted a faculty break-out room where staff had to complete tasks in order to break out of a faculty meeting.         “The staff had to break out by completing a variety of tasks and those tasks actually gave Mr. Bernier and I some really powerful feedback on the way educators envision their classrooms and the school and the field of education,” Albano explained.

Albano explained that she and Taylor have also been involved in initiatives that support the strategic goal of student support in Agawam Public Schools.

As part of a slideshow presentation shown during the meeting, Albano and Taylor listed their student support initiatives as: “Assisted in the creation and roll out of Inclusive Schools Week activities, schedule, and collaboration with staff and the community, implementation of mindfulness programs such as Inner Explorer, developed, planned, and executed ‘Wellness Days’ for staff and students, analyze and disseminate Grows and Glows MCAS data to Grade 3 and 4 for planning and review purposes, re-create the PBIS Handbook across the 4 Elementary Schools, Restorative Justice Activities with individual students and/or small groups, create environmental supports to build relationships and reinforce positive behaviors, and assist with PBIS in all areas of school, as supported by data, including lunch and recess.”

Taylor shared, “We are looking at our own teaching styles and how we can work to improve on what we know about inclusive practices and take it back and share it with all the teachers in our buildings.”

Taylor and Albano explained that Wellness Days have helped to improve relationships between students and teachers and fun activities like raffles have helped improved student behavior during times such as recess and lunch.

In regard to technology, Taylor and Albano explained that there has been an increased focus on utilizing technology to help improve MCAS testing preparation.

To watch the complete meeting, visit vimeo.com/agawam.