* Margaret A. Neary School Improvement Plan 2021-2024 (updated 9-22-2022)

Margaret A. Neary

School Improvement Plan 2021-2024

October 1, 2021

School Council Membership

Kathleen A. Valenti-Principal

Miriam Soldo- Co-Head Teacher

Kim Collins-Teacher

Sheila Finnegan-Teacher

Dave Lang-Teacher

Tatiana Barna-Parent

Alan Belniak-Parent

Lisa D’Souza-Parent

Eric Phan-Parent

Anne Sinclair-Parent

Mission
Educate, Inspire, and Challenge

Core Values
Integrity Empathy Inclusivity Equity Perseverance Respect

Vision: Profile of a Graduate

Our Students Will Be:

Collaborators

Enrich the learning of self and others through teamwork.
Solicit and respect diverse perspectives and contributions.
Seek, contribute, and react to feedback to achieve shared outcomes.
Recognize and leverage strengths to build collective commitment, action, and understanding.

Critical and Creative Thinkers

Transfer and connect knowledge and skills to deepen understanding.
Demonstrate thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, and informed by evidence.
Use disciplinary knowledge and skills in routine and innovative ways.
Make informed decisions, solve problems, and use a variety of tools to deepen learning.

Communicators

Articulate thoughts and ideas using oral, written, and non-verbal communication skills for a range of purposes and audiences.
Listen to decipher meaning, including knowledge, values, attitudes, and intentions.
Use technological skills and contemporary digital tools to explore and exchange ideas.

Socially and Civically Engaged

Demonstrate personal, civic, and social integrity through ethical and empathetic behaviors.
Recognize individual and communal impact on others and the natural world.
Value and embrace diverse cultures and unique perspectives through mutual respect and open dialogue.

Growth-Oriented

Cultivate positive attitudes and habits about learning.
Pursue one’s own interests and curiosity to experience new learning.
Consistently improve the quality of one’s own thinking by skillfully analyzing, assessing and reconstructing.
Persist to accomplish difficult tasks and to overcome academic and personal barriers to meet goals.

Healthy and Balanced

Develop and demonstrate awareness, sensitivity, concern, and respect to connect with self and others’ feelings, opinions,

experiences, and cultures.

Use reflective practices to understand one’s personal strengths, challenges, and passions.
Make choices to support a lifestyle that is healthy, both physically and mentally.
Demonstrate resilience through the ability to manage emotions, stress, and challenges.

School Data Profile

Neary School Data Profile

Theory of Action for 2021-2024

If… All teachers develop a shared understanding of the MA DLCS standards and are coached and supported in integrating high-priority standards into existing disciplinary units

Then… Students will have relevant experiences that increase their digital literacy knowledge and skills

If… All educators develop a shared vision of equitable and inclusive communities/classrooms and have designated time to grapple with issues of unconscious bias and antiracist education

AND.. if educators consistently provide opportunities for students to see representations of individuals who are not like them and individuals who are like them in classrooms, content, and curriculum

Then… All students will feel connected, valued, welcome and contributing to our schools.

If … Educators within and across schools develop a shared understanding of a common framework about how we support social and emotional learning and align curriculum and instruction to that framework through collaborative decisions about a District approach to SEL

Then.. Students will access strategies and skills to manage social and emotional challenges in support of their mental and physical wellbeing and learning.

District Strategic Objectives

2020-2026

School Strategic Initiatives

2021-2024

1. Empowering Learners: Implement instructional practices that engage students in developing and demonstrating their knowledge and skills through rigorous, innovative, and relevant learning experiences.

Goal: Provide opportunities for students and educators to use technology to solve problems, learn, and communicate.

Develop an understanding of the Digital Literacy and Computer Science Standards and their current use in our curriculum and instruction.
Plan for the continued implementation of meaningful, high-quality digital literacy and computer science curriculum and instruction aligned to the standards.

2. Equity of Opportunity: Provide all students access to challenging and culturally responsive learning experiences that meet their individual needs.

Goal: Foster culturally responsive and inclusive classroom communities and school environments that provide equal access to learning for all students and meet their individual needs.

Develop a shared understanding of culturally responsive teaching and inclusive practices and define plans for implementation.
Develop and implement coherent systems for collecting and using student learning data to better understand the needs of individuals and groups of students.

3. Healthy and Balanced Learners: Prioritize social, emotional, and physical well-being of students.

Goal: Develop and implement a coherent and systematic approach to social and emotional learning (SEL) within and across schools.

Develop a shared understanding and culture that creates awareness, commitment, and ownership of the social, emotional, and physical well-being of all students.
Identify current evidence based practices that develop SEL competencies for all students and staff.

Action Plan 2021-2022

(Action plan will be assessed and updated annually.)

1. Empowering Learners: Implement instructional practices that engage students in developing and demonstrating their knowledge and skills through rigorous, innovative, and relevant learning experiences.
Action Steps	Person Responsible	Date	Status [future work, in process, completed]
Goal: Provide opportunities for students and educators to use technology to solve problems, learn, and communicate. Develop an understanding of the Digital Literacy and Computer Science Standards and their current use in our curriculum and instruction. Plan for the continued implementation of meaningful, high-quality digital literacy and computer science instruction aligned to the standards.
Inventory the Digital Literacy and Computer Science Standards curriculum standards and coordinate with educators to identify which of the power standards are already being addressed through existing curriculum and instruction.	District Leadership Curriculum Coordinators Principals Digital Learning Leaders School-Based Staff	2021 Sept-Dec
Identify power standards for Digital Literacy and Computer Science Standards and in which grades and content areas these standards will be addressed.	District Leadership Curriculum Coordinators Principals Digital Learning Leaders School Based Staff	2021-2022 Sept-June

Professional Learning Topic/ Approach		Time Allocated		Person Responsible	Date
Provide training and job embedded collaborative learning opportunities related to Digital Literacy and Computer Science Standards.		Staff Meetings Grade Lvl. Team Time Professional Development Days		Curriculum Coordinators Principals Curriculum Leaders Staff Members	SY 2021-2022
Provide opportunities for teachers to design and share lesson examples and tools to integrate Digital Literacy and Computer Science Standards into pre-existing grade level curriculum.		Staff Meetings Grade Lvl. Team Time Professional Development Days		Curriculum Coordinators Principals Curriculum Leaders Staff Members	SY 2021-2022
Measuring Impact- Early Evidence of Change: Changes in practice, attitude, behavior and/ or outcomes you should begin to see if the initiative is having its desired impact. These are not measurements of interim results. Early evidence benchmarks might be based on observations or surveys
Early Evidence Benchmark	Date (by when)		Status (future work, in process, completed)
Completed set of Digital Literacy and Computer Science Power standards	December 2021		Completed 2021-2022 school year
Completed set of Digital Literacy and Computer Science report card standards	June 2022		Completed 2021-2022 school year
Educators discussing Digital Literacy and Computer Science Standards in team meetings	SY 2021-22		In process 2022-2023 school year
Educators able to identify where Digital Literacy and Computer Science Standards are already taught in curricular units	SY 2021-22		In process 2022-2023 school year

2. Equity of Opportunity: Provide all students access to challenging and culturally responsive learning experiences that meet their individual needs.
Action Steps	Person Responsible	Date	Status [future work, in process, completed]
Goal: Foster culturally responsive and inclusive classroom communities and school environments that provide equal access to learning for all students and meet their individual needs. Develop a shared understanding of culturally responsive teaching and inclusive practices and define plans for implementation. Develop and implement coherent systems for collecting and using student learning data to better understand the needs of individuals and groups of students.
Define what a culturally responsive and inclusive classroom looks like to develop a shared definition and understanding.	District Leadership Curriculum Coordinators Principals School-Based Staff	SY 2021-2022	In Process
Continue analysis of literature and resources through the use of a district-defined rubric.	District Leaders Curriculum Coordinators Principals School-Based Staff	SY 2021-2022	In Process
Audit units of study across content areas to support students in acknowledging and respecting diverse voices, perspectives, and experiences.	District Leaders Curriculum Coordinators Principals School-Based Staff	SY 2022-2024	In Process
Identify needs for classroom libraries and culturally responsive curriculum resources.	District Leaders Curriculum Coordinators Principals School-Based Staff	SY 2021-2022	In Process
Implement early literacy universal screeners in PreK - Grade 2 by assessing all students and collaboratively analyzing results to determine instructional pathways.	District Leadership Curriculum Coordinators Principals School-Based Staff	2021-2022 Sept-June	In Process
Implement mathematics diagnostic assessment in grades 3 - 5 by assessing all students and collaboratively analyzing results to determine instructional pathways.	District Leadership Curriculum Coordinators Principals School-Based Staff	2021-2022 Sept-June	In Process

Professional Learning Topic/ Approach		Time Allocated		Person Responsible	Date
Provide training and job-embedded collaborative learning opportunities related to unconscious bias and issues of equity.		Staff Meetings Grade Lvl. Team Time Professional Development Days		Curriculum Coordinators Principals Curriculum Leaders School-Based Staff	SY 2021-2022
Provide opportunities for teachers to design and share lesson examples and tools to integrate diverse voices and perspectives into pre-existing grade-level curriculum.		Staff Meetings Grade Lvl. Team Time Professional Development Days		Curriculum Coordinators Principals Curriculum Leaders School-Based Staff	SY 2021-2022
Provide teachers with professional learning time, grade level team time, and staff meeting time to collaboratively analyze results from early literacy universal screeners in grades K-2 to determine instructional pathways.		Professional Learning Time Staff Meetings Grade Lvl. Team Time		Curriculum Coordinators Principals Curriculum Leaders Staff Members	SY 2021-2022
Provide teachers with professional learning time, grade level team time, and staff meeting time to collaboratively analyze results from the mathematics diagnostic assessment in grades 3-5 and identify instructional pathways to meet the needs of all students.		Professional Learning Time Staff Meetings Grade Lvl. Team Time		Curriculum Coordinators Principals Curriculum Leaders Staff Members	SY 2021-2022
Measuring Impact- Early Evidence of Change: Changes in practice, attitude, behavior and/ or outcomes you should begin to see if the initiative is having its desired impact. These are not measurements of interim results. Early evidence benchmarks might be based on observations or surveys
Early Evidence Benchmark	Date (by when)		Status (future work, in process, completed)
Educators use a common rubric to assess classroom libraries and units of study for cultural competency.	SY 2021-2022		In process 2022-2023 school year
Educators having more conversations with colleagues about issues of unconscious bias and anti-racism as it relates to our school.	SY 2021-2022		In process 2022-2023 school year
Implementing district-wide literacy screening and assessment tools.	SY 2021-22		In process 2022-2023 school year
Implementing district-wide math screening and assessment tools.	SY 2021-22		In process 2022-2023 school year
Implementing routines and practices to examine and analyze data to inform instructional practice.	SY 2021-22		In process 2022-2023 school year

3. Healthy and Balanced Learners: Prioritize social, emotional, and physical well-being of students.
Action Steps	Person Responsible	Date	Status [future work, in process, completed]
Goal: Develop and implement a coherent and systematic approach to social and emotional learning (SEL) Pre-K-12 (tailored to building level grades). Develop a shared understanding and culture that creates awareness, commitment, and ownership of the social, emotional, and physical well-being of all students.
Develop staff capacity for cultivating their own social, emotional, and cultural competence in order to model social-emotional learning and build collaborative trusting relationships.	District Leadership Principal All staff members	2021-2022	In process 2022-2023 school year
Develop a shared understanding of the essential components of the CASEL framework for social-emotional learning.	Principal All Staff Members	2021-2022	In process 2022-2023 school year
Use the CASEL framework to develop high-priority social-emotional standards that students will be assessed on.	Principal All staff members	2022-2023	In process 2022-2023 school year
Inventory social-emotional learning programs used at the school level and evaluate effectiveness.	Principal All staff members	2021-2022	In process 2022-2023 school year

Professional Learning Topic/ Approach		Time Allocated		Person Responsible	Date
Provide training and job-embedded collaborative learning opportunities related to social-emotional learning.		Staff Meetings Grade Lvl. Team Time Professional Development Days		Curriculum Coordinators Principals Curriculum Leaders School-Based Staff	Sept 2021-June 2022
Measuring Impact- Early Evidence of Change: Changes in practice, attitude, behavior and/ or outcomes you should begin to see if the initiative is having its desired impact. These are not measurements of interim results. Early evidence benchmarks might be based on observations or surveys
Early Evidence Benchmark	Date (by when)		Status (future work, in process, completed)
Completed inventory of social-emotional curriculum and instruction	2021-2023		In Process
Educators using shared language from a shared framework for social-emotional learning in team meetings and faculty meetings	2021-2022		In Process