TWELVE OUT OF 13 new teachers attended the School Department’s New Educator Orientation program on Tuesday, Aug. 22. (Dan Tomasello Photo)
By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — The clock is ticking. It won’t be long now before summer vacation ends and a new school year begins.
Students in grades 1-12 will be returning to the classroom on Wednesday, Aug. 30. Kindergarten orientation will take place on Thursday, Aug. 31, and the first day of school for kindergartners is Tuesday, Sept. 5. The first day for Lynnfield Preschool students is Thursday, Sept. 6. Friday, Sept. 1 will be an early release day.
While students and families are enjoying the remaining days of summer, school officials, teachers and staff members having been spending this week making sure everything is ready to rock and roll for students’ return on Aug. 30. Custodians have been making a final push to make sure each of the town’s four schools is in pristine condition when students return.
“We are looking forward to welcoming all of our learners, both returning and new, on Aug. 30,” said Superintendent Kristen Vogel. “We will also be welcoming 13 new educators, including a new Lynnfield High School administrative team, to the Lynnfield Public Schools. We are excited to have all of these talented educators join our team.”
School schedule
Hours for the school year are as follows:
Lynnfield Middle School: 7:40 a.m.-2 p.m.
Lynnfield High School: 7:50 a.m.-2:26 p.m.
Summer Street School: 8:20 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Huckleberry Hill School: 8:50 a.m.- 3 p.m.
Preschool a.m. session (3-year-olds): 8:45 a.m.-11:45 a.m.
Preschool p.m. session (4-year-olds): 12:15 p.m.-3:15 p.m.
School initiatives
Vogel said the school system will continue implementing the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework over the course of the 2023-2024 academic year.
“We began this work last year and will continue to provide professional development and support for our educators on UDL,” said Vogel. “An essential part of UDL is the multi-tiered system of support (MTSS). This system ensures our students receive the most appropriate and timely interventions and support in response to our ongoing data collection.”
Vogel said the Administrative Leadership Team will be unveiling the updated District Strategy and school improvement plans during a School Committee meeting in September.
“In September, we will be officially announcing our ‘Lynnfield Public Schools District Strategy: Building a Path to Lifelong Success,’” said Vogel. “This is a longer-range three-year strategy, which will allow us to really take a deeper dive into our initiatives, while remaining agile as needs shift. Our focus is in direct alignment with our vision statement of ‘Belong, Connect, Grow,’ and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s recently launched roadmap for student success. Our school improvement plans are also reflective of this new strategy, as we continue to be forward with our thinking to ensure our students will be most prepared for postsecondary success.”
In order to begin preparing for the upcoming year, Vogel said the School Department recently launched the new Lynnfield Academy program.
“Several teachers took advantage of our first course offering,” said Vogel. “The academy was established last spring for the purpose of giving our educators meaningful professional development taught by our own Lynnfield Public Schools experts while earning Lynnfield Credits. These credits allow educators to advance up the salary scale, earn PDPs (personal development planning) and obtain optional graduate credits from Gordon College, while gaining knowledge and skills in support of teaching and learning.”
Vogel also said Lynnfield Public Schools joined the Essex County Learning Community this summer.
“This new partnership affords us access to high-impact professional development rooted in the science of learning and development with support from and collaboration with fellow member districts,” said Vogel.
Similar to previous years, Vogel said educators and administrators enrolled in the district’s Summer Institute program once again.
“Throughout the summer, the majority of our faculty took advantage of the opportunity to pursue curriculum work through our Summer Institute,” said Vogel. “Moreover, several of our teachers also received training in high quality curriculum such as Wit & Wisdom for grades K-5, social-emotional learning and genocide education, all made possible through the procurement of grants. We were fortunate to obtain safety and METCO grants as well. As a result, our administrators and lead teachers continue to receive safety reunification training along with restorative practices.”
Lynnfield High School
The 2023-2024 academic year will be a sea change for Lynnfield High School, as it welcomes a new principal and a new assistant principal.
Former Manchester-Essex Regional High School Principal Patricia Puglisi has succeeded retired LHS Principal Bob Cleary. Former Haverhill High School Assistant Principal Michael McLeod was named as former LHS Assistant Principal Brian Bates’ successor (see separate stories).
In addition to the administrator changes at LHS, Puglisi said the high school is preparing for the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEAC) accreditation visit in early October. The high school was previously reaccredited in 2011.
“The report will provide us with a roadmap for continuous improvement,” said Puglisi.
The new LHS tennis courts will also be opening this fall.
Elementary schools
Huckleberry Hill School Principal Melissa Wyland and Summer Street School Principal Karen Cronin said they are looking forward to the 2023-2024 academic year beginning on Aug. 30.
“We are both excited for the 2023-2024 school year,” Wyland and Cronin wrote in a joint statement emailed to the Villager. “We look forward to welcoming back students, staff and families, and welcoming all of our new learners. We look forward to creating a sense of belonging in our schools, providing a multi-tiered system of support to best meet the needs of all of our students and to provide our learners with a positive school experience.”
Vogel also noted that the elementary schools will be implementing a new report card system this year.
“This school year will bring the roll out of standards-based report cards at the elementary school level,” said Vogel. “The purpose is to provide families with direct feedback regarding their child’s current progress toward end-of-the-year learning measures. These measures are aligned with the statewide learning content standards. This report card will result in more consistent alignment with these standards across grade levels. We will also be moving to two parent-teacher conferences at the elementary level during the school year, one in November and one in March. We will be offering some virtual conference time slots for parent conferences this year as well.”
Lynnfield Middle School
Middle School Principal Stephen Ralston said he is excited about the 2023-2024 academic year getting underway.
“We have five new hires as well as four internal transfers,” said Ralston. “We also have adopted Wit & Wisdom for grade 5 English to continue this literacy program started in the elementary schools last year. The building is entering its 21st year in existence and I am entering year 19 as principal.”
Vogel said middle school educators will be receiving professional development on the new “Open-Sci Ed” science curriculum this year.
“We are looking to expand this across grade levels at LMS as a result of more grant funding,” said Vogel.