By NEIL ZOLOT
WAKEFIELD – The New England Association of Schools and Colleges has renewed accreditation for Wakefield Memorial High School. “It speaks to the work everyone has done to get us to this point,” high school Principal Amy McLeod said at the School Committee meeting Tuesday, April 29. “It was a lot of work over the last two years,” a reference to a Collaborative Conference with NEASC to identify areas for growth.
Specifically, WMHS met seven out of eight Foundational Elements criteria for accreditation, including the school community providing a socially and emotionally safe environment for students and adults, including creating policies and protocols that define and support respectful treatment of all members of the school community and consider the experiences of historically marginalized communities;
— having a written document describing its core values, beliefs about learning and Vision of a Graduate that includes the attainment of transferable skills, knowledge, understandings, and dispositions necessary for future success;
— having a written curriculum in a consistent format for all courses in all departments across the school, including units of study with guiding/essential questions, concepts, content, and skills, instructional strategies, and assessment practices, competency-based elements for all career and technical education programs with pathways leading to licensure, certification, and post-secondary education;
— having a current school growth/ improvement plan that includes school-specific goals and informs decision making in the school;
— all career and technical education programs having a program advisory committee and implement a systematic program review process;
— having intervention strategies designed to support learners and providing a process to identify and refer students who need additional assistance and a range of intervention strategies;
— and the school site and plant supporting the delivery of curriculum, programs, and services with school buildings and facilities that support the delivery of curriculum, programs, and services, are clean and well-maintained, meet all applicable federal and state laws and comply with local fire, health, and safety regulations.
The Foundational Element not met is providing a physically safe environment for students and adults and maintaining infrastructure designed to support a physically safe environment for students and adults, policies, processes, and protocols regarding safety for students and adults, a reflection of the age of the school.
McLeod said NEASC representatives know a new school is under construction, “but technically we’re on probation until the new high school is built.”
—————
The Vision of a Graduate was presented in a short video, featuring comments by staff members and narrated by seniors Owen Kelley and Jhalak Patel. It outlined five characteristics the School Committee and the district are looking to instill in students. They are to be a reflective purpose seeker, a courageous problem solver, a responsible communicator and collaborator, an inspired lifelong learner and a connected contributor. McLeod said the characteristics “speak to who students are and what they’ll become. It’s not just about content. It’s about putting out citizens in the community that will be lifelong learners and responsible community members.”
English teacher Patrick Brennan said the characteristics are “what we want students to be able to do and how we hope they’ll operate in a modern society as they move beyond High School. More often than not, they’ll come back to the community and have an impact.”
“We’re creating people who can go out of high school and learn and think,” math teacher Kimberly Connolly added.
The Vision is similar to the School Committee and district Mission Statement read at every meeting “to graduate students who are confident lifelong learners who are respectful and caring members of their community and to prepare students for college, career and community by providing a rich and challenging curriculum, high quality instruction and educational experiences that meet individual needs and interests.”
Within the characteristics of the Vision are directives including investing in self-discovery to set goals; engaging in self-reflection and introspection; advocating for needs; approaching challenges and situations with integrity and adaptability; demonstrating passion and perseverance to overcome adversity; designing unique solutions to complex and evolving problems; organizing, interpreting and sharing knowledge and ideas ethically; using a variety of models to communicate respectfully and effectively; listening to consider alternative viewpoints with curiosity and empathy; navigating and addressing conflict through compromise and cooperation; thinking critically and utilizing evidence based reasoning; applying foundational and academic skills to navigate new circumstances; taking intellectual and academic risks; participating in advocacy and action that impacts local, national and global causes; acting with empathy to include others; representing diverse perspectives, values and experiences of others and fostering a sense of community and civic responsibility. In the video Superintendent Doug Lyons speaks about expanding the concept down to the middle and elementary school levels.
The meeting was the first for new member Alexander Naumann. “I’m glad to be on the School Committee,” he said after Chairman Stephen Ingalls welcomed him.