LYNNFIELD — Superintendent of Schools Kristen Vogel revealed the findings from her one-year Entry Plan to the School Committee after serving in her position for 18 months.
The presentation findings were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In her presentation, Vogel stated that the need to maintain small class sizes and academic excellence was crucial for the school district. The superintendent is also looking to encourage culturally-responsive teaching, add more STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics) and financial-literacy courses, as well as offering world language curricula to kids at an earlier age.
Committee member Phil McQueen asked for clarification about what culturally-responsive teaching entails and also wanted to ensure that residents knew that it was not the same thing as critical race theory, an academic movement that has been a hot issue among public and private districts around the country.
“Culturally-responsive teaching is a collection of best practices that have been happening in classrooms for as long as I have been in education,” said Vogel.
The superintendent went on to give examples of systems she used to call on students, such as drawing students’ names out of a hat rather than having them raise their hands. Vogel also mentioned ensuring that multiple viewpoints are given when discussing a subject.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion were constantly mentioned as challenges that the school district needs to address. Vogel stated that the district needs to work on meeting the needs of students in the BIPOC (Black, indigenous, people of color) population as well as the needs of special-education students.
Vogel also revealed in her report that, where standardized testing is concerned, the district is excelling. From grades 3-10, the town is meeting or exceeding expectations for test scores compared to other districts in the state. This is the same for Advanced Placement (AP) exams as well. McQueen described the AP results as “remarkable.”
Going back to needs, the superintendent also stated in her report that having a school resource officer at the middle school would be beneficial for the district.
Vogel also mentioned her observation that, according to both quantitative and qualitative data, the school is properly preparing both college- and career-ready students.
