NAHANT — Johnson Elementary School Principal Kevin Andrews detailed the school’s improvement plan for the upcoming 2024-25 school year.
Andrews worked with a group composed of kindergarten teacher Madeline Fodero, parent Jennifer McCarthy, and resident Nancy Antrim to establish the plan’s goals. Some of the goals are to select and implement a writing curriculum, implement the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills assessment, and raise the school’s average MCAS testing score by 3%.
The school currently uses the Collins Writing Program, but Andrews feels a stronger curriculum is necessary.
“Currently, teachers are developing their own writing curricula around topics that they see they need to work on,” Andrews said. “We’d like to look at what writing curricula are available and move forward with a recommendation (to the School Committee).”
For the second goal, DIBELS is a program composed of a set of procedures and measures for assessing students’ progress in literacy. According to Andrews, it is the only test method that currently meets the state’s requirements fully. Teachers will be administering the brief, one-to-one evaluation with the use of a Chromebook, which will facilitate the storage and analysis of learning data. This information is shared with parents at parent-teacher conferences, which are held at the end of the first and second trimesters. Andrews plans to have the test carried out three times per school year at the Johnson School for good measure.
Andrews suggested an increased level of recognition and celebration for mathematical achievement as one way to inspire increased MCAS scores.
“Similar to how we celebrate students walking to school with a golden-shoe trophy, celebrate their math achievement as a class,” Andrews said.
Superintendent of Schools Tony Pierantozzi clarified that 3% of score growth equates to an approximately 15-point increase on the actual score system.
Andrews gave credit to his staff of teachers.
“I really want to push them to be the ‘best every time’ teacher,” Andrews said.
He said that conducting full-group discussions, encouraging extra help, and using Unifix Cubes as math tools will be points of emphasis when he conducts classroom observations.
“Let’s take it to the next level in terms of manipulatives and differentiation,” Andrews said.
