LYNN — New Interim Superintendent Molly Cohen is focusing on building trust, strengthening relationships, and fostering a culture of inclusion and belonging at Lynn Public Schools.
Cohen’s vision is to focus on strengthening instructional leadership in relation to students’ daily classroom experiences.
“When students believe that they are scholars, that is an entry point for belonging in the classroom. For us to be able to leverage their critical thinking skills, passion, and talent, we do focus on teaching,” Cohen said.
She added, “We have a common purpose to teach and to learn. Educators learn as much from students as students learn from educators. When we have that in common, it stabilizes the system because we have this common commitment and understanding of what the expectations are in our community.”
Cohen has four main goals as Superintendent:
- Increase the percentage of multilingual learners making progress toward the English language
- Increase the percentage of students with diverse abilities in inclusive settings
- Increase overall student belonging
- Increase the percentage of diverse educators
She plans to achieve this through tools such as auditing curriculum implementation for evidence of culturally and linguistically responsive practices, establishing a staff advisory council and a multilingual family and community council, and launching workshops that support literacy at home with navigating IEPs, SEL, and college and career pathways.
Cohen emphasized that approaching students with empathy and active listening helps them thrive academically.
“When a student feels like they can trust the adult that’s working with them, and they can feel that the adult truly cares for them, they can let go of their anxiety of having to be something, and they can be their authentic selves. When people are truly in that space of being accepted who they are, then their talents can really take off,” Cohen said.
She added, “Great teaching and great learning is about risk taking and being in an environment where it’s okay to make mistakes. When students feel emotionally and physically safe in the classroom, they are more likely to push themself beyond what they already know, to extend themselves to what they don’t know.”
Cohen also noted that multilingual learners are commonly at or above grade level, but they often do not have enough experience with the English language to express themselves or demonstrate their thinking, which is something she considered heavily while creating her entry plan.
“Our students enter the classroom with many different life experiences. So our job is to create the support for them to be able to access learning. Our job in educating students is to not put them into boxes. We have the responsibility as educators to understand our students and their learning styles to deliver curriculum through a venue where they excel,” Cohen said.
