Page 1 of 2. 2017 Annual Town Report: Hildreth Elementary School. Hildreth Elementary School has had an exciting and bus
2017 Annual Town Report: Hildreth Elementary School Hildreth Elementary School has had an exciting and busy year. Working together with families, teachers, community members, and school leadership, we continue to support student growth. We are grateful to the many community members who share their talents and knowledge with the HES students. These include musicians who play for the sing along and dance, scientists who lead students on ecology walks, artisans who demonstrate traditional local craft, veterans who share their experience and commitment with our students, and many others. These partnerships help our students connect to the larger community and learn from passionate and skilled people. We hope to continue with these successes and expand our community connections. This year the Hildreth School Building Committee invested a great deal of time in a feasibility study regarding alternatives to address issues with the current building. These include issues with mold, fire safety, accessibility, aging mechanical systems, and how the building supports student and community use. After an in-depth study of the cost, risk, and benefit of renovating the existing building, the School Building Committee voted to propose a new building to replace the existing building. Teachers, school leaders, and community members have worked with the architects, project manager, and the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) to develop a design for the new building. The MSBA will contribute approximately 15 million dollars toward the project. The next step in the process will be a vote at the May 2018 town meeting and ballot to approve funding for the project. We continue to review and update curriculum to better engage students and meet changing needs.This year has brought significant updates to our science curriculum to bring us in line with new state standards. These standards aim to place greater emphasis on conceptual understanding beyond factual recall. Teachers are working to implement new materials and develop units that engage students. Teachers are also working to develop hands-on learning opportunities in connection with other content areas. For example, students made Public Service Announcement videos around bullying and diversity, designed carnival games to test and understand probability, and engineered dams to mitigate extreme weather events. We are grateful to the Harvard PTO and Harvard Schools Trust for their continued support and funding of projects and resources which support and encourage teachers to explore new ideas. This year saw a change in the way that the state administers statewide assessment, known as MCAS. Tests have been updated to include a wider variety of question types and are being transitioned to computer-based testing. Because this is a new test, we do not have as much comparative statistical data as in years past. The state has also emphasized that they have increased the scoring standards with the new test, and scores on the new MCAS tests are not comparable to prior years. Students continue to perform well, and while this data provides a useful touch point to confirm student learning, it is not a perfect or complete measure. We continue to balance this data with personal knowledge and relationships with each student. In conjunction with their academic pursuits, students continue to support each other and the community through a variety of activities. Students visit buddy classes to read together, work on projects, and share what they are learning. Our student leadership group and staff have led the
student body in several service opportunities this year. Students raised over $4,000 to support school recovery after hurricanes in Texas and Florida. Third graders baked many loaves of cranberry orange bread for local families in need for Thanksgiving and then collected over 1,200 food items for Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry around the holidays. Students also served each other as peer leaders, safety patrol, and as learning buddies. In July, Mr. Josh Myler was hired as the new HES Principal after 2 years as the Associate Principal. Mr. Scott Mulcahy was hired as the new Associate Principal. Mr. Mulcahy bring years of teaching and administrative experience, most recently working in the Sudbury school system as an elementary assistant principal. He has brought a wealth of skills and ideas and works hard to support students and teachers. Due to retirements, vacancies, and reassignments, we have hired several teachers, specialists, and student support staff. We continue to be grateful for the balance of veteran and new staff that work together to support students and help us move forward as a school. We look forward to the year ahead, and are grateful for the combined efforts of so many to help support, maintain, and improve the schools. Respectfully submitted, Josh Myler Principal, Hildreth Elementary School
