2000-Annual Town Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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• To maintain a safe haven for students and staff Report of the at school during times of increased school vio. School Department lence. D a • To increase reading proficiency while devel- Instruction across all areas of the curriculum oping reading skills. continues to reflect the efforts of very active curricu- 1 Another major concentration was on the teach- a lum committees across the grades and content areas. ers' involvement and commitment to working with the On the high school level, all curriculums are Massachusetts Coalition for the Advancement of completed through grade 12. In all grade levels, the Learning. The coalition operates under the auspices of staff continues to review and match our local curricu- the Massachusetts Elementary School Principals I lum to the state curriculum frameworks.This is a very Association and the University of Massachusetts, important task, as these frameworks Amherst. Study groups were formed to improve read- t tedious, yet p ortant ing, writing, math and the home/school connection in encompass the learning standards by which all Mashpee. It is the belief of MCAL that if instruction Massachusetts students will be evaluated on upcoming high stakes state testing (MCAS). continually improves, so will our test scores. i In particular, the Mashpee school system con- Grades three through six at the Quashnet River ducted a full-scale revision of the English/Language School kept student portfolios to monitor student Arts and the Applied Technology Education curricula. progress in various curricular areas. Grades kinder garten through three continued with the Bradley Ian- Teams of staff, together with community advisory boards, worked on this initiative for the entire 1999- guage arts comprehensive program. This has been a 2000 school year. viable reading program which School Committee for- , mally adopted in Spring 2000 as an instructional prac- The 1999-2000 school year at the Quashnet tice for all children in Mashpee along with the John River School began with an enrollment of 414 stu- Collins approach to writing. All staff have had and dents in grades Kindergarten through six. There were will continue professional development involving three sections of each grade except in grade five which these instructional practices. carried two sections. Three sections were made possi- ble in grade four because we received a Class Size Every effort was made for each students' sue- Reduction Grant from the State. The School's cess. Concurrently with the usual curriculum pro Improvement Plan was a major thrust of the School grams throughout the school year, the remedial read Council's and staff's efforts for the year. The school ing program and the reading and math tutorials con plan resonates with system-wide established goals. tinued. Dr. Seuss Day was a big hit, again. The The plan concentrated specifically on the following Spelling Bee was a great contest— this year's winner areas: was fifth grader, Michael Fulone. • Poetry grade level teas and poetry contests pro To form an active parent group to work as a subsidiary of the elementary schools' PTO. duced many winners as well. Cultural Arts opportune- ties for the children included Sleeping Beauty and • To promote and reinforce positive student Perseus with Peter Schaeffer and Ann Ware of the behavior and provide school staff with a Tanglewood Marionettes, the Nutcracker at the Wang strong foundation for a successful education Center in Boston, the Nutcracker at Cape Cod Community College with the Cape Cod Ballet, Alice milieu. Through aschool-wide strategy and good behavior, an environment can be estab- in Wonderland performance, the Winter and Spring ' e- nd the Zeiterion s r lished for strong academic outcomes. music concerts, Greek plays, a P sentation of The Underground Railroad, etc. • To improve writing skills in all forms of We are very proud of our students who partici expression, persuasive paragraphs, , compare/contrast writings, letters, narratives, pated in the Easter Seals Hop ping. It s a wonderful etc. way for children to help children and to give back to the larger community. During the year, Kindness Teas • To increase math proficiency, improve mea- were held with the principal, guidance counselor and surable math skills, depth of understanding of students to recognize children who make a positive math concepts in life applications, at all grade impact in the classroom and school. levels. 122