Good Afternoon Everyone,
I hope this Superintendent Update for October 2023 finds you and yours well. As you are aware, throughout October we have a number of events taking place within the Spencer-East Brookfield Regional School District. This month I wanted to take a moment to highlight a few key pieces of information for the public.
Enrollment: Our enrollment as a regional school district is growing every day, especially at the preschool level. As this morning, we have 1445 students enrolled within our district. David Prouty High School has 333 students enrolled; Knox Trail Middle School has 390 students; Wire Village School has 452 students; and East Brookfield Elementary School has 245 students including 104 students enrolled for the "Cubs Corner" Preschool!
Personnel: We continue to post for and need special education teachers, specialists and paraprofessionals to join our district. As mentioned last month, we are very fortunate to have new personnel joining our faculty and staff this year who are committed to “continuous improvement," remaining positive, and focused upon teaching and learning with purpose – in partnership with our parents/families.
MCAS Update: Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) results from the spring 2023 administration will be mailed home to each parent/family and student shortly. Please be on the lookout for the assessment results for your son /daughter. Like many within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Spencer-East Brookfield Regional School District received an accountability determination in 2023 for students in grades 3-8 & 10 for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic. The Spencer-East Brookfield Regional School District’s overall classification is “not requiring assistance or intervention” as a result of making “moderate progress toward targets.”
Tiered Focused Monitoring Progress Update! On Monday, September 25th, 2023, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education notified the Director of Student Services, David Gates, and the Superintendent’s office that “No Further Progress Updates” were required! I would like to thank everyone within our learning community for working together so diligently to provide comprehensive follow through and clarity on how we provide programs and services to our students. This review was a lot for work and not easily accomplished without a tremendous collaborative effort by one and all within our classrooms! Thank you so much administration, faculty and staff for all you do for the students of this fine district.
Governor Healey’s Youth Advisory Council: Get Involved! Recently, the Superintendent’s office received an announcement regarding the establishment of - The Governor's Youth Advisory Council. This council will give young people from across the Commonwealth the opportunity to advise the Healey-Driscoll Administration on innovative solutions to some of the critical issues we face today such as climate, education, mental health, gun violence, housing, and more.
In order to have this council truly embody today’s youth, we are looking for balanced representation on the Council based on age, gender, ethnicity, geography, and a variety of other factors that make up the diversity of the Commonwealth. I’m hoping our junior class and senior class at David Prouty High School can help achieve this goal of prioritizing the youth voice by taking time to apply!
Applicants must be between the ages of 16-21 years old to be eligible for this council. Please find the application and additional information at www.mass.gov/youthcouncil.
FAFSA is Open: The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is now open for students who plan to attend college next year. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is working with the Executive Office of Education and the Department of Higher Education again this year to encourage prospective college students to complete the FAFSA and keep their options open for fall 2023. Several events and resources are already posted on the FASFA campaign webpage, and it will be updated throughout the year.
MSBA Update: As many in the community-at-large can easily see, our site work continues to move forward at rocket speed. As a result, our School Building Committee is pleased to be moving forward in partnership with the Masschusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) to wrap up Module 6: Detailed Design soon. At the present time, we are at 90% documents submitted for review and working toward 100% completion and approval shortly. Our next meeting of the School Building Committee is: Thursday, October 19th, 2023 at 5:00PM at the David Prouty High School.
On behalf of all of us, I thank you for your continued partnership and support of the Spencer-East Brookfield Regional School District! I look forward to learning from, and with, all of you throughout the 2023-2024 school year. @ChooseSEBRSD
Sincerely Yours,
Paul S. Haughey, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Spencer-East Brookfield Regional School District