Superintendent’s Report to the School Committee, September 6, 2023

Upcoming Events

High School

• September 7: Back to School Night, 6pm
• September 7&8: Picture Day, During School Day
• September 15: 9th Grade Activity Fair, During School Day
• September 22: Coffee with HS Principal and Superintendent, 8:30am

Middle School

• September 13: Picture Day, During School Day

• September 14: Back to School Night, 6pm
• September 29: Coffee with MS Principal and Superintendent, 8:30a

Opening Week of School

The Masconomet Regional School District opened the 2023-2024 school year on Monday August 28^th with the return of faculty and staff.  We began the morning of August 28th with our All-District Meeting.  We kicked off the meeting with a photo show of our faculty’s favorite summer memories.  We were then were reminded of the impact of our teachers on our students by High School Senior and Student Council President Revati Nargund. We welcomed our new faculty and staff see below), and recognized faculty earning Professional Teacher and Master Teacher Status.  Our Keynote Presentation for the morning was given by Hakan Sotiroglu, who is the CEO and Founder of XR Terra, a firm dedicated to training people to develop code for virtual-reality environments.  Hakan’s remarks explored the knowledge and skills our students will need to be successful in a future where virtual experiences will seamlessly integrate into our daily lives.  Hakan also discussed the types of schools we will need in order to teach students to be successful in this future.  Hakan’s remarks were a jumping off point for our development of a Masconomet Portrait of a Learner, which will identify the knowledge, skills and dispositions our students will need in order to be successful.  We will be devoting 10 professional development Wednesdays to this task beginning in October.  After our Opening Meeting, or faculty participated in building and department meetings, a training on the educator evaluation system and had time to complete annual compliance training and classroom preparation. 

On the Tuesday, August 29^th, we welcomed our incoming 7^th and 9^th grade students for orientation.  Incoming Grade 9 student activities were led by our Peer Leaders and 7^th grade activities by the Middle School Faculty.  Students participated in “scavenger hunts” to learn the layouts of their respective schools, team-building activities with their new classmates and met their new teachers.  The morning is a great Masconomet tradition that allows our new 7^th and 9^th grade students to acclimate into their new schools the following day.

All students in Grades 7-12 returned to school on Wednesday, August 30^th for a shortened day where they met with their new teachers.  After students left the building, faculty participated in safety training.  Following the ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) system, faculty viewed a training video prepared by Director of Safety and Security Mike Hughes and then participated in active scenarios where they were required to practice enhanced lockdowns and barricade in place.  Our Middle and High School students will be participating in safety training during the month of September.

On Thursday, August 31^st, we ran a “Monday” class rotation schedule in order to make up for the day lost due to the Monday Labor Day Holiday.  We will be doing adjustments like this to our schedule throughout the year to even out the classes that would normally be missed because of Monday holidays.

Welcome to Our New Faculty Members

I am happy to welcome the following new faculty members to the Masconomet Community:

Middle School Teachers
Michael Ando	MS	Band Director
Abigail Carven	MS	Special Ed/Program Coord
Kristina (Tina) de la Cruz	MS	Spanish Teacher
Casey Taylor	MS	Math Teacher
Lester Sacasa Perez	MS	Spanish Teacher
Olivia DellIsola	MS	Title 1 Teacher
Middle School Paraprofessionals
Joey Dussi	MS	Para
Madison Niles	MS	Para

High School Teachers
Albert Ribeiro	HS	Computer Science Teacher
Skylar Clark	HS	School Counselor
High School Administrators
Christoper Kobs	HS	Assistant Principal
High School Paraprofessionals
Joeyann Weitzman	HS	Paraprofessional
Michelle Viveiros	HS	Paraprofessional, Afternoon Library Aide
Daniel Monagle	HS	Paraprofessional

District-Wide Positions
Caitlin Addonizio	Dist	Reading Specialist
Michael Hughes	Dist	Director of Safety and Security
Edmund Monette	Dist	Security & Attendance Monitor
Brian Friedman	Dist	IT Technician
Paul Castillon	Dist	IT Technician-Evening Shift

We currently have openings for High School English and Middle School Special Education Teachers due to resignations in late August.

SEPAC Scoop

The Special Education Parent Advisory Committee (SEPAC) Scoop for September 2023