Superintendent’s Report to the School Committee, September 20, 2023

Strategic Plan Draft and Survey

Over the past year, Masconomet has been engaged in developing a Strategic Plan to guide our improvement efforts for the next 3-5 years. A team of representatives from the Masconomet Community, including teachers, administrators, and parents have been meeting regularly over the past year to guide this process. This Working Team has developed the attached draft Strategic Plan based on information gathered from the Masconomet community and is now in the process of soliciting feedback to further refine and focus the plan. The Working Team is asking the community at large to provide feedback on the draft Strategic Plan by completing a survey, accessed through the link below by October 15th.

The Draft Strategic Plan is available at:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/17a-y9sj3pxAEemAB-FthZ6VgyGfBVK0T/view?usp=share_link

QR Code to access draft Strategic Plan:

Survey Link – https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PlanFeedback

QR code for Survey & Plan Feedback:

The Working Team will review the results of the surveys and revise the draft as needed.  A final draft of the Strategic Plan will be submitted to the School Committee and Superintendent in late Fall, and will inform the budgeting process for the ‘24-‘25 school year.

Thank you in advance for lending your insights into this important process.

Administration Coffees

We would like to welcome you to join us for our new once a month Friday coffee chat with the Superintendent as well as the building principal.  Our first High School Coffee will take place on Friday, September 22^nd and our first Middle School Coffee will be on Friday, September 29^th.  We hope that these sessions are a way for you to learn more about what is happening within the Masco community while also allowing you to ask questions.  All parent coffees will be held from 8:30-9:30 AM on the dates listed below.  We look forward to seeing you. 

We have coffees set up for each school. The High School meetings will take place in the High School Library and the Middle School meetings take place in the Middle School Library. Please check in with a valid ID, at the Main Office of each respective school when you arrive before proceeding to the library.

High School Dates	Middle School Dates
September 22	September 29
October 27	October 20
November 17	December 1
December 15	January 12
January 19	March 1
February 16	April 26
March 22	May 17
May 24

Multi-Lingual Family Welcome

Masconomet will be hosting a Multilingual Family Welcome event in the cafeteria on Tuesday, October 3rd from 6:00-7:00 pm.  World Language Department Head and ELL Coordinator Jeanne O’Hearn is planning this event in collaboration with Karyn Pierog, the Tri-Town ELL Coordinator.  Invitations will be sent this week to 81 families representing current and former English Learner students as well as families who have requested translation and/or interpreter services in grades K-12.

Masco Music Parents Recycling Event

Do you have old computers or broken electronics cluttering up your home or office? What about those old, unwanted appliances taking up space in your garage or basement? Here is your chance to responsibly recycle them. Bring your items to us and an enthusiastic music student or parent volunteer will safely unload your vehicle.  The Recycling event will be held in front of Masconomet Middle School on Saturday, September 23^rd from 9 -12.  Your tax-deductible donation supports the music programs and music students at the Masconomet Middle and High Schools.  For more information please go to: https://storage.googleapis.com/pt05-2/messages/attachments/6e2d2323f8aefbe14b777a1d12ef4385/Electronics_Recycling_Flyer_Fall_2023_%25282%2529.pdf

Turf Field Planning Group Update

The Masconomet Turf Field Planning Group, which is made up of School Committee Member Joe McLean, Turf Up Masco Representative Sara Guido, Athletic Director John Daileanes, Asst. Superintendent Jeff Sands and me, met on Tuesday, September 12 at Central Office.  At this meeting the Turf Field Planning Group met with our architects from Stantec to review five possible options for the design.  The main differences in the options presented were regarding the placement and size of the support building that is part of the project.  After discussing the potential benefits and drawbacks of the presented options, we came to an agreement on one option that our architects will put to drawings.  As we discussed the project, it became clear to us that the site is constrained by the parking lot, JV baseball field and the Ipswich River.  We asked the architects to consider ways to open the space so it would not feel too constrained.  We have another meeting with the team from Stantec scheduled for the first week of October.

High School Activities Fair

Last Friday, the High School held its annual Activities Fair for 9^th Grade students.  The Activities Fair is run by our Peer Leaders Group and is an opportunity for our new 9^th grade students to learn about the athletic programs and clubs offered to students at the High School.  Student representatives from the clubs and sports were available to meet with 9^th grade students, answer any questions they had about a club or sport and to collect contact information so 9^th grade students could receive information about club meetings.  All of the clubs and sports also contributed to a “Masco Offerings” slideshow, which can be viewed HERE.  Thanks to High School English Teacher and Peer Leader Advisor, Mike Kelsen for his work in organizing this event.