Superintendent’s Report to the School Committee, 12/18/24

Appointment of Brad Denton to Position of Assistant Superintendent for Student Services

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Brad Denton to the position of Assistant Superintendent of Student Services.  Brad has served in this role in an “acting” capacity since the end of March of 2024. 

Brad has a deep understanding of the Student Services Department at Masconomet.  He first joined Masconomet as a Special Education Program Coordinator in 2006 and was promoted to the position of Assistant Director of Special Education in 2009.  As the Assistant Director of Special Education, Brad has been involved in all aspects of our Student Services programming, including program development, student case management, and the evaluation and supervision of faculty and staff.  In this role, he was, and continues to be, an integral member of our Social Emotional Learning Leadership Team (SELLT), which has implemented a comprehensive approach to addressing the mental health needs of our students.  He also coordinated our summer programming for special education and credit recovery.  Through these roles and responsibilities, Brad demonstrated his capabilities and talents are a great match for the Assistant Superintendent role.

Brad has also developed meaningful relationships with faculty and members of the community.  As a member of the Masconomet leadership team, Brad has worked closely with all members of our Student Services Department and has earned their trust and support.  As a former Special Education Program Coordinator, he has an intimate understanding of the needs of our special educators and the challenges they face.  In his time at Masconomet, he has worked closely with our school counselors and nurses on developing programming to meet the needs of our students.  As Assistant Director, Brad has worked with our department heads and principals on solutions to school and district-wide issues, such as the development of our student success centers.  Brad is also a Masconomet graduate and a Topsfield resident.  He has been able to leverage his understanding of the communities Masconomet serves to build strong relationships with parents and community members.  These relationships, both inside and outside Masconomet will serve him well in the role of Assistant Superintendent for Student Services.  

Brad has been serving in the role of Acting Assistant Superintendent for the last nine months, and has demonstrated he is clearly the right person for this role.  While some see an “acting” position as a caretaker role, Brad has spent his time working to improve and strengthen our programming.  He has led an analysis of our special education programming this year, including reviewing our current programs and looking at future needs that may require adjustments to the services we offer.  This review has led to developing stronger relationships with our counterparts in the Tri-Town School Union so we can better understand the needs of students who will be entering Masconomet in the near future.  Most recently, Brad has been engaged with meeting personally with the special education coordinators in the three upper elementary schools to discuss the needs of current 6^th grade students as they prepare to transition to Masconomet, and to review the profiles of students in the lower grades.  These conversations will allow Brad to be proactive in developing programming to meet future student needs.

Under other circumstances, I would normally undertake a search to fill the position of Assistant Superintendent for Student Services, but given Brad’s experience, relationships and performance in the “Acting” role, I wholeheartedly believe we have already identified the right person for the job.  Please join me in welcoming Brad to this role.

Masconomet DECA Wins Big in District Competition

Masco DECA competed at the District 24 Conference at the DoubleTree Danvers on December 11 & 12. One hundred and fourteen of the 220 Masconomet DECA Members in the competition were the Top 7 winners in their category and qualified to represent Masconomet at the DECA State Conference in Boston in February. These DECA State qualifiers will have the opportunity to represent Masco and earn a spot at the International DECA Conference which will be held in Orlando, Florida in April. For more information of the DECA Program and their most recent competition please go to: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1j0uA5iz4vU9ykwtYyLu5SDZFuym4T9qJqxv_60hMewQ/edit?usp=sharing

Congratulations to Masconomet’s Science Team!

Model UN Team Members Recognized

The Masconomet Model United Nations team kicked off their conference season with a one-day simulation hosted by St. John’s Preparatory School in Danvers. Eighteen Masco delegates joined with hundreds of students from schools around New England for an exciting day of debate and negotiation to create resolutions for some of the world’s most pressing issues. Student delegates were assigned to one of a dozen committees, including traditional UN bodies, such as the Special Political and Decolonization Committee, UN Human Rights Committee, and the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, as well as more specialized committees, such as the US Senate debate on immigration reform and the British House of Commons debate on Brexit. Several Masco delegates received awards of recognition, and all should be proud of their efforts!

Award Recipients pictured:

• Dylan Guido, Best Negotiator (as Russia in the COPUOS Committee)
• Delaney Ogden, Best Delegate (as UK in the SPECPOL Committee)
• Thomas Buckley, Best Negotiator (as US in the General Assembly)

• Landen Boutilier, Best Negotiator (as Hunter S. Thompson in Altamont Committee)

School Quality Measures Survey

Beginning January 6, 2025, the Masconomet Regional School District will be conducting a series of surveys to help us better understand the experiences of students, parents and faculty in our schools.  These School Quality Measures (SQM) Surveys will be administered through the Education Commonwealth Project (ECP), an organization based at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst dedicated to assisting Massachusetts school districts gain a better understanding of their strengths and areas for improvement. 

All Masconomet Middle and High School students will take the SQM Survey during M-Block on January 6th.  This survey will take approximately 25 minutes to complete.  Parents or guardians who have questions about the survey should contact their child’s principal.  We will also be sending a companion survey link to all Masconomet parents through the email address they have provided to the district.  Faculty members will also complete a version of the survey during their faculty meetings on January 6th. All survey responses are anonymous and will not collect personal information.

The School Quality Measures (SQM) Framework seeks to create a comprehensive picture of the effectiveness of a school.  Rather than focusing solely on achievement test scores, the SQM Framework evaluates a school’s effectiveness in the areas of “Teachers and Leadership,” “School Culture,” “Resources,” “Academic Learning,” and “Community and Wellbeing” through collecting school-reported data from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and through surveys of school stakeholders.  The result of this data collection is the creation of a SQM Dashboard that offers a more “dynamic picture of school quality and student learning than a single standardized test.”  For more information on the SQM Dashboard, please visit: https://www.edcommonwealth.org/school-quality-measures 

Thanks in advance for taking the time to complete the survey.  We will use the SQM Dashboard to guide our school improvement efforts.  Creation of an SQM Dashboard for Masconomet is a component of the Masconomet Strategic Plan, 2023-2028.

SBIRT Screening

On January 6 & 7, 2025, the Masconomet Regional High School Nursing and Counseling staff will administer the SBIRT health screening to all 9th-grade students. SBIRT stands for Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment. SBIRT is used to screen for alcohol, nicotine, tobacco, and other drug use. This health screening is required by Massachusetts law. Please check your email for details.

January Parent Coffees with Administration

Our next High School Parent Coffee will be held on Friday, January 17 in the High School Library at 8:30 AM.  Our next Middle School Parent Coffee will be on January 24 in the Middle School Library at 8:30 AM. Parents are asked to check in at the main office to sign into the building.  They will then be escorted to the library for the Parent Coffee.

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