1996 Annual Report for The Lincoln St. School

Northborough, MAssachusetts
Lincoln Street School
December, 1996

Charles H. Pretti Principal

The pursuit of academic excellence and enhancing a curriculum based on inquiry, problem solving, discovery, and the application of concepts continues to be the focus of the Lincoln Street School Community. The staff of Lincoln Street School has been extremely effective at adjusting their teaching styles to implement the expectations of the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks as well as the district's strategic plan. This has been a primary focus of teaching teams at each level, as their increased repertoire of teaching strategies has been evidenced by favorable standardized test scores.

The application of technology has also been an area of Lincoln Street's curricular focus. Projection devices now enable teachers to utilize computers for whole class instruction. We are also continuing to direct our energies toward seeking the best computer software programs to help enable us to meet our instructional goals. We plan to have our computer lab networked for Internet access in April of 1997. Our technology committee and our technology volunteers have been a tremendous help in supporting our lab and networking efforts. They have also helped us access significant donations from businesses in the Northborough area. Our lab will also be expanded by April to enable efficient whole class instruction to take place there.

Alternative Assessment, including the expansion of the use of Portfolios, has helped to increase our ability to enhance learning as well as assessment. Their use adds significant relevance to the children. Portfolios also enable children to track their progress and to take pride in the product of their work. Our energies have been directed at formalizing the use of portfolios in grades one and two using guidelines from the Massachusetts Portfolio Assessment Program. Portfolios have already been used extensively in grade four, and these ideas are being shared in grade three, so as to integrate the essence of The Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks into our curriculum.

Our PTO presidents, Sally Stupak and Pat Lebau, have been instrumental in working with the Proctor, Peaslee, and Middle School PTOs to share information and programs that will benefit the entire school district. The Lincoln Street PTO has raised over 25,000 dollars in support of programs ranging from teacher grants to a plethora of enrichment programs sponsored for our children. The FLASH program (Fun Learning After School Hours), under the coordination of the PTO, School Council, and Nancy Kellner, has become self supporting. Lincoln Street continues to have a huge number of volunteers helping in the school each day. Their support is both encouraged and greatly appreciated. We have held several training sessions for our volunteers in the library and in computers. The PTO has funded the majority of the school's existing computers and software.

Lincoln Street School is proud to be an Alliance School. Alliance Schools are chosen as training and demonstration sites in the reform of Mathematics, Science, and Technology instruction. Lincoln Street has been the beneficiary of significant staff training from the Alliance. We have been provided with a technologist in residence, computer training, and specific teaching technique instruction in Mathematics and Science. As one of two elementary schools in Massachusetts chosen, we are able to network with other schools in New England, as well as schools in Puerto Rico and The Virgin Islands. Lincoln Street School has several web pages that enable us to post and exchange information (including lessons and activities) with these schools. You can visit our web pages in the Alliance School Network at ra.terc.edu/ school-space.

In addition to our professional development activities with the Alliance, we will continue to focus on the curricular application of technology and teaching techniques for all learners as the main themes of our teacher training programs. Even though Lincoln Street School and Northborough's schools are considered by the state to be model sites for our inclusionary practices, our staff feels that we need additional training and work to increase our skills to effectively reach all learners. We are compiling a best practices video to share with each other so that we can discuss and extend our practices in this pursuit.

Lincoln Street will expand upon its Looping pilot program next year. "Looping is the practice of keeping teachers and students together for more than one year. Last year we began with a grade 1 and grade 2, "loop". A November newspaper article in The Northborough Profile chronicled the many benefits that Mrs. Norsworthy's class has experienced from Looping. Mrs. Norsworthy points out that her familiarity with her students enabled her to minimize review, begin instruction where the class left off, and collect summer homework projects. The six week review and relationship developing period that characterizes the first weeks of school is eliminated, enabling far greater depth of instruction and understanding for the children. The positive factors greatly outweigh the few disadvantages of this structural change. Students, parents, and teachers speak volumes about the positive elements of this practice. In 1997 we will add a grade 3 through grade 4 looping class. We hope to continue to expand these opportunities for children as the staff gets more comfortable teaching a two year progression.

The Lincoln Street School Council is guiding efforts to increase support and involvement of The Northborough Community in long term and strategic planning efforts. We are working closely with the elementary and middle schools to share or extend resources to increase our ability to support technological innovations and initiatives. We are also promoting school improvement initiatives that are system wide. The Lincoln Street School Council has formed a grant writing team to explore grant opportunities in the private sector. The Council has also framed a "sharing" block of time during the first 15 minutes of our meetings, for community members who would like to bring ideas or concerns to the Council.

The Council is also strongly committed to the addition of Computer Technology aides in each of the elementary schools and to the addition of a district technology coordinator no later than 1998. The Council is committed to the expansion of our library and media program. We feel that the addition of a librarian is a good first step for our elementary schools, however we feel that professional staff should be available on a full time basis in the library as well as in our computer lab. This should also be a goal that we hope can take place by 1998.

Art, Music, and Physical Education continue to be integrated across the curriculum whenever possible. Each of our teachers in these areas has designed lessons that collaborate with themes and project based instruction taking place in students regular classrooms. In May we plan to have an evening school wide R&D Exhibition. The Reach and Dream Exhibition will focus on child created projects that solve problems utilizing physical models and creative solutions. Please feel free to visit on this evening, as the Lincoln Street School Community's commitment to interactive instruction will be well evidenced by the creativeness and skillfulness of the children's work.