The Essex Westford School District Board will next meet on Tuesday, November 6 starting at 6:30 p.m. in the Essex Middle School Library (*please note the location change).
Agenda items for the meeting include:
*Presentation - FY20 Special Education Service Plan & Act 173 Overview
*Implementation of Student Transportation Plan - Status Update
*Policy Discussion - Transportation
*Student Board Representatives Report
*Task Team Updates
*Statewide Updates
The public is welcome to attend.
For more information on the work of the EWSD Board, which includes, agendas, minutes, and meeting takeaways, please visit the following link: http://bit.ly/2vwTYdT
˚˚˚˚
EWSD Board Communications and Engagement Update
October 26, 2018 Update
This is the first regular installment of the EWSD School Board's monthly summary of the progress that is occurring on topics that are of deep interest to the community. Please note that if you wish to attend the first Board meeting in November, it will occur at the Essex Middle School Library. The normal Essex High School location is unavailable because of the election that day (November 6). Please remember to vote!
Please feel free to reach out to the Communications Task Team with any suggestions for further topics in need of regular updates.
Transportation
The Board received an update on transportation as of October 14. Essex Junction residents were surveyed beginning October 10 on their bus transportation needs. The administration is facilitating learning for Essex Junction school staff from their peers in Essex Town about what to expect on a day-to-day basis when running bus transportation. No progress was made on obtaining additional drivers in the preceding two week period, because a retirement and a resignation occurred among drivers in service that absorbed the two newly licensed drivers in that time. A shelter is being planned for the GMT (public transit) bus stop near Essex High School.
Act 77 Implementation
Personalized learning plans (PLPs) and proficiency-based grading reports (PBGRs) are just two parts of Vermont's greater efforts to make sure that the education happening in our schools is really relevant to college and career readiness. Standardized tests are an unavoidable part of preparing for career and college.
Some tests occur throughout a student's educational career in order to gather data and measure progress. The Board heard a presentation (http://bit.ly/2yIkwNS) in October from Director of Curriculum Amy Cole, who shared some of the possibilities offered by the new data management system the district is using. There are many new ways to put assessment data to work to understand the strengths of our system and our students, and the areas where we can improve.
Other tests are used to predict college readiness. The district has secured grant funding to offer the ACT (http://www.act.org) college admissions test for free. The free administration of the test will happen in the spring; the specific date is to be determined.
Essex High School and CTE Start and Stop Times for 2019-2020
This month, EHS Principal Rob Reardon and CTE Director Bob Travers have been working together to examine possible schedules in the event of altered start and stop times.
Promise of Merger
The RED Study Committee had identified a number of outcomes that EWSD students and staff could hope for from the merger, and some of these have seen considerable progress recently.
Our legal status as a single district has made a big difference to getting a full picture of student achievement pre-K–12. One example of this is the shared, district-wide data management system (see above under Act 77 Implementation).
A second example is the district-wide professional learning communities (PLCs). The EWSD principals recently reported to the Board on the types of work going on in the PLCs when educators in grades K–8 get to meet and work together to align their efforts.
Third, the Board heard from Superintendent Cobb about the first-year implementation of Policy E10: K–8 Voluntary School Reassignment (https://www.ewsd.org/Page/5698). This policy is helping over 20 families this year. Under the policy, families may apply to have their students attend a district school other than the one associated with their location of residence. The most common reason families access the policy is if they move to a different municipality within the district, but wish to allow their child(ren) to continue attending the same school. Prior to merger, this would not have been possible without the family paying tuition.
Jan 11, 2025, 10 AM to 12 PM
Come Help Us Help the Community Stay WarmJan 18, 2025, 9 AM to 12 PM
Ward 5 Winter Block PartyJan 18, 2025, 1 to 3 PM