The monthly 2024-2025 Teaching and Learning Newsletter is part of a series that intends to share information from the following departments:

Each department works collaboratively to develop coherence in support of the District’s Instructional Priority; If student-centered educators utilize intentional lesson design that includes clear objectives, strategies, scaffolds, and extensions based on individual profiles of students (IEP needs, Language Proficiency levels, various data points) to provide access to grade-level Tier I instruction for all students, especially students who are dually identified, then students will be able to master priority grade-level literacy standards and communicate their progress and how their work supports their growth and achievement. An intentional focus on the priority and the named subgroups focuses efforts on closing the opportunity gap while providing high-quality instruction for all students.

Our previous newsletter shared that Framingham Public Schools was awarded the Partnership for Reading Success in Massachusetts (PRISM) Grant. We are pleased to share that our work within this network has begun. Our first PRISM Leadership Team meeting has begun. We look forward to enhancing our vision for literacy in our PreK-Intermediate classrooms. As the work of the team unfolds, we will share progress updates! Additionally, we have expanded our literacy efforts in Middle Schools by implementing Into Reading in all grade 6 classes. Next year, we will continue this implementation in grades 7-8.

Our efforts to adopt and implement high-quality instructional materials have been furthered with the recent One8 Foundation grant award of $262,000. As shared in a previous press release, these funds will be leveraged to purchase the rest of the Open Sci Ed curriculum units in grades 6-8, coupled with high-quality professional learning for our teams of science educators. Also, our grade 6-7 Social Studies Educators will receive professional development and the curriculum Investigating History. Finally, early adoption of a supplemental math program, ST Math, will be made possible at two of our Elementary Schools, McCarthy and Stapleton, with the hope of expanding to all elementary schools in future years.

We want to thank our educators and leaders for their dedication and commitment to adopting new curriculum, shifting their pedagogical practices, engaging our students, and sharing their practice with their colleagues during professional learning and collaboration.

As stated in an earlier newsletter, five of our FPS elementary schools were allowed to participate in the United States of Reading Program. This year-long literacy support program is designed to enable all students in the participating schools to choose and own their own books. The end goal is to motivate students to spend more time practicing literacy skills outside of class time, learn about their interests as readers, and develop a habit of reading for fun. 

On February 5th, students at Barbieri, Brophy, Harmony Grove, McCarthy, and Stapleton had an opportunity to hear from the author of the books they have been reading, Jerry Pallota. 

The kick-off of the event included opening remarks from Superintendent Tremblay and local and state officials, including the Secretary of Education in Massachusetts, Secretary Patrick Tutwiler.

Read Across America Week was celebrated at McCarthy Elementary School from March 3rd to March 7th. The week was celebrated with lots of reading and fun filled themed days. 

March 3rd was Dress like a Superhero Day, and there were a few superheroes we caught curled up with a good book in kindergarten. 

We recognize that many folks often seek additional resources to support, supplement, or augment materials. Applications or inquiries regarding grants, curriculum, research, or resources should be directed to the Office of Teaching and Learning to ensure the district has the bandwidth to engage in such projects, does not have any conflicting initiatives, and aligns with our strategic priorities. Additionally, all grants, curriculum, and resources must be vetted through the various Office of Teaching and Learning departments to ensure equity, coherence, and student privacy. This process helps maintain consistency across our schools, uphold high-quality instructional standards, and protect student data. We appreciate your collaboration in keeping our educational practices aligned and effective for all learners.

On February 3rd, Walsh Middle School 7th-grade students held their annual “Egyptian Experience” gallery. As part of the Ancient Egypt unit, students completed a research project that allowed them to further research one topic of interest from that time period. The students created a final project to demonstrate their knowledge, and that project was showcased in the gallery. 

Great job, Walsh Grade 7 students and teachers, for a fantastic gallery exhibit! 

On Wednesday, March 5th the Walsh Middle School 8th Grade students hosted the 8th Grade Holocaust Museum Exhibits. The memorial exhibit was the culminating research assignment students were tasked with after reading the memoir, Night. Students examined and discussed primary source historical documents, and researched and reported on personalized research questions related to this topic.  

Great job Walsh Grade 8 students and teachers for an incredible Holocaust Museum Exhibit! 

Congratulations to our Framingham High School Environmental club and its advisors, Rebecca Maynard, Emily Rathmell, and Katie Mansfield, for their award-winning Climate Project!

Earlier this month, the FHS Environmental club and its teacher advisors received the Silver Award in the Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Contest!  The Bow Seat contest is an international arts competition for all students ages 11 - 18. 

After spending 5 months preparing their immersive exhibit titled “A Few Degrees More: The Impact of Climate Change in Framingham”. In collaboration with McCarthy Elementary, the exhibit allowed McCarthy students to walk through the art exhibit and talk with the high schoolers about climate change in and around Framingham. Thanks again to Rebecca, Emily, and Katie for helping create such a pivotal experience for our students! 

STEAM Night at Stapleton Elementary brought a crowd of families to celebrate math and science. Occurring on March 6th, students and their caregivers were provided opportunities to see experiments with dry ice, make their own slime, compete in interactive graphing, work with robots and enter to win through a raffle of STEM prizes! Special thanks to Kris Callahan, STEAM Coach and the numerous staff members at Stapleton for their dedication to the students and families of Framingham celebrate math!

It’s getting close! The math curriculum council members worked collaboratively to create a curriculum rubric to reflect the needs of all students and their teachers. Resources utilized to create a rubric that best suits our city’s needs were the EdReports rubric, the MA CURATE rubric, a Multilingual-focused rubric from DESE and ELSF (English Language Success Forum), and the EQuIP rubric from Achieve.org. Council members are now reviewing each grade level (PreK-5, 6-8) top choices using this consensus created rubric. 

 The top two choices to bring high-quality instructional Materials to Framingham Public Schools have been chosen! Our teachers will pilot Amplify Desmos K-8 Math or Illustrative 360 K-8 Math. Both programs come with green ratings through EdReports and were the highest-scoring curricula when compared to the comprehensive rubric created by the Math Council. We look forward to the start of this pilot on March 31 after all pilot teachers have received training in their respective programs during the week of March 24. Students whose teachers are participating in the pilot will have letters sent home to notify their families. At the end of April, the Math Council will also send anonymous surveys to families in FPS to solicit their feedback before choosing a final curriculum for our district.

As we approach the MCAS testing window, we want to share several resources that provide a lens into the expectations, rubrics, and types of questions and tasks students will engage in during the assessment. 

Reviewing some student work samples from across the state allows for a benchmark to examine the expected output at each grade level. 

In our work with the adopted curriculum, educators are working to align classroom tasks to the grade level…

https://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/student/2023/ 

Writing Expectations on MCAS ELA (I hr. Webinar)

 

MCAS Writing Rubric

 

MCAS Resource Center

ELA Resources

 

MCAS Student Work Scoring Guide

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has released the testing windows for the Spring 2025 MCAS Administration. The guidelines are below. Each of the respective schools in FPS are identifying the specific dates for testing in each grade and will release the schedules in the upcoming month.

Test Administration

ELA Session 1 March 25

ELA Session 2 March 26

Mathematics Session 1 May 20

Mathematics Session 2 May 21

Last date for all make-up testing  

ELA: April 3     Math: May 28

June 4 - High School Science Session 1

June 5 - High School Science Session 2

June 12 - Last date for all make-up testing

On February 1st, twenty-one 7th-9th graders from Fuller, Walsh, Cameron, and FHS auditioned in Bedford, MA for the MMEA Eastern District Junior Festival for vocal or instrumental music, and eight were selected! Congratulations to:

Nate Lerman, grade 8, Trumpet, Fuller

Hannah Lieberman, grade 7, Vocalist, Walsh

Draydin Maskell, grade 7, Vocalist, Walsh

Parker Wagoner, grade 8, Vocalist, Walsh

Brooklyn Adams, grade 9, Vocalist, FHS

Aiden Fraggos, grade 9, Vocalist, FHS

Samantha Pippos, grade 9, Vocalist, FHS

Emerson Xavier, grade 9, Vocalist, FHS

Gretchen Fraher, grade 9, Trumpet, FHS

Department of Early Education (PreK) Team