Skyview Middle School tells Leominster School Committee attendance improved, outlines new supports and programs

Skyview Middle School Principal Michelle Alvarado told the Leominster School Committee on Oct. 20 that the school has reduced chronic absenteeism and is rolling out a set of academic and social supports to keep students in class and accelerate learning.

Alvarado said Skyview’s chronic absenteeism rate fell from 23.7 percent last year to 19.8 percent this year and described a set of changes that school leaders say are helping. “We also implemented project lead the way in seventh grade, the design and modeling unit,” Alvarado said, referring to a new engineering-aligned course. She also said the school added a third ABA classroom, moved ABA to the first floor “to be more inclusive,” and paired each team with a dedicated special-education teacher and an academic tutor.

The drop in chronic absenteeism was the nut graf of the presentation: committee members pressed administrators about what is producing the change because regular attendance is a primary driver of improved test scores and classroom progress.

Administrators described a multi-pronged approach. Skyview restructured its WIN (intervention) block into a workshop model to deliver targeted intervention and enrichment. The school is using i-Ready diagnostic data to identify small groups for interventions and plans a reshuffle of groups after the December diagnostic. The school also leverages a Saturday Academy for students to make up work and receive certified-teacher support; Alvarado said six students attended the most recent Saturday session. She added the district has launched a central attendance office staffed part time to support schools and that Skyview is partnering with a community provider “mock, out of Fitchburg” to work with families with attendance barriers.

“We are utilizing community agencies,” Alvarado said, describing the partnership as part of a broader strategy to reduce barriers to attendance. Committee members asked whether the district can share data from that partner on services provided; Alvarado and the superintendent said they would look into whether data-sharing is permitted and could be brought back to the committee.

Administrators highlighted classroom- and whole-school efforts to support academic growth. Alvarado said the school implemented a SOAR initiative — an acronym for scholarly, open-minded, achievers who are respectful and resilient — with banners and team-based recognition. She also reported gains on MCAS in several grades: “we have seen an increase in our sixth grade ELA. We’ve seen a 2-year increase in seventh grade ELA and math, and an increase in eighth grade math,” she said.

Facility and program updates were also noted. Alvarado said Skyview is getting a new boiler and an updated fire-alarm panel, and she announced an international night for Oct. 23 featuring more than 50 families sharing native foods and performances. She gave an enrollment snapshot: the school is “a little under 900 total” students, and later clarified a figure of about 881 students overall; committee members asked about sixth-grade size and were told sixth grade is large relative to other grades.

Committee members asked several operational questions during the Q&A: whether the new boiler will be integrated into districtwide controls, how the SOAR lessons will be deployed on half days, and whether transportation or late buses are limiting after-school participation. Administrators said transportation presents more challenges for after-school programs than for morning arrival and that some families rely on carpooling.

Alvarado closed by inviting committee members and the public to upcoming events and saying the team will return with data on how attendance supports and the community partner are affecting outcomes.

Upcoming items and dates highlighted by Skyview administrators included the Oct. 23 international night (5:45–7:30 p.m.), a sixth-grade harvest dance on Oct. 30 and the school council meeting on Nov. 5 (5:30–6:30 p.m.).