Superintendent highlights district gains: FAFSA, MCAS, attendance and athletics

Superintendent Dr. Dernault used the meeting's Superintendent's Report to present a series of preliminary performance and participation gains across Springfield Public Schools and to thank staff for recent professional development and convocation planning.

Dr. Dernault said the district recorded a 19-percentage-point increase in FAFSA completion rates across the district and noted several schools with more than 90 percent completion. She said DESE has permitted FAFSA to be used for college and career pathways. The superintendent also reported an 18-point increase in some schools' science scaled scores and singled out multiple schools with gains on MCAS in ELA and math; she listed schools by name and said a number of schools would be inducted into a district "500 Club" for high scores.

The superintendent described attendance gains and decreases in chronic absenteeism at specific schools (Zanetti, Indian Orchard, Talmadge) and said middle schools including Conservatory, Renaissance and Kennedy had notable average-daily-attendance improvements. She also said the district saw a 34-percentage-point increase in the completion rate of the myCAP career-and-academic planning task for students in grades 6 12.

Dr. Dernault recognized athletic and arts achievements, listing championship appearances and record-breaking performances by district teams and noting that visual and performing arts students received a Massachusetts Commonwealth Award. She also thanked district staff for a large professional-development effort that engaged roughly 1,100 elementary educators on the science of reading and related instructional materials.

Dr. Dernault repeatedly described the shareable data as "preliminary" and said the district would provide finalized reports later; committee members asked for recurring "Good News from a Great Place" quarterly updates. No formal actions or budget approvals were taken during the report; the items were offered as informational and celebratory.