Rodman Preschool and Luce elementary present year-end progress; focus on literacy, MTSS and family engagement
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Summary
Rodman Preschool reported full enrollment and gains in phonological awareness after targeted professional development; Luce Elementary reported projected growth on benchmark screeners and increases in family survey participation, and both schools highlighted transitions and MTSS work.
Canton — Two district schools delivered end‑of‑year school-improvement updates May 15, describing progress in literacy, multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), family engagement and operational rollouts.
At Rodman Preschool, Principal Needle highlighted growth in foundational literacy skills including rhyming and initial-sound identification and said the program is at capacity with 41 enrolled students. Needle described targeted professional development on phonological awareness and the science of reading and work to identify an early-childhood screener suitable across the district. She said nearly half of Rodman’s enrolled students receive specialized instruction and noted progress in tiered intervention monitoring.
“We have really great systems in place in order to assess where our students are in terms of those phonological skills,” Needle said, while adding that the school was still piloting screeners and selecting a districtwide tool.
Rodman staff also described stronger collaboration with kindergarten teachers to smooth transitions and continued equity and DEI work in support systems.
At Luce Elementary, Principal Lamour reported projected gains on winter-to-spring benchmark screeners and cited increases in family survey response rates. Lamour said winter screening predicts improved MCAS outcomes in grades 3–5, reporting a forecast that approximately 62% of students could meet or exceed ELA MCAS expectations and roughly 73% could meet or exceed in math — projections grounded in STAR and other benchmark tools used by the district. Lamour said the school focused on data-driven small-group instruction, frequent data analysis meetings and professional development tied to high-quality instruction.
“We've been super hyper-focused on creating professional development opportunities for our staff that are targeting data analysis and small-group instructional planning,” Lamour said.
Luce also reported a 17.5 percentage-point increase in fall parent-survey participation and said 91% of families reported receiving clear communication and that they considered their children safe at school. Lamour noted new community-facing programs including a reading-buddy partnership with a local senior center, culture week and robotics programming funded in part by grants and PTO efforts.
Both administrators said work on transitions, equitable practices and MTSS would continue next year and asked committee members to visit classrooms during the summer and fall to observe new practices.
Context: The updates come as the district finalizes end-of-year assessments and prepares fall planning; both principals described job-embedded professional learning, MTSS expansion and strengthened family communication as ongoing priorities.
