Revere schools to pilot DESE Playful Learning program at Paul Revere; district outlines pre-K expansion and McKinley early childhood center plans

The Revere School Committee heard on March 18 that Paul Revere School will participate in the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Playful Learning Institute after receiving a $175,000 grant to support an 18-month program focused on play-based instruction.

"Play is what children and young people do when they follow their own ideas in their own ways and for their own reasons," Mo Coyle, principal of Paul Revere School, told the committee as she summarized the program's definition and evidence base. She said the grant will support professional learning, coaching and supplies for participating classrooms.

The grant package includes $80,000 in professional development and program evaluation costs selected and bargained by DESE, $20,000 in stipends the school budgeted, and $3,000 to $5,000 per participating classroom for materials, Coyle said. "The grand total of the grant itself was $175,000," she said.

Coyle described the program's instructional intent: placing guided or playful instruction, with explicit learning targets, between free play and direct instruction so students meet grade-level standards through student-driven activity. She said teachers will complete 10 hours of asynchronous work, attend two full days of in-person professional development in April, and receive in-class coaching from DESE-selected providers. A control classroom at each grade level will be included in the program evaluation, she said.

The committee also received a district briefing on pre-K operations and a planned early childhood center at the McKinley School from Melissa Lomas, director of early childhood. Lomas said the district currently runs 10 pre-K classrooms across three schools, serving 180 students and with a small, short wait list. "We have 2 people withdraw. We have 2 spaces, but I've got a wait list," she said.

Lomas described two program models in Revere: "substantially separate" small learning-group classrooms capped at nine students (led by a special-education teacher plus paraprofessionals), which run full-day 8:05 a.m. to 2:05 p.m., and integrated classrooms capped at 15 students (eight general-education peers and seven students on IEPs) that operate as split sessions, 8:05'a.m. to 10:35'a.m. and 11:35'a.m. to 2:05'p.m. She said the district charges a $10-per-day tuition for paying families in the integrated program and that small learning-group placements do not carry tuition.

On facilities, Lomas said the McKinley renovation is in the design phase. Current plans call for eight classrooms, administrative offices, therapy and meeting spaces, indoor and outdoor gross-motor areas and a large gathering space. She said the project is still a few years from opening.

Coyle said Paul Revere teachers volunteered to participate and that the school will use early-release days and peer-to-peer professional learning to share strategies across the district. She said a draft innovation plan incorporating play-based learning and student-led conferences will be delivered to the committee by May 15 and would likely return for committee action in June.

Committee members expressed support. "This is really exciting," said Ayesha Milbury Ellis, who offered immediate praise after the presentations. Mayor Keith and other members thanked staff and noted the potential districtwide benefits.

The presentations did not include a formal committee vote on the grant award or the McKinley design; staff indicated next steps would include implementing the grant requirements, coaching cycles and continuing design work on the McKinley center.