Randolph middle school showcases student media, clubs and new engagement work

Randolph Public Schools staff on the school committee’s virtual meeting highlighted a new morning-show production, the return of a musical production and a range of student clubs and partnerships at the district’s middle school.

Lisa, a staff member who presented the report, opened the committee’s update by screening a morning-show video she said the school produces about once a month. “The morning show goal is to share it with our students about once a month. You'll see it's pretty labor intensive to put together,” Lisa said during her presentation. The video included short interviews with students and footage of recent extracurricular work.

Presenters described the school musical (Finding Nemo) as the first in several years, with students working on acting, choreography and set pieces. Student participants interviewed in the video included Akira, who said they play multiple characters and were “really excited to play Tad,” and other students who discussed set and puppet work. The committee also heard about recent boys and girls basketball seasons and the school’s cheer team, which members said traveled to at least one away game.

The presenter described a new PBIS team and a student pledge that affirms “pride, perseverance ... respect for all,” plus recent award ceremonies for grades 6–8 recognizing leadership and other traits. She listed an array of clubs and activities — student council, robotics, morning show production, yearbook and sports — and urged families to order yearbooks early because last year’s sold out.

Several community partnerships were discussed. Turner Free Library’s bookmobile is scheduled to visit for an Earth-sciences unit and to provide borrowing opportunities where the school lacks a lending library. The school is also working with a trainer from an organization referred to in the meeting as Hey Randolph to deliver a nicotine/vaping prevention program called Catch My Breath; the district plans to train health staff in April and to offer an alternative-to-suspension program for students who vape.

The presenter said Codman therapists are on-site two days a week and that the district has pursued several research-based youth cessation programs, including an I DECIDE program funded by the Department of Public Health. The school also expects library furniture funded through a recent Mass Life Sciences grant to arrive in March.

Staff described a recent professional visit by about 100 educators hosted at the middle school focused on applied learning; examples included robotics and an eighth-grade science project. The instructional leadership team has piloted a "student engagement continuum" tool over several weeks and begun spreading the practice to other teacher teams to quantify and improve engagement.

The presenter closed by saying a scheduling committee is reviewing the middle-school schedule to meet a growing population; she estimated the middle school will have “close to 700 students” next year and said the committee will provide updates as that work continues.

Committee members praised the presentation and asked the school to work with Randolph Community TV to make the morning-show video available to the wider community.

Ending: The committee did not take formal action on these items; presenters and committee members agreed to explore wider distribution of the morning-show video and to report updates on the schedule and partnerships at future meetings.