School Committee approves 2024–27 school improvement plans; district to expand use of Panorama for student monitoring

The Longmeadow School Committee approved school improvement plans for the 2024–2027 cycle for Blueberry Hills School, Center School, Wolf Swamp Road School, Glenbrook Middle School, Williams Middle School and Longmeadow High School during its Jan. 14 meeting.

The plans align with the district improvement goals the superintendent presented: data-driven multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), inclusive practice for a diverse student body, embedding the district’s Vision of the Graduate competencies, and maintaining safe, supportive learning environments. The committee voted to approve the school-level plans on the recommendation of school councils and the superintendent.

The superintendent described the district’s early-stage rollout of Panorama, a student-data and survey platform the district adopted this year to support MTSS. "What Panorama is a tool that we adopted this year ... and we're really at the early early stages of using Panorama to support student learning," the superintendent said, explaining Panorama can flag students as excelling, on track, at risk or critical across academics, attendance, behavior and social-emotional learning, and can centralize universal screening, attendance and intervention plans.

The superintendent and other administrators highlighted cross-district objectives included in the plans: the high school is refining formative assessments following a reaccreditation recommendation; elementary schools are using Panorama to drive MTSS referrals; Blueberry Hills is implementing monthly recognition tied to the Vision of the Graduate learner behaviors; the middle schools plan a new program of studies (the district currently lacks a formal middle-school program of studies) and will use learning walks to assess inclusive practices; Wolf Swamp has developed student surveys and expanded student voice in the IEP process; the high school has been expanding staff-led professional development on supporting neurodivergent learners.

The superintendent said schematic-design work for the middle-school building project (with Jones and Whitsett Architects) continues and will be submitted to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) in the spring.

The committee approved the plans by roll-call vote; committee members asked for ongoing updates and implementation monitoring through the district’s planning cycle (Dec. 1, 2024–Nov. 30, 2027). No amendments were made at the Jan. 14 vote.