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Grafton High principal previews curriculum work, student voice and student handbook revisions
Summary
Grafton High School principal Tracy Calo summarized this year’s curriculum-alignment work, plans for assessments and rubrics, an expanded student advisory group, a revised student handbook process and a proposal to develop guidance on student use of AI.
Tracy Calo, principal of Grafton High School, told the School Committee the high school spent the year aligning curriculum to the district’s vision of graduate skills, piloting a school-wide rubric for senior internships, and planning next steps on assessment and student-facing guidance.
Why it matters: Changes to curriculum frameworks, assessment approaches and the student handbook can affect graduation requirements, classroom instruction and student supports across the district.
Calo said departments backward-planned stage-one curriculum work this year (enduring understandings, essential questions, content and skills) so teachers next year can build aligned assessments. English teachers developed a grammar and convention scope and sequence to extend middle-school work; math is reviewing a new curriculum for vertical alignment grades 6–12; science is piloting inquiry- and phenomenon-based instruction with hands-on labs; and special education staff are modifying curriculum to support diverse learners.
Calo described work to define “cognitive rigor” across classrooms and said next year the school will apply that definition to standards and classroom questioning. She also said the school will develop a guide for student use of AI tools "to assist and enhance their work."
On student voice, Calo said she formed a principal’s advisory group of six students (identified in the presentation as Delaney Bouvier, Sean Griffin, Yuki Wong, Emily Nugen and two freshmen, Sanvi and Corey). The students worked with Calo to identify core values (empathy, hard work and integrity) and led a teacher-appreciation effort as an early project. Calo said the advisory group will meet monthly and report to staff and administration.
Calo also reviewed the process used to revise the student handbook: a committee of four students, four teachers and the principal drafted changes; multiple readers and the school advisory council reviewed sections; and the school removed material already addressed in the district’s Student Rights and Responsibilities handbook to avoid duplication. Calo provided the committee with a synopsis of major revisions and pasted those revisions into presentation slides for committee review. Committee members agreed policy-related handbook items should go to the policy subcommittee for review and then to the full school committee.
The principal noted that the item on “certificate of achievement” (page 10 of the handbook packet) requires committee discussion: Calo said she and district administrators will define a competency determination for graduation (now that MCAS is no longer the sole determiner) and will present a recommendation to the committee and policy subcommittee.
Committee members asked about parking fees and transportation fees; Calo said she will present an analysis on June 10 that groups facility, transportation and preschool tuition/fees for annual review. She also confirmed the school will provide professional development to support inquiry-based science instruction, and she said several departmental course and framework changes will be reviewed through routine program-of-studies processes.
The committee thanked Calo for the handbook work and for the school’s student-engagement plans.
