Everett schools outline literacy-first improvement plans, target MCAS gains and attendance

Superintendent Bill Hart and district and school leaders presented detailed school improvement plans to the Everett School Committee on Oct. 20, 2025, focusing on literacy, mathematics and social-emotional learning across Everett Public Schools.

The plans, presented during a regular meeting at Everett High School, set measurable targets for the 2025–26 school year. Dr. Margaret Adams, Everett Public Schools assistant superintendent for teaching, learning and student success, told the committee the district’s instructional priority this year centers on increasing literacy outcomes, with attention to students with disabilities and multilingual learners.

Why it matters: The plans tie district professional development and instructional materials to specific classroom practices — partner reading, annotated text work, increased writing and teacher professional learning communities — intended to move students toward grade-level proficiency and to reduce chronic absenteeism.

District strategy and goals Dr. Adams said school leaders examined spring MCAS results, interim MAP and other diagnostics during the summer and used that data to form common goals: English language arts, mathematics and social-emotional learning (SEL). She described a districtwide push to have teachers “use high-quality instructional materials” and to expand opportunities for students to read, annotate and write about text.

At the Madeline English School, Principal Paolo Lambrescia said the school set a target that 25 percent of students in grades 3–8 will meet or exceed expectations on the ELA MCAS in 2025–26, and that 70–75 percent of students in kindergarten through grade 2 will score at or above benchmark on DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills). Lambrescia described classroom tactics — partner reading, RACES (restate, answer, cite, explain, summarize) rubrics for short constructed responses, small-group scaffolds and independent reading initiatives called Open Books, Open Minds.

"We're gonna utilize partner reading and writing strategies throughout all of our classrooms, across all content areas, with scaffolds for students that need them," Lambrescia said.

Janet Taylor, principal of the Lafayette School, described similar targets: 70 percent of K–2 students at or above DIBELS benchmark and 34 percent of grades 3–8 students meeting or exceeding ELA MCAS expectations. Taylor described district-supported supports including literacy data chats, instructional coaching and vertically-aligned professional learning communities.

Math and SEL approaches Both principals described math strategies that rely on regular diagnostic checks with i-Ready, three-read problem strategies and increased use of instructional coaches and walk-throughs to support co-teaching and small-group instruction for students with disabilities. On SEL, both schools reported implementing PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) systems, clear behavioral matrices and student recognition programs tied to school values (Madeline English’s “Bulldog Pride” and Lafayette’s “Pause” pillars).

Attendance and behavioral targets Madeline English aims to reduce chronic absenteeism (reported last year at 27.6 percent) toward a 22 percent target; Lafayette set an attendance rate goal of 94 percent and a chronic absenteeism target of 25 percent. Both schools said weekly attendance reviews, home visits and family outreach will be used to address chronic absence.

Committee questions and context Committee members asked about PBIS implementation, library/book access for independent reading and how student goal-setting is scaffolded. Lambrescia said book carts and weekly checkout routines supply books to younger students and that older students check out books every two weeks. Taylor said teachers conduct individualized data chats (using i-Ready) to set measurable student goals and revisit them midyear and year-end.

"This instructional priority outlines that we would use very specific student literacy instructional strategies with our high-quality instructional materials," Dr. Adams said during the presentation.

Ending Superintendent Hart praised principals and staff for collaborative planning and said the district will continue using instructional leadership teams and district-level feedback to refine plans. Principals and district leaders told the committee they will continue reporting progress to the School Committee and the community as data is collected through the school year.