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Chambers School principal reports academic, SEL and wellness efforts
Summary
Principal Berardi told the board Chambers School serves about 306 students, including high percentages of multilingual learners and described curriculum changes (CKLA, I‑Ready), social-emotional initiatives, student-built nature trail, and new care and food closets supported by community partners.
Principal Elaine Berardi presented a year-in-review for Chambers School, describing instructional work, social-emotional learning priorities and community partnerships aimed at student supports.
Berardi said Chambers enrolls about 306 students, is a Title I school, and has roughly 30% multilingual learners (about 93 students) and 20% of students with special-education classifications. She described the school's three main goals for the year: full implementation of CKLA (a literacy curriculum), boosting math fluency, and strengthening SEL around a theme of student confidence.
Berardi highlighted instructional supports and classroom structures: expanded integrated co-teaching models to allow students to remain in the building as services are provided, a classroom wall-of-data showing progress for each student, and grade-level collaboration to support teachers implementing lengthy CKLA lessons. She also described student‑led projects and community partnerships: a student-built 'Beautiful Trail' with 18 stations accessible via QR codes; garden programming with Cornell Cooperative Extension; and math-and-motion take-home bags funded by a nearly $3,000 Rotary contribution to help families practice math at home.
On student needs, Berardi described new in-school supports: a care closet created with White Eagle and a food closet stocked by staff and family donations so students can access food during the week. On facilities, she said Chambers is scheduled for a capital-project 'face lift' next summer.
Berardi closed by thanking staff, families and community partners and invited board members to visit Chambers to see classroom displays and student work.
Board members asked about implementation challenges for CKLA and requested more grade-level collaboration time; Berardi said teachers need planning and opportunities to process lessons in order to adapt pacing and incorporate movement for younger students.
