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Woburn committee accepts middle- and high-school improvement plans focused on reading, assessments and attendance
Summary
The committee accepted improvement plans for the Joyce/Kennedy middle schools and Woburn Memorial High School, prioritizing reading growth by June 2026, common assessments and stronger attendance measures including Saturday school and closer administrator classroom presence.
The Woburn School Committee voted to accept newly presented school improvement plans for the district’s middle schools and Woburn Memorial High School.
Middle-school presenters outlined a five-goal plan that includes targeted reading-growth work through expanded reading classes and collaboration with reading specialists, twice-monthly instructional-leadership-team meetings to use school-specific data, more frequent classroom observations to provide timely feedback and stronger family engagement via food pantries and the Joyce Exchange.
High school principal Tom Qualey described three primary improvement goals: (1) formalizing common planning time and building common assessments in core courses; (2) increasing administrator visibility and classroom visits to support teachers; and (3) improving attendance. Qualey said the district uses a District Analysis and Review Tool to benchmark comparable schools and emphasized common assessments to ensure consistent measures of mastery.
Qualey cited attendance data showing the high school averaged about 93% daily attendance before COVID and that current semester figures are slightly above 92%. He linked absences to academic outcomes, saying students with 0–5 unexcused absences had about an 80% rate of B‑ minus to A‑plus grades compared with roughly 38% for students with six or more unexcused absences; failure rates were reported at about 5% for regularly attending students versus about 42% for those with six or more absences. The high school has begun interventions including Saturday school (71 students attended over two days in the first term) and biweekly case reviews by guidance and assistant principals.
Committee members asked for clarification on how STAR assessment results are analyzed; presenters said the assessment provides immediate timing data and staff can re-administer the test when necessary. After the presentation, a motion to accept the middle‑ and high‑school plans was made, seconded and approved by voice vote.
The committee said it will monitor progress and expects to revisit data and timelines at future meetings.
