Principals and department leaders presented highlights of school and department improvement plans at the Dec. 8 School Committee meeting, emphasizing multi‑tiered systems of support (MTSS), expanded student support teams (SSTs), literacy initiatives and a new data platform called Open Architects.

Caitlin Long (Highlands) and Dawn Durant (Ross) described elementary actions: use of SSTs for intervention planning, a districtwide book study to align literacy practice, learning walks where teachers visit other schools, and Open Architects as a tool that consolidates attendance, reading and MCAS data to support decision‑making.

John Sheehan (East Middle School principal) described middle‑school work that mirrors the elementary focus: structured SST referrals, documented agendas and action steps in Open Architects, restorative practices for discipline, and measures of progress such as referral trends, attendance and behavior data. Sheehan said Open Architects makes it easier to track interventions and follow through but urged caution about what is entered in long‑term student notes because records follow students year to year.

Committee members requested a district demonstration of Open Architects at a January meeting so members can see functionality and discuss data-entry practices and privacy safeguards. Staff agreed to schedule a demo and said training for teachers on what to include in notes is part of implementation.

Next steps: administration will arrange an Open Architects demo in January and present more detailed department improvement plan documentation in upcoming meetings.