Tucker School outlines three‑year strategic response to MCAS, expands ILT and student supports

Tucker School principal Celeste (presented as Celeste Hawaii) and assistant principal Caroline Morton presented a multi‑year strategy to strengthen instruction and student outcomes in response to MCAS data.

The plan centers on five initiatives: creating an instructional leadership team (ILT) drawn from existing Grade Level Facilitators (GLFs), adjusting common planning time toward instructional priorities, requesting targeted visits by district curriculum and literacy directors, increasing direct classroom time by the elementary inclusion specialist, and expanding the special‑education team chair from 0.6 to 0.8 FTE. Principal Celeste told the committee, “We developed what we're calling a school wide strategic response to our MCAS data,” describing the changes as a three‑year effort to build coherence rather than a short‑term turnaround.

To staff the ILT, Tucker asked the district to increase the GLF stipend (from $400 to $600) so GLFs can meet monthly and lead common planning on off weeks; the PTO and district have been asked to endorse that change. The presenters emphasized leveraging existing personnel and district resources to avoid creating costly new positions: the inclusion specialist (Maureen Butler) will spend more classroom time doing consults and supporting the student support team, and the team chair increase is aimed at monitoring IEP progress and classroom implementation.

Celeste and Caroline described additional steps to expand instructional time for students who need it. They cited a Title I‑funded after‑school tutoring pilot in partnership with Curry College that currently serves about 36 students with capacity for roughly 45; groups rotate every 6–8 weeks. The presentation also noted new licenses for an Imagine Learning pilot for language learners across elementary schools and a consortium grant for early literacy work (eFLI/UFLI).

Committee members praised the emphasis on teacher leadership, common planning and measurable benchmarks. Members asked about measures of student engagement and what benchmarks the school would use; Tucker leaders said they will track student data (DIBELS, I‑Ready), calls for assistance and classroom observation data and report back at midyear and year‑end checks. The committee did not take any binding action; members committed to monitor progress and consider supporting stipends and small funding requests as part of FY27 deliberations.

The school will provide further updates as benchmarks are set and early data become available.