Quabbin launches language‑based classroom at Oakham Center to support students with dyslexia
Summary
Quabbin Regional School District presented a new district‑level language‑based classroom at Oakham Center led by teacher Brianna Biggs, serving four third‑ and fourth‑grade students with language‑based learning disabilities and using Landmark School outreach plus Orton‑Gillingham instruction.
Quabbin Regional School District unveiled a new language‑based classroom at Oakham Center School meant to serve students with language‑based learning disabilities, district leaders said. Brianna Biggs, the program's lead teacher, told the school committee the class currently serves four third‑ and fourth‑grade students and uses tailored instruction adapted from the district's HMH curriculum with strategies from the Landmark School outreach program.
The program's curriculum focuses on decoding, spelling, vocabulary, comprehension and writing, Biggs said, and students receive rotation‑based support from an interventionist and speech‑language pathologists. ‘‘Everything we do in the classroom is individualized for each student to meet their needs,’’ Biggs said, describing daily morning meetings, a 90‑minute ELA block and twice‑weekly SLP rotations. She said students receive Orton‑Gillingham instruction during the ELA block and decodable books to practice skills.
The district described the Landmark partnership as outreach and curriculum support rather than a placement; committee members asked about costs, program scale and staffing continuity. Administrators said the district expected a partnership cost ‘‘about $16,000’’ and that the arrangement is renewable and intended to provide ongoing coaching and curriculum planning. Members asked how the district would measure progress; Biggs said she collects frequent informal and teacher‑made assessments in addition to the students' IEP reporting schedule to track growth.
Committee members praised the program and emphasized the need to build staff capacity so services continue if the lead teacher moves on. Superintendent Colleen and colleagues said the district will use the Landmark partnership to support training and that plans call for the program to follow students through elementary grades with the goal of eventual inclusion when students achieve proficiency.
The school committee included the new program update as part of regular reports, and asked administrators to return with additional data on outcomes and plans to scale the model to other grades. The committee did not take a separate formal vote on program funding during the meeting.
