Winchester Public Schools to continue partnership with collaborative, forms literacy team
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Hackett told the school committee the district will continue its partnership with the Collaborative for Educational Services to support elementary-literacy curriculum work, onboarding consultants mid-August and forming a district literacy team for meetings starting in mid-September.
Superintendent Dr. Frank Hackett told the Winchester School Committee on Aug. 8 that the district will continue its partnership with the Collaborative for Educational Services to move forward on elementary-literacy curriculum and program work.
The committee heard that the collaborative will provide a core facilitation team (not a single facilitator), advisers, communications support and an evaluation framework. "What we have not said, and we're saying for the first time today, is that we're gonna continue our partnership with the collaborative," Hackett said, adding that the group has the capacity and networks to bring in former elementary teachers and leaders as facilitators.
Why it matters: the collaborative will help the district limit transitions for teachers and accelerate implementation by drawing on outside capacity while the district builds internal leadership. The superintendent described a WPS literacy team to be seeded with members of the existing design team who wish to continue and then expanded to other elementary educators who express interest. The district plans preliminary onboarding of the collaborative in mid-August and expects organizational meetings with the literacy team in mid- to late-September.
Details presented to the committee include guidance on facilitator qualifications (preferably former elementary teachers with school leadership experience), the collaborative's four support areas (facilitation, educator voice, family communications and evaluation), and an intention to have literacy specialists and coaches report directly to building principals while the district's literacy curriculum work proceeds. Hackett also said the collaborative will help broaden membership and vet candidates.
Committee members pressed for clarity on timing and short-term deliverables; several members praised centering teachers in the process and asked the superintendent to share early, tangible changes with the public when appropriate. The superintendent said membership posting and vetting will begin in the second or third week of September and that the collaborative will assist with communications and vetting.
Next steps: the district will post interest opportunities for elementary educators, meet with recommended consultants from the collaborative, and begin facilitated literacy-team meetings in the fall. A public session to review the collaborative's report is scheduled for Aug. 22, the superintendent said.
