Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Middle and high school leaders outline progress on learning goals, HQIM pilots and attendance gains
Loading...
Summary
Middle‑ and high‑school leaders presented midyear school improvement updates focusing on student achievement targets, high‑quality instructional materials pilots, MTSS interventions and reported declines in class‑skipping and improved interim assessment planning.
District leaders presented a midyear update to the school committee on March 12 detailing instructional changes, early assessment results and supports for students across grades 6–12.
George Gonzales, principal of North Andover Middle School, summarized three priorities — student achievement, adoption of high‑quality instructional materials (HQIM), and a multi‑tiered system of supports (MTSS). Gonzales said the district set ambitious MAP and MCAS targets and cited fall‑to‑winter MAP levels (math green+blue: 67% fall → 66% winter; reading about 60% → 59%), noting those figures do not indicate learning loss but that the district must accelerate growth to meet year‑end goals. "We stayed pretty much the same. We're moving forward," Gonzales said, and described targeted interventions including Lexia accounts, DIBELS training for inclusion teachers, and new EL literacy tutoring.
Kara Larkholme, an instructional coach, explained the HQIM review process (learn and prepare → investigate and select → launch) and said middle grades are piloting materials in civics and science while math and other areas continue selection work.
At North Andover High School, principal Deb Holman highlighted operational and instructional changes tied to improved attendance and classroom time. Holman said class cuts are down substantially and showed a slide that reported a 67% reduction in skips for grades 10–12 compared with the prior year. "We have had some great work with attendance," she said, and credited targeted outreach (quick parent notification, assistant principal follow‑up) and changes such as a restorative 'breathe' space for students identified for vaping.
Holman also described implementation challenges with midterms and competency determination and said high school teams are piloting HQIM in biology and exploring other pilots in math and ELA. She urged continuing faculty collaboration time to unpack new materials, noting schedule constraints may require creative solutions or extensions of the school day.
Committee members asked about disaggregated results, pilot timelines and capacity to scale supports for the roughly 100 students the middle school identified as needing additional reading intervention; leaders said they will return with more detailed recommendations and resource requests if needed.
