Everett highlights Adams pre‑K inclusion and launches UCLA‑funded home‑visit pilot to boost attendance

The Everett School Committee on March 16 heard a presentation from the Adams School about its inclusive preschool and received districtwide updates from the superintendent, who announced a UCLA‑funded home‑visit pilot intended to re‑engage students and families and a state grant supporting cybersecurity training for staff.

Assistant Principal Jessica Redllup introduced the Adams School as “a full inclusion preschool program for children ages 3 to 5,” saying the school serves 158 students and that more than a dozen languages are spoken by families there. Redllup and Adams staff described intentional "home‑school relationships"—partnerships they said support attendance, academic growth and social‑emotional development—and shared photos of community events including a fall festival, pony rides and a Holly Jolly Jamboree. A short student video and singalong closed the spotlight, and Mayor Vancampen and other members praised the staff’s engagement with families.

Superintendent’s update: home visits and cybersecurity grant

In the superintendent’s report, district leaders announced a pilot program funded by a UCLA grant that will support staff conducting scheduled home visits for some Everett High School families, with the aim of improving attendance and re‑engaging students who have been absent or chronically tardy. The superintendent said the pilot will focus initially on English‑language learners and students from immigrant families and will use aggregated trend data—"there's no student‑level data shared," the superintendent said—to assess whether visits correlate with improved attendance.

The superintendent told the committee that families will receive advance notice of visits and that bilingual district staff will conduct visits so families can identify staff as Everett Public Schools employees. Committee member Mr. Baros emphasized sensitivity to families’ concerns about officials visiting private homes; the superintendent said staff will provide notice and identification and that a phone call will precede visits.

Separately, the superintendent announced the district received a grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Technology Services and Security to fund a multiweek cybersecurity training program for staff, led locally by district technology leaders. "We have begun in this month a full‑scale effort to train all of the staff across the district," the superintendent said, naming Joe Patu and David Wright as district leads on the effort.

Why it matters

District officials said the home‑visit pilot is intended to reach families who may not otherwise engage with schools and to address attendance gaps by bringing district staff to the community. The superintendent described the UCLA grant as paying for the effort and said the district will track whether the program improves attendance trends; committee members said the model had worked in earlier decades and expressed support for culturally‑sensitive implementation.

What’s next

The committee accepted the superintendent’s report and placed it on file. District staff said they will report back with aggregated attendance trends once the pilot is underway and will consider expanding the model to lower grades if results are positive. The district also reminded families about full‑day pre‑K registration appointments at the Parent Information Center in Everett City Hall and publicized a bilingual literacy night scheduled for March 18.