Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Admin Updates topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
District updates: new SIS, program offerings and enrollment trends discussed
Summary
Superintendent and staff briefed the School Committee on the switch to School Insights as the district student information system, a new Principles of Engineering course added to the Program of Studies, and enrollment figures showing 368 in-town students and 201 choosing out; committee tabled a vote on the full Program of Studies for a later meeting.
School administrators used the May 18 meeting to outline technology, curriculum and enrollment updates for the coming year.
Student information system: The district is transitioning from Alma to School Insights for its student information system. Administration said the systems do not exchange data cleanly and require manual rollover work by the IT director to transfer records ahead of an August launch. “They don’t play nice essentially, so we have to do a lot of manual rollover,” the superintendent said.
Program of Studies and curriculum changes: Mr. Beck presented the 2026–27 Program of Studies and noted minimal changes overall, including the addition of a Principles of Engineering course to continue Project Lead The Way/advanced-manufacturing coursework. The committee agreed to table a formal vote and asked members to send questions to administration ahead of next month’s meeting.
Enrollment and school-choice trends: Administration reported 368 in‑town students, 42 school-choice in and 201 school-choice out, which the administration summarized as about 35% of town children choosing out of district schools. Committee members discussed how choice-out figures combine with in-town counts to show cohort sizes and the district’s policy of first-come, first-served acceptance with sibling priority; transportation is generally the family’s responsibility unless required under a student’s IEP.
Next steps: administration will circulate the full Program of Studies and answer committee questions before a final vote; IT and administration will continue the SIS data-rollover work and inform teachers and families before the August launch.
