School committee hears three-year innovation plan for Sarah Parker Raman School; public hearing set June 1

Principals leading the new Sarah Parker Raman School told the Salem School Committee on May 26 that a three-year innovation plan will prioritize a universal "core plus more" instructional block, community-embedded learning and targeted staffing to support individualized student needs.

Principal Bethany Angelison and Associate Principal Lauren Weaver, who led the transition and innovation teams, said the plan combines curricular materials (Illustrative Math for math; Investigating History and Amplify Science in other subjects) with a daily, scheduled block where teachers and academic specialists provide small-group instruction and enrichment. "Every student in the building will be going five days a week to this core plus more where we are going to have more teachers," Weaver said, describing pull-in and push-in support from academic specialists and special-education staff.

The presenters described community-embedded learning as sustained, standards-aligned work in which students apply classroom learning in local settings (for example, neighborhood walks for early grades or civics-linked projects for older students). The plan aims for broad participation—"our goal is 100% participation"—and includes post-trip student surveys and classroom products to measure quality, in addition to state measures such as MCCAST proficiency and student growth percentiles.

School leaders said the plan emerged from collaborative work with caregivers, staff and students from the two merged communities. Family members who served on the innovation committee described a deliberate application process for committee seats, close review of school data, and iterative revisions to the draft plan. "Everyone in the room genuinely wanted to be there and wanted to help shape the future of the school community," caregiver Megan Stacio said.

Committee members pressed for detail on transition students displaced by the move away from trimester placements. Member Miranda asked how the plan would serve students who already advanced under the trimester system; presenters said individualized, "kid-by-kid" plans were developed and that staff had held one-on-one caregiver meetings to explain supports. "We actually went kid by kid and made cohesive plans for each of those students," Weaver said.

Members also asked how special-education pullouts and services would operate within the core-plus-more block; presenters said special-education teachers and ML (multilingual) staff would provide services during that block so students could receive both grade-level instruction and targeted supports.

The superintendent said the innovation plan is being presented for information on May 26; the committee will hold a regulatory hearing on June 1 for public comment and is scheduled to vote on the innovation status at its regular meeting on June 8.

Votes at a glance: during the May 26 meeting the committee approved routine motions including rescheduling Collins Middle School's professional-development half day to June 11 (unanimous roll call), approved two budget transfers totaling just over $5,642.99 (unanimous roll call) and voted to dissolve the superintendent screening committee (unanimous roll call).

What happens next: A public hearing on the Sarah Parker Raman innovation plan is set for June 1; the committee plans a final vote on the plan at its June 8 meeting. The full innovation plan is in the meeting packet and committee members encouraged the public to review it before the hearing.