Eastern Middle School outlines two-year schedule overhaul, targets for math and belonging

Mr. Carol presented the Eastern Middle School’s school improvement plan, saying the top priority is a major schedule review aimed at “maximiz[ing] student engagement and optimiz[ing] staffing.” He told the school committee the current seven-period day and rotating schedule will be re-examined and that a schedule committee will be formed to research models used by nearby high-performing middle schools.

The plan’s first goal sets a two-year timeline: form a schedule committee this fall, research and visit comparators, and explore options such as block scheduling, modified block formats and revised advisory/focus periods. Mr. Carol said the committee will seek student voice when redesigning special-subject offerings and will consider team structures and class-size balancing as part of staffing optimization.

A second, two-year goal focuses on mathematics. Mr. Carol said the school met district math targets for the full student population but lagged for students with disabilities and the lowest-performing subgroup, citing scale scores of about 481.5 and 485.7 and estimating the gap at roughly five to eight scale-score points. Action steps include relying on MCCAST, STAR and common-assessment data to identify needs, strengthening tier-one math instruction, expanding targeted intervention, aligning instructional materials to standards, and providing focused professional development and planning time for teachers.

The plan’s third goal formalizes a ‘‘whole child review’’ process to be rolled out across grades 6–8 over three years. Mr. Carol said multidisciplinary teams of administrators, counselors and teachers will review each student, document supports and use a data platform (OpenArchitect) to share profiles and follow-up actions.

A fourth goal aims to improve students’ sense of belonging by 10 percent (target: ~85 percent) as measured by the Youth Risk Health Survey by December 2027. Mr. Carol described expanded clubs, intramurals, community-service field trips and culturally responsive instruction as key tactics; he noted the school achieved about a 5 percent gain previously and plans to add student surveys and focus groups to track progress.

Committee members asked how the school would measure belonging beyond the Youth Risk Health Survey; Kelly suggested adding attendance and nurse-visit trends. Mr. Carol welcomed those ideas and said the school would incorporate additional metrics as appropriate. Several committee members encouraged aligning some schedule elements with the high school where feasible to share staff and resources.

The committee did not take a formal vote on the plan at the meeting; Mr. Carol said the schedule committee will be in place by September and that the schedule redesign will require sustained volunteer and staff engagement over the two-year timeframe.