Subcommittee recommends provisional innovation extension and five‑year plan for Springfield Renaissance School

The Innovation School Subcommittee voted to recommend extending provisional innovation status for Springfield Renaissance School for the 2025–26 school year and to recommend the school’s five‑year innovation plan to the full committee following a presentation by Superintendent Dr. Sonia Denal and Principal Derek Wright.

Superintendent Dr. Sonia Denal opened the meeting and said the provisional extension is intended to prevent the school’s innovation status from lapsing while staff complete a full five‑year plan. “We reached out to the state and they suggested provisional approval so we would not lose our status this year,” she said.

Principal Derek Wright described the school’s expeditionary learning model and the elements that have relied on innovation flexibilities, including adjusted pacing to align curriculum with multi‑disciplinary expeditions, daily advisory time known as “crew,” common planning time for teachers, and twice‑yearly intensives that provide concentrated elective and college‑exposure experiences. Wright said staff voted 30–3 to ratify a work‑election agreement that codifies many of the instructional expectations underpinning the innovation plan.

Wright highlighted student work tied to the model, including a 10th‑grade expedition that earned an impact recognition at a civic showcase and a partnership with Springfield Public Schools transportation and a state transportation partner for a safe‑routes‑to‑school walk audit. In an excerpted student presentation about a ninth‑grade composting expedition, students explained how composting reduces methane and can improve soil health while describing the classroom planning and teaching experience.

On academic policy, Wright said the school uses standards‑based grading on a four‑point scale and requires four years each of English, math, science and social studies; the school also requires four years of a world language to support the seal of biliteracy. Wright said the school maintains a counseling position funded in part from his budget to support seniors and college planning; he reported a class‑of‑2025 immediate college enrollment rate of 78% (an increase from an earlier class figure presented as 53%) and cited a freshman‑to‑sophomore persistence rate of 83% for the class of 2023.

Subcommittee members asked how progress will be measured and what corrective actions would follow if goals are not met. Wright said the school submits an annual report to the state education authorities and shares data with district teams; he said disaggregated outcome data for multilingual learners and students with disabilities was not available off‑the‑top but can be provided to the school committee.

The subcommittee then moved to formal items. On the first vote to recommend provisional innovation status for 2025–26, Miss Gresham and Miss Valentine voted yes; Miss Hurst was recorded absent. The chair said the motion passed. The subcommittee then voted to recommend the five‑year innovation plan to the full committee; the roll call produced the same result and the motion passed.

The meeting closed after brief administrative items and an adjournment vote. The recommendations will now be forwarded to the full school committee for final consideration.