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Garfield Middle School credits intervention block and attendance work for math gains, improved attendance
Summary
Principal King told the School Committee that Garfield's new WIN ("What I Need") intervention/enrichment block, stronger attendance team work and targeted incentives produced notable math benchmark gains and an anticipated 5-point reduction in chronic absenteeism this year.
At the June 16 meeting, Garfield Middle School Principal King outlined curriculum and attendance changes he credits for academic gains and improved engagement.
King described a "WIN" (What I Need) 55-minute block that provides targeted intervention and enrichment for all students, with dynamic teacher groupings and expanded allied-arts choices. He said the lowest-performing students showed the largest scaled-score gains in math this year and cited point increases by grade (grade six +32, grade seven +23, grade eight +28) compared with the previous year.
On attendance, King said a focused attendance team, targeted incentives and outreach (phone calls and home visits, with support from truancy officer Nick Maglione) helped drive month-to-month improvements and put Garfield on track for an approximately 5-point improvement in chronic absenteeism compared with the prior year.
Committee members asked for comparisons with pre-pandemic chronic-absence levels; King said the school is not yet at pre-pandemic rates but is working toward them. He described enrichment options for high-performing students and said the program's student-choice elements helped motivate attendance.
The presentation concluded with committee praise and questions about implementation details; King described regular teacher meetings to regroup students and dynamic reassignments within the WIN block as central to the model.
