[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Present, seven present, none absent. All rise and please salute our flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Approval of the minutes of the May 7, 2018 meeting. Motion for approval by Mr. Benedetto, seconded by Mr. Russo. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes. Approval of the tabled minutes of April 9th, 2018. Motion for approval by Ms. DeRusso, seconded by Ms. Mustone. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. Approval of bills, transfer of funds. Motion for approval by Ms. Vandekloot, seconded by Ms. Kress. Question, Mr. Ruggiero.
[Michael Ruggiero]: So I'm just trying to find the page number here. It's from the warrant, 18-0-1-3-8. This is the minimum regional high school tuition out of state, out of, sorry, district tuition expenses.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Which page are you on?
[Michael Ruggiero]: Eight of 11, excuse me. It's fourth from the bottom. I just wanted to know, what are the two programs that most of the students are enrolled in?
[Kirsteen Patterson]: I don't know that it's just two programs. I don't have a specific breakdown of which programs can certainly look into that for you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Milestones. Is that correct? Milestones?
[Michael Ruggiero]: It's the Minuteman Regional High School and Vocational High School. Oh, Minuteman.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Out of district. Mr. Belson, did you want to say? Minuteman?
[Roy Belson]: Are you looking at Minuteman or Milestones? Minuteman. OK. So Minuteman is a vocational technical chapter 74 program. Sometimes the payments are grouped. And I think the instance on the 63, is that what you're asking? Yeah, the 63 and the 25.
[Kirsteen Patterson]: I think that was, what do you call it, a payment that was- He's inquiring what specific Chapter 74 program they're enrolled in. I don't have that.
[Michael Ruggiero]: Do you know of this program, what is the one that most of the students are enrolled in? Plumbing. Is it plumbing? Is that correct? Plumbing still?
[Roy Belson]: Not really, not really. It's changed. I mean, they have a lot of kids in horticulture, believe it or not. By next year, they're likely to have two or three kids. Okay. Because it's really going down. It went down from 50 kids.
[Michael Ruggiero]: How many kids do we have currently in the program?
[Roy Belson]: Probably, what, three or four? Seven right now, maybe?
[Kirsteen Patterson]: Six or seven at minimum. Nine.
[Roy Belson]: Nine at minimum, that's including Essex, no?
[Kirsteen Patterson]: No, Essex is separate.
[Roy Belson]: Okay, all right.
[Michael Ruggiero]: Could you just give me a breakdown of the program when you have time? Certainly. Can you give me a breakdown of what programs are enrolled in? Absolutely, ma'am. Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: On the motion for approval. Roll call vote, please. Madam Secretary.
[Kathy Kreatz]: Mr. Jones. Yes. Mr. Rousseau. Yes. Mrs. Van der Kloot. Yes. May I vote?
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Yes. Seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. Motion passes. Approval of payrolls. Motion for approval by Mr. Benedetto, seconded by Mrs. Van der Kloot. Roll call vote, please. Mrs. Benedetto. Yes. Mrs. Crutchfield. Yes. Mr. Jones. Yes. Mr. Rousseau. Yes. Mrs. Van der Kloot.
[psVhVz9ZIEQ_SPEAKER_09]: Yes.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Yes, seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. Motion passes. Report of secretary? None? None? None.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Ms. Van der Kloot? May we take community participation before the report of committee? Sure. Committee of the whole.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Motion for suspension of the rules offered by Ms. Van der Kloot, seconded by Mr. Russo. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Suspension is granted. Community participation. First item, Anthony Petrellis, community buzz off event. Mr. Petrellis and Mr. Murphy? Frank, you need not come forward. Hello, name and address please.
[ACxsV5H4ehA_SPEAKER_12]: Anthony Petralas, fifth grade teacher at McGlynn Elementary School.
[Chris Murphy]: Chris Murphy, 70 Windsor Road.
[ACxsV5H4ehA_SPEAKER_12]: So we just want to say thank you for taking the time to allow us to speak here tonight. We're here to promote our event that we're running in Medford this year, which is the One Mission Buzz Off. It started about five years ago. We had a student at McGlynn who passed away of cancer, a third grader. And it started off as a few teachers going to Gillette Stadium every year to buzz their heads in his remembrance. And last year was the first year that we decided to host our own fundraiser for it before we traveled up to Gillette. We had a really successful fundraiser. We set a goal for $3,000 and we raised over seven. So we had a lot of community participation. We had over 100 people attend. And we were really excited and we thought this year it would be great to actually host a community buzz off ourselves. So we're not only gonna host our own fundraiser in Mefford, We're also going to actually be buzzing that day. So we've had, you know, our team grow from year one of four people going to Gillette Stadium to buzz their heads to now over 20 people who are going to be buzzing their heads at the event. And it's at John Brewer's Tavern, Saturday, June 2nd from 6 to 11 o'clock at night. The event, we're going to have, you know, 10 to 12 small raffle items, 10 to 12 large raffle items. We have KBK Sports coming in, sports memorabilia place to do a sign on auction for us for the night. We have a 50-50 raffle. We're going to have a cornhole challenge. And we have barbers and hairdressers coming in to be buzzing people's hair at the event. I know the mayor is going to be participating and helping out in some aspect with it. And I know we're really excited about the community participation. This year we were able to have the police and the fire presidents of the union have a contest of who could raise more money between the fire station and the police station. to help us raise money for our event. And we couldn't be more excited to have the community involved. And we came to city council last week and spoke and we got a great, when we left that day, we had a lot of people emailing us and calling us to join the team or to help out in some capacity. So we were really excited to be able to speak there and we felt coming here, we could just spread the word and let people know about our event. So this is why we're here presenting to you guys.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: It's great to see you again. This was a great event last year, and I'm so glad you're here and going to continue the tradition. So thank you very much. Absolutely.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Thank you so much for taking this on and moving it back home. We'll call it home. More or less home. And thanks for bringing it here. Of course. We really appreciate it. It is a great community event, and you guys are wonderful for doing this and continuing to do it.
[ACxsV5H4ehA_SPEAKER_12]: Thank you.
[Kathy Kreatz]: I just wanted to say thank you also. It was a great event. I attended last year. It was so much fun. And I'm happy to also read that the students at the vocational school created the t-shirts and the high school, the video department made a great video. So that's fantastic. And I think I saw it already posted on like Facebook with the blog and I continue to share it once it gets closer.
[ACxsV5H4ehA_SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, absolutely. There's been a lot of the schools have been promoting it on their parent teacher group pages and so on. You know, we're anticipating a lot of people and we're pretty excited about, you know, what the turnout will look like.
[Chris Murphy]: I know you want that. I just want to let people know they can still join the team. You can sign up that day, make a donation, get your head shaved that day, or you can join the team online at buzzforkids.org, actually join the team, and then you can solicit donations through the website. If there is anybody watching that wants to donate, online that can't go is buzzforkids.org and just search team emo and you can donate directly to the team and we do you can still sign up you can join that day. We have teachers, board and commission members, we have cops, firemen, I think we have a DPW guy. We don't have any elected officials yet. We have women on the team. I think we have three women on the team this year. We have three women who are buzzing their heads so far. Just saying. So it's going to be periodic. It's going to be periodic. Between 8, 830, I know the firefighters, I think, have said they're going to be coming in throughout the night, getting their head shaved, some of the cops as well. Can I shave one of their heads, please? Periodically throughout the night, I think you'll see. We're going to try to spread it out. It's going to be a really fun event. We had a really great time last year. You know, Anthony's been doing this for a couple of years now. It was his goal to us to do this. You know, our goal is to make it bigger and bigger and bigger and, you know, eventually just, you know, an all-day affair one day, hopefully. And you guys in the City Council have been excellent. John Brewer's Tavern has been awesome in helping us with this. So we're really looking forward to this. We're looking to, you know, we set a goal of 10,000. Hopefully we beat that.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: I was just wondering how many people buzzed their heads last year and what's your goal for this year?
[ACxsV5H4ehA_SPEAKER_12]: So last year I think we had about seven or eight people on our team buzz. Our team was over like Yeah, maybe 10, somewhere around there, yeah.
[Chris Murphy]: I don't think you have a set amount of money you have to raise as an individual when you do a community buzz off. So it's just all the money that's raised through the community goes to the actual charity. So we can be a little looser on what people actually have to raise to participate.
[ACxsV5H4ehA_SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, last year we raised, as a team, when it was all said and done, about $35,000. So we're hoping to kind of get within the same ballpark, you know, hosting our own event this year, as opposed to just going to Gillette that day. So, kind of new ground for us.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: So will you guys get buzzed at John Brewer's, or wait and get buzzed at Gillette?
[ACxsV5H4ehA_SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, we're all gonna just do it at John Brewer's that night, yeah. So the actual buzz off is the next day at Gillette Stadium, but we're going to do it the day before, yeah. So one mission's been great in sending us all the stuff that we need, t-shirts and banners and everything else that we're going to be decorating that night. So we're excited. We're really excited to try something new and see how it goes.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Excellent. Go team BMO.
[ACxsV5H4ehA_SPEAKER_12]: Thank you so much.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Thank you for taking the time. Thank you. We'll see you there. Also, while we're into suspension, community participation, we were supposed to have Sean Driscoll Gomez from CCSR, but I believe he is receiving an award tonight up at the high school, so we have three individuals that will be presenting. It's the Orkton Project. Your name and address, please, for our record. My name is Kaylee Boulay.
[Kaylee Boulay]: My name is Emily Gatti.
[Parviti Rana]: My name is Parviti Rana.
[Kaylee Boulay]: Welcome. Hello Mayor Burke, Superintendent Belson, and school committee members. My name is Kaylee Boulay and I'm here with Parviti Rana and Emily Gotti. We are students in the ninth grade at Medford High School and we would like to present our CCSR project to you. CCSR, also known as Center for Citizenship and Social Responsibility, is a group that creates projects that work toward helping others and the environment. Our project is known as One Sapling at a Time, and we are here today to ask for your permission to create a fruit orchard on the Medford High Campus.
[Parviti Rana]: Good afternoon once again. As determined ninth grade students, we strive to achieve our goals to make a community a better place, Our project, as you heard, is titled One Sapling at a Time, and we would essentially like to place an orchard in the back of the Medford High campus. We would specifically like the trees to be placed on the hill outside of the community school's entrance, which if you see in the packet you have received, it's on the second page. For our project, we are working with the CCSR, our advisor, Ms. Smith, Ben Barkin, Michael Ruggiero, kindly. We would like to proceed on our project in the fall of 2018. We would like to accomplish this by using generous donations of Mr. Ruggiero, which include blueberry bushes, labor, and soil preparations, and Mr. Barkin, which include the trees. We also will receive a small amount of funding through the Cummings Foundation, which is a CCSR mini-grant. Currently, we are seeking additional grant funding as well to support our project. Now you may have questions about maintenance, in which I will guide your attention to my colleague, Emily.
[Emily Getty]: Good evening. Good evening. Again, my name is Emily Gatti, and I'm a freshman at Medford High. So harvesting and caring for the plants is obviously not going to be an easy feat, and it's definitely not one that can be done alone. So our solution to find help would be to reach out and recruit school clubs, such as the CCSR, or other clubs to help sometime after school or on another planned date to help harvest and plant the trees during peak times, which, as Praviti said, would be later in the fall of this year. And we would also like to reach out to any other Medford High students willing to sign up, and we would, in turn, provide community service hours to them. We could also ask community volunteers, such as the Redemption Hill Church and the Medford Family Network garden play groups.
[Kaylee Boulay]: We feel that planting fruit trees on the grounds of Medford High will have numerous benefits. The fruit trees will provide fresh fruit that will be handed out for no charge to students at the Medford High School. The fruit trees will provide an educational opportunity for students to learn about the planting and harvesting of the fruit trees as well as the life cycle of the trees. Having fruit trees on the grounds of Medford High will beautify the grounds on the outside area of the school by adding color and making it a more positive environment for the students. We feel that this project is very important for many reasons, including it will make Medford a nicer and happier place. Helping the environment makes me feel happy and feel like a better person. I want to make not just the environment a better place, but the people living in it too. I want, we want to plant this orchard for it to benefit students at the Medford High School and people that live throughout Medford. This one change to Medford High will make the grounds in Medford High a more positive environment and a more positive school.
[Parviti Rana]: You may be wondering why this project is so important to us. As ninth graders, we want to beautify the school and improve the general lifestyle of the school. Currently, the Medford High School has a basic connotation of a cement building, but with a unique orchard, it's a whole boost. And, I mean, I haven't heard of any other school with an orchard right in their backyard. And it's a really unique aspect that I think would be a great add to Medford High.
[Emily Getty]: And for me, this project is important because as of now, I've been at Medford High for almost a year, and I consider it to be a home away from home, just as it is to many other kids. And recently, I attended the Day on the Hill event in Boston, and one of the issues that we talked about with Medford High is trying to increase the enthusiasm of Medford High and in creating an orchard we could boost school spirit in the students because it sets Medford High apart from other schools. And it creates a beautiful place to learn. Having an orchard in the fells and adding new plant life will hopefully recharge the likeliness of the student body as well. Do any of you have any questions for us?
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Ms. Van der Kloot. So first I want to say I think this is an absolutely wonderful idea. When that entranceway was refurbished some years ago, the idea always was that there should be plantings on that hill adjacent to the steps. And it's always made me very sad that that, you know, it's just kind of a dull space rather than an exciting space. I'm very enthusiastic about this project, and I really appreciate the idea. I have only one concern, which, you know, maybe you've thought about. I could see that a fallen apple could make a great missile, ball, substitute ball. So, projectile is probably the word that I really want. So I just want to ask if you've considered that, and how would you make sure that students are respectful of the fallen fruit and that we wouldn't find it being used for target practice against the side of the school?
[Parviti Rana]: Yes, we have considered that, and along with the maintenance, with the people volunteering, we would like to create a sort of schedule to maintain the fallen apples, so we could keep as many apples from off the field as possible.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: maybe some signage, too, about this project and what it is might help so that the students really are respectful of it.
[Parviti Rana]: Of course, there will be rules and regulations to the orchard for no harmfulness being done.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Also, in terms of the slope of the area that is to be planted, is that slope okay for the trees that you've suggested? Does it matter that there's a slope?
[Parviti Rana]: Actually, we've met with a landscaper who has laid out for us the position of the trees, which Ms.
[ACxsV5H4ehA_SPEAKER_27]: Smith will address. Yeah, the slope actually is beneficial. Oh, great. Yeah, so it gets all of the sun, so they'll get, you know, all the way up the orchard, they'll get sun kind of evenly distributed that way.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Okay, and how about watering the trees? making sure they've got enough water.
[ACxsV5H4ehA_SPEAKER_27]: Yeah, there is water access on the side of the building, so we'll have to figure some way to do that. But I know I think our buddy Mr. Ruggiero over there has experience with drip irrigation and can help us set something up.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: And I'd like to also thank my colleague for donating the blueberries and being a help in this project. I think it's great, girls. Thank you so much for your presentation tonight.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Ms. Benedetto? First of all, I just wanted to express how impressed I am with your presentation and how comfortable you seem coming up to the podium. The colored pictures, really knowing all your facts, and also giving your own personal reasons why it would matter to you really brings that emotional peace home. I just wanted this time to motion to approve the apple orchard and all the other fruit at Medford High School. I think it's a great hands-on learning opportunity for not only our high school students, but also all students educated there, especially our early childhood students. So, at this time, I make that motion.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Motion on the floor for approval, seconded by Ms. Vander Kloof. Mr. Russo.
[Paul Ruseau]: Yes, thank you. This is lovely. I think it's an exciting project and certainly I'd be happy to not look at that current field. The soil is, I mean, I realize these are not just fruits where you have to care a lot about a regular vegetable garden where soil matters a lot, but is the soil acceptable as it's been tested and is perfectly fine?
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Thank you. That's all I wanted to know.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Very good. Mr. Ruggiero, you have the floor.
[Michael Ruggiero]: So we had the reddismith and the landscaper and I, we walked the area and sort of viewed and we also did some soil tests. For the high bush blueberries, the soil isn't quite acidic enough. If possible, I'm happy to donate the plastic mulch, the thyme, and also the sulfur. But if possible, I'd like to start preparing the soil so we can get the pH. Right now the pH is around six, which is It's way too high for blueberries, so we have to drop that around to about 4.5 or 5. So I'm happy to donate all the preparations for blueberries, but these other plants that were chosen, I looked them up and I talked to some horticultural friends. These are all really great plants that they've chosen. We just have to touch up a little bit with the blueberries.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: What work is involved in doing that?
[Michael Ruggiero]: Well, it depends if the club would like to plant this September. There's a couple of options that we have. It would be best to rototill the area for the blueberries. I already have about 30 plants and containers, and I have all the plastic mulch. So what I would recommend would be to rototill the area, spread some sulfur, and then give it a couple of months, and then we can apply some, I have prepared some acidic wood chips, so that'll help as well. And I would prefer to get that done as soon as possible. It'll take me probably about a couple of days, I guess. I just need to rototill it, lay down the plastic mulch. We have to measure it. I also can, I'll send down all the drip irrigation.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Very nice. Excellent. I just have a question also. Oh, yeah. If we're curious to see.
[Kathy Kreatz]: Yes, of course, happy to. Ms. Kreatz. I just wanted to thank you for the presentation. It was excellent. And the brochure with the pictures, I can see the vision. It looks so beautiful with the plants and the trees and the blueberries. Thank you, Michael, for your donations. And I just had a question about the deer population that is in the fells. Do you think that we're going to attract deers and maybe coming close to the school.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: This would be up to the school committee, how we handle this problem.
[Michael Ruggiero]: The way I handle this on my farm is we have an electric fence. I'm happy to, once again, I'll donate the T-poles and the wiring, and I'll set it up for everyone. My fence has 7,000 volts that run through it. Obviously it won't hurt anyone, but it could be a great prank for kids to mess around with, so we'll have to talk with the community. If you want me to install it, we definitely need to shut it down during school hours, and we'll have to talk. But it's possible we could turn it on once school is not in session, and then I could put it on a timer. and then we can shut it off once it's on eight o'clock and deer won't bother you.
[Kathy Kreatz]: So if a person was to walk towards the electric fence, would they get shocked? Oh, yeah. Because I'm just one of the people with that night.
[Michael Ruggiero]: We could actually choose a lower voltage. I have a higher voltage on my farm because I want the deers to get shocked. But if we have people around, we can have a lower voltage. It's basically like someone, a little bee sting. Like someone hits you kind of hard with a pencil eraser is what it feels like. It doesn't leave any permanent damage. It's humane to the animals as well.
[Parviti Rana]: I believe with the people again, the rules and regulations would also follow.
[Michael Ruggiero]: Yeah, we'd have to figure out. If you want, I'll be happy to lay down the fence.
[Unidentified]: We'll hold off.
[Michael Ruggiero]: Or we'll hold off. That's fine too.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Liability, we're not going to.
[Michael Ruggiero]: No, I understand.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Good question, Kat. Ms. Kreatz. Are you all set, Ms. Kreatz? Yes. Well, thank you, Carly, Robert E., and Emily. Thank you so much. And your adjectives that you use, boost and recharge, great words, and they mean a lot. And I know that many of the students will feel the same way as you. So it's a great project. Thanks, Sean, for us as well. I know he won't be able to do any of the hard work, though, right? He's graduating. So it's up to you three.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Ms. Van der Kloot. I think that one of the things which makes this particularly is that the fact that you guys are just freshmen now and you're gonna be able to, you're gonna have a piece of this throughout the rest of your high school career. And that really makes this even more meaningful than if you were seniors going out the door. So, thank you so much.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Thank you. Thank you, ladies. There's a motion on the floor. There's a motion on the floor for approval. Roll call vote, please, Ms. Fritz.
[Michael Ruggiero]: I just wanna make sure it's in the committee.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Supporting the tilling. Just coordinate with John. Yes. Yes. Seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. Congratulations. Great job. Nice job tonight. Thank you. Yay. Also while we're in the suspension, we have a report on the student award for foreign languages. Would you like to come up here and say a few words so you can speak out to everyone? Hello, Mr. Carlin.
[ACxsV5H4ehA_SPEAKER_09]: Hello, good evening. The floor is yours. Thank you. So I am pleased to announce that a student, Medford High School sophomore, Cheng Cheng, scored in the top 1% of international Italian exams. She was the only one. She's not the only one in Massachusetts to do so. Of course, she got a gold medal and a check for $50, but the exciting part is that she also got a two-week all-paid expense to study in Italy, of course, in Italy, which includes tuition and accommodations. So there are three schools in Italy that she can choose from. And she also gets $10, excuse me, not $10,000, $1,000 to help with the cost for the airfare. So we're very proud of Jane. And she's here with her family. Thank you very much.
[ACxsV5H4ehA_SPEAKER_06]: You can say it in Italian if you want. In Italian. Say something in Italian. Thank you for everything.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: So the Medford Public Schools is proud to recognize Chen Chang, gold medal recipient, National Italian Exam 2018, signed by all members of the school committee. Congratulations, Chen. Wonderful, great job. You must be so proud. We are very proud, thank you. Very nice, thank you. Oh, would you like to do a picture with the parents and all the school committee members?
[psVhVz9ZIEQ_SPEAKER_09]: Everybody get closer.
[Beverly Nelson]: Say pizza.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Right, we haven't approved him yet. Yep, we have them.
[Roy Belson]: So there is none? So we don't have a full minute. OK.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: All set? Motion to revert to the regular order of business. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes. The committee of the whole minutes are not complete from May 17th. They will be provided to us at our next meeting, correct, Mr. Superintendent? So the packet that you have is actually for the old business item. So if you could just move that to the back. Okay, report of superintendent. Report on building bridges to kindergarten. Mr. Superintendent.
[Roy Belson]: Call upon our assistant superintendent to give this report.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Ms. Caldwell.
[Diane Caldwell]: Good evening, everybody. So our Building Bridges to Kindergarten took place on Tuesday, April 10th at Medford High School and on May 3rd at the Roberts Elementary School from 7 to 8 p.m. Extended hours for registration were offered on March 20th and were offered again on April 10th as well. As you know, we've had some inclement weather this past winter, so we had to rearrange our schedules. Maria Michelli, who was a kindergarten teacher at the Brooks Elementary School, presented to our new kindergarten families what to expect when their children go into kindergarten, and as you know, we had a lot of anxious parents mulling about. There were discussions and questions about curriculum, snacks and lunch, safety protocols in each building, the before and after school programs, and how the kiddos ride the bus. Shelly Gross, our early childhood director, was available to discuss transition plans for preschool, and after school, and we had before school, as well as CPAC. Attached is the letter and flyer that we sent home to parents. This information is also listed on our website. Our enrollment is consistent with what it has been in the years past, but I actually checked with Maria Ibrahim this morning, and we're up 13 students at the same time as last year. And actually, the Columbus Elementary School has increased by a good margin. Kindergarten Open House was on Wednesday, May 9th, at each of our elementary schools, from two to three o'clock. Early Childhood Director Shelly Gross was available to provide a welcome packet to each of our families. And before and after school programs still have the registration in progress. So I just wanted to show you what the kindergarten packets look like, that each family, this was designed by our students, and inside the bag, each of our families received a Welcome to Kindergarten packet that goes to parents. For children, this is what we do in kindergarten, and just a couple of manipulatives and some toys for the kids to talk so they can write. So each of our parents and families received these little gifts and welcome when they went to the elementary schools.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Very nice. Are there any questions? Mr. Ruggiero.
[Michael Ruggiero]: I just want to comment how awesome that little bag is. Thank you so much for putting that together as a father who's about to have a kid go into kindergarten. It's a pretty frightening time. So I think that makes a lot of people a little more nervous. It is a scary.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: And it only gets worse.
[Michael Ruggiero]: Yeah, I know. Or so I've heard.
[Diane Caldwell]: It is a difficult time. If it's your first student going, a child going into kindergarten, you don't know what to expect. So our kindergarten teachers are available to talk to you and to show you around the rooms, the different centers that they have the play areas, which is still really important because kids learn through play that we do in kindergarten.
[Michael Ruggiero]: Do you know, have you heard much interest expressed in the community about starting a pre-K program that's also available for everyone?
[Diane Caldwell]: Oh, for everyone. Because we do have preschools available. We have three or four at the high school. We have two at the Brooks preschool. Each of the other schools have at least one preschool. But you're right, there's a cost to it. I would love to have universal preschool. I think it would, if we can get the children as early as we can, it would be a great thing to do. So I'm on board.
[Michael Ruggiero]: Do we have a sense of what the cost of that kind of program would be in the community?
[Diane Caldwell]: I do not. Maybe I could look into that for you.
[Michael Ruggiero]: Sure. Could we ask that as a report from the superintendent that we could ask to see how much a universal 3K program would cost Medford? I know there's a cost associated, but it'd be interesting to at least know the figures. Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Okay.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Mr. Benedetto. Thank you. Diane, we were talking recently about after school and before school programming. Were there a lot of new enrollees with this kindergarten open houses for those programs? Are we going to be able to accommodate all of our students?
[Diane Caldwell]: So yes, the answer to the question is yes. Most of our new kindergarten parents want before and after school. So we are trying to increase our Columbus after school program, because that's growing in leaps and bounds. The Brooks is always a large program. And as you know, the staffing is always an issue. The before school program runs pretty smoothly, and that's mostly because it's an hour before school begins. But our staffing does change. I know this year I have a teacher at the Brooks School that won't be able to do it next year. So we're always searching for the right people to work with the kids and make sure they get breakfast. But the after school is going to be our charge.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Okay. We did get an email from a prospective new parent for next year, and they were concerned especially about the capability of after school care. So we are going to assure that all new students that enroll are probably going to have a spot?
[Diane Caldwell]: I cannot say all students yet. I would love to be able to tell you that, but I can't do that yet. We have to make sure that staffing is in place. before we enroll all. I would say two of the four schools are consistent. Our staffing is consistent at the McGlynn and at the Roberts in terms of the after school program. We do have to look at the Columbus Elementary School because that's grown in leaps and bounds for after school, not so much before school. And the Brooks, we've always had a large number of children who want to come in. Right now, I think we only have a few on the waiting list for the Brooks School, but we just need to get the staffing in place.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: And when would we know and be able to tell parents? Because I'm sure if they don't qualify for an after school program, they need as much notice as possible to have a safe place for their children.
[Diane Caldwell]: Yes. As you know, Shelly Gross is in charge of the after school program, and she is retiring this year. So we're in the process of looking at a possible coordinator for before and after school, putting it under one umbrella. And once we get that in place, we're hoping that parents would know, at least in July, whether they're in the program or not, so that they can make other arrangements if they have to. Thank you. You're welcome.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Good. Is there a motion on the floor to accept this report? So moved. Seconded by Mr. Benedetto. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? The motion passes. You're welcome. Report on Columbus Afterschool Math Tutoring Program.
[Diane Caldwell]: Hello again. So I provided each of you with an updated document because, unfortunately, when copies were being made, I didn't get the back pages, so I wanted to give you the new and improved version of the after-school program. Dr. Kathleen Kay is with us this evening in case you have any questions, but she consulted with her staff and administrators who worked on Tuesdays and Thursdays from January 30th until May. She's talked about the strengths and some of the concerns we had and maybe some recommendations for next year if we continue to have this program. I would like to take a moment to thank the teachers and administrators, specifically Dr. Kaye and Nancy Sherman-Hudson for working so hard to make this program a success and implementing the pilot program. Many thanks to our National Honor Society students. They were volunteering to work with the children, specifically Erin Diskin. Erin Diskin is actually the daughter of one of our secretaries at the Columbus Elementary School. And she came to me one day with this proposal about wanting to help the kids at the Columbus Elementary School. She had a lot of things in place. She wanted to do snacks. She wanted to make sure that she understood the behavior mechanisms and what teachers were going to be doing to work with their kids. And she promised me other National Honor students to help out as well. So I want to thank Erin for her work, and her brother Danny who also helped us out, Jenna Agnone, Sophia DeMayo, Hannah Chan, and Michaela Rothermel. I'd also like to thank the teachers who went out of their way to work with us, Ms. Rebecca Cogbill, Ms. Karina Merg, Ms. Victoria Cavallo, Ms. Noelle Lattarella, Ms. Patty Donley, and Ms. Lisa DiPersio, the teachers of those grade levels at the Columbus Elementary School. And I need to acknowledge Ms. Christine Patterson and Tatiana Hall for helping us arrange the transportation for these children. So if you look at the next page in your packet, it tells you a little bit about what Dr. Kathy Kay put together There's a lot of reading. You can do that on your own, but I just came up with some highlights for you. What I gathered from this math tutoring program is that many students participated in the program. The extended day and bus was just such a plus for the kiddos. So these are the highlights. These are the good things about the program. Teachers and high school honor class students stepped up when they needed to. And the timing of the program was great, too. It was only 45 minutes, and that was just enough time for the kiddos to finish school, have a snack in the cafeteria, and then the teachers came and brought them up to the classrooms. But we do have some concerns moving forward about maybe some ways we might be able to change things for the program. One, Dr. K thought we might want to break this up into two sessions. And she's here tonight. We can go into more information on that if you would like. We also want to work with more targeted groups, so instead of opening it up to every single child to participate in, choose the students who actually need the most amount of help, because those are the kiddos that we need to work with the most. We need to look at our data and our analysis through our teachers. One of the other things that I gathered from the report from Dr. Kay, was that we need to be consistent in the way we manage the program. So some teachers were working on Tuesdays but not on Thursdays. We feel that it's a better fit for the children if we have the teachers who are going to work Tuesdays and Thursdays for consistency. But I'd like to invite Dr. Kay up to the podium to see if she'd like to add anything or if you have any questions.
[Kathleen Kay]: Good evening. I think Mrs. Caldwell did a great synopsis of the program and how it ran this year. I do think the biggest pitfall was that we didn't open it up to everybody. So some of the children who were there, really math was a strength for them, and so it was good they were getting more math, but some of the classes had 20 kids in them, and it was almost like doing another math class. because what we wanted to do was make it a tutoring program so that maybe there were six to eight kids tops in a group. And so perhaps we could still afford to have more children involved if we had two sessions. So maybe we took half the kids for the first eight or six weeks and then the other half for another eight or six weeks. So the kids can get a little bit more targeted instruction. I know that the teachers really wanted to look at our data. So some of the kids who didn't do well on MCAS last year, we didn't want to just focus on, we wanted to help those kids who look like they would have the chance to move into the next category. And some of those children were doing well in math class on the day to day, so maybe those just aren't good test takers. So maybe what we need to do is have a little bit more of tutoring that focuses on that need to make the kids, because now it's online, to be more proficient at using the computer and answering questions in that mode. The other piece was that some of the kids were not doing well in math class, but they did okay on the MCAS, and those kids might have fallen through the cracks. So what we wanted to do is really kind of hone it in a little bit more, make it a little bit more concentrated, and I guess, if you will, make it more of a a suggested program. We suggest that you come. Some teachers did write that on some of the forms. We really would like Johnny to be involved this year, but if it was a little bit more of, I don't want to say invite, but a more tailored program to fit the kids' needs so that the teachers could really work in a small group. I know Mrs. Sherman-Hudson and I worked with a group, I took Tuesdays and she worked Thursdays, and it was a large group. Sometimes there were some behavioral issues because it was so large and you're sitting here trying to help one group of children, where the others are kind of like, ah, they don't really need to be there, because they were good at math. So that would, I think, be the biggest thing. I think the teachers, if they would be more apt to sign up for it, too, if there's a beginning date and an end date, so two sessions, I'll do six weeks, and then you do the other six from the outset.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Mr. Benedetto.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Thank you. I'm really glad that we were able to offer this. This came about because of MCAF scores, and was there any, growth, any way to show growth from the beginning of the program for the students to the end of the program?
[Kathleen Kay]: Yes, the teachers all gave a pre-test and a post-test at the beginning and the end. Some of the children did better, some of them did not, some of them stayed the same. So the average, when you take the average of the students' scores, they all did better, but that's relative to where they started at for some of the grades. I know the third grade group was really, really large. So when Mrs. Sherman-Hudson and I weren't teaching a class because we had someone who had to leave the position, we would go up and support in that classroom. And the teachers did a lot of great center-type activities or learning games, which would just be much more effective if the group wasn't quite so large. So, like I said, there were children who did improve, you know, not to the degrees that we would have hoped if it was a little bit more concentrated.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Also, when I saw the amount of absences, maybe some regulations within the program, like if you're absent more than, if it's a six-week program, if you're absent more than three times, we're gonna give you a spot to the next person on the wait list. And maybe have a contract for people rather than inconsistency, because the real, we wanna put people that have the opportunity to grow in those spots, and we don't wanna.
[Kathleen Kay]: I think part of it, that may be the reason, because some kids, were invited and their parents signed them up, and then, oh, I don't wanna go, and you know, but I think if we told the parents it was really important, then they needed to be here, we were suggesting they were there, that we might have a better success rate there.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: I have two more questions. One is what was the cost involved, so that way we could plan for next year, because I do think that this may be necessary, depending on MCAT scores, and we'll know that in October, or maybe a little sooner when the superintendents get that data.
[Diane Caldwell]: So the cost is the cost of a bus every Tuesday and Thursday, and I think Ms. Patterson probably knows the answer to that.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: The cost of the teachers, is that right? Could we get a report of a breakdown of that through the mayor to the superintendent? Could we get a report of the cost involved so that way we can make it a priority during our budget season? And then like, you know, or if math, coaches or during the day type situation might be more affordable. But I like the idea of having a later time at different schools for kids to go home and they can take advantage of other programming, not just this programming at the school. It's a great advantage for students that have no other way home.
[Kathleen Kay]: And the bus did really work well. I'm surprised, though. I thought more students would take the bus than did. There were a number of children who got picked up still. And that was encouraging, too, because sometimes we always think they wouldn't stay after if there wasn't a bus available. And that was nice to see.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: So we should know how much the bus was utilized, and if it's necessary, or a smaller bus, or any ways that we could save money and still provide the programming and not be wasteful. So my last question is really not to both of you. The need of this came out because of last year's, especially former fifth graders, scores on MCAS. So I'd like to know how we're continuing to follow those students in the sixth grade. And if anybody is checking in, I know we've asked before and reports were given to us. Now that we're getting closer to the end of the year, I think that we should have an update on those students and make sure that they received everything they needed for this current MCAS that they just took. And we want a report on how those specific students did as soon as we get the release of their MCAS scores to make sure those students don't fall through any cracks. You know what I mean? Are you referring to the current fifth grade students?
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Current sixth grade.
[Diane Caldwell]: No, current sixth grade. Well, I did provide a report earlier for the current sixth graders. spoke at the time it was to Mr. Edwards and to Mr. DeLava that provided me with the information on how the students were doing and they were making steady progress. So I was happy to notice that.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: I'm just asking for a follow-up now that they've completed their MCAS. I want to see the growth from their fifth grade to the sixth grade MCAS scores and make sure that every student that might not have done well last year is moving and showing growth, and if not, they get the services they need in any way, shape, or form that we don't.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Next fall.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Yeah.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Next fall, we'll get an update.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Right. So if that could be added to the reports request list for October. I just want to make sure we don't drop a link.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: That we track.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Yeah.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Track progress.
[Michael Ruggiero]: Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Mr. Ruggiero.
[Michael Ruggiero]: Yeah, thank you so much for this report. First off, I'm just educational and a huge fan of after-school tutoring programs. I know for my own students, I feel like, you know, during class, I could just sort of run them in circles sometimes, but when I was one-on-one with them, that's when the learning really happened. But to that point, I noticed, you know, in your report, as you mentioned, you know, the ratio of students to teachers, probably not ideal. Do you think that if we added two more teachers to the program, that would have really solved the problem? Or do you think, how many teachers would you want it ideally?
[Diane Caldwell]: So if I just want to, it's not easy to get the teachers to do this, first of all. Teachers have worked a long day, and now we're asking them to do planning, organizing for another 45 minutes to an hour. That would be one of the issues that we would have to come up with. I still think that we just need smaller groups, that that would really give us a targeted assistance we need to do with the kiddos.
[Michael Ruggiero]: Cool. Please let me know. And so if you ever need help in that way, I'm always happy to find one or two days a week to help you out. Well, it's good. I need the teaching hours for my license anyway to keep it good. My second point is, can you just give me a sense of what percentage, I know maybe you don't have the numbers handy right now, but of the 68 students that participated in the program, how many used the bus? Just ballpark.
[Kathleen Kay]: Ballpark, I would say probably one. Oh, really? I mean, some days it seemed like there were a lot of kids, and some days it seemed like most. Do you think that... A lot of kids belonged to the after-school program as well, so they didn't need transportation. They went straight up to the... Right, right.
[Michael Ruggiero]: The next question I have for you is, do you know why all these students were participating? Has there been any conversation with the parents? Is it just that their parents want them to have more math time? The students are hungry for more math time? Or is it they saw their MCAS scores and it was like, let's just put out fires?
[Kathleen Kay]: You know, I think that it was, everyone was invited. So you're all invited to the party, and some parents were like, oh, this is a good thing, why don't you go, you know, two days a week. And like I said, for some of them, when the invitation went out, teachers really wrote, I strongly recommend that so-and-so attend this class. So I think it was really parental preference which kids were involved and which kids weren't. There were children that we specifically targeted to, you know, with that, and didn't sometimes.
[Michael Ruggiero]: I mean, in the future, I think that these type of, and I would like to sort of make this point to my colleagues as well, I think that for our school district to be one of the best in Massachusetts, this is the type of program we're gonna have to have district-wide. Because I've seen how effective they can be. I think that's a really good point. a district-wide program if we can, and sort of use Columbus as a pilot, learn what we can from it. So thank you so much for all this hard work. I'm really very excited about moving forward.
[Kathleen Kay]: Well, and thank you for making it available to us, too, because we wouldn't have this information if you didn't support it, so thank you.
[Michael Ruggiero]: As Member DiVendetto mentioned, unfortunately, this program came about sort of in an emergency. We had to do it. But I think that now that the fire is out, there's a lot that we can learn moving forward. So thank you so much.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Ms. Vance, please.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Yes, thank you. So, obviously, there's a lot we can learn. Smaller groups, more targeted groups, particularly, you know, with the struggling students, and being able to have extra hands like the high school students is great, just so that you can do a little bit more one-on-one. However, I also would like to say, let's say that if this was a six-week opportunity twice a week, that we might also think about. There are kids who excel, and it would be great to have maybe not as long, but if they're excited about math and they want it to come so badly, I mean, in an ideal world, if we can afford it, we should also have maybe a shorter, maybe a three-week, you know, session whatever, for the kids who excel so that we're bringing them up. And, you know, I'd really like to see both of those happen. If we were doing it again next year, this year we did it starting, I think it was in February, was it?
[Diane Caldwell]: January.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: January. Very end of January. Right. So would you do a session in the fall and then a session in the early winter? What would your optimum timing be?
[Kathleen Kay]: I think based on getting the MCAS scores back and having the time to analyze them earlier than January would probably be better, maybe November. But weather is always a problem. But sometimes weather's better in November than it is in... And then we could fit in more sessions that way if we start earlier in the year. To get those kids who may not be succeeding right away in their classwork early, to maybe boost them up so that they can go out of the program and other kids who are continuing to struggle can stay or join.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Great. Well, thank you. I mean, I think this really sort of lays the foundation for us. And I realize that it is difficult to get faculty members to want to stay and do this, and that we need to be creative and see how else we can get all hands on deck for the kids. But thank you very much, and thank your teachers who participated.
[Kathleen Kay]: It was very helpful that Mrs. Caldwell was able to get us the high school honor society students to help us, too. And I know those kids enjoyed it, and the children who worked with them enjoyed having them there. So even if we had some of our brighter fifth grade students who wanted to help in the third grade, you know, that might be something we could look into too. And then if they had transportation to go home, parents might be more willing to let them stay.
[Kathy Kreatz]: Thank you. Hi. Hi. I wanted to thank you for the report. It was excellent. And, you know, I really like the way that you prepared it with all the feedback and the different ideas for the future. And I do like the idea of like the smaller focus groups and then sending out maybe a letter home to parents, detailing everything in the different time frames. And I think at the high school, when they had a grant for the MCAS tutoring, they did something similar like that, where a letter went home to the families, and it was structured. It had all the details in it. And you had to sign that your child would make that attendance. Maybe that would help cut down, of course, the attendance the next time the programs rolled out. I also loved reading about all the positives where some of the students the next day were saying, you know, we did this in tutoring, and they were just more, they felt successful and more confident in the classroom. So I liked reading that. That sounded, you know, that makes me feel very happy for the students that they felt that now they can, you know, maybe accomplish a little bit more with math. And I wanna thank the National Honor Society students for all their help. It was just, that's unbelievable, and thank them. Thank you all.
[Kathleen Kay]: You know, one thing that kind of jumped out for me, having taught some of the kids, was, so the teachers use little teaching tips or clues that they come up with over time that may not be consistent across the grade levels. It's not that it's not part of the math program, it's still they're teaching the skills. One of them is when you divide, you know, a sentence that I taught was, does Mac sell cheeseburgers? For the steps of that you have to do. So I was using the sentence that I had heard Mrs. DiPersio use, who's a fifth grade teacher, but the fourth grade students were arguing with me that that wasn't the right sentence. So what it took away to me was, I spoke to Lisa and I said, you know what, maybe the fourth grade, third grade, and fifth grade team could get together and share these little tips so that third grade can use whatever you want them. You agree together as a cross unit what you're going to do because the tips are very helpful. But if I'm going to have kids arguing with me, that's not the right one, then it kind of loses its flavor, if you know what I mean. So that was just a nice takeaway for me to say that this is a good way for colleagues to talk across grade levels to make the education better.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Mr. Russo.
[Paul Ruseau]: Thank you for the report. For children that had 504s and IEPs, were they fully integrated and supported in whatever they needed?
[Kathleen Kay]: They were in the groups, yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Yes, yes. Because I noticed there was some commentary about disruptive student, maybe just one or more, I don't know. And I just want to be sure the disruptive did not have anything to do with either of those.
[Kathleen Kay]: No. No, it was just a behavioral type.
[Paul Ruseau]: OK, cool. And the issue of the PTO and the PTO would love to be able to use the bus. Can you explain that? First of all, what did they want and why isn't it?
[Kathleen Kay]: The PTO does after-school programs. They call it the Columbus Clubhouse, which we're trying to get used to the name because it gets confused with the after-school program. So kids tell us about the after-school program. I'm like, well, which one? They don't know. But with the Columbus Clubhouse, there are activities, enrichment-type events, karate, Lego club, pottery, whatever they can get for volunteers or someone that's affordable to come in and teach the kids so that they can stay after school. So some of those children really can't participate because they have no transportation at home. But that would quite possibly mean that we'd need more buses. And then what happens is we have parents manning the Columbus Clubhouse, whereas we as a school are doing the math. So that's one more task now to put onto the school for after hours, and is it manageable, and is there enough room, and how much does it cost, and that kind of thing.
[Paul Ruseau]: Because I know that when I've talked about I'm never gonna get used to the clubhouse name, by the way, but for the afterschool enrichment activities, I mean, in my six years at the Columbus, you know, it's sort of a running joke that it's always the same kids. And that's true. It tends to be. There can be lots of reasons why other kids aren't participating, but it's pretty clear that one of those reasons certainly is transportation. So, you know, figuring, and if we were to reduce the number of students participating in this, by invitation or whatever method happens, I want to make sure we don't end up paying for a bus where there's four kids on it. And so I would just hate to be in a position where we have to decide to cut the bus and lose those four kids when we have another way to fill up the bus, even though it might be more complicated.
[Kathleen Kay]: Well, I think one of the things that might also be a part of the Columbus Clubhouse, it's not long enough. After school is longer. So maybe some of those kids don't come to the after school enrichment clubs because the parents need a longer time. So they can't get them home. And then when they get them home, who's with them? Whereas the after school program runs until 6. And if you go to the Y or the Boys and Girls Club, they run later. So I think that might be why some of those kids aren't involved in the Columbus Clubhouse, just one factor.
[Paul Ruseau]: And Ms. Caldwell, you also mentioned earlier the, I think you and I had discussed earlier about the sixth graders and trying to track them, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe there was, we didn't see any correlation between the students that had low MCAS scores at the Columbus last year and their grades now.
[Diane Caldwell]: That's correct. When we looked at the data that we had and I checked with the principals and the teachers of the various middle schools, the two middle schools, there was no correlation between the low MCAS scores and how the kiddos were doing in school this year, which is great for us.
[Paul Ruseau]: It is great and also makes me just... Yes, I know it makes you... I've got to stamp the soapbox so we'll be here all night. So I just want to make sure that we're not... the curriculum or the tutoring now or when it gets to be smaller groups, which obviously I agree would be much better, is not test prep?
[Kathleen Kay]: No.