Last fall, Superintendent Jill Geiser finalized Belmont Schools’ 2024-2027 strategic plan, highlighting three main priorities: (1) academic excellence and equity for all students, (2) social-emotional well-being, belonging, and engagement, and (3) family and community communication to support student learning.
During a School Committee meeting in February, Geiser updated the community on the progress the district has made toward these priorities, with the most progress being made under the priority of academic excellence and equity for all students.
Academic Excellence and Equity
According to Geiser’s presentation, the district has taken several steps to improve academic excellence and equity for all students, including starting the process of creating a multi-tiered system of supports for students, developing a “Vision of a Graduate” document articulating the skills and competencies expected of all Belmont High School graduates, and beginning to identify opportunities for developing varied pathways to graduation.
Geiser said the district is still in the process of envisioning what the multiple pathways to graduation could be and is considering the option of developing thematic pathways for students.
For example, Geiser said a student interested in data science might be able to take a set of courses related to that subject area. The district is also looking into how internships could be a part of this model.
“It will just take time to identify what those pathways will be,” said Geiser.
Social-Emotional Well-Being, Belonging, and Engagement
Geiser said although the district has not yet made as much progress in the area of social-emotional well-being, belonging, and engagement as they would have liked, the schools’ next director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Well-Being (DEIW) will be instrumental in leading efforts related to this strategic priority.
Some ways that the director of DEIW will move this strategic priority forward are by supporting professional development of school staff, leading the district-wide social-emotional learning team, and building out a system of instruction and support for students, according to Geiser.
Family and Community Communication
Geiser said the district is also making progress toward achieving the third strategic priority: family and community communication to support student learning.
According to her presentation, some steps the district has taken include developing and distributing a survey to gather data from families and staff around school-wide communication channels and defining the various purposes and types of engagement opportunities for families.
The district is now looking into other ways to gather feedback from families, beyond the surveys.
Navigating Resource Constraints
When asked by School Committee member Matthew Kraft how the district plans to continue advancing its strategic priorities despite resource constraints, Geiser said the district will continue to explore the question, “What do we currently have in the district that we can leverage more towards these goals?”
For example, Geiser said positions included in the budget such as the social workers and math interventionists will support these initiatives.
“These positions are going to be really important for these goals,” said Geiser.
More information on the mid-year progress update can be found on the School Committee’s website.
