St Mary Star of the Sea Catholic School

Curriculum Assessment

February 18, 2008

Dear Parents;

At the January 8th Parent’s Meeting I presented the following report based on a request from Father Barnes that I join the staff at St. Mary Star of the Sea School to work on curriculum coordination and staff professional development. This was in response to the final report of the NEACS (in which St. Mary was granted full accreditation) and also in response to a desire to bring an additional outside analyst to help clarify perceptions that may be held about the current K-8 curriculum. As a long time parishioner, former member of the St. Mary School Board, retired teacher and administrator and staff developer, he believed I could provide a fresh and unbiased view to our school’s strengths and weaknesses.

I began by reading the NEASC report, reviewing our own curriculum materials and comparing our programs with the Massachusetts standards. I then interviewed each of the major staff members. I found them to be highly qualified, diverse in age and experience, and very cognizant of their special status and role as teachers in a parochial school.

A question I asked frequently of staff, parents and students at our school and the other schools I consulted was “what makes St. Mary’s special?” The answers included; not an elitist environment, students don’t act “entitled”, a nurturing and caring environment, completely safe (from a 2nd graders - “not a scary place”, high expectations, small classes and close attention, teacher compassion, Catholic spirit of faith and God pervasive in the school and family oriented. This is an impressive list!

Next I interviewed the appropriate staff at the four major schools our graduates go to upon graduation. The guidance directors and staffs at St. John’s Prep, Bishop Fenwick, Beverly HS and North Shore Tech were very generous with their time and extremely positive in their comments. A review of the St. Mary’s curriculum with them confirmed it provides the education needed for our students success in high school. The youngsters make a good transition academically and socially and they have a great acceptance of structure and discipline. They also exhibit excellent training in all of the basic skills and have an outstanding work ethic. They also exhibit a sense of community spirit and service and have excellent parental support. They particularly noted that in mathematics and science the students did just as well as students from
all the other local schools (public and private). Two quotes of note- “the parents are getting their money’s worth” and “even students who are not intellectually gifted end up on the honor roll because they know how to work”.

Moving on to administrative issues that may have made the 06-07, 07-08, school years seem a bit unsettled are ones I’ve listed below:

1. Introduction of 4 new programs in a short time (Science, Writing, Guided Reading, Religion) and advances in technology (introduction of Smart Boards).
2. Staff turnover ( 4 new teachers in a short time)
3. “Perceptions” of a weak math and science program
4. Time management- too many tasks for both staff and Principal to do in a timely fashion.

Each of these areas has been studied, solved or is being worked on and a solution or recommendation is forthcoming.

It is unusual to discover in a school of this small size and limited staff that so many excellent things are happening. The curriculum is open and explorative with genuine looping involved; the technology available to the students and staff is first rate and the inter-teacher cooperation is excellent. I will continue to work for the rest of the school year on curriculum and the professional development of staff in subject matter areas. In addition we hope to map the curriculum so it is more easily tracked grade by grade for easier accountability and parental information and add that information to our website. Lastly we will seek out community resources for enrichment and outreach experiences for our students.

I will also submit to Father Barnes some other points of discussion that have arisen during my research and some suggestions for the administration and School Board as to direction for programs for the future.

Roberta Neuman
 

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