Dear Lincoln Public Schools Families,

Unfortunately it looks as though the weather will be a bit unsettled for the Memorial Day weekend, but I hope you are nonetheless able to spend some time with family and friends. Memorial Day has a long history, with origins going back to the post-Civil War era, but it did not become an official holiday until the early 1970s. It is a day that is set aside to formally recognize those in the military who lost their lives in service to our country. We enjoy many freedoms in the United States, but those freedoms would not be possible without the many sacrifices made over the years by brave men and women. Memorial Day is an opportunity to honor and remember their sacrifice.

For this week’s message I wanted to highlight presentations made by the principals at last night’s School Committee meeting, which was hosted at the Hanscom School. Every year the principals develop School Improvement Plans for their schools, which focus on big-ticket goals that they are working to accomplish. Last night the principals shared their reflections on the work that was accomplished at each of their schools relative to their improvement plans.

The plans reflected both common themes and specific projects from each school (here are links to the Preschool plan, the Lincoln K-4 plan, the Lincoln 5-8 plan, and the Hanscom K-8 plan). Literacy and curriculum implementation were consistent areas of focus across the schools, along with work on tiered supports for students. More site-specific work included an emphasis on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) at the preschools, increased opportunities for caregivers to participate in school events at Lincoln K-4, the use of student data at Lincoln 5-8, and continued work at Hanscom K-8 to streamline and integrate consistent systems school-wide.

As the plans show, not all of the anticipated work ended up getting completed this year, but a significant amount of progress was made at each school against ambitious goals. And that work would not have happened without the daily efforts of teachers, administrators, and support staff, and the strong partnership with our families. It has been a busy year (and we still have 18 busy school days left!), but it was nice to take a moment to reflect back on everything that we have been able to accomplish.

In June I will also be sharing with the School Committee information about how we’ve done on district-level goals, including information about student growth and achievement in reading. After that presentation, I will be sure to share those details with you as well.

Thank you!

Parry Graham

Superintendent