LEXINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT

Fellowship

Building an Anti-bias Curriculum. Alex Kuschel, LPS Districtwide Social Studies Coordinator, along with Bowman School educators Jessica Durling, Grade 3 Teacher; Beth Glick, Assistant Principal; Ann Matthews, Grade 5 Teacher; and Efe Shavers, School Counselor, and will attend the Anti-Bias and Social Justice Institute at Community Roots Charter School in Brooklyn, NY, to explore principles and practices of social justice work, develop developmentally appropriate curricula with an anti-bias lens, and build staff capacity to lead this work in Lexington.

Program Grants

The Carol Pilarski Program Grant for Professional Development: District wide Summer Professional Development Workshops. The central office will award funding to educators from all LPS departments and schools to work in-depth on curriculum development that is not possible during the school year. Project Director: Christine Lyons, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Learning

PRESCHOOL

School Community Grant

Lexington Children’s Place will create a mobile sensorimotor station of roll out mats that will give preschoolers with and without special needs opportunities for motor movements and active play in classrooms, hallways, and therapy spaces, regardless of weather and space constraints.

Program Grant

Building Children’s Social, Communication, and Fine and Visual Motor Skills. Lexington Children’s Place will create interdisciplinary lessons using the Imagination Playground Big Blue Blocks Set that enable both typically developing students and those with developmental delays to develop self-regulation, language, cognition, and social competence through creative, active, engaging play. Project Director: Carissa Parrish

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Bowman Elementary School

Fellowships

Building an Anti-Bias Curriculum. Four Bowman School educators – Jessica Durling, Grade 3 Teacher; Beth Glick, Assistant Principal; Ann Matthews, Grade 5 Teacher; and Kim Rogerson Carl, School Counselor – along with Alex Kuschel, LPS Districtwide Social Studies Coordinator, will attend the Anti-Bias and Social Justice Institute at Community Roots Charter School in Brooklyn, NY, to explore principles and practices of social justice work, develop developmentally appropriate curricula with an anti-bias lens, and build staff capacity to lead this work in Lexington.

Strengthening Dyslexic Students’ Reading, Writing and Spelling Skills. Katherine Costa, Reading Specialist, will complete the course and practicum required to achieve Level 1 Certification in the Orton-Gillingham approach, which addresses higher-level concepts like advanced word structure, vocabulary development, comprehension, assessment, and case management.

Program Grants

Advancing Teachers’ Professional Development through Video Based Technology. Leveraging the power of video to share best practices across LPS and within schools, Bowman will use Swivl Technology equipment to create videos for use in group professional development sessions and individual coaching with math and literacy teachers. Project Director: Tammy McBride, K-5 Literary Specialist

School Community Grant

Bowman School will purchase classroom furniture that will enhance student learning by offering flexible seating options that invite collaboration and encourage movement.

Bridge Elementary School

Program Grant

Innovation Station. Bridge will create a space where students can invent, tinker, and explore, learning and practicing such social-emotional learning skills as attentive listening, problem- solving, compromising, and perseverance that are needed to work effectively as a team to design and invent an original product. Project Director: Heather O’Rourke, School Counselor

School Community Grant

Bridge School will address social-emotional learning goals by (a) installing two sensory movement pathways of structured activities that allow students to expend extra energy and then refocus on academic learning, (b) posting positive messages in bathrooms that promote a growth mindset when facing academic and social challenges, and (c) engaging staff and 5th grade students in creating individual tiles that will form a collective community mural.

Estabrook Elementary School

Fellowships

Improving Equity and Access to Literacy for All Students. Thomas Grasso, Literacy Specialist; Jennifer Kuhn, Library Teacher; and Katherine O’Hare Gibson, Kindergarten Teacher – leaders of Estabrook’s school equity professional development team – will attend the International Literacy Foundation’s “Equity and Access to Literacy” Intensive, which shares the theory and practice of recognizing and addressing biases in literacy instruction and creating classroom and school environments that are diverse, inclusive, affirming, and culturally sensitive.
Addressing Students’ Mental Health Needs. Reanne Brazee, School Nurse, will attend Harvard Medical School’s School Mental Health Conference to learn the latest evidence-based practices and innovative learning strategies to address student stress and coping skills deficits and build resilience.

Program Grants

Recess is for Everyone. To promote inclusivity, responsibility, cooperation, and social emotional learning, Harrington, Fiske, and Estabrook Schools will purchase physically accessible alternative games and equipment and provide training to teachers, support personnel and students to offer games and activities at recess that are accessible to students who have physical, social-emotional or communication impairments. Project Director: Julie Goff, Physical Therapist

School Community Grant

Estabrook School will work with the Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color and the Center for Restorative Justice to help faculty understand and address a disparity in discipline referrals, as well as an achievement gap, that affect students of color.

Fiske Elementary School

Fellowship

Best Practices in School Nursing. Claire O’Connell, School Nurse, will attend the National Association of School Nurses Annual Conference to learn evidence-based approaches to keeping children healthy and in school, addressing issues and needs that school nurses confront daily, such as adverse childhood experiences, keeping students safe at school, and building community partnerships.

Program Grant

Recess is for Everyone. To promote inclusivity, responsibility, cooperation, and social emotional learning, Harrington, Fiske, and Estabrook Schools will purchase physically accessible alternative games and equipment and provide training to teachers, support personnel and students to offer games and activities at recess that are accessible to students who have physical, social-emotional or communication impairments. Project Director: Julie Goff, Physical Therapist

School Community Grant

Fiske School will promote understanding of Lexington’s students and families by purchasing diverse, grade-leveled children’s literature that will be read aloud and used to spur class discussions, and by engaging families in explorations of diversity both at home with their children and at evening discussions that bring parents and students together.

Harrington Elementary School

Fellowships

Strengthening Math Achievement through a Growth Mindset. Megan Arseneau, Math Specialist/Coach; Kristin Crotty, Grade 4 Teacher; and Ellen Fitzgerald, Grade 4 Teacher, will attend the Mindset Mathematics Workshop at Stanford University to explore math content and pedagogy that promote a growth mindset by engaging at-risk students in rich problem solving, productive struggle, and the use of mistakes to build their confidence and performance.
Strengthening Dyslexic Students’ Reading, Writing and Spelling Skills. Valerie Valeriani, Special Education Resource Room Educator, will pursue Level 1 Certification in the Wilson Approach, a highly structured, multi-sensory phonics curriculum that has proven effective in boosting dyslexic and struggling learners’ skills.

Program Grants

Recess is for Everyone. To promote inclusivity, responsibility, cooperation, and social emotional learning, Harrington, Fiske, and Estabrook Schools will purchase physically accessible alternative games and equipment and provide training to teachers, support personnel and students to offer games and activities at recess that are accessible to students who have physical, social-emotional or communication impairments. Project Director: Julie Goff, Physical Therapist

School Community Grant

Harrington School will create a modular flexible library work area for students that facilitates small group and collaborative learning activities, including project based learning and Novel Engineering lessons.

Hastings Elementary School

School Community Grant

Hastings School will continue an art project launched last year that involves every student in designing and creating a mosaic work that celebrates the student community and will be installed in the main corridor of the new Hastings School.

MIDDLE SCHOOLS

Clarke Middle School

Fellowship

Strengthening Dyslexic and Struggling Students’ Reading, Writing and Spelling Skills. Katherine Costa, Reading Specialist, will complete the course and practicum required to achieve Level 1 Certification in the Orton-Gillingham approach, which addresses higher-level concepts like advanced word structure, vocabulary development, comprehension, assessment, and case management that are especially critical for middle school students.

School Community Grant

Clarke School’s School Climate Committee will work with educational author and consultant Jeffrey Benson to identify and implement schoolwide positive behavior interventions and supports that benefit all students.

Diamond Middle School

Fellowship

Advancing Understanding of the Impact of Climate Change on Oceans. Jennifer Burgin, Engineering and Design Specialist; Whitney Factor, Grade 7 Science Teacher; and Valerie Franks, Science Department Head, will attend a Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences Workshop to explore the impact of local and global environmental issues on the marine ecosystems, get hands-on experience with the latest technological tools to gather scientific oceanographic data, and learn strategies for translating these tools and the data they produce into classroom applications for science and engineering students.

School Community Grant

Diamond School’s newly formed discipline committee will work with educational author and consultant Jeffrey Benson to identify foundational norms and goals around student discipline and implement changes that improve school climate by ensuring that discretionary disciplinary practices do not inadvertently target particular groups of students.

LEXINGTON HIGH SCHOOL

Fellowships

Strengthening the Study of Asian Literature. English teacher Charlotte Parish will study East Asian literature at Japan’s Waseda University in order to build a high-quality project-based learning curriculum to fill gaps at the freshman, sophomore, and senior levels.
Mastering the New AP Calculus Curriculum Frameworks. Math teacher Bonnie Pelletier will attend the AB Calculus Summer Institute in St. Johnsbury’s VT to enrich her understanding of the new advanced placement curriculum frameworks, pedagogy, content, and formative assessment.
Supporting Students’ Postsecondary Planning. Stacy McFadden, School Counselor and LHS’s liaison to Naviance, will attend the Hobson Institute Annual Conference for High School and Admission Counselors – Naviance to learn from developers of the software that LHS uses to support students in postsecondary planning and applying to college.
Expanding the Study of AP Calculus. Math teacher Wendy Cordero will attend the AB Calculus for Experienced AP Teachers Summer Institute in St. Johnsbury, VT to explore new approaches to the advanced placement curriculum, including in-depth explorations of differential and integral calculus applications and project-based learning.
Meeting Students’ Physical and Mental Health Needs. School Nurse Susan Kaftan will attend the national conference of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners to learn the latest evidence-based approaches to addressing students’ social, emotional and physical challenges, including substance use, suicidal ideation, trauma, anxiety, and gender identity.

Program Grants

Addressing Social and Emotional Needs through Student Advisories. LHS will research best practices in creating and maintaining small advisory groups that can build students’ sense of belonging and connectedness, foster relationships, develop adaptive coping skills, reduce absences and address behavioral issues by linking every student with a caring adult over their four years at this very large high school. Project Director: Andy Baker, Associate Principal
Postsecondary Planning Program Development. The LHS Counseling Department will develop a College JumpStart Summer Program for college-ready seniors that aims to decrease student stress and increase support around such issues as career exploration, financial aid, and first-generation college experience. Project Director: Stacy McFadden, School Counselor
Community Conversations: Increasing Cultural Literacy. Building on previous LEF grants that diversified the literature curriculum in grade 10, LHS’s English Department will create a curriculum that supports a shared reading experience for students in grades 9 and 11 that is centered around diversity, equity, and inclusion. Project Director: Samantha St. Lawrence, English teacher

School Community Grant

Lexington High School will bring motivational speaker Mike Smith to campus for three assemblies to inspire students to move past siloed connections that are based on specific subjects or activities, build a schoolwide identity and culture, and consider the legacy they wish to leave.