Rochester Memorial School Principal Derek Medeiros told the Rochester School Committee on May 7 that he is hopeful a two-day trial run of a tentative breakfast program will appeal to students and parents and lead to a full-time breakfast program come next school year.
On May 21 and June 18, students will arrive at school as usual; however, students in kindergarten through grade two will go to the cafeteria and sit according to grade for a healthy breakfast that includes breakfast bars and yogurt. Meanwhile, grades three through five will engage in a walking and socializing exercise activity in the gym before grabbing a breakfast bag to take to homeroom to eat in class.
Medeiros said the optional breakfast – meaning kids are not required to eat what is provided – could be successful enough to establish regularly in the fall. For now, though, the school will try the program out on these two days only, assess the process, and send a survey to parents and students for feedback.
“There’s a real push to bring breakfast into schools,” said Superintendent Doug White, adding that the time spent at the breakfast program would be counted as learning time “as part of the steps to ensure that kids are in a good space.” He called it a win-win for everybody.
In other matters, the committee voted to allow Business Manager Patrick Spencer to engage in negotiations to again rent out classroom space at the school, this time to Countryside Child Care who will provide before and after school care.
After sending out an RFP for offers on the space, Countryside Child Care expressed interest in the space, offering a two-year lease at $1,600 per month for the first year and $2,000 per month the second year.
“It’s money that we can use,” said Spencer, adding that the previous tenant who briefly rented the space to pilot a preschool provided funding for the school to purchase HVAC filters through the $1,000 per month lease.
“I think there’s definitely a need in the community, and I think it will be something that’s very beneficial to our community,” said Medeiros.
Also during the meeting, ORR Junior High School Principal Kevin Brogioli presented the committee with his transition plan for sixth graders entering the junior high next year, a time that can be riddled with anxiety for students and parents alike.
Focus of the discussion started with the general shift in paradigm from elementary school to junior high, and waned toward lining students up academically with the junior high school’s math program, keeping in mind the significant dip in students’ MCAS scores in math last year.
All math teachers have attended PARCC workshops run by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and a math consultant, as well as one of the authors of the Mathematics curriculum, has spent time inside ORRJHS classrooms performing assessments and observing instruction.
Sixth grade classrooms are also observed as part of the schools “vertical teaming work,” and seventh grade teachers will be meeting and observing sixth graders before the school year is over.
Sixth grade students will also visit the junior high and have lunch in the cafeteria for the first time.
Starting next school year, said Medeiros, RMS will be changing its structure of fifth grade classrooms as a way to introduce a slow transition before switching over to junior high. Fifth grade classes will be compartmentalized, with a homeroom, one teacher for math, one for English language arts, science, and so on, with students switching throughout the day.
The sixth grade class structure will transition toward a “STEM approach.”
At the junior high, pedagogy is no longer viewed as an effective way to teach math to students, with admin now favoring more group work, student engagement, with less teacher talk and more student talk.
Brogioli also had other ideas for future trials for transition and teaching at the junior high.
“I would still like to see longer classes, longer periods,” said Brogioli. “I do think a 50- to 56-minute … somewhere inside there is the sweet spot.”
Periods at the junior high are currently 47 minutes long.
“We can still do a good job in the 47 that we have,” said Brogioli. “I’m not going to rest on where we’re at…. We’re going to keep going.”
The committee also approved the 25-cent hike in the school lunch price for the next school year, which will be implemented at all schools across the Old Rochester Regional school districts. At RMS, the price will increase from $2.50 to $2.75.
The next meeting of the Rochester School Committee is scheduled for June 2 at 6:30 pm at Rochester Memorial School.
By Jean Perry
