The Mattapoisett School Committee began its meeting on March 6 with a robotics presentation by Associate Principal Kevin Tavares.
Tavares, with a robot prototype resting on the table before him, explained to the committee the program begun at Old Hammondtown School for fourth, fifth, and sixth graders.
The program uses Lego Mindstorms robotics, with materials acquired through a grant, to encourage students to design and program robots that will perform a particular task.
Superintendent Doug White noted, “This project is a continuation of the STEM program.” Tavares added, “It teaches kids to work well as a team. Science sometimes takes a back seat and working with this technology can prepare kids for jobs that don’t even exist yet.”
The school has developed a set of criteria to select students who apply for the program. The selected students will work in groups online in computer simulations and with robotics materials to develop a robot designed to successfully address a particular robotics challenge. Tavares and the students will present their robotics projects at a school committee meeting in May.
In other business, the committee reviewed the school calendar prior to it going to a Joint School Committee meeting. White stated that the administration believed that it was prudent to close school for Good Friday “…considering student attendance as well as not having adequate staff that day, substitutes don’t necessarily fill all the slots….”
With the exception of a brief discussion on the December vacation start time, in which committee Chairman James Higgins suggested the school close for a full day on December 22, the committee accepted the calendar as presented.
The FY2018 K-6 budget was presented by School Business Administrator Patrick Spencer, who noted that the budget increased by $182,000.
Spencer pointed out that there was an increase in the Special Education budget because the school system needed a board-certified behavior analyst, which would be achieved by moving an existing teacher into that role.
White noted that he was carefully watching the education funding due to changes at the federal level.
“Fewer dollars were going to schools at the state level, which is trickling down to the local level and there may be changes to grant opportunities,” said White.
Additionally, Principal Rosemary Bowman discussed current and projected enrollment numbers at Center and Old Hammondtown Schools. Bowman expects to keep four kindergarten sections; three sections for first, second and third grades; and four sections for fourth, fifth and sixth grades. Higgins expressed his approval of the maximum 20-student class size, saying, “It’s good to see low class sizes, especially in the younger grades.”
Elise Frangos, assistant superintendent of curriculum, updated the committee on the standards-based report cards. The first informational meeting for parents will be at 6:30 pm on Wednesday, March 29, at Sippican Elementary School in Marion. The new report cards will be explained to parents using large format examples and group activities to help illustrate the effectiveness of the new system. Additional informational meetings will be held in Rochester on April 26 and Mattapoisett on May 24.
Principal Bowman reported that school psychologist Phil Alessi would be discussing CASEL: the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, at a parents’ forum on Tuesday, March 28, at Old Hammondtown School.
On a lighter note, committee member Rachel Westgate said she was approached by Charles Motta, who told her that the Center School clock was two minutes slow. After a brief lighthearted discussion, Westgate assured the committee that she would bring this to the attention of Ray Andrews.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett School Committee is scheduled for April 10 at 6:30 pm in the Center School cafeteria.
By Sarah French Storer