The Rochester School Committee on October 3 reviewed a plan to join a program partnering with the national group devoted to stemming school gun violence, the Sandy Hook Promise.
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Shari Fedorowicz said the Sandy Hook Promise school program’s mission is to promote safer schools by empowering students and educators to identify potential risks of gun violence within Rochester Memorial School and thereby “build positive school climates and foster a culture where everyone looks out for one another.”
Using a slide show to illustrate her points, this will be done in three ways, she said: Education, Empowerment and Engagement. Students will be educated with activities that foster a sense of belonging, kindness, and support among all students. A SAVE Promise club will form to empower its members who will then engage the student community to promote a safe school by better connecting students to their school and community.
Students will be taught to say hello to that student who might be standing alone or looking unhappy as a way to reduce social isolation and build connections, she said, “to recognize warning signs and seek help from trusted adults.”
The next step to starting the program within RMS, she said, will be the school’s Project 351 members, known as ‘influencers,’ joining this SAVE Promise Club and receiving the training needed to strengthen their impact within the new program. She added the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office is fully funding this program.
Committee member Ann Fernandes asked how many student influencers are currently in the school’s Project 351 program. Rochester Memorial School Assistant Principal Charles West reported there were 25 of them in the last school year. Fernandes said he would love to see what the program’s training and professional development will be like. Fedorowicz said that part of the program has not been designed yet.
Later in the meeting, the committee also received an update on a new “Portrait of a Graduate” program being implemented at RMS. Superintendent Michael Nelson explained it as “a strategic plan but on a smaller scale.” The controlling question here, he said, is “How do we ensure that all of our graduates are leaving RMS with the skills they need to thrive?” He elaborated that this graduate profile will be done by determining “the skills that your graduates know and can do that will help them to thrive in their adult lives. What the student should look like.”
Nelson said this portrait will be created beginning with identifying the various stakeholder groups who will be impacted by this design and who would have vital input to inform the design. Nelson, however, could not predict when the RMS portrait would be completed. “It won’t done this year nor the next,” he said.
In other action, the committee approved the donation of 70 toothbrush kits for the Kindergarten classes from All Hands Dentistry and Sullivan Family Dentistry as well as two ukuleles to the music department from parent Madeleine Duarte.
The committee also announced the resignation of school secretary Alison Guard.
The next Rochester School Committee will meet next on November 14 at 6:00 p.m. in the Rochester Memorial School band room, 16 Pine St., Rochester.
Rochester School Committee
By Michael J. DeCicco