Homework Club Among School Improvements Eyed For Next Year

Although much of this week's Lynnfield School Committee meeting focused on the possibility of widespread budget cuts, officials also took the time to look ahead to improvements they hope to make next year.

Middle School Principal Stephen Ralston and High School Principal Robert Cleary both presented school improvement plans to committee members Tuesday night for 2012.

The first improvement goal Ralston cited for the middle school was to continue improving MCAS performances. Secondly, LMS is considering the creation of a homework club next year.

"This would be more for the provision of a quiet environment," explained Ralston, noting that it would not be a substitute for the extra help after school that many students currently benefit from.

The homework club would run at the middle school from 2-3 p.m. and one idea could be to staff it with special ed aides. Ralston added that teachers are on duty in their classrooms until 2:3o.

"Our first order of business in the fall would be to kind of take the temperature of the community and see what level of interest we have," said the LMS principal.

School Committee member James Fagan noted during the discussion that classroom-based homework clubs at the elementary school level have been working well in town so far. Committee Chair Dorothy Presser pointed out that state grants could help get the idea off the ground, while Ralston noted that the school is checking some other ways to keep the idea "low cost or ideally no-cost."

LHS Eyes Improvements In Science, New Student Transitions

Lynnfield High School Principal Robert Cleary reported that a priority for next  year will be to implement a more formal transition program for new students - including those who do not come to the district as freshmen. He added that the school's current advisory program is "working very well" and cited current initiatives such as the freshman survival guide and matching new students with upperclassmen to help them learn about the school faster. 

A second goal for LHS in the coming year is to upgrade its science offerings, with one possibility being an AP environmental science class. Cleary noted that freshmen currently have some redundancy in science with material they learned in Middle School, and that making some changes could have the added benefit of easing the current standardized testing load that sophomores now deal with.