INTRODUCTION

This is one article in a series out of four concerning the school improvement plan.

The school improvement plan is a document that every school in Massachusetts is required to create and make public every year, according to Headmaster Deborah Holman. This year’s school improvement plan was released a couple of months late do to the amount of work that went into it.

“Brookline High School needs it, badly. It has taken three years of my being here to really see how the school is operating and what it needs,” Holman said. “We are just at a point that, not only faculty, but also students can see the direction of where we needed to go, in terms of the district vision of educational equity.”  

Holman said that the plan was created by the school council, which meets monthly and includes parents, students and faculty. The plan was developed during the spring and summer of 2015 and completed in the fall. The plan is available on the town of Brookline’s website and reproduced below.

Holman said that the plan focuses on changing instruction and culture at the high school, and less on creating new systems. The goals outlined in the improvement plan fit roughly into one of four categories: racial equity, academic and financial support, mental health and administration.

Check here for the entirety of the school improvement plan:

http://www.brookline.k12.ma.us/cms/lib8/MA01907509/Centricity/Domain/25/Heath%20School%20Improvement%20Plan%202015-%202016.pdf

Mental health

Half or full day training sessions for teachers to discuss the socio-emotional needs of students and how to address them.

Health supports

The school improvement plan wants to put an emphasis on clinical and mental health supports. They will review these supports to ensure equal access for all students, provide a review of measures taken, hire clinical staff and leaders and may possibly resort to an outside reviewer to offer recommendations.

Extend Wellness curriculum beyond 9th grade

The plan will extend the Wellness curriculum beyond 9th grade specifically to extend education on stress, chemical use and abuse, relationships and sex past freshman year. The administration plans to widen the Mindfulness Initiative and explore extension within the revisions to advisory.

Advisory discussions and assemblies

The school improvement plan calls for assemblies for 10th – 12th grade through advisories. They would like to hold two high-quality all-grade assemblies for 10-12th grade, followed by advisory discussions. Social worker Mary Minott and Health and Fitness Curriculum Coordinator Teddi Jacobs, who are in charge of the Wellness Initiative, plan to hold assemblies in the spring, identify faculty leadership, establish dates for assemblies and get money to pay speakers.

Check here for more coverage on changes to the advisory curriculum:

Advisory curriculum updated