SPRINGFIELD TRANSFORMATION SCHOOLS - LEVEL 4 SCHOOLS

Level 4 School Webpages:

NEW: Professional Development Calendars: 2013-2014

Level 4 Site Visit Monitoring Report

Individual school reports can be found on the Level 4 School Pages above.

2012-2013 Level 4 School Hours:

Brightwood Elementary	8:50 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Brookings Elementary	8:05 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Gerena Elementary	8:50 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Homer Street Elementary	8:50 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
White Street Elementary	8:05 a.m. to 3:30 p.m..
Zanetti Montessori K-8	7:50 a.m. to 3:20 p.m.
Chestnut Accelerated Middle School	7:50 a.m. to 3:20 p.m.
Kennedy Middle School	7:50 a.m. to 3:20 p.m.
Kiley Middle School	8:05 a.m. to 2:50 p.m.
High School of Commerce	7:35 a.m. to 2:20 p.m.
Level 4 Pre School - Zanetti and Gerena	8:05 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Superintendent Daniel Warwick’s Message on Level 4 Schools

July 1, 2012
Dear Springfield Public Schools Families and Staff,

For nearly four decades I have been dedicated to providing the highest quality education for the students of Springfield Public Schools. During those years I have seen many initiatives rise and fall. However, the Level 4 School Turnaround initiative, which the district began in the summer of 2010, is set apart from any other system-wide program our district has experienced. DESE identified 10 of our schools as transformation schools based on the number of students scoring in the “warning” or “failing” category of the MCAS test over a four-year period. The state called for each school to submit a plan to improve student performance and pledged financial resources to fund those efforts.

The gains our students achieved in math, English and science have been groundbreaking. I am extremely proud of our teachers, principals and administrators who dedicated hundreds of hours to think through the urgent needs of their school and, most importantly, implement new ideas, practices and difficult changes to address those challenges. Just as significantly, I am proud of our students and their families for not only adjusting to the changes but actively partnering with the district to make our plans successful.

The specific changes that have driven our success are a combination of both simple and complex alterations in the way teaching and learning occurs in schools. The addition of an extra 45 minutes of learning time every day is an example of a simple change. That time, which equals almost four extra hours of learning per week, is used to strengthen student performance in areas that are critical to their academic success; subjects such as reading and math.

A more complex change these schools have undertaken deals with the way teachers analyze student performance from test to test, unit to unit and even day to day. They use this information to determine each student’s area of weakness and strategize ways to help students gain strength in those areas. We have also instituted a network of support services to help students and families address needs that may not be school-related but impact a student’s ability to perform well in school. We’ve connected families with resources related to everything from social and emotional issues to health and wellness.

Such sweeping changes have been made possible in 10 of our schools because of their “Level 4” status, which was designated by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) in March 2010. During this process, our school district has emerged as a leading model statewide for school turnaround. This news is exciting not only because it validates the hard work that has been poured into the initiative, but it represents a framework for success that we intend to cascade throughout the district.

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