MEDFIELD — Superintendent Jeffrey Marsden and Principal Robert Parga are pleased to report that the Commission on Public Schools of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) has released a report on the school’s reaccreditation process.
The Commission, which conducted a Collaborative Conference visit at the school this summer to gather information on conditions at the school, voted to award the school continued Accreditation in the NEASC according to a notification letter received by Medfield Public Schools on Tuesday, Sept. 21.
In their report, the Commission commended the school in several key areas of growth and effective practices, including:
- A concerted effort on the part of faculty and administrators to promote school-wide habits, skills, and mindsets that build students’ social, emotional, and academic competencies through social-emotional learning (SEL) and other related personalized learning programs.
- The strong and positive relationships forged between staff/faculty members and students.
- The allocation of health and nursing services to support the health of faculty and students during the pandemic.
- Support, materials, time, and professional development provided to teachers for curriculum development.
- The commitment to hire a part-time director of diversity, equity, and inclusion to support Medfield High School.
- The allocation of technology resources and personnel to enable the faculty to implement instruction during the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic.
- The collaborative effort to create a new schedule for the 2021-22 school year that will enable students to have flex time to better lead their own learning and provide for teacher-directed common planning time.
- The high level of knowledge, commitment, and support from the central office and the school committee.
- The community and district’s governing body for providing a dependable source of funding to implement the programs, services, and materials to support student learning.
- The development of a civil rights committee to begin work around inequities and implicit bias within the curriculum and to inform the development of curriculum and assessments.
- The Medfield Educators for Racial Justice (MERJ) initiative designed to promote racial justice and equity within the Medfield Public Schools and the larger Medfield community.
The Commission commended the school on having met five of the six Foundational Elements in the Standards for Accreditation.
The one area deemed not met by the school was having a written curriculum in a consistent format for all courses in all departments across the school. The school will continue to work on this as a “Priority Area for Growth” as part of the Accreditation Process.
“We are very pleased to have received such a positive report from the Commission on Public Schools that acknowledges our school’s work in areas such as technology resources, social-emotional learning and promoting racial justice and equity,” said Principal Parga. “Not only does this report reaffirm the areas where we are meeting the needs of our students and staff, but it also identifies areas where we can improve. We will continue to evaluate our policies and procedures in order to create the best educational environment for our entire school community.”
All Accredited schools must submit a required Three-Year Report of Progress and Planning, which, in the case of the Medfield High School, is due on May 1, 2024. Information about the proper preparation of the Three-Year Report of Progress and Planning will be provided to the school in the near future.
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