WESTFIELD – On Tuesday, Westfield Public Schools Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski sat down with The Westfield News to talk about his and the district’s priorities for the coming school year, which begins in two weeks on Thursday, August 31 for grades 1-12. The first day of school for kindergarten and pre-school is the following Thursday, September 7.
Westfield Public Schools Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski (Photo by Amy Porter)
REDISTRICTING
Czaporowski said priority number one for the year will be the district’s focus on redistricting the elementary schools for K-4, and planning for the grades 5-6 intermediate school and the grades 7-8 middle school for the following year (FY19). He said that Ronald Rix, director of business services and the newly hired South Middle School principal Paul K. Newton will be leading the overall transition committee. Newton has had experience with transitions in Enfield, CT, where he was principal of Enrico Fermi High School from 2000 to 2016 when it merged with Enfield High School.
Czaporowski said there will also be sub-committees working on the issues of curriculum, transportation, and human resources, among others.
“The redistricting and grade redistribution are going to take a lot of time and energy,” Czaporowski admitted.
The goal of the transition will be to have equal opportunities for all students at every school in the district, and to maintain a system of ongoing communication with all stakeholders throughout the process.
HIGH QUALITY LEARNING EXPERIENCE
A second and ongoing priority will be to provide all students a high quality learning experience. The superintendent said this will start with professional development for the staff. A district-wide focus will be on personalized learning, tailoring the educational experience for students by embracing individual strengths, needs and interests. He said the goal will be to raise student engagement and achievement.
Some training has already taken place on inclusive practices for students in special education, trying to get every student in regular education settings. Czaporowski said this practice will also aid a district-wide focus to meet targets for SPED sub-groups, an area where the district has fallen short in state assessments.
One of the new programs this year will be an alternative high school for students at risk of not completing their studies. The satellite school will have 26 students, and will be held at Camp Togowauk on Russell Road in Westfield. It will have small class sizes, and a mix of online and traditional courses. Students will be able to make up courses needed for graduation by taking them online through the program Edgenuity, an opportunity also offered to students at Westfield High School and Westfield Technical Academy.
The alternative high school is a continuation of the successful Pathways after-school program begun last year at WHS. Of the 17 students in Pathways, some who had already dropped out and returned and others who were at risk, 14 students graduated, and 3 moved on to their senior year.
The district is also expanding and modifying the curriculum to meet the academic and social/emotional needs of all students, Czaporowski said. New curriculum this year includes Botvin Life Skills for grades 3-10, which will supplement the overall health curriculum also being revamped. Botvin Life Skills, which was approved by the School Committee last year and purchased with the help of a state grant, includes age-appropriate units on substance abuse, focusing on self-esteem as a way to avoid addiction. The state has also updated digital literacy standards on technology for grades K-12, which will be implemented along with upgrades in English and math standards.
COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS
Czaporowski said the third ongoing priority for the district will be to offer a variety of college and career readiness opportunities for all students, which he said has been influenced by the ongoing work of the Westfield Education 2 Business Alliance (WE2BA). He said the district is looking for curriculum on essential skills preparation for college and careers. One of the curricula, Signal Success, was used by Westfield Technical Academy last year.
Another computer program the district has purchased, Navience is intended for use by guidance counselors, parents and students, to help guide students with everything from college applications, student loans (including FAFSA), letters of recommendations and transcripts. “It’s very helpful,” Czaporowski said about the new program.
The district will also be expanding opportunities for dual enrollments with institutions of higher education. The Westfield Promise with Westfield State University will begin with WHS and WTA juniors taking college courses taught by WSU faculty at their schools, and then taking courses at WSU their senior years. A new arrangement with American International College (AIC) in Springfield will also allow any student to take one free class during senior year. Czaporowski said he is also looking to expand the dual enrollment agreement the district has with Holyoke Community College and Springfield Technical Community College.
Czaporowski said the district’s goal is to get all seniors to either take college courses or gain work experience through job shadowing, internships or work studies. They have also transformed an existing position, turning WHS guidance counselor Tara Bean into a college and career counselor who will work with both WHS and WTA.
Czaporowski said the district had significant retirements at the end of the school year, fueled in part due to new union contracts which eliminated severance pay. Other personnel either took on new jobs in other districts or were not renewed, leaving the district with approximately 50 jobs to fill at year’s end. He said they are almost fully staffed at this points, and ready to start the school year.
“I’m very excited for the work ahead of us. We have a very dedicated staff, and we have a lot of community support – and we need it, to do what we have to get done,” Czaporowski said.
