August 28, 2019
By Natasha Don
(file photo)
While there was no need for any major construction or renovation in the district buildings over the summer, Nashoba Regional School District Assistant Superintendent Todd Maguire applauded the facilities staff for their extensive work on the cleaning, maintaining, and improving of interior spaces and landscaping.
One such improvement relates to an ongoing district goal of enhancing safety measures. “We’ve done a lot of installation of new video cameras for surveillance around our buildings for safety purposes,” said Maguire.
In terms of professional development, the District’s new teacher orientation very recently concluded, and a large summer academy was held earlier in the summer. This academy is held every year at the end of June and into July for all district teachers and staff. One new addition to this summer’s professional development was the implementation of a two-day digital learning academy.
Maguire explained that this new academy was designed to supplement a larger district-wide technology initiative. “We implemented our Digital Literacy Learning program with the roll out of our One to One Initiative,” he said. All students in grades 6-8 in the district are given a one to one digital device at school. The additional staff academy sought to ensure teachers were able to help students with their new technology. Maguire stated, “We offered the digital learning academy to teachers so that they could be proficient in the use of technologies for students coming back at the start of the school year.”
This year’s district improvement plan is soon to be presented, with a major focus transitioning to “innovation” from last year’s emphasis on the “innovator’s mindset.” Maguire relayed that the district’s goal is “to continue with that theme in terms of empowering all learners and meeting each learner where he or she is in their progress.”
The training in social and emotional learning that has taken place over the past year will graduate to its next phase of implementation in the classrooms.
Maguire communicated the district’s intent to continue community outreach. In the past year, several parent series were offered on the subjects of digital learning, digital literacy, and digital safety in an online learning environment. Workshops surrounding substance use and abuse were also held for students and parents. “We will continue to work on creating and implementing those kinds of community outreach programs in the district through our parents series on similar topics this year,” said Maguire. “We hope that we continue to bring a lot of community members in on that because we had so much success with the programs last year.”
