Full Day Kindergarten for All, One of Attleboro Superintendent's Goals

Superintendent Pia Durkin outlined 22 short and long-term goals for the district to the Attleboro School Commitee on Monday night. Durkin's list of goals is shorter than the previous year’s because Durkin said she wanted to make the list more user-friendly and understandable.

“Our goal is not only to achieve, but also to sustain,” said Durkin, who explained the importance of including goals to maintain progress as well as goals for improvement.

One of the key goals outlined included the development and execution of a transition plan for students as they progress from fourth to fifth grade. Recent have shown that students who performed well in elementary school sometimes struggle to adjust to middle school.

Durkin said teachers are currently doing “crosswalks” between elementary and middle schools to gain a better understanding of the difference in students and classes as well as getting ideas on how to better prepare them.

Additionally, teachers will look at the pace of their lessons and try to better understand what students have been taught in previous classes.

“We hope to see some instructional changes that improve this year’s (2012) MCAS scores,” said Nancy Sprague, Director for Teaching and Learning Excellence.

One goal that will likely be of great interest to parents is goal number 10, “Study and develop a long-term option plan to consider the possibility of Full-Day Kindergarten for all.”

Durkin did not elaborate on this goal, but said she will deliver a more in-depth report at the next meeting.

As this is still a draft of goals, more may be added and some may be altered before being finalized, according to Durkin.

Committee Notes:

• Voted to accept a donation in the amount of $50 from Raymond Amadio in memory of his wife to
• Voted to accept the donation of a Toshiba television/video recorder/DVD player valued at $50 from Ed Freedman to