1. School Choice Reporting Requirement for the 2019-2020 School Year:
The inter-district school choice law (G.L. c.76, s.12B) requires all districts to accept incoming school choice students unless the school committee votes not to participate or votes to limit the number of incoming students in particular grades. School committees must take the required vote annually before June 1.
This year, DESE is fully implementing an electronic reporting system, eliminating the need for districts to send individual letters regarding school choice participation. All districts must report their school choice participation plans no later than June 1. The Department will publish the information on DESE’s school choice webpage to inform families of these options.
Please note that if the district does not submit a response, that district will be listed as open to school choice enrollment.
Anyone with questions can contact Rob O’Donnell at rodonnell@doe.mass.edu or 781-338-6512.
Picture of the Week:
On January 17, Commissioner Riley visited UP Academy Holland, a pre-kindergarten through fifth grade school in Dorchester. Here, students work with Jeremy Scott, who is the school’s founding fifth-grade math teacher and the team lead for grade 5.
School Counseling Week: February 4-8 is National School Counseling Week, highlighting the role counselors play within schools.
Barriers to parent involvement: The National Center for Education Statistics recently issued a brief on “Barriers to Parent-School Involvement for Early Elementary Students.” It includes the most common reasons that the parents of second graders did not participate in activities at their child’s school.
Summer Food Service Program: Summer vacation is months away, but it isn’t too early to think about the Summer Food Service Program, which provides nutritious meals to students in eligible areas during the months when school is out.
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