001Sorry about the rain. I put in a request for it not to rain today. Apparently, I didn't get to the boss's desk. So I apologize for the rain today. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Welcome to Madeline English School. My name is Paolo Mbresi, and I'm the principal here at the English School. On behalf of Mr. Levine, Ms. Garfield, and Ms. Marchese, I want to personally thank you for coming to join us in celebrating Veterans Day. A very special thank you goes out to our superintendent, Mr. Hart. Mr. Hart. His unwavering dedication, visionary leadership, and steadfast commitment to the students and families of this great city have been the driving force behind all of our success. Mr. Hart's passion for education and his tireless efforts to create opportunities for every student inspire us
002all to reach higher and do better each day. Thank you, Mr. Superintendent, for making a lasting difference in the lives of so many students and families. Thank you. A heartfelt thank you to Mr. Falzon, our music instructor, Ms. Amico, our fourth grade staff, our custodial staff, and our students for coming together to put on a Veterans Day program. We are so excited to see all the hard work and heart you put into this morning's performance. Thank you for making this a very special day so meaningful. We also like to thank and welcome Ms. Erica Corbelli, Director of Veterans Affairs, and Ms. Jerry Miranda from the Veterans Affairs Office for their participation here today and for their tireless work for the veterans of the City of Everett. Thank you. Redemption Day is a time for us
003to pause, reflect, and express our heartfelt gratitude to the brave men and women who have worn the uniform of the United States Armed Forces. It is a day to honor their courage, their sacrifice, their unwavering commitment to defending the ideals upon which our nation was founded. Today we come together to celebrate all veterans for their steadfast dedication to keeping our nation safe and free. Their bravery and selflessness remind us that the freedoms we enjoy each day have been secured through their own willingness to stand in harm's way for the sake of others. We hope that this morning's music serves as a small but heartfelt token of our deep appreciation. Through these melodies, we honor your valor, your courage, your enduring legacy. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for protecting us, for defending
004our freedom, and for exemplifying the very best of what it means to be American. Now, to start our celebration, please welcome Ms. Erica Corbelli to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Erin, please stand and put your hands over your hearts, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please remain standing for our status of the annual banner performed by Abdel Karado Escobar. I'm going to ask Ms. Erica Corbelli to come back up and explain what Veterans Day means to all of us. Thank you. Good morning everyone. How's everyone doing this morning? So obviously we all know we have the day off tomorrow, correct? Yeah. All right. But why do we
005have the day off? Is it just to sit home and watch cartoons all day? No. It's a very important day and I think we all need to be mindful to remember that tomorrow... It's simply a day for us to honor and say thank you to all the veterans that are in our community. So I would like to ask all of you present today that if you have a veteran that lives next door, in your family, in your household, or just a buddy that you know that has served, please say thank you to that individual. It means a lot and it goes a long way. That individual did put their name down on a piece of paper. They wore that uniform and they spent countless hours fighting for our freedom. So we do want to honor
006and thank those guys because if it weren't for them you and I would not be here today Now I do want to ask is there any veterans in the audience? Do we have any members? Anyone at all? All right show of hands then do we have anyone here that has a relative or a friend that is a veteran? All right So you all know what you need to do tomorrow, correct? Okay, well, I do want to say that I want this program to take off. Ms. Lombresa did, you know, put Veterans Day pretty well together this morning for us. So I do want to pass the mic over. Thank you again for having us, and happy Veterans Day, everyone. Now, what we've all been waiting for, Ms. DeFalzone, why don't you come on up and
007start the program. Please sit back, relax, and enjoy the show, everyone. All right, good morning everybody. Again, Carmen Falzon. I will be speaking later on, so I will do that. I'd like to present to you the decibel chorus here at the Madeline Bush School. Raising giants of Greek faith, with conquering limbs in stride from land to land. Here at our sea-washed sunset gates shall stand a mighty woman with a torch, whose flame is impression lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon hand glows worldwide welcome. From mild dyes to mend an airbrushed arbor the twin cities fray. Keep ancient lands your stories palm, Christ sheep with silent lips. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, your need to breathe free. The wretched refuge of your teeth show. Send these, the homeless,
008tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp besides the golden door. I would like to invite the fourth graders to start making their way onto stage. And as they do, I do have a few words for you. Once again, Carmen Falzon, thank you so much for coming out today. Thank you so much. And as they get set up on stage, I would just like to have a brief moment and discuss what we've done here today with these students. Now, as we've been learning these songs, we've been talking about kind of what this idea of Veterans Day is. And with that, I've kind of shared with some of them my experience of that and who I have in my life. that makes me feel so emotional about this day. My brother, Mark Falzone, and my uncle Cory
009Kidd, both Everett residents, both part of Everett, Everett High School alumni, and seeing them as they went off into the military growing up, I was a young kid that didn't have their brother, didn't have their uncle. And for me, it's very special because I'm grateful that they came out. I'm grateful that I got to see them one day. Sometimes you have the case where our soldiers don't come home. And as I discussed this with those students, I didn't mention that, but I did mention to them the fact that it's a very important day to honor and recognize those veterans that serve every day so that we can be here in school learning music, of course, but doing those things that we get to do every day for free. And with that, I did with some
010of these students make cards for veterans. So at this time, I would like to have my student present to Erica Portbelly some cards that we did make for them. We have a little basket here. And I would just like to present that to you so that we can give those off to some veterans. And as they do get on stage here, I would like to see a show of hands one more time for who has a veteran in their life, someone close to them. And so I know you all know how it feels and what it's like to celebrate that day, as we will tomorrow, and recognize and remember. those veterans who serve all their time for us so we can do things like this. Again, I do want to thank you for coming out
011today. Fourth grade is just finishing up and we'll be with you in just a moment. And without further ado, please welcome the grade four. Fourth grade, for us. Very good job. And once again, I do want to thank you all for coming out today. Again, I'm Mr. Fasol, music teacher here. I'm so very proud of these students and what they've done. Please celebrate tomorrow. Thank those veterans. Have a great day. Stay safe. Stay dry. Thank you so much. Good evening and welcome to the regularly scheduled meeting of the Everett School Committee for Monday, November 17th, 2025. The time is 6.34 p.m. Clerk, could you call the roll to determine a quorum? Student Representative Emma Perry. Present. Mr. Almeida-Barrows. Ms. Babcock. Present. Ms. Barrows. Present. Ms. Cornelio. Present. Ms. Cristiano. Present. Mayor DeMaria. Mr. D'Onofrio. Present.
012Ms. Guerin. Present. Mr. LaMonica. Chairwoman Hurley. Present. Seven members present. Seven members present. We do have a quorum. If everyone could join me in saluting the flag. I pledge allegiance. Thank you, everyone. Before we get to our regular order of business, school committee members Marconi Barros, Joe LaMonica, and Mayor DeMaria regret that they are unable to attend this evening. Earlier last week, the superintendent and I extended invitations to our member Alex to join us at this evening's school committee meeting. So I would like to invite Mayor-elect Robert Van Kampen to join us this evening and sit among us next to School Committee Member Cornelio. And we also invited School Committee Member-elect Millie Cardillo to join us, but she regrets that she is unable to attend this evening. So thank you. Welcome. And with that, Superintendent,
013the next order of business. Roman numeral 3, reading of the records for Monday, November 3, 2025. Make a motion to waive the reading of the records and place them on file. Second. Motion has been made by Ms. Babcock, seconded by Ms. Barrows, to waive the reading for Monday, November 3rd, 2025 and place on file. Roll call. Ms. Babcock? Yes. Ms. Barrows? Yes. Ms. Cornelio? Yes. Ms. Cristiano? Yes. Mr. D'Onofrio? Yes. Yes. Ms. Garron. Yes. Madam Chair. Yes. So moved, 7-0. So moved, 7-0. Motion passed. Before we continue, I'm sorry, we do have a member attending remotely, so all voting this evening needs to happen via roll call. Superintendent, the next order of business. Roman numeral 4, public comment. Make a motion to open public comment. Second. Motion has been made by Ms. Barrows, seconded by
014Ms. Cornelio to open public comment. Roll call. Ms. Babcock? Yes. Ms. Barrows? Yes. Ms. Cornelio? Yes. Ms. Cristiano? Yes. Mr. D'Onofrio? Yes. Ms. Garron? Yes. Madam Chair? Yes. So moved, 7-0. So moved, 7-0. Motion passed. Public comment is now open. Seeing no speakers on our sign-in sheet, is there anyone interested in speaking a public comment? Seeing none, is there a motion to close public comment? Make a motion to close public comment. Second. Second. Motion has been made by Ms. Babcock, seconded by Ms. Barrows to close public comment. Roll call. Ms. Babcock. Yes. Ms. Barrows. Yes. Ms. Cornelio. Yes. Ms. Cristiano. Yes. Mr. D'Onofrio. Yes. Ms. Garron. Yes. Madam Chair. Yes. So moved, 7-0. So moved, 7-0. Motion passed. Superintendent, the next order of business. Roman numeral 5, report of the student representative, Ms. Perry. Emma,
015take it away. Thank you. Good evening, everybody. Report cards were sent home district-wide today. The Parlin K-5 conferences will be held tomorrow from 4 to 6. The Webster will hold conferences from 4 to 6 on Wednesday, and the Whittier's conferences will be on Thursday from 4 to 6. The History Club traveled to New York City on Saturday to visit the 9-11 Memorial and Museum. From what I heard, they had a great time learning about such a historical landmark. The EHS Theatre Company's production of The Late Bus will be live in the auditorium this Thursday and Friday. Showtime will be at 6.30 both nights. The Key Club is holding a pajama drive. All donations will be collected from the gym by December 5th. This Wednesday, the Key Club is also making bags of turkey dinners to
016give out to the community for Thanksgiving. Basketball cheer tryouts will be held in the gym this Thursday and Friday from 3 to 5. The team is holding a clinic this Wednesday for anybody who wants some experience before trying out. The fall sports banquet is tomorrow evening at Anthony's and Malden to celebrate all the athletes that participated in a fall sport. The STEM Pathway celebrated STEM Week by going to the Soskey Foundation in Boston. The Soskey Foundation is an architectural organization that focuses on the human experience and sustainability. Throughout the day, students explored the office, makerspace, and archives. I really enjoyed the drawing and development challenge Soskey gave us to redesign an urban setting. It brought out my creativity and exposed us to more of the architectural world, said Akansha Newpain, who is a senior in
017the STEM Pathway. In addition, the senior and junior STEM Pathway students participated in the UMass Lowell Engineering Immersion Field Trip, where they explored eight key engineering professors, or fields of engineering. At each stop, students engaged in hands-on activities with the UMass Lowell engineering professors. I enjoyed the environment. It was really welcoming, and the professors knew a lot. I learned a lot about what the college experience is like with both classes and the living experience, said Senior Host Waylara. The Wave Club took eight girls to the Empowering Girls Conference held at Newton City Hall last Thursday. The conference featured inspiring women from various professions including law, media, and entrepreneurship. The intention of the conference was to inspire and connect young women, foster confidence building, and goal setting, and it did so much more for our students.
018The students walked away feeling refreshed, excited, and ambitious about their futures. On Friday, the senior girls receive their teams for the annual Powderpuff Classic. The Black Mambas, Pink Panthers, Purple Cobras, and Blue Devils will face off the night of Tuesday the 25th at Veterans Memorial Stadium. You all better be rooting for the blue team, because that's the team I'm on. Powder Puff is the start of the Thanksgiving traditions at Everett High School. Wednesday morning, senior football players Enoneto and Danny Hernandez will defend Everett High's title as the Turkey Toss champions for the last five years at KISS 108's annual Turkey Toss tournament at Assembly Row. That day will be a half day and the start of Thanksgiving break. I just want to say how thankful I am for all of you, our teachers and staff
019in the Everett Public Schools, for always striving to be the best for our students. So thank you to all of you as our school committee members and to Superintendent Hart. I hope our staff and students enjoy a break and use it to spend time with family and friends. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Perry. Any questions? Do we want to accept the report? Accept the report and place it on file. Second. Motion has been made by Ms. Cristiano, seconded by Ms. Cornelio, to accept the report of the student representative and place on file. Roll call. Ms. Babcock? Yes. Ms. Barrows? Yes. Ms. Cornelio? Yes. Ms. Cristiano? Yes. Mr. D'Onofrio? Yes. Ms. Garron? Yes. Madam Chair? Yes. So moved, 7-0. So moved, 7-0. Motion passed. Superintendent, the next order of business. Room number 6, report of the
020superintendent. Item 1, superintendent's update. Let me first say, what a powerful report. But more importantly, think about all the things that happen at Everett High School that our students get to take advantage of. All the excitement, the learning experiences. And I have to add. They do this without incident. We have good kids at Everett High School. They do good things every day, sometimes very quietly, putting meals together, for example, in conjunction with Kiwanis Club, doing things inside our community, and then learning from that. So thank you, Emma, for highlighting all of those wonderful opportunities our young people do take advantage of. We have a very robust student body here at Everett High School. Let me just highlight a few things that have occurred or will be occurring in the district. First, we just came off
021of Veterans Day holiday, which many people had the opportunity to be at home, but many, many people, including our students, really spent a lot of time honoring our veterans in different ways, some in the classroom and certainly outside of the classroom in our community. Our teachers, our administrators recognized this event, this day in our history, in so many different ways. Music and performances were held at the Lafayette School, the Caverian School, the Madeline English School, giving parents and relatives and families a chance to see students sing and perform. You know, it's not just that they're doing this for that day. These young boys and girls are learning. not only to sing, but they're learning to work with one another. They're learning instruments. Think about fourth graders playing the violin at the Lafayette School. Think about
022fifth graders singing off of a stage at the Madeline English. I mean, think about these opportunities that happen every day at every public school that get highlighted, however, on special days of our calendar year. In addition, our students also put together on their own hundreds of greeting cards for our veterans featuring drawings and well wishes. And we were working in conjunction with the Everett Director of Veterans Affairs, Erica Corbelli, who actually was an Everett High School graduate and served in the U.S. Coast Guard. She delivered cards to veterans inside of our community and certainly in the various places that they reside outside of Everett, including the Soldier's Home over in Chelsea. We did have an opportunity to go to the Chelsea Soldiers Home with our wonderful marching band. We were greeted there by many veterans
023and staff of the Soldiers Home and our own State Representative Joe McGonigal, along with our employee relations and human resource manager, who's also a veteran, under the direction and... planning of our folks here at the school department with Rosemary Hughes leading that effort. We had folks entertained. Many of you follow us on social media, so you saw our students performing. They looked terrific, they sounded terrific, and they were so pleased that they had an opportunity to hear from our young people. And I want to thank them publicly, Mr. O'Brien and Corey Crowfoot, who also brought members of the choir together to also entertain. the folks that are across many streets from Everett, but they are in Chelsea. Many of them do come from Everett, so they enjoyed our afternoon. We also completed the veterans programming
024in Everett at the Conley Center on Chelsea Street, and once again our band performed admirably, our students sung and contributed so much to Veterans Day in Everett. and it is about honoring those men and women who have either come before us or are still yet to serve, recognizing their efforts and heroism on behalf of our community. Some other good news to report. As you know, one of the things that I continue to look at with the principals of the schools and the vice principals is our attendance record. And I'm happy to say, once again, our attendance record is good. It continues to get stronger because of so much that happens in our schools to support good practice. We reach out to families. We reach out with students to their families. We have many initiatives that
025are... undertaken in each school. Some are very different. Mr. Nauman, for example, at the Caverian may do something very different than somebody at the Lafayette. But all of our schools are heavily engaged in engaging our students and families to attend school. So this is something that I've always said. We need folks in the classrooms so that we can do what we do best, and that is to educate and train our young boys and girls here. So our numbers continue to climb. So right now we're at... on an average of almost 93% attendance. That's a phenomenal record, and I think, quite frankly, we're one of the better school districts with those statistics. And chronic absenteeism, as you know, is folks who have so many days absent, they get listed as chronically absent. That percent continues to
026go down, which is what we want. We want less and less young people to be out any number of days. This really makes a difference in learning. It's all about learning, but we need to get these kids here to the buildings. And I thank the faculty and staff and leadership of the schools that every day remind our young people that it's important to be in the building. We also just kicked off our vision of the graduate, as you may remember. And behind me, you'll see the various. virtues that the graduates here at Everett High School extol. They are nominated by members of the faculty and staff to any one of these. In this past month, they have been awarded for 17 students actually were nominated for exhibiting resiliency. And again, they're nominated by teachers and
027staff. So this isn't necessarily one-on-one. our young people are recognized for exhibiting, as I said, one of these virtues behind us, which is this month is resiliency. We had Dr. Braga, who's our principal of Everett High School, along with our assistant superintendent, Dennis Lynch, and various department heads and academic advisors to be here under the direction of Julianne Whitson. who has organized this event at least since I've been part of Everett Public Schools and it really has been one of those kind of very good, feel good events but it does recognize the values that our young people have and I appreciate continuing that program of recognizing folks. Some of our young people also invite parents and friends and they do attend right here at the Everett Library, excuse me, at the Everett High School Library.
028We also held our first English Learner Language Parent Advisory Council meeting, that's a mouthful, for the 25-26 school year this past Thursday on the 14th at the Whittier School. We had parents and guardians attending the meeting who were offering valuable feedback about possible changes in ELPAC, as what's the acronym for the English Language Learner Parent Advisory Council. And this council was established by law, Massachusetts law, and this advises districts and schools on any number of matters that impact English learners. And as you know, we have a lot of English learners here in our school district. I'd like to also publicly thank our Director of English Learners, Genevieve McDonough, for planning this meeting at the Whittier School, Director Dave Brady, who's with the Title I Department, and Dr. Margaret Adams, and so many others who continue
029to make these events important and impactful and get good feedback so we can continue to capitalize on the good things that are happening here in Everett. As Ms. Perry mentioned, Everett High School teaches in way... Wave Club advises Amanda Gill and Riley Dunn took a group of students to Empowering Girls Conference last week at Newton City Hall. It was sponsored by the Middlesex District Attorney's Office, Marion Ryan, and it does promote confidence building, self-assertion, goal setting, and building healthy relationships. Many students, I think, Ms. Perry, you would agree, came back and were very inspired by the opportunity to do this. And again, we give... our students opportunities and options and this is one of the many here at Everett High School. And last I know and certainly not least and Ms. Perry also mentioned this
030week at Everett High School the 20th and 21st at 6 30 we will have a production here for the late bus by B.D. Samuels and the tickets are free for Everett Public School students and staff are and staff and adults are ten dollars. I think staff And adults, yes, staff are free, adults are $10. I think you'll see the excitement that our theater production is bringing to the stage this week, so please add that to your agenda. And Madam Chair, with that is my report, and I too would like to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving next week. As you know, the schools will be half a day on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday closed for school. Thank you, Superintendent. Any questions regarding the report and update? Miss Babcock I just wanted to say thank you to
031Emma and to the superintendent for all of the wonderful things and letting people know all of these things are going on these are the kind of opportunities that gives our students a perspective of outside of the school and gives them an opportunity to meet and find mentors in the future. I know that when my daughter was in the school, she got the opportunity to play violin at the Lafayette on these days, and she also went to the Women's Empowerment Meeting. She actually still notes at actually how inspiring that particular opportunity was to be there with other women and, you know, think about their futures and meet new mentors and things. So it's nice to let everyone know what's going on. and the opportunities our students are getting in our school systems. So I just am
032thrilled for all of these things, and especially to see the play, The Late Bus. Very excited. So thank you very much. Make a motion to accept the report. Second. The superintendent. Real quick, I have a quick clarifying question before we vote on the motion. Regarding The Late Bus and the theater show. What kind of payment is accepted for tickets? It's cash only. Cash only. Okay. Thank you. Motion has been made. Just one quick question. I noticed that Christine Reno was in the audience earlier. She had mentioned something about the theater company. So there, I think she was, they're going to be selling bracelets as a fundraiser for the drama club, and obviously hoping that we did talk about the production of The Late Bus. She has been very involved as a Caverian School PTO member
033now. part of the Everett High School. The re-energized Everett. Yes, we do. With the PTO here at Everett High School. So I'd like to thank that group, Michelle, Alan, Christine Reno, and so many other parents who now volunteer to be part of our new energized PTO here at Everett High School. Thank you, Superintendent. Thank you, Ms. Cristiano. A motion has been made by Ms. Babcock, seconded by Ms. Cornelio, to accept the report of the superintendent. Roll call. Ms. Babcock. Yes. Ms. Barrows? Yes. Ms. Cornelio? Yes. Ms. Cristiano? Yes. Ms. D'Onofrio? Yes. Ms. Garron? Yes. Madam Chair? Yes. So moved, 7-0. So moved, 7-0. Motion passed. Superintendent, the next order of business. Item number two, and this is not so far afield of what Ms. Babcock just said. The item is Everett Public School and Student
034Spotlight. I mentioned to the members of this committee, relatively informal, after last meeting that going forward I'd like each month for one of our schools to come forward and provide a snapshot of the things that they're proud of their accomplishments in the school and what they're doing. to give not only you members of the school committee but our audience to see what what kind of great work happens in our schools and tonight uh... we do have the covariance school here this is the first in a series of presentations in which we will shine some spotlight on our most valuable asset our students members of the covariance school student council with us this evening to deliver a presentation entitled nights lead the way empowering student voice they will discuss among other things the SHIELD program, which
035stands for Safety, Honesty, Independence, Empathy, Leadership, and Dedication, and, remember this one, Ms. Babcock, PBIS, which stands for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports. They are joined by a group of Everett High School freshmen who were heavily involved in this work as students at the Caverion. With that, Madam Chair, I would ask that you invite Principal Norman. and Assistant Principal Spencer to come forward so that they can introduce our students and they can talk a little bit about the great things happening between the Caverian and Everett High School. Make a motion to invite Mr. Nomen, Principal Spencer, and their lovely students to come. Motion has been made by Ms. Babcock, seconded by Ms. Cristiano, to invite Principal Nomen and Assistant Principal Spencer, along with their students before us this evening. Roll call. Ms. Babcock? Yes. Ms.
036Barrows? Yes. Ms. Cornelio? Yes. Ms. Cristiano? Yes. Mr. D'Onofrio? Yes. Ms. Garron? Yes. Madam Chair? Yes. So moved, 7-0. So moved, 7-0. Motion passed. Welcome. I can speak loudly. I think you might be able to pick me up. Good evening. Mr. Spencer and I would like to thank Superintendent Hotton, School Committee, for inviting us up here today with our students to share a little bit about our students and our school. We believe that our students, our student council, and some of our former Caverian students, but forever Caverian Knights, their presentation today gives a good glimpse into what goes into shaping a Caverian Knight. I also, while I am introducing everyone, I'd like to thank and recognize that some of our parents of our student council members are here in the audience showing support. It's good
037to see them come up and take part of this, along with some of our faculty, Mr. Piazza, Ms. Morelli, and Ms. Moran. So we'd like to thank them for coming up and showing support for students, current and past students. I'd like to introduce our student council members that are here with us today. We have... On my far right, right next to Mr. Spencer, is Emma Dorsey, our president. We have Evelyn Joseph, our secretary, and Arthur Bicalio Silva, our treasurer. There we go. Our eighth grade representative, Kimberly Cruz Martinez, and our vice president. Let's see if this works. We've got to pick their pictures up there. Sadia Fortin are unfortunately not here, but they put a lot of work into this presentation, so we wanted to make sure they were recognized as well. Thank you, Mr.
038Nauman and Mr. Spencer. Our presentation today is grounded in our Caverian School values and how they shape our school. For the Caverian School, we use the acronym SHIELD. SHIELD stands for Safety, Honesty, Independence, Empathy, Leadership, and Dedication. PBIS stands for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. This is how we are recognizing and reinforcing all of the positive behaviors that we see with our students every day. It's all about building a warm sense of belonging so that every Carverian Knight feels at home and truly connected. Throughout the school year, these values remind us that every Carverian Knight carries a shield which protects our community and shows us strength. These posters are located in every area of the school to explain how to demonstrate the values in spaces like the cafeteria, hallways, and bathrooms. The signs appear in
039English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Creole. So all students, regardless of their current language abilities, understand expectations. One way we reinforce our Covariant values is through the awarding of shield coupons. Students earn shield coupons for demonstrating these positive values, which leads to monthly raffles initiatives. Every month, a student will be selected to receive a Covariant t-shirt and other additional prizes will be awarded. Students have received prizes like a Covariant JBL Bluetooth speaker, custom Covariant gallery bottles, and more gear that helps to show Covariant pride. As newly elected students representatives, we know that our leadership matters. We want to make a difference and we would like to share how we have started to do this. Similar to the student representatives at the school committee, we are also attending the monthly Covariant School Parent Council meetings. As at these
040meetings, our school leaders have given us space to discuss our opinions and ideas with parents and teachers. This is something that has never been done before at our school council meetings, and parents were also excited to join us. We were taken seriously in giving the chance to come up with a plan on how to solve these problems. This opportunity to be part of the school leadership is helping us model an important shield value for our Knights. After attending these meetings, we made it our mission to focus on safety and step up as leaders. We created a Google form and we surveyed our peers about various safety concerns involving recess for wear in the bathrooms. More than 200 students responded, offering their thoughts about these topics. We already had our hypothesis about these questions, and the
041results showed us that most of the students felt the same way. To communicate with students about initiatives, the Covariant Student Council and staff have hosted several learning lunches to discuss the PBIS system, Chromebook Care. Most recently, SAFETY submitted to talk about our survey results and plans that we developed to solve one specific issue, research safety. While we were nervous presenting to such a large group, we knew it was important to show that we were listening to them and we were bringing change. So what we did was we put some concerns and thoughts of our peers into actions. During the safety summit learning lunch, we presented our survey results and new plans we created to make sure that all students have the chance to participate and recess safely in doing what they enjoy. We have specific
042designated areas where different sports and hanging out will take place, allowing all students to do what they enjoy while remaining safe. We also reminded students about dress code issues that have been leading to injuries, including students wearing slides instead of more safe footwear. Based on our initial learning launches, the Student Council will continue to listen to the concerns about our classmates and provide additional learning launches and talk about what matters the most for our class peers. We have one schedule for January to discuss the importance of already middle-of-the-year benchmark testing. We will reveal prices for students who make their typical growth, stretch growth, or if they remain on grade level. We would now like to ask a few former Covariant students before our Covariant Nights for a brief presentation on how they have previously shown
043and continue to demonstrate the Covariant Values that are a part of who they are. Welcome everyone. Hi, good evening everyone. Thank you for having us here today. Before we start, we wanted to give a special thank you to Superintendent Hart, the school committee, and of course the Caverian School Student Council for including us in this presentation. My name is Malev, a current Everett High School student and forever Caverian Knight, and I'd like to introduce my fellow former Caverian students and forever Caverian Knights who will help present how the Caverian values of leadership, empathy, and dedication continue to shape what we do every day. Next to me we have Faith. Over there we have Zoe. Samra and Larissa. In this slide, we're talking about the Civics Action Project. The Civics Action Project is something all of
044us worked on last year. It's a project focused on highlighting real issues in the city of Everett through research. It allows people to uncover previously unnoticed problems and broaden their understanding of the city while having a dedication to making this community a better place for everyone. Moving on to Faith. The issue our two groups identified as needing action in our community was food insecurity. As Everett residents and our own families had to go out in neighboring cities in order to get food and fresh produce. We knew we needed a change, something local, something diverse. Over four long months, Me and the rest of my friends here have worked very hard on the 70s Action Project for our 8th grade year. We surveyed students, community members, community leaders, and we even created a petition and got
045a decent amount of signatures. During our research, we visited local markets in Everett to take a look at the quality of the produce they were selling. We went to several different corner stores and saw produce of horrible quality. Not only was the food quality bad, it was also extremely overpriced. In addition to this, we found that the selection was extremely limited. If Everett citizens wanted to get fresh produce in the city, they would have to pay way more than usual just for terrible quality. As both Caveri and Knightson Everett citizens, we thought it was important to draw attention to this issue so that it can potentially get solved. While doing our project, we made a survey for the people in Everett to take. One question we asked on the survey was, how much do you
046think food insecurity affects our community? In result, most people said five being the most important. We used this survey data to see how other people in our society felt about our issue and if they agree with us. Doing the survey gave us an opportunity to hear other people's opinions on our subject of food insecurity. Our project demonstrated empathy because it's unfair residents must leave the city for fresh, healthy, and quality food. We showed leadership by taking action on a problem that is affecting our city. We demonstrated dedication by staying committed to a long-term action project and continuing this work as every high school student. The Everford Policy Council is currently drafting a resolution for the City Council's consideration to address food insecurity and declare food insecurity as a human right. They will be citing our
047action project as evidence for this resolution. Thank you, and we would like to invite the Caverna School Student Council back up to finish this presentation on the Caverna values. Thank you to the forever Carverian Knights for showing empathy and leadership to our current student council as well as our Carverian students. To wrap up this presentation, I would like to finish with the Carverian value that we all hold dear to our hearts, empathy. Because empathy begins with kindness, the Carverian School is proud to be recognized as a certified kindness school by the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, one of only four schools in Massachusetts to hold this distinction. Throughout the whole year, we hosted several kindness events that helped us earn this honor. In fact, we celebrated World Kindness Day last Thursday. All staff and students
048received their Carverian Be Kind bracelet, marking our fourth year of this tradition. We need the support and partnership of community organizations to help us live out these values every day, and we really want to emphasize the kindness of the Everett Kiwanis. We appreciate having their partnership with our PTO and are forever grateful. We hope you wear your bracelet that has been included in your package as a daily reminder to be kind. Because kindness is a core part of what it means to be an empathetic Knight, we start our day with the student-led morning announcements that concludes with our empathy pledge. This pledge was created by our previous student council and it serves as a daily reminder that we choose empathy in our community. So, to close out our presentation, we would like to respectfully ask
049you to join us in our daily tradition sharing our night strength through our Caverian Empathy Pledge. We have made a slight adjustment to represent all of our students today. The pledge is on the screen and in your packets if you care to join in with us. Are we ready? Please stand. We often just follow the empathy pledge right after the Pledge of Allegiance, so we're all usually standing. So we want to make sure we do this the right way. I pledge to show empathy with my classmates, friends, and family, to put myself in others' shoes, to understand the feelings of others and show it with my words and actions, to listen with my ears, my heart, and my mind, to find peaceful solutions to conflict and create healthy relationships, to value everyone's humanity and establish
050a respectful community. In the Everett Public Schools, we choose empathy. Thank you very much. Does anybody have any questions? Thank you so much for the presentation and the report. Questions? Ms. Garron. Okay. Thank you, Madam Chair. Wow. I can't tell you all how absolutely impressed I am by this presentation and the incredible work that you all do. You're all going to be the leaders of tomorrow, basically, and it starts here. You start with your schools. You look to the wider community. I love the presentation on the food insecurity in the city. That's real-world issues that affect everyone living in Everett. So, I mean, this is wonderful. I can't praise you guys enough. And, you know, I look forward to seeing what you do next. Thank you so much. Thank you, Ms. Karen. Any other questions,
051comments? Ms. Cornelio. Do you work at all with the council or anyone else in the city, or is it just in the schools? Do you, like, give any input? Because maybe councils or even us, we could help. It's just the PTO. Just the PTO? But in future reference, I'm just saying, there's numbers. Numbers help. You can create a bigger program. But I am so impressed by you. I feel like you could be our next politicians. I welcome you to run. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Cornelio. Ms. Babcock. I just wanted to talk about the food insecurity. You know, we talk a lot about this at, I work in the College of Nursing, and that's one of the big social determinants of health, and we're lucky to have Senator Sal DiDomenico, who supports food
052within our school system. So our kids, when you guys come to school, there are meals. You have breakfast and you have lunch every day. And I remember that one of the things that I had learned from Mr. Brady when... my daughter was at the Lafayette, is that when school is not in session is a very stressful time for families because what happens is that there are not school meals. So with your efforts of looking at food insecurity over there, maybe there's some legislation that needs to move forward to see what we can do in those time periods when school is not in session. Summer, obviously, we offer summer meals, but there are gaps. And that food insecurity, especially under the circumstances now, are making the situation worse. And the fact that you have empathy and
053observation and, like, tangible numbers really does mean something. Like, this is an important proposal, one that maybe needs to be bigger. Some other countries offer things where food at the end of the day is not thrown out. It is packaged up and it is sent home. And maybe that's something that, who knows, maybe we can make something really big. If something starts with empathy in the schools, it grows into analyzing our communities, and then we make an institutional... systematic change. I think it's a I'm blown away by the statistics. So if you guys are ever interested in future researches of public health, I highly recommend the major for you because that was very impressive. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Babcock. Ms. Barrows. I don't have a question. I just want to give a comment. You
054guys are inspiring, and it's amazing how much dedication, even going into the high school, and I feel like it's something for other schools and other students to look up to you guys. You guys are doing a great job. Thank you so much. Thank you, Ms. Barrows. Anyone else? Any further questions, comments? Yes. Joe D'Onofrio. As a Caverian Knight graduate, I'm very proud of these students. You know, I just wanted to say how proud I was because when was it, Mr. Spencer? I think 2009 maybe I graduated, but he was there and he helped me alongside and he did such a good job. And, you know, Mr. Donahue and Mr. Perfena, they helped me out to be a... a champion in basketball as well. But, you know, these kids deserve it all, really. I mean, they're
055really doing a good job. And to see Mr. Spencer and Mr. Nauman up there doing the right thing. I don't know what you're feeding them down at the Caverian, but keep feeding them that food because they're doing such a good job. Whatever's in that water, you know, so professional. That's all. Very good, very good. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. D'Onofrio. Ms. Cristiano. Yeah, I just wanted to echo the comments of my colleagues that I was kind of blown away by how you presented it and the issue that you selected, because it is a hot-button item, number one issue facing this country, actually, today. And for you young people to think about it and come up with ideas and solutions, it's... It just makes me feel good about where we're going, especially in this school system
056with our kids. You know, every two weeks I come up here and I'm constantly amazed at all the wonderful things that are going on in this school system. You know, they say education is the great equalizer, and we sure as heck. make education equal in these public schools. And that's a testament to this superintendent. I mean, he's been on board now for two years now, and I get a little emotional about it because... He really has transformed this school system and brought you all together to work together. We've started to see the kids' scores inch up. There's a lot more work to do, but we're on the right track. And it's just really nice to see. So thank you, kids. You were awesome. Thank you so much. Thank you, Ms. Cristiano. Emma. I just wanted
057to add on to what they all said because you guys did such a great job, including the high school students. They don't always want to hear from Mr. Spencer and Mr. Nauman, so the words coming from you guys is really important. And I see the great work that goes on every day at Everett High School, and I love hearing it from the elementary schools and the K-8 buildings. So thank you, guys. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Perry. If I may, from the chair, just echo Ms. Garron and Ms. Cristiano's sentiments that... You're doing great work, and I hope you realize that this is great work. What is setting you up for the future is right now, and what you just presented was amazing. It might not feel like that, but it's great. Our future is
058brighter because you will take the lead someday, and you're going to do a better job than we're doing. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. If there are no further questions or comments, could we excuse our guests? Make a motion to excuse our guests with comments. Second. Thank you, Mr. Norman. Mr. Spencer. Motion has been made by Ms. Barrows, seconded by Ms. Cornelio to excuse our guests. Roll call. Ms. Babcock. Yes. Ms. Barrows. Yes. Ms. Cornelio. Yes. Ms. Cristiano. Yes. Mr. D'Onofrio. Yes. Ms. Garron. Yes. Madam Chair. Yes. So moved, 7-0. So moved, 7-0. Motion passed. Thank you so much, everybody. Have a great evening. Superintendent, the next order of business. Number three, request acceptance of the local competency requirements of the Everett Public Schools. So under this tonight, we're asking for acceptance of
059our new competency requirements. And before I ask you to invite up our Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning and Student Success, Dr. Adams, and our Everett High School Principal, Dr. Braga, you're probably thinking... Didn't we already do this last year? The answer is yes. You approved our initial competency determination after the law was changed in November of 2024. But DESE, our Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, amended those regulations this past May, necessitating tonight's update for all of you to hear and to approve. The work that we did on refining our competency determination to meet DESE's new requirements and better serve our students is, of course, part of a larger and intentional effort to to expand the ways in which we prepare students for the various phases of education. We have convened a committee to
060explore a full-day pre-kidney garden program, a full-time early education program that has positives for both families and students alike, starting with teaching our students literacy and foundational skills that will set them up for success in elementary school and beyond. The committee is collecting data and considering staffing models and enrollment policies, which I will share the work of that committee as it progresses. Secondly, we're preparing some applications to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for the purposes of considering implementation of a dual immersion program beginning in 26-27. We are interested in a Portuguese-speaking program at the Devon School and a Spanish program at the Caverian School. These applications are an essential part of our process, but they're not necessarily binding. So this gives us an opportunity to really expand what we can do for our
061students so that every student, as I always say, every student has options, and these various programs will do that. The competency determination that you'll hear from Dr. Adams and Dr. Braga tonight is just that final step, as you probably all would agree, that the... MCAS should not have been the sole determinant of our students going on to college or beyond. And so the changes in the law reflect that. But with that change came the need to have a determination of competency because we certainly want to be sure that the school systems are providing what they should be to our young people so that they can go on to higher education, the working world, to the military, give them options that give them... some strength in the workforce or in the school that they choose to
062attend. So tonight, with your indulgence, we'll provide you with an overview of the competency determination that we have. decided upon for every public school, not too dissimilar from other school systems, and it is in compliance with the new regulations that are set forth by DESE, again, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. So with that, Madam Chair, I would ask you to invite Dr. Adams and Dr. Braga forward so they can conduct a presentation for all of you. Make a motion to invite Dr. Adams and Dr. Braga. Second the motion. Motion made by Ms. Barrow, seconded by Ms. Coronello, to invite Dr. Adams and Dr. Braga. Dr. Braga before us for the presentation. Roll call. Ms. Babcock? Yes. Ms. Barrows? Yes. Ms. Cornelio? Yes. Ms. Cristiano? Yes. Mr. D'Onofrio? Yes. Ms. Garron? Yes. Madam Chair?
063Yes. So moved, 7-0. So moved, 7-0. Motion passed. Welcome. We'll sit in the middle. I want to make one. Before you begin, I want to make one clarification. I said Devon School, but it is at the Parlin School that we're going to do that. I realized that I had recorded the wrong information. Sorry about that, but Dr. Adams will clarify that for all of you. Thank you. So as the superintendent said, we're here tonight to ask for your approval of new guidelines, new policy for competency determination. And this is a result of new guidance and requirements from the state that came out later in the spring. And this is now for the class of 2026. And hopefully the last time. Who knows? We may be back for more changes in the future. But this is
064now for the class of 2026 and as far as we know, moving forward. New language in the statute. Next slide. Students have to do two things. They have to show mastery. and satisfactory completion of the coursework. In order to show mastery, they have to show mastery of the content that was covered in MCAS, ELA, English, Language Arts, Math, and Science, and they have to satisfactory complete coursework given our current, that again was covered through the MCAS assessments. For English language arts, students have to show the equivalent of two years of English language arts. That's the ninth and the tenth grade. For math, they also have to show two years, Algebra I, Geometry, or here at the Everett High School, Math I, Integrated Math I, and Integrated Math II. And for science, they have to show
065one year, Biology, Chemistry, or Physics are allowed one year of a science course. For the class of 2027, you'll see that in the policy, there is a requirement for one year of a U.S. history course, and they have to show both two things, mastery of the content and completion of the coursework. Again, two things, show mastery and complete the coursework. The completing of the coursework means they've gotten a passing grade in the course. Mastery, there are several ways students can show mastery. And we try to broaden as much as we can. So we want to make sure to capture as many students as possible in order to meet the competency determination. The guidance allows us to use the final assessment for a course, so the final exam. So students have to pass the final exam.
066The guidance allows us to use a capstone or a portfolio. A portfolio, we've worked with the curriculum team here at the high school, Dr. Braga and I, and have outlined what a portfolio could look like. And that would be we've identified particular standards. Students are doing assignments, exams, quizzes all year long, and they're collecting that information to say. Hey, I met this standard with this exam, or I met this standard with this particular assignment. And so they have a body of work that shows they've mastered the content. A capstone will be slightly different. If needed, again, we give these options so we capture as many students as possible. A capstone is a project that shows students have mastered the majority of the standards or priority or key standards in those particular areas, and it shows
067through that work, through a project, through a written task, a written presentation task, that they have mastered the majority of that content. You'll also see in our policy, we've added a passing score on MCAS. Remember, these are all ORs. They don't have to do all of them. They only need to do one. And again, we added that so that we can encompass as many students as possible. We've talked about this, showing mastery. With Dr. Braga and the team here, we've developed a rubric for those capstones and portfolios. Students must achieve a rating of meeting or exceeding on that rubric. And students in these courses are collecting and starting to collect assignments to show that they have mastered the content. And to satisfactorily complete the coursework, students, according to the handbook, have to meet the grading
068policy and satisfactorily pass the course. So we talked a little bit about this earlier, but essentially these are the courses to identify competency determination. So two years of ELA, algebra or math one, geometry and math two. One year of biology, physics or chemistry. And then with the graduating class of 2027, it'll be one year of U.S. history. And just a couple items around English language learners and students with special education students. So ESL courses are going to reflect the mass ELA curriculum frameworks. And then for special education students, those competency determination courses are co-taught. And by allowing those courses, you'll see in the policy, we are counting them towards those requirements by making sure they're aligned. We're trying to make sure they're aligned with the curriculum frameworks and utilizing that high-quality instructional materials. Again, we're
069trying to encompass as many students as possible and make sure as many students are captured in our competency determination and are able to meet that requirement. to reach and get a high school diploma. And essentially what this slide is telling us is that students are required to meet both the competency determination requirements as well as the graduation requirements. So there you have listed our graduation requirements to receive a high school diploma. So students are required to meet both the competency determination requirements as well as the high school graduation requirements. And these are our next steps. So looking to inform students and families of the class of 2026 around the requirements for the competency determination in multiple languages, review any students who may not have met the competency determination by passing MCAS to advise students on
070their next steps, and finally to continue to identify students who may not have met competency determination in past years and inform them of the process of achieving a high school diploma. You'll also see in the policy some other areas for students who arrive, say, after freshman or sophomore year. There's a process for that. There's a process for transcript review for those students. as well as details also around encompassing students who might have more significant special needs, working with the student's IEP team to make sure they're also able to meet the competency determination and the graduation requirements as well. We're glad to take any questions you might have. Thank you very much. Any questions? Ms. Babcock. So, of course, I have a few. So, quickly. Just out of curiosity, of course, the state has curriculum requirements
071for certain information, for certain classes, et cetera, et cetera. I know that we have a lot of, like, for example, there will be multiple Algebra I math classes or multiple geometry or math II courses. And, you know... Even at UMass, there are certain classes that have certain standards, things that are supposed to happen in that class. How will there be consistent standards between, say, Algebra 1 with Mr. Smith or Ms. Jones, for example? No real names were used attributed here. No, I'll be happy to answer that. So we've worked directly with our curriculum directors, so they'll work with their teachers to ensure that the curriculum is aligned and the classes are aligned. More and more of our subject areas are using high-quality instructional materials, which, especially in math, will align with the curriculum standards directly.
072And looking at the portfolio guidance that we put together in the core content areas, those key standards are a part of that piece for the competency determination. So, for example, like in the math, to show that they've achieved a certain number of things, would each class have, like, say... Three quizzes and two main exams something like that so they'd all have this equal a number of assessments Yeah, it's not like you have a different portfolio in one class in the difference. It's common Christ there may be slight differences Maybe they're students who show it in a different way, but there's we're working towards consistency And what that portfolio looks like and as Dr.. Braga said our courses are using high quality instructional materials They are all aligned to the curriculum frameworks. Of course there are
073differences in how teachers are approaching the content and they're adding their own creativity, but there is consistency in how and what students are learning. And we're working towards as departments and at the high school and in the K-8 around common practices when we've talked about that in the past, we're all working toward best practices across literacy and math across all our courses. Excellent. For the capstones option or the project option, which I love. I love that concept because the truth is doing a larger project like this will prepare them for the future in better ways because they're comprehensive. It's not just tick the box, take the test, and move on. It's comprehensive. You're thinking of something bigger or global. Freshmen do sort of capstone projects in freshman composition. They do that in intermediate composition in
074college, and they use it in a... When I got my master's degree, I had to do a capstone. I'm like, ooh, capstones. So my question for you is, looking at all the courses that you have on the list, are capstone projects for math, science, English, and history, or is it more for the English-slash-history-based courses? So our intent was that first we want to make sure students pass the final exam. If they don't pass the final exam, we'll have this portfolio that all students are doing so that if you don't pass the final exam, you've got that portfolio right in your back pocket to slide in. The capstone is a... something that the high school has been working towards. And in the pathways, you're more likely to see some of those capstone projects. We added that
075capstone project as a component for students who may not have done the portfolio, may not have had a passing grade, and need an additional way to show their mastery of the content. That is something we're going to... After you approve today, we're going to have to flesh out further, trying to identify how many kids need that capstone and how do we develop that further. Although I will also say that at the high school, there's very strong interest, and it's very clear in the pathways that we have capstones, that they're leading kids up towards the creation of larger projects, about creating more of a culture of capstones across more courses here at the high school, work in the long term that the curriculum direction directors as well as Dr. Braga and I are interested in further
076developing. It's essentially another way to show mastery. So it's another option if, you know, in a case that the portfolio or passing the final exam doesn't work out, the capstone is available. And it is something when we meet regularly with directors, we have that conversation. What will the capstone look like in English and math, similar to what we did with the work with the portfolio? Are the portfolio, so I'll go back to the sort of original question. So it sounds like the portfolio and the capstone are two different options. And is the rubric? Are they for the portfolios for all of the subject areas? For the CD requirement, yeah. For the CD requirement courses, that's what the portfolios align to. What does CD abbreviate mean? Competency determination. Competency determination. I apologize. Okay, no problem. I'm
077struggling with the abbreviations. The acronyms. So it is two different things? Are they two different rubrics, or is it sort of a... Yeah, so they're two different items. So the portfolio is essentially a collection of work to show mastery and key standards. The capstone, similar. You're looking at key standards, but it's a project that identifies mastery of a broad range of key standards. So for any of the subject areas? For the subject areas that are required for the competency determination. remember, which are 9th and 10th grade ELA, the equivalent of 9th and 10th grade ELA, the equivalent of Algebra I, Geometry, Math I and II, and one science course, Biology, Chemistry, or Physics, as well as U.S. History, starting with the class of 2027. So history is, that was the next question. History is a
078new one of those MCAS graduating requirements. For the competency determination. For the competency determination. Not really a bad idea. to have a U.S. history competition. We saw a great example of civic engagement this evening. Yes. And then the last question I had, which was on page three of this handout about the ELL learners, what does the acronym WIDA mean, or W-I-D-A? You're going to catch me on that one. It's the assessment that you did catch me on, that district assessment. Oh, the W is kind of, no one's asked me that in a long time. Is Mr. Brady here? Not Mr. Brady, Mr. Lynch. I think he actually explained that to me before. It's the assessment that's used. It's access. It's the assessment that's used for the assessment of our English language learners. And WIDA is
079like the company. And it started out in Wisconsin. So I want to say the W is Wisconsin, but I don't think it is. I'm pretty sure it's like Y. It's World. World. So it started out west. And it's the company that sort of develops a consortium of states that work together to develop that English language learner assessment. Language acquisition standards and the access is the test to assess language acquisition yearly. So I guess the last question which somebody might ask, is there any major changes from last year other than it looks like history was added in there and now you've added some new options of the... Basically, there's four options to be able to meet that graduation requirement now. Passing all the courses, proving mastery, the portfolio, the capstone, and frankly just meeting the expectation
080mark. MS. The portion around showing mastery is different. The State has added that component and required more of districts to show, like, you can't just pass the course. You have to show in some way that you've mastered the content and the standards. And we've broadened it as much as we can, given the guidance from the State, to capture as many kids as possible. I think it's wonderful. I think that it gives more options for different learners, and it's less intimidating. You know, for the person who loves a multiple-choice test, that's great. That was not me. So for the person who likes to write or a capstone or a project, that was me. I like that second option. I like those options. I do think they're more encompassing. So thank you so much. I know there
081was a lot of questions, but I'm done. And maybe someone else can ask. Thank you, Ms. Mapcock. Ms. Cornelio, then Ms. Garrett. So what you're actually doing is trying your hardest to make sure that every student gets the best chance to pass, right? Because everybody's a different learner. And in high school, we know sometimes they're not as good of a learner. I was a para for over 20 years, and I volunteered for like 10 years. So I've dealt with so many different students. And some of them that... Some teachers thought they wouldn't amount to anything actually have amazing jobs today. So everyone's different and they learn at their own space. And I'm very happy with how many options you have and what you're doing to make sure that every student has that chance. I admire
082that and I thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Cornelio. Ms. Guerin. Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I guess just a comment there. I think the one thing that always sort of bothered me about the MCAS is that it felt like the students always had to work hard to complete their coursework, to pass the test, and then on top of that have to study for this standardized test, you know, in order to graduate. And it seemed like, I mean... technically the coursework should stand up on its own, I would think. And so, you know, you giving these different options and different opportunities, it's a little more individualized. I don't know if you can answer this, but I'm curious to hear about what projects maybe the staff is working on to help with. I mean, I
083would just love to hear what kind of projects you'd be having the students doing, and maybe you're still working that out, but I'm just very interested to hear about what kind of projects would help the students graduate. Yeah, for sure. So, you know, once, obviously, this is approved, that's how we'll... go back and we'll sit with our directors to develop what that looks like, specifically with the capstone option. What does that look like for English language arts? What does that look like for math one? What does that look like for biology? As well as continue to work through our portfolio. So we spent a good amount of time on that portfolio rubric, met with the directors, and they developed their own content-based portfolio based on an exemplar. So definitely once it gets approved, we'll continue
084to work on it and be able to come back next time to share out some of those great projects that become capstones. And as you know, in U.S. history, the state added the requirement of a civics project, and so that's a perfect place to use that civics project as a way for students to showcase their mastery of the content. Yes, I agree, definitely. Thank you very much. I think that the students, the freshmen, they're all set. They met the mastery. I think you'll see that this is a very good way, and I think Ms. Karen mentioned it, it's a good way to capture all the benefits that our students have and give them that opportunity to move on from Everett High School, and certainly all high schools across Massachusetts are doing that. WIDA stands for
085World Class Instructional Design and Assessment, and it was developed out in Wisconsin, as Dr. Adams said. So with that information, I'd ask for you to accept this. as our competency determination for every public schools. Make a motion to accept this framework. Second. Motion has been made by Ms. Babcock, seconded by Ms. Barrows to accept the competency determination update. Roll call. Just kidding. Make a motion to excuse our guests. Second. Motion has been made by Ms. Barrows, seconded by Ms. Cristiano to excuse our guests. Roll call. Miss Babcock. Yes. Miss Barrows. Yes. Miss Cornelio. Yes. Miss Cristiano. Yes. Mr. D'Onofrio. Yes. Miss Garron. Yes. Madam Chair. Yes. So moved. 7-0. So moved. Motion passed. Thank you very much. Roll call on the update motion, please. Miss Babcock. Yes. Miss Barrows. Yes. Miss Cornelio. Yes. Miss Cristiano.
086Yes. Mr. D'Onofrio. Yes. Ms. Garron? Yes. Madam Chair? Yes. So moved, 7-0. So moved, 7-0. Motion passed. Superintendent, the next order of business. Room numeral 7, item submitted by school committee members. Item 1, introduction of the 2025-2026 Student Advisory Council, offered by Ms. Barrows. Ms. Barrows. Hello. I just wanted to invite our members of our Tide. Council is led by Mrs. McWilliam and includes 9th and 12th grade class officers and a liaison for the school committee. I've had the privilege of working with them, the students last year and then the students this year our first few meetings and I have to say it's been a privilege because they're so inspiring how much they're devoted to working with their classmates and trying to engage the middle school students as well. You guys will accept, invite our
087student members. Motion to accept the invitees. Okay, second. Motion has been made by Ms. Cornelio, seconded by Ms. Guerin, to invite the Student Advisory Council up, led by Ms. McWilliams. Roll call. Ms. Babcock. Yes. Ms. Barrows. Yes. Ms. Cornelio. Yes. Ms. Cristiano. Yes. Mr. D'Onofrio. Yes, miss Karen. Yes, madam chair. Yes, so move 7-0 so move 7-0 motion passed welcome Does miss Perry's change her hat for a minute? I know my classmates are gonna introduce themselves. I'm just moving seats quickly, but Me and these ladies work alongside each other I do deliver the report to you guys at each meeting But there's a lot of background work that goes along with each of these ladies in our freshman Representative Nicole, she's not here with us today, but we work with Ms. McWilliam and our fellow
088students to culminate the report together and find real student voices that are able to get across what great things are happening at the school that we're able to include in our report. And we're also very grateful that we have Ms. Barrows to work with and be our liaison at our meetings because that is a great way for us to really talk to you guys. personally, so they want to introduce themselves. Hello, my name is Ella Comtelli-Jean, but I prefer to be called Ella, and I am the sophomore representative. Hello, my name is Mia Allen, and I am the representative for 11th grade, or the junior class. Hello, my name is Leandra Pinero. I'm a student representative with Emma for the senior class, and I just wanted to say thank you for having us here, and
089I really appreciate to have this position to be advocating for myself as well as other students for the Everett Public Schools. Questions? Could we identify the freshman? Nicole Mitchell. Nicole Mitchell, thanks. I want to thank these ladies because, as Ms. Perry said, they really do work very well together. They bring information forward. They're very engaged in their respective classes and, of course, across the group of them that come together on a regular basis. I know they represent all the good that here in Everett High School and certainly through our K-8 buildings. So, again, I always say it and I mean it. We have very good kids. They do good things each and every day. And these formalized clubs and organizations are a way for them to really have a true student voice. And having sat
090in on many different clubs over the past two years, I can say with all honesty that we do have good kids that stay involved. And here's a small representation of those by each of the classes. And, again, we miss Nicole, but we know she's here in spirit too. Ms. Babcock. I'd just like to wish you all congratulations and don't underestimate your role as the student advisory to the school committee. It is an important role. You are the voice of your classmates. And if I'm correct, under the rules, I don't want to say rules, but they should be able to come and speak to us every other month. There's a bimonthly law, yes. Yes, there's a bimonthly law. So we'd love to have you come. I know Crystal would love to have you come again and
091come and share your ideas. We had, I know, a meeting. It was a while ago. And the students brought forth some issues like, for example, they were worried about the stairs outside and the railings being unstable. And so we're just happy to have you here. And this is a safe space for you to come and talk about your concerns. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Babcock. I do have a question from the chair, if you don't mind. How do you gather all your information for your report? So we all work together. They're a great group of girls here, but we work to not only represent ourselves, but everybody in our school. So we're able to talk to other students, teachers, staff members, just to get a sense of what's really going on in the building. Because
092we are here to represent our students, but we want to know fully what's going on. And so with the help of all of them, we gather information, and then I'm able to present it to you all. Yes. I also kind of go out of my way to ask students if they have any concerns or questions, if they want to let us know something. Just so if I see it's something that's common to bring it up, I'll tell Emma, I'll tell Mia and Ella, and I'll tell Ms. McWilliam as well, and Dr. Robert. I'll just kind of try my best to hear everybody out and see what the different concerns are and things like that. I also do the same thing. When I first got into the position that I was in, the first thing I
093asked, which was during lunch, like, what do you guys want to see? Like, what kind of change do you want to see here at Everett High School? Because we're not just here. We're here as a student, and we're here to not only, like, represent. We're here to represent ourselves, too, to make ourselves comfortable here in the Everett High School. So whenever I got into this position, I asked a specific group of kids, friend groups, students within our grades, like, what do you want to see specifically so we can make you? students at Everett High School more comfortable and more engaged. Yes. I appreciate all you're in there. I want to add too that it's been great because I think it's the students are more apt to talk to fellow students if there's something that they
094want change in the building and then to work with you guys and them just like discussing like different topics and they're all just working together and like so sophisticated to like them want to come up here. It's been great to see. I just wanted to say that it's been a pleasure to represent my class. I feel like my class is really closely connected. We'll just be in the halls, and then we'll engage in conversation. And people will just come to me, and they'll tell me their concerns. And I just really love that we are a tight-knitted community, and it just makes my role as a representative so much more easier because of how well-connected we are. And in this mix is Ms. McWilliam back there smiling. She does a great job with our students. So
095thank you, Ms. McWilliam. Thank you everyone. Ms. Cornelio, did you have something to add? Yes, I just wanted to say, our eyes, ears, and you said it, they're more apt, your own age group, they're going to come to you before they'll come to an adult, and that's awesome. So any concerns, we'd love to hear them, whatever. Thank you so much. Of course. Thank you, Ms. Cornelio. Ms. Babcock. I just want to let you know that the Student Advisory Committee actually like... made an effective change at one point. They were using intervention period for some sort of extra testing, and the Student Advisory Committee at the time was like, no. And they gathered their thoughts together. They got statements and surveys, and they made a legit case to change it, and it was gone. It lasted
096like a month. They were like, no, we want to use our intervention to meet with our teachers or to do our work and not do more testing. And so, you know, don't underestimate the power of your voice and what you can accomplish. Because from what you heard tonight from our freshman class and their presentation on food insecurity, that was compelling. So you guys sound like you can be compelling. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Babcock. Ms. Farris? Ms. Christiana. You know, I'd also like to thank you, young ladies, but also to be remiss if this committee didn't thank our colleague, Ms. Barrows, for all. She really enjoys this, and she feels very passionate about it, and it's just so nice to see. Thank you all. Is there a motion to excuse our guests? Make a motion
097to excuse our guests with the customary things. Motion made by Ms. Babcock, seconded by Ms. Cristiano to excuse our guests with a customary thanks. Roll call. Ms. Babcock? Yes. Ms. Barrows? Yes. Ms. Cornelio? Yes. Ms. Cristiano? Yes. Mr. D'Onofrio? Yes. Ms. Garron? Yes. Madam Chair? Yes. So move 7-0. 7-0. Motion passed. Thank you, everybody. Thank you for having us. Thank you so much. Superintendent, the next order of business. Roman numeral 8, subcommittee reports. Item 1, finance and negotiations subcommittee, Monday, November 3rd, 2025. Madam Chairman. Ms. Christiana. I'd like to make a motion to accept the finance and negotiations subcommittee meeting minutes, waive the reading, and... Place it on file. Second. Motion has been made by Ms. Cristiano, seconded by Ms. Cornelio, to accept the Finance and Negotiation Subcommittee Report for Monday, November 3, 2025. Wave
098the reading and place on file. Roll call. Ms. Babcock? Yes. Ms. Barrows? Yes. Ms. Cornelio? Yes. Ms. Cristiano? Yes. Mr. D'Onofrio? Yes, miss Karen. Yes, madam chair. Yes, so move 7-0 so moved 7-0 motion passed superintendent the next order of business Roman numeral nine bills and payroll Madam chairman miss Christiana. I'd like to make a motion to submit bills and payroll in the amount of two million one hundred and ninety eight thousand four hundred and seventy dollars and twenty seven cents Motion has been made by miss Christiana seconded by my sparrows to submit bills and payroll For November 17th, 2025, in the amount of $2,198,470.27, roll call. Ms. Babcock? Yes. Ms. Barrows? Yes. Ms. Cornelio? Yes. Ms. Cristiano? Yes. Mr. D'Onofrio? Yes, miss Karen. Yes, madam chair. Yes, so move 7-0 7-0 motion passed madam
099chairman. Mr I'd like to pay bills and payroll in the amount of two million one hundred ninety eight thousand four hundred and seventy dollars and twenty seven seconds Motion made by Ms. Cristiano, seconded by Ms. Cornelio, to pay bills and payroll for November 17, 2025 in the amount of $2,198,470.27. Roll call. Ms. Babcock? Yes. Ms. Barrows? Yes. Ms. Cornelio? Yes. Ms. Cristiano? Yes. Mr. D'Onofrio? Yes, miss Karen. Yes madam chair. Yes, so move 7-0 so moved 7-0 motion passed superintendent the next order business Roman numeral 10 unfinished business there is none before you Roman numeral 11 new business There is none before you Roman numeral 12 hearings There are none scheduled Roman numeral 13 matters for executive session item number one to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting
100may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining and litigating position of the public body, and the Chair so declares, pursuant to Mass General Law, Chapter 30A, Section 21A, Subparagraph 3, to wit, to Heliani et al. v. Everett School Committee et al. I make a motion to enter Executive Session and adjourn from session. I second the motion. Motion has been made by Ms. Barrows, seconded by Ms. Cornelio. To enter executive session and adjourn in executive session to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position of the public body and the chair so declares pursuant to Mass General Law Chapter 30A, Section 21A3, to wit, to Heliani et al. versus Everett School Committee et al. With invitations to our legal team,
101Attorney Galvin, Attorney Barringer, Attorney Held, and also attorney Brackett Smith. And we are extending an invitation to our members elect to observe only as well. Roll call. Ms. Babcock. Yes. Ms. Barrows. Yes. Ms. Cornelio. Yes. Ms. Cristiano. Yes. Mr. D'Onofrio. Yes. Ms. Garron. Yes. Madam Chair. Yes. So moved 7-0. So moved 7-0. Motion passed. The time is 7.55 p.m. We have entered executive session.