001So, as you know, each month we highlight a specific school in district. Tonight is our next to the last school spotlight. This evening, Devon School would would like to come forward. It is a therapeutic day school, which all of you know, with talented teachers, professionals, and clinicians provide a welcoming and inclusive environment for our students. We've also prepared a video that our principal will tee up in her discussion. So, with that, Madam Chair, I'd ask you to invite Principal Tiffany Boyack up and to come forward and make a presentation. So moved, Madam Chair. Second. Motion is made and seconded to have a Good evening, School Committee members and members of the Everett community. My name is Tiffany Boyack, and I'm the principal of the Devon School here in Everett. I have been part of the
002Everett Public Schools for the past 15 years, serving as a special educator, classroom teacher, assistant principal, and now as the leader of the Devon School. It is truly a privilege to be here tonight to share more about our school community. Given the unique needs and strengths of our students, we chose a different approach for this presentation and created a short video highlighting some of our incredible students and the meaningful experiences taking place at the Devens each day. Before we begin, I would like to share a little bit more about our school. The Devon School is a public day school where students are referred through a collaborative placement process. We are incredibly fortunate that the Everett that here in Everett, we are able to educate and support students within our community rather than referring them out
003of district. In addition, the Devon School also serves students tuitioned in from neighboring communities through the same referral process. Our small student to staff ratio has a tremendous impact on student success. At The Devon School, we prioritize building strong relationships while supporting students through co-regulation and de-escalation strategies grounded in TCIS practices. TCIS, also known as Therapeutic Crisis Intervention for Schools, is a trauma-informed intervention model that is used to support students with emotional, behavioral, communication, or sensory needs by helping staff respond calmly, consistently, and therapeutically. This year, much of our work has focused on creating a strong sense of belonging for our students, staff, and families. Each morning after announcements, we begin our day by saying, "You belong here." A phrase that reflects the heart of our school community and can also be found on the
004bracelets in front of you this evening. Another major focus this year has been uplifting student voice. We established a principal's cabinet as an opportunity for our high school students to engage in meaningful conversations with staff and administration about building based activities, initiatives, and community building. This has empowered our students to take an active role in shaping their experience and leading positive change within our school. We hope you enjoy this short video and gain a deeper understanding of the joy, growth, and sense of community that makes The Devon School such a special place. Hi, I'm Vivian Wanjiru, principal of The Devon School here in Haverhill. The Devon School is a co-educational therapeutic day school serving students in kindergarten through grade 12, or ages 5 through 22, who qualify for special education services and need a more
005intensive therapeutic environment. My name is Lorenzo Pereira. And um there are many reasons why I love going to school at the Devens. I love the Devens school because the teachers are very nice. I also enjoy the school store that I I get to earn tickets and new toys to open. And the principal's cabinet has just been put in charge of running the school store. We hand out tickets, which is what we use to buy stuff in the school store. And we purchase items from for the school store for the kids to buy with their tickets that they earn. Students can earn tickets through random acts of kindness or arriving at school on time. Hi, my name is Kelly Jakes. I am a kindergarten through grade two teacher here at the Devens, and one of the
006reasons why I love being a teacher at this school is the ability to provide equity to all students with a variety of different needs. Hi, my name's Solanda Massino. I'm a K through two teacher here at the Devens. One reason I love working here at the Devens is the sense of collaboration and diversity throughout the school. Hi, my name is Shawn Lennon, and I'm one of the behavior interventionists at the Devens school. My role at the school is to support students during their time of need, no matter what that may look like. One of the most rewarding parts of my job is building relationships with students each day and seeing the positive impact those connections have on them over time. If you ask me what I love about the Devens school, I would tell you
007the community. Every staff member knows every student by name. Truly living out Everett Public Schools' motto of every voice, every story, every day. Mhm. Very nice. Thank you. Thank you. Does anyone have any questions of the principal while she's here? Ms. Godello. Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, through you, to our principal. I remember when the school was opened for special education. And I remember going there on a tour. I was I think I was on the council. It could have been the Board of Aldermen and we had a vote on it and I remember going there. And then I remember us being invited back again once the students were in there. I walked through that school feeling like every teacher, every staff member had a superpower. They were so far above anything I had
008ever thought about being for myself because you have such a gift. You have a gift to do what you do, to bring our children to a point of happiness, inclusiveness, just all all the things that we all want to feel. You're able to do that and not everybody can. It's a gift. And to me, that gift is a superpower. So, I just want to say I am so proud that we have the Daniels here. And so proud of the staff there and the staff that has been going through this for years because it's not easy. No teaching job is easy. I think we'll all agree to that. But what you do is so special. And I just hold you in the highest esteem and want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.
009Thank you so much. Well, the staff are amazing at the Daniels. So, I would agree with that. Thank you. Ms. Babcock. I just wanted to compliment you on the principal's cabinet because it looks even better than Chuck-E-Cheese. It's like lowest dollar low Chuck-E-Cheese, which is even better. Um if people would like to donate a few small gifts, prizes for your children, how could we go about doing something like that? I know you don't want to just end up with a bunch of stuff that you don't need. But if there's a list or an idea of things that might be useful for your principal's cabinet, if you could let us know, that would be lovely. That would be great. So, you heard from Christian Ventullo on the video, who is our high school um president. So,
010they have a budget that they're working through, and they have a list of items through Amazon, but I would be happy to share that with you if um that would be okay. That would be lovely. Um I know that when I visited the school in Thanksgiving, I could see how calm it is in the midst of a lot of things going on and different personalities, but I just really liked the staff dynamic and that sense of community between the students and the staff and the staff with each other. So, um looking at the video, the school looks incredible. Could you tell us about the little path that the student was walking on and what its purpose might be in the video? Sure. So, part of what we're trying to do is use the physical spaces
011of the Devens to make it more inclusive, and one of um in that hallway, we've created a sensory walk. So, it's an opportunity for students that need to get their wiggles out or kind of um reground their body. It's you know, it's the first thing that they're able to do when they come in the building in the morning, and then it's available to them throughout the day. It looks like um like cherry blossoms on the ground. So, I I was wondering if it was something like that. It It looks great. Everybody should have a place to get their wiggles out. So, thank you for the good work that your team and yourself are doing. You can see um the difference. So, the outside of the school also looks great, Mr. Hart and Mr. We're still
012working on it. More to come. It looks Okay, so thank you so much. Miss Perry. I just wanted to speak on a personal experience that I have with the Devens school that was really special to me, and I like think about all the time. During this year's Rolling Rally, we were able to go to the Devon School, which we haven't done in the past. But not only we do do we stop outside like we do at every other school, the students who weren't comfortable going outside or had they just weren't able to. We were able to go inside and visit them and I think that really speaks to the inclusivity at the Devon School and how it was so special for us to see them and how excited they were to see us and the
013students and the little mascots we have with us. So it really was a great time and I know us high school students, we remember that and remember how happy and inclusive the Devon School is each day. Ms. Boyadjieff, you have some staff here if you'd like to introduce them. >> Thank you. So joining me tonight is Diana Jackson, one of our teachers. She teaches third and fourth grade. Mr. Neilan is our head teacher. And then the queen of the Devon School, the my administrative assistant, Ms. Sullivan. Thank you for being here with us tonight, too. Thank you all for being here this evening. Any other questions of our Devon School principal? I'll make a motion to excuse our guest with the customary thanks. >> Second. Motion is made and seconded to excuse our guest guest
014with the customary thanks. Clerk, call the roll. Ms. Babcock. Yes. Ms. Cardello. >> Yes. Ms. Garen. Yes. Ms. Hurley. Yes. Mayor Van Camp. >> Yes. Madam Chair. Yes. >> So moved, 6-0. So moved, 6-0. You have excused our guest with the customary thanks and at this time I would ask the superintendent to return to the regular order of business.