Under Superintendent Dr. Catherine Latham’s direction and backing from Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy and fellow school committee members, Lynn schools started spending $3 million beginning in 2014 on improving curriculums for reading and related subjects. Item file photo
Lynn School Superintendent Dr. Catherine Latham is a numbers person, and the latest numbers for student test scores and dropout rates give Latham plenty of reasons to smile.
The latest assessment scores for Lynn public school students tripled the number of schools ranked as Level One from two in 2015 to six this year. Thanks to improved student proficiency in reading and mathematics, schools like Pickering Middle School and Harrington Elementary School saw dramatic test score improvements from Level Three to Level One status.
Lynn is ranked as a Level Three district among large urban school systems grouped into their own category by state educators. But that mid-range ranking does not tell the story of improvements and academic strides made in Lynn schools.
Under Latham’s direction and backing from Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy and fellow school committee members, Lynn schools started spending $3 million beginning in 2014 on improving curriculums for reading and related subjects.
Truckloads of boxes filled with books arrived at local schools with as many as 27 boxes dropped off in each classroom. Knowing that students for testing purposes need to be proficient in mathematics as well as English language arts, Latham and fellow administrators launched innovative math programs with names like “First in Math” and “Go Math.”
School officials didn’t simply throw shiny new books and fancy math study programs at students and turn their backs. They introduced a battery of academic intervention programs designed to closely monitor student progress. At the first sign of a student faltering or falling behind, teachers provided after-school help.
The payoff from spending millions of dollars and two years on academic improvement is measurably dramatic. Eight years’ worth of test numbers shows how Lynn public schools have narrowed the gap between local test scores and statewide average scores in all tested subjects.
The public school dropout rate for 2015 stands at 3.8 percent compared to 5.4 percent five years ago. Deputy School Superintendent Dr. Patrick Tutwiler said local dropout prevention programs are making strides in giving students a reason to stay in school. The reasons vary from student to student, but as Tutwiler noted, keeping students from dropping out starts well before high school.
The important point to never forget about the Lynn schools is that their hallways and classrooms fill up every September with children from countries around the world and from families with sometimes serious problems. People, not machines and books, educate these children and, hopefully, set them on the path to becoming productive adults.
Under Latham’s direction, the public schools also assembled a social and emotional education program built around social workers with help from the Essex County District Attorney, Lynn Police Department and local organizations, including Project COPE. At the center of the program stand teachers who draw on compassion and a love for their job to help kids overcome tough family situations.
The latest test score results tell a success story about student academic improvement, but the real success story in Lynn is about school leaders who took the time to design and execute a plan to improve local schools by improving student success.
Lynn parents have a lot to be thankful for when it comes to the schools their kids walk into every day.