SCHOOLS(continued)
The program is customized to each school’s unique needs and presentation can reflect school organization, school terminology, school colors and logo.
“Since it’s a Web-based program, teachers can use it anytime and anywhere to access curriculum,” said Santapaola.
The Atlas system was chosen after a year-long search for the company that would best match the needs of the Wakefield school district, she said, adding that Atlas provided the most flexibility.
A training session for a core group of teachers was held Aug. 17-19 and additional training will be held over the course of the next three years. Teachers have unanimously agreed that the program is easy to use and coined an acronym for it - ATACC. The letters stand for accountability, transparency, accessibility, consistency and collaboration.
The reason for adopting the Atlas system, said Santapaola, is that everyone will have access to all curriculum across the district and will allow for cross-curricular planning and collaboration among teachers.
Until now, the system has operated using traditional hard copies of maps that could be uploaded to the district’s Web site but did not necessarily allow for easy updating and collaboration. “Curriculum binders were used to hold curriculum materials and teachers needed to house grade levels within the binders. The new system allows teachers to navigate grade levels much more easily through the online system,” she said.
As an example, when teachers are preparing for MCAS testing, they can look back to see when students last studied a given subject. Fifth-grade students facing a test on weather might not have studied the subject since third grade. The Atlas system will help teachers analyze where content has been taught and helps identify if there are any gaps in instruction.
With a three-year rollout, Wakefield’s Curriculum Director declined to say what the program will cost the school district since the contract is being finalized. Santapaola did said that the program was “the most competitive” compared to similar products. Grant funding was used to provide the training for teachers this summer.
The 2010-11 school year will begin with curriculum mapping for science courses and progress to other subjects over the next several years.
Santapaola said the adoption of the program was the 2010 school year’s biggest initiative in terms of curriculum. She will be system administrator, overseeing the project.
In addition to the core leadership team training held in August, 50 more teachers will be trained in November for a total of 90 trained for the 2011-12 school year. The remaining teachers will be trained in 2013.
On other curriculum news, Santapaola said that the standards-based report card system is ready to be rolled out in September in the elementary schools. When asked for an example of what a standard based report card would include, as opposed to the previous report cards, Santapaola provided the following example: “In the area of math, instead of a letter grade a first-grade student’s report card would include the state standard around ‘Number Sense,’ which may include ‘can count to 100.’ Students would then be assessed over the course of the year as to how close they are to meeting this end-of-year benchmark or standard,” said Santapaola.
Because of the adoption of the new standards-based system, the previous A-B-C lettering system will no longer be used at the elementary level.
“Most towns and cities are moving toward the standards-based system because the new system gives parents more information. If a child gets a C on his report card in Social Studies, it does not tell a parent what the child knows in the area of Social Studies but using a standards-based report card parents will find specific information about what the child is expected to know and can do. For example, if the standard states the child can name and locate the continents and oceans this provides more information about where the child stands in terms of learning,” said Santapaola. “The new standards-based report card will provide parents with much more information about what their children are learning.”
              

POLICE(continued)

According to the report, one of the men was believed to have a gun tucked into the waistband of his jeans.
Seconds after Silva arrived, he was joined by Patrolmen Matthew Maglio and Sgt. Steven Skory. The suspects were then spotted running toward Crescent Street and Crescent Hill.
The three police officers chased the men up Crescent Hill and caught up with Philip Carter. Silva then ordered him to the ground after spotting the weapon in his pants. Carter denied any wrongdoing and further denied knowing the other two men.
While Silva was questioning Carter, Maglio and Skory set up a perimeter around Crescent Hill and caught up with Seaburg and Peter Carter.
A search of Philip Carter’s pockets turned up the white work gloves the Salem Street resident had seen one of the men wearing while crawling out the window of the Salem Street home.
After being arrested the three men were taken to the police station and booked. They were later arraigned in Malden District Court.
Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Keeley will prosecute the case in Middlesex Superior Court.
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Police business on Tuesday beginning at:
• 2:11 p.m. a Thistledale Road resident reported the theft of items from her home. Details were not available.
• 5 p.m. a Reading resident was issued a summons to appear in court for operating an uninsured and unregistered motor vehicle.
• 5:15 p.m. an Alyssa Drive resident reported that someone vandalized his home. Details were not available.
• 9:03 p.m. a group of youths were sent on their way after they were found trespassing in Spaulding Street Playground on Spaulding Street.
• 9:24 p.m. police went to a home on Heritage Lane after the resident said there was a bat in her house.
• 9:29, 9:57 and 10:45 p.m. large groups of youths were sent on their way after suspicious activity was reported on Lakeside Avenue, McDonald’s Restaurant at 572 Main St. and DelCarmine Street. At 10:47 p.m. police were unable to locate a group of youths who were reportedly throwing rocks at a Kendrick Road home. There was no property damage.
• 10:14 p.m. a caller reported that someone stole a laptop computer from his desk at Harvard Mill Square. Details were not available.
Today at:
• 1:21 a.m. a disturbance by a group of youths was reported in the parking lot of Sovereign Bank on Main Street. The youths were gone on arrival of police.