December 2016
Dear Parent or Guardian:
We are pleased to enclose a 2-page overview of our school’s “report card”. Report cards answer important
questions about a school’s overall performance and contain specific information about student enrollment and
teacher qualifications, student achievement, accountability, how a school is performing relative to other schools in
the district and the state, and the progress made toward narrowing proficiency gaps for different groups of
students.
The 2016 complete school report card for Day can be accessed here.
Cover letter for report: Day 2016 Report Card Cover letter.pdf
The PDF Overview file here: Day 2016 Report Card Overview.pdf
In this report you will find the following important information about our school:
Student enrollment and teacher quality: This section of the report card provides information about the students
and teachers in our school as compared to the district and the state.
Assessment results: This section of the report shows how our students are performing on the Massachusetts
Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) for Science and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for
College and Careers (PARCC) tests for English Language Arts and Mathematics as compared to the district and
the state.
School and district accountability information: This section of the report contains three important pieces of
information:
· Accountability and Assistance Levels: Schools and districts are placed into one of five accountability and
assistance levels (1-5), with the highest performing in Level 1 and lowest performing in Level 5. Our
school has been placed into Level 2 because although we met our proficiency gap narrowing target for all
students, we did not meet our target for high needs students.
· School Percentiles: A school percentile between 1 and 99 is reported for most schools. This number shows
the overall performance of our school relative to other schools that serve the same or similar grades. Our
school percentile is 94. This means that our school is performing higher than 94 percent of the middle
schools in the state.
· Progress and Performance Index (PPI): The PPI is a number that indicates our school’s progress toward
narrowing proficiency gaps, or, in other words, helping all students reach proficiency and be prepared for
success after high school. Massachusetts has set a goal of reducing proficiency gaps by half between the
years 2011 and 2017. For a group of students to be considered to be making sufficient progress toward
narrowing proficiency gaps, its cumulative PPI must be 75 or higher.
To improve student achievement in our school, a few of the ongoing strategies that we are pursuing
are:
· Day has a Response to Intervention model that identifies three levels of support services for
students. Level 1 supports all students and ensures each child receives high-quality instruction
and curricula during the normal course of any given school day. Level 2 is an additional layer of
support for students who need interventions in order to succeed academically. Level 3 is yet
another layer of more intense supports for students who need the most assistance.
· Interdisciplinary teams of teachers meet once per six-day cycle to identify students who are not
meeting academic expectations, to identify targeted supports and interventions for these students,
and, when needed, to develop action plans for individual student improvement.
· Grade level department teams of teachers meet twice monthly to develop curriculum, specifically
identifying essential standards of learning and common, formative assessments that help
determine whether or not students are meeting academic expectations.
· We strive to maximize team extension time, identifying students who need extra help during the
school day with their team teachers.
· All teachers are involved in professional development projects that are focused on reducing
achievement gaps.
· A Literacy Instructional Coach works closely with Day’s teachers to improve our students’
literacy levels.
· The Mathematics Instructional Coach works closely with Day’s mathematics teachers to improve
our students’ performance outcomes.
· The “Calculus Project” program provides assistance in math for eligible students. This intensive
math program meets daily for four weeks in July and provides ongoing math support throughout
the school year for participating low income and students of color.
· Day has Literacy Lab courses and Math Lab courses at each grade level that are specifically
designed to meet the needs of students who need additional support in reading or math.
· During the third and fourth academic terms, we provide afterschool extra help in mathematics for
students who are struggling in mathematics.
· We offer homework club and a variety of study groups for struggling students.
· We have an Afterschool Academic Assistance (AAA) program for students who consistently
submit unsatisfactory homework or classwork. AAA provides another layer of support for
students who need to improve academically. In AAA, students complete their homework and
classwork under the tutelage of Day educators.
We encourage you to become involved in helping us improve our school. Some of the ways you can become
involved are:
· Encouraging your child’s learning at home
· Attending parent-teacher meetings and other special meetings
· Serving as a volunteer in our school or district
· Encouraging other parents to become involved
Newton’s district overview and complete report card can be accessed online at
http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/
ode=2016&orgtypecode=5& and
http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/
as well as on the district website. Print copies can be viewed at the Superintendent’s office, Newton City Hall, or
the Newton Main Library.
For more information about our school’s report card, please feel free to contact us at 617-559-9100.
Sincerely,
Mark Aronson
Interim Principal
F.A. Day Middle School
