As the School Committee continues to prepare for fiscal year 2025 budget discussions to get underway in earnest, members heard presentations from the principals of a number of the city’s schools last week, including Peabody Veterans Memorial High School Principal Brooke Randall.
Randall was the last principal to appear before the committee, which over the course of several meetings has heard from the leaders of each of the city’s schools. Because it is one of the city’s largest schools, the high school’s demographics closely mirror those of the district, though a higher percentage of PVMHS students speak a first language other than English.
Randall said she is projecting an enrollment of 1,460 students for the next school year, up from about 1,420 at the start of 2023-24, though she said the actual enrollment figure is now slightly lower, at 1,381.
Much of Randall’s presentation focused on celebrations of current initiatives at the high school funded through the budget, and she said she struggled to whittle down the number of positive initiatives to present.
“We have so much to celebrate at the high school,” she said.
Randall pointed to co-taught courses and an increase of special education and English Language Learner education in general education classes, the school’s milestones program being back to full strength with three teachers, and the implementation of new curriculum allowing students access to high-school standards at “appropriate access points.” She also cited the purchase of new equipment for both art and science classes at the school, which has enabled better programming in those areas.
While Randall said the school was still working to get its library up to the standard officials want it to reach, the school has been able to upgrade and update its inventory there.
Randall also cited the school’s consulting relationship with Idioma for world language teachers, a program that aligns to national curriculum standards and has helped the department alter its curriculum so that no matter the language the student is taking, the thematic structure of the course remains the same. In 2023-24, the school has also implemented an all-school pilot year for the Talking Points app, allowing teachers to communicate directly with families in a number of different languages. Already, just less than 50% of the school’s staff is using the app, which has led to more frequent communication, she said.
And, Randall said the impacts of a district-wide addition of three part-time interpreters and translators have filtered down to the high school, allowing for more support staff for students learning English.
One of the key areas of focus for the school Randall cited was “digging in” on an instructional vision and model. She also spoke about the importance of maintaining a number of partnerships, including with the BARR Foundation, GLEAM, and Mass. Insight Education.
Randall told the committee the school needs continued funding to support content-specific professional development to in turn support high-quality teaching and learning, and high-quality instructional materials.
She also asked the committee to support a new teacher in the school’s new career and technical education pathway in business and financing. The program requires 5.5. full periods, Randall said, and the school has not replaced two of four teachers who have left the department.
“(We) need to ensure enough elective course support for students,” she said.
Randall also sought funding for additional English learner staff and a department head who could oversee the programming, which is currently housed in the World Language department.
“We have students who enroll in Peabody Public Schools after the school year has begun and they face substantial challenges,” she said.
To match what is offered at the Higgins Middle School, Randall sought support for the hiring of an additional adjustment counselor to ensure the high school has one counselor for each grade level, similar to the way the school brought on a fourth dean. Finally, Randall sought the addition of a reading interventionist, as the school is preparing for an increased need in reading services and academic support across grade levels.
Superintendent of Schools Josh Vadala said he was not surprised by the inclusions in any of the presentations from principals and signaled that many of the requests made would make their way into the budget. The asks were not “pie in the sky,” he said, but rather necessary additions to each school.
