“It was so amazing to sing with my friends in traveling chorus,” said Shiri Mokryn ’24, one of the many CRLS students who performed at the State of the Schools address on December 18th, 2023. “We had a really powerful performance.”
Community partners, educators, and CPS staff gathered at the newly renovated Foundry community space in Kendall Square to celebrate and “uplift the meaningful work being done in each of our schools to ensure all students are experiencing a high-quality education,” stated the invitation written by Darlene Reid, CPSD Project Manager.
Notable attendees included state representative Mike Connoly and Educational Leader of the Commonwealth Jeff Brown, members of the Cambridge School Committee. Performances by the CRLS traveling chorus and Jazz Band were also interspersed throughout the event, followed by the final address from the Superintendent of Cambridge Public Schools, Victoria L. Greer.
Cambridge administrators also used the space to award teachers and create substantial goals for the new year. Annual focused initiatives were organized into a four-tiered system, including family, student, and staff support, as well as outside-of-school connections. Speakers explained that many objectives still needed to be met: there’s been an increase in disenrollment in Cambridge middle schools, chronic absenteeism throughout the district, and the achievement gap. It is these challenges that the plan aims to ameliorate.
“We wanted to be intentional about centering the students’ voices and giving them a space to share what they desire and hope for our school district,” said Superintendent Victoria Greer. “Everything we do, and every decision that we make is rooted in our vision, mission, and core values and aligned with our district planning. This is our Northstar.”
Chronic absenteeism is improving, Greer added, with numbers going down from 24% of students being chronically absent last year to 17% this year. Students can also expect a longer school day in elementary and middle schools next year as well as increased early literacy efforts — a part of Cambridge’s mission to be a district that “inspires, acknowledges, empowers and supports every student.”
In a similar spirit, both students and staff were praised for their contributions to the CPS community. Honorees included Kristin Newton, a CRLS science teacher who was named a 2023 state finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science. Nathan Whitfield, a CRLS math teacher, was also mentioned for being a semifinalist for the 2024 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year award. Middle school students were acknowledged as well for their achievements, including a team of students who advocated for the renaming of the Vassal Lane Upper School.
In perhaps the most emotional moment of the morning, Jeff Bown delivered a memorable speech about his daughter, a product of public schools. “[My daughter] was going to need OT [Occupational therapy] and PT [Physical therapy] and extra medical services that were going to clock her as different,” he said. “Basically she’s overcome everything. And she never complained. Her teachers literally saved her. They made her more than anything we thought she could be.”
This article also appears in our January 2024 print edition.
