Sippican School staff, administrators, and School Committee members honored the retiring “Queen of Kindergarten” during the meeting of the Marion School Committee on December 4.

            Karen Santos has been a kindergarten paraprofessional at Sippican School for 25 years. She will be stepping down at the end of December.

            To commemorate her years at Sippican School, School Committee Chairman Michelle Smith dedicated a copy of the book Extra Yarn, by Mac Barnett, to Santos.

            Several School Committee members and Sippican School teachers honored Santos for her hard work and kindness, noting that Santos has always encouraged her students to be kind and make good choices. She also, they reported, is a “wonderful spirit,” helping others in need, keeping watch over her coworkers, and making sure they are well fed.

            Sippican School Principal Marla Sirois dedicated her own choice of book to Santos: Pass it On, by Sophy Henn. Sirois then old the story of how the Queen of Kindergarten received her distinctive moniker.

            “The new student asked who Mrs. Santos was,” Sirois reported, “and without hesitation, another student told him, “‘She’s the queen of kindergarten!’”

            “We’re holding you to your promise to come visit us,” Sirois said to an emotional Santos, who laughed.

            “I’ll be back here and there as a substitute,” she promised.

            “Thank you so much for all of the time you’ve spent with our young ones,” Old Rochester Regional School District Superintendent Doug White told Santos. “Whenever I needed a pick-me-up, I knew exactly which hall to go down. Because of you, there are many, many Sippican students doing well today.”

            Santos tearfully thanked the staff at Sippican for their support.

            “I really don’t know what to say, which is unusual,” said Santos. “I love this job. I could probably keep doing it for another five or six years, but my family is changing. My kids are having kids. And guess what, Nana’s going to help. But I don’t want to say goodbye.”

            During the meeting, Sirois also announced an upcoming ‘Toys for Tots’ drive. The drive will begin in the next week or two, once official letters come home with Sippican School students, she said.

            “There will probably be boxes to collect toys in the front entryway area,” she explained. “We want that area to be a place where the community shows kindness.”

            The school’s “kindness crew” does a Toys for Tots drive every summer, and the school will hold an all-school meeting soon for the drive soon.

            The next meeting of the Marion School Committee will be held on January 15 at 6:30 pm at Sippican School.

Marion School Committee

By Andrea Ray

            Thirty years ago, friends and business partners Steve Napolitano and Ralph Cotellesso purchased lots along Brandt Island Road. After developing one of the three lots with a single-family home now listed as 126 Brandt Island Road, Napolitano said soon after “the economy tanked.”

            Time passed and the partners tried again in the early 1990s to develop the remaining two lots. However, the Board of Health did not approve septic plans and an issue of a stream running between the lots presented other problems, Napolitano explained. The pair withdrew plans and the years passed.

            On December 9, they were once again rolling out concepts on how they wished to develop the two lots when the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission met.

            Napolitano said that modern-day septic technology would most likely make it possible to secure building and BOH permits for the lots. He said they needed to secure permission from the commission to cross jurisdictional wetlands in order to perc test the uplands portions of the lots. He also said that recently the properties had been delineated.

            Commission Chairman Mike King said that the property owners had the right to cross their land to access uplands and suggested that they file a Request for Determination of Applicability to do so. He said that such activity could be conditioned and that this was the best time of the year to perform such testing.

            The informal meeting concluded with Cotellesso, saying they wanted to do everything by the book and thanked the commission for its assistance.

            Earlier in the meeting, James and Joanella Cannell, 3 Water Street, received a Negative determination (no Notice of Intent [NOI] required) on their RDA filing for the conversion of a porch space into 8-by-12 feet of living space. Also receiving a Negative determination was Alan Meyers and Barbara Attianese, 26 Silvershell Avenue, to replace an existing sunroom and two deck spaces with a new deck structure.

            An NOI filed by Samuel and Diane Kinney, 107 County Road, was heard by representative and engineer Doug Schneider. Schneider said his clients planned to construct a new garage after removing existing carports and other outbuildings. The project would also require the extension and improvement of an existing driveway. He said that the entire lot is within the riverfront area of Pine Island Brook. After assuring the commissioners that the project met the performance standards for construction in the riverfront location, the project was approved and conditioned.

            Continued until February 10 was an NOI filed by the Mattapoisett Land Trust and Georgia Glick, Noyes Avenue and Dyar Road, for the removal of invasive species, and an RDA filed by Jesse Davidson, 22 Pine Island Road, for changes to an existing plan of record. Also continued was a request for a Certificate of Compliance filed by Alexandar Makkas, 16 Island View Avenue.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission is scheduled for December 23 at 6:30 pm in the Mattapoisett Town Hall conference room.

Mattapoisett Conservation Commission

By Marilou Newell

            On December 4^, the Mattapoisett Council on Aging Board of Directors met with Grant King, director of Comprehensive Planning at the Southeast Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD) to learn of SRPEDD’s plan to prepare a study on affordable housing in the town.

            King explained that the town had applied for and received a grant to fund the study and that the results would eventually become part of the town’s Master Plan.

            The current Master Plan is some 10 years old and will soon begin a review and updating process by the Planning Board.

            A Master Plan, King said, includes a housing plan.

            King had previously discussed the Housing Production Plan at a meeting with the Planning Board in October. At that time, he had touched on the necessity to engage with what he called “housing champions,” community leaders who could drive a housing plan forward. To the COA, he said, “I’m here to listen to you, to find out what your experience is of living in Mattapoisett.”

            The primary barriers to affordable housing, King pointed out, are high real estate values and the oftentimes capped incomes of an aging population. Regarding the demographics, King presented data that shows the aging of Mattapoisett and the shrinking of household sizes. The data found that 42.2 percent of residents are 65 years of age or older, up from 29.8 percent in 2000, and 22 percent of all households are single-person homes with half of that figure being 65 and older. Households with children 18 and younger came in at 24.9 percent of the whole, down from 32 percent from 2000.

            The top hurdle to buying a home in Mattapoisett, King said, is cost. He stated that about 20 percent of the housing stock is seasonal, and that there is very little in the way of multi-family units. King also commented that the majority of housing in town were single-family homes, 54.7 percent of which were built prior to 1969. With housing that old, he said renovations would be costly and nearly impossible to qualify as affordable.

            The data noted that an affordable price tag for a single-family unit stood at $252,300 while Mattapoisett’s median house price was $423,500 – a gap of $171,200.

            The board members were asked to consider how current zoning bylaws might also create barriers for seniors and those with restricted incomes to make modifications to their homes that could create multi-family units out of existing structures.

            With the study, King said he hoped to develop “common-sense solutions, like allowing apartments.” He pointed out the number of large homes in the community that could possibly one day be renovated into apartment buildings.

            There was a cautionary mood when the subject of state-regulated housing was discussed. King explained that communities that currently do not meet the state guidelines for such housing stock may find themselves with 40B housing developments beyond their local control. “Licensed developers, licensed by the state, can ignore local zoning,” he said.

            The state mandate for affordable housing is a minimum of 10 percent of all housing stock in a town. Currently, Mattapoisett stands at around 2 percent.

            There was a free flow of thoughts and ideas with Jackie Coucci, director of the Mattapoisett COA, sharing some of the issues she sees; issues facing seniors and their ability to stay in their own homes. She said that rising taxes was a problem for those on fixed incomes and the need to make modifications to homes that would accommodate the use of mobility devices.

            “People can’t stay where they want to stay,” said Coucci. “Taxes push people out, income is stagnant, the ability to stay in their homes is threatened.” She said that she sees a lot of families where seniors are not only supporting themselves but also adult children and even grandchildren. “There is a lot of unmet need.”

            Coucci offered the concept of home-sharing, but said that current bylaws most likely would not allow such an idea to become reality.

            King said he plans to meet with elected officials, police, and fire department heads, the Community Preservation Committee, Housing Authority, and others as the plan continues to evolve. He hoped for what he called an “organic groundswell” of community members who could make an affordable housing plan a reality. 

            Mattapoisett resident Liz DiCarlo wondered if there was any town-owned property that might be viable for 40B housing. Planning Board Administrator Mary Crain who was also present said that was not currently being considered.

            DiCarlo commented on the need of attracting younger people, saying, “We need younger folks in our town.”

            King had also noted that 40B housing, according to state guidelines, had to have easy access to transportation or major roadways.

            “You can’t stick it in the middle of the woods,” said King.

            In a follow-up with Selectman Paul Silva, he said there is no argument that the town needed more housing, but that location was a problem, given the massive watershed the town sits atop and the associated wetlands. He said that the most suitable location would be one serviced by public water and sewer connections with easy access to transportation.

            King welcomed any additional feedback the COA and its members might have to share moving forward.

            The final Housing Production Plan will be months in the making.

            To reach King directly, the community is encouraged to contact him at gking@srpedd.org, or by calling 508-824-1367.

By Marilou Newell

            Rochester School Committee Chairman Sharon Hartley wasn’t as optimistic about the 2019 MCAS scores as Rochester Memorial School Principal Derek Medeiros was during his MCAS presentation on December 5, leading to a debate over what indicates progress and what indicates stagnation.

            Medeiros highlighted his “points of pride” with the school’s performance in the MCAS higher than the state’s average; however, without reaching the targets this year that were set based on performance last year, progress appears to regress, although overall, students performed almost the same as they did last year “at a very high level,” said Medeiros.

            “When you get to that ceiling, you have years of fluctuation,” Medeiros explained. “The ceiling gets more difficult to get to, but that’s a good problem to have.”

            The ceiling to which Medeiros referred has to do with student growth and progress. Last year during the first year of the state’s new online ‘MCAS 2.0,’ RMS as a whole scored a 506 in ELA, reaching its target in specific areas that put RMS into the “meeting expectations” proficiency category. This year, RMS scored a 505 in ELA, “Which is a very high score, which is great,” said Medeiros – a point less than last year, however.

            “We didn’t get as many points as last year because we didn’t exceed last year’s score,” continued Medeiros.

            The overall performance of students looks like it took a significant dip, as Medeiros put it, but that is because the students progressed to such heights last year, making it more difficult to outperform themselves this year to reach new target points.

            Superintendent Doug White explained, “We basically stayed at the same level; therefore, you don’t get those quality points and move yourself up… The accountability number doesn’t go up if you don’t meet the target.” For example, he said, if RMS scored a 508 in ELA – higher than last year – but the target score was 510, then the measure of progress would appear to dip compared to the level to which it rose the prior years.

            “Our students didn’t go backward, they stayed the same,” said White. “This [tells us] what we need to do next to push them further.”

            In the growth category for ELA, RMS scored a 75 compared to last year’s 80 – “a very impressive number,” said Medeiros, just above the state’s average.

            In Math, RMS as a whole scored a 502, just above the state average of 499. In science, RMS again stayed above the state average with the identical scores of 502 and 499, respectively.

            The school’s lowest-performing students gained significant strides, scoring 75 percent in achievement and 75 percent in growth, higher than last year.

            Moving forward with this data, Mederios said he plans to continue the school’s current reading program and continue with the expansion of Chromebook use in each grade. The continued daily use of computers is also important, he said, since the test is given online and computer proficiency is critical. The school’s use of “flex-time” to target struggling students was a success as well, he said, and will continue.

            School Committee Chairman Sharon Hartley, however, was not inspired by the results or Medeiros’ response to them.

            “What I didn’t see in this report was any sign of analysis (of the data)… By now there should have been some analysis,” said Hartley. “What are you doing with the assessments?” She asked Medeiros, “Have we done that analysis…? What changes are we going to make? I would expect to see that in this report.”

            Hartley turned to Medeiros’ list of action items and noted the times where certain actions from last year were to be “continued” into the next year.

            “We know that if we continue doing the same thing, we get the same results,” said Hartley. “That means to me that we’re doing…”

            “I’m sorry to interrupt you,” said Medeiros, “but I don’t see how any of this means that we don’t do that analysis.”

            Hartley pointed to where the action items stated: “Continue, continue, continue to do the things we’re doing… There should be some [new] things here,” she said. “Do things a little differently, and therefore we’re going to… improve things.”

            Medeiros said continuing to use Chromebooks is an obvious “continue,” and the reading plan the school created two years ago was effective in giving the school that boost last year, and so should be “continued.”

            Medeiros reminded Hartley that last year was a baseline and this year was only the second year of the MCAS 2.0.

            “We performed so high in the ‘low performing, high needs’ category across most schools in the state,” said Medeiros, “so, yes, we’re going to continue to use flex-time to intervene… to close gaps and, in enrichment, stand out because we’ve seen some great successes…”

            Hartley responded, “I’m afraid you missed what I was saying.” But without elaborating on that, Hartley continued, “I’ll move on, but you missed but I was saying.

            “I would want points of pride to be items that are shining lights of improvement,” continued Hartley. She pointed to the school’s scores that are “slightly above 500,” the cut-off point for proficiency. “You might say it’s slightly above average,” said Hartley. “To me, as a school committee member wanting this school to be a shining light, it’s not a point of pride.”

            She said it would be better if Medeiros used “points of progress” instead of “points of pride,” and added, “But I don’t think you have pride over being just barely above average, and that’s what… all of these are basically telling us.”

            At that, Hartley yielded the floor to the other school committee members.

            School Committee member Anne Fernandes looked to the just-above-500 scores and said, “It’s good, but you want to get better… We’re glad that… there’s an improvement from last year… but we want to go forward. Meeting the target is not enough.”

            White intervened, saying, “I think what we have to realize is that the state is working on the test and working on the feedback that we are getting… The cut off level is going to change every single year because they feel that our tests in previous times is not meeting what other… national tests are showing.”

            What was shown in these results, White explained, is that RMS students are meeting a quota of above average.

            RMS teacher Tara Nelson, from where she sat in the room, saw things differently. She said students and teachers deserve “kudos” for exceeding the 500 mark.

            “Be proud,” said Nelson. “Sitting here analyzing data after data about the test, like – sorry, I’m just not into teaching for the test.

            “I don’t really look at that 500 number,” she continued, speaking now as a parent. “I look at their report cards… what their teachers are telling me, what they bring home, what they’re doing with their learning… Those are things we need to focus more on. I don’t know – I feel like 500, average, is good…”

            What Medeiros pointed out was the jump last year from non-proficiency to proficiency.

            “To me, that’s more important than looking at the 500 piece. When we perform as high as we do and, being in the 71^st percentile in the state, student growth is something that we tend to look more at than a score of 500.”

            Hartley re-joined the discussion, saying, “I’m a lifelong educator, so – education is more complicated now than it has been, but it also is richer in many ways… In my heart and my mind, I want the school to be the very best it can be.

            “Let’s talk about these things… and let’s get better,” said Hartley. “This is actually an area of expertise for me, I can help…”

            Nelson said if people were to compare RMS’s scores with those of Sippican School and Mattapoisett, she pointed out that the other towns might be outperforming RMS because they have full-time enrichment where RMS does not. “So that’s just something to think about, too, when you’re comparing them.”

            Hartley expressed concerns about the science portion of the MCAS where the school only received one out of four points in one area.

            “That was an alarm going off that…  something is not working,” said Hartley. “Your report,” she told Medeiros, “it didn’t express to me the pieces that I was concerned about.” This included not creating a slide to show progress for students with disabilities.

            Medeiros reiterated that the MCAS does not capture all the growth in students’ learning.

            “I chose to keep my report positive,” Medeiros said. “If you don’t know that I am a principal that constantly looks at how students perform with their teachers – hence, the professional learning community model that [Assistant Principal Charlie West] and I implemented – I’m here to tell you we’re constantly looking at that; constantly looking at ways to improve.”

            RMS may have flat-lined from a performance standpoint, continued Medeiros, “But it was still a very high performing year for us, and it was last year, and we continue to look to improve every year.”

            The next meeting of the Rochester School Committee is scheduled for January 9 at 6:30 pm at Rochester Memorial School.

Rochester School Committee

By Jean Perry