The school year for Northborough & Southborough Public Schools begins next week. (Though, some Algonquin students are already involved in activities this week.)1
I’m sharing highlights from NSBORO’s Back-to-School Newsletter, which includes parent surveys related to school leadership’s efforts to address and balance the opportunities and challenges posed by evolving technology.
Recognizing importance of teaching “Adaptability”
The newsletter’s introduction by Superintendent Gregory Martineau updates the community on the district’s work to soon launch its next strategic plan “Vision 2032: Educate, Inspire, and Challenge”.
As I’ve previously covered, the district’s prior “Vision” plan covered through the school year ending in 2026. Leadership is now working on a plan to map out what it will seek to accomplish over the next six years.
The update includes an addition to the characteristics the district is seeking to instill/encourage in students:
One of the most important elements carried forward into Vision 2032 is the Portrait of a Graduate. The knowledge and skills represented in the Portrait are intended to be enduring. The District wants graduates to be effective communicators, collaborators, critical and creative thinkers, healthy and balanced, growth-oriented, and socially and civically engaged. Vision 2032 adds another important characteristic: adaptability.
The addition of adaptability reflects the world students are entering. Career pathways are changing, higher education is evolving, and technology continues to advance rapidly. Many of the opportunities today’s students will encounter may look very different from those that exist today. The responsibility of schools is not simply to prepare students for the world as it currently exists, but to help them develop the knowledge, skills, confidence, and habits of mind necessary to navigate changing conditions, learn new things, solve unfamiliar problems, and continue growing throughout their lives.
The newsletter acknowledges that the impact of AI on the world, and its impact on career paths is one of the factors behind focusing on adaptability.
And speaking of the impact of AI and rapidly changing technology. . .
NSboro introduces District Digital Wellness efforts
Committee & Surveys
The district is also looking at how to address the impacts of technology on kids wellness.
The newsletter announces:
the District has established a Digital Wellness Committee made up of school and community members. The Committee is working together to review the District’s current digital wellness practices and efforts, identify areas for growth, and develop resources and strategies to strengthen digital wellness across the schools and community. . .
Beginning this fall, look for monthly Digital Wellness resources and information in your school principal’s newsletters. Additionally, presentations, panels, and webinars will be offered throughout the school year. Topics will include technology and mental health, digital safety, social media, and finding a healthy balance with technology and interactive media.
The committee is part of the district’s partnership in the MetroWest Health Foundation Digital Wellness Collaborative. And the announcement includes a definition for digital wellness from Boston Children’s Hospital:
a positive state of mental, physical, and social-emotional health pursued through intentional, authentic, and balanced engagement with technology and interactive media.
Parents are encouraged to participate in surveys by student age group:
The Algonquin survey prompted some backlash on social media. Commenters on Facebook argued that a section on cell phones is flawed. Participants are required to rank which “factors” are most important to them, from 1-5.
Commenters noted that it doesn’t allow co-ranking of what factors are most concerning and how important they are to you. The argument was that parents should be able to instead, independently express how important or unimportant each factor is.
By not allowing that, the analysis may misrepresent how important or unimportant the factors are to families.
What also jumped out at me was that the text in the survey gives a deadline of July 1st for participating. Meanwhile, the survey was promoted in a newsletter that wasn’t posted until August 18th. (Since the survey is still up, I’m guessing the deadline was meant to be September 1st.)
New Policies & New Faces
Every year, parents are asked to sign-off that they have read all of the school, and district’s policies. From my experience, most parents don’t actually read them. But for those that have in the past, it may make it easier to know which sections changed this year.
The newsletter highlights the policies adopted or revised since last August:
- School Immunization Requirements
- Wellness Policy
- Athletic Concussion Policy
- NEW Middle School Pathway Exploration Policy (Trottier & Melican only)
- Controversial Issues/Speakers
- NEW Competency Determination (Algonquin Only)
The newsletter also includes photos for new members of school leadership teams. That includes the new principals for Neary and Finn schools and directors of Student Services for Southborough and Algonquin.
For more details on the above topics, and other NSBORO news, click here to read the full newsletter.
