Massachusetts Secretary of Education Matt Malone toured Winter Hill Innovation School last week and came away very impressed. — Photos by Jack Adams.

By Jack Adams

On Thursday, June 12, Massachusetts Secretary of Education Matt Malone visited the Winter Hill Innovation School as part of his tour of Massachusetts innovation schools. After observing several classrooms, Malone said he was impressed.

“What I look for when I visit schools is engagement, and in all three classrooms that I’ve been in so far, 100 percent of the kids I’ve seen have been engaged, so I’m already, I haven’t been here long, that the focus on learning and teaching is genuine in this school,” said Malone.

Prior to his tour of the school, he sat down with Superintendent Tony Pierantozzi, Assistant Superintendent Vince McKay and Principle Chad Mazza, and discussed the status of the innovation school.

Students at Winter Hill Innovation School and Secretary Malone had an opportunity converse and share their thoughts and feelings about school and the future of education in the city.

Superintendent Pierantozzi talked about how Somerville has implemented several different strategies for closing the education gap between preschool students, including a Head Start Program, to help kids determined to be from high-risk groups catch up to the other students. There is also a three-week, Somerville-run summer program for the same age group, which services 150 pre-k students.

Matt Malone suggested, as a long-term strategy, to start kids in the school system at age four, instead of five.

Malone asked Pierantozzi about testing, who said he would prefer to implement the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) exam instead of the MCAS. The PARCC has only just become available, and is computer based, unlike the MCAS. The PARCC is intended to match the Common Core State Standard (CCSS), which is a set of standards for teachers to adhere to.

“I love the Common Core, and I haven’t had one teacher, and I’ve been across this entire state, tell me that they don’t like the common core, the problem is that editorials have blended the two (PARCC and CCSS) not understanding that curriculum and assessment are two separate things,” said Malone.

Pierantozzi said he believes science should be moved to the center of the curriculum in all schools.

“We think that if science becomes the core subject where ELA (English language arts) and math are blended in, then you’ll get, at the other end of the tunnel, a much more comprehensive education,” said Pierantozzi.

The subject of the new Chapter 222 Act came up, which dictates that if a child is suspended for more than ten consecutive days, then they are entitled to education services. Pierantozzi said to provide these services, the Somerville schools have been using E2020, which is a computer-based learning platform.

Secretary Malone sat with Superintendent Tony Pierantozzi and other school officials to discuss important issues concerning Somerville’s education system.

For troubled kids, Malone said he sees community college as their destination. Pierantozzi told Malone that Somerville has built relationships with many nearby community colleges, to provide these students with their next step.

“We turn kids off by sitting them in a row, killing them with drills –– that’s why some kids don’t do well in school, cause you have to excite and engage them so they think differently,” said Malone.

In 2011, a new teacher evaluation system, the Educator Evaluation, was implemented statewide, and Principle Mazza said it has been difficult for some teachers and administrators to adjust to.

Malone and Pierantozzi agreed that the most important part of teacher evaluations was the written part, in addition to oral feedback.

In spite of the new evaluation system, Malone said, “On the ground level, I think good administrators were always doing good evaluations and taking them seriously.” Malone said he would have implemented Common Planning Time, not the Educator Evaluation. Common Planning Time involved teaching staff coming together and giving each other feedback.

An innovation school differs from regular schools in that they get autonomy from other schools over certain areas, such as professional development, curriculum and the school calendar, said Principle Mazza. He said the innovation school has to develop a plan, which they then submit to the superintendent, who has purview.

Soon the Winter Hill School will have a dress code, agreed upon by the students. Kids can choose from light blue, navy blue and purple shirts, with khaki pants.

“I think it brings an all-inclusive element that we did not necessarily have,” said Mazza.