Together we can create a culture that supports learning for all students

By Mario J. Andrade
Posted 4/18/19

Over the past several months, the Bristol Warren Regional School District has been the recipient of negative attention in the media. It goes without saying that our district, like any district, faces …

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Together we can create a culture that supports learning for all students

Posted

Over the past several months, the Bristol Warren Regional School District has been the recipient of negative attention in the media. It goes without saying that our district, like any district, faces its share of challenges.

Most recently, we received a clarion call from the community in response to what has become a national trend, namely, redefining the role of public schools to consider the whole child by increasing social emotional supports in schools. In essence, schools have become the hub of the community, requiring an expansion of the circle of supports for students and families, and can no longer operate as stand-alone academic institutions.

In an effort to heed this call, we must come together as a community to restore a culture that supports learning opportunities for all students, which take place both inside and outside the four walls of the classroom.

To that end, district administration and the school committee have committed to working in partnership with our teachers, support personnel, families and students to ensure a safe and nurturing learning environment for all. We have already begun this work. Over the past few months, a team of educators and school committee members, in collaboration with outside experts, have been working to develop and implement a multi-tiered support system for our students at Kickemuit Middle School. This model includes school-wide approaches to promote a positive school climate, along with the inclusion of intervention specialists to address the needs of students who require additional social, emotional, and behavioral supports.

Additionally, a school resource officer has been assigned to KMS. Plans are already underway to begin implementing a similar system at Hugh Cole Elementary School this school year. We look forward to our continued collaboration in fully implementing these models across the district.

As we focus our attention on this call to action, I’m compelled to remind our school community that we must not lose sight of our inherent core values, academic excellence and the invaluable partnerships that presently characterize Bristol Warren Regional as an exceptional school district. We must acknowledge and celebrate our outstanding educators, support staff, and administrators.

Let us also honor our amazing students, your children, who do their best every day drawing on their individual strengths and abilities, and whose talents and efforts have produced various accolades spanning across all disciplines. If we commit to operating from this mindset, I have every confidence that we, as a community, will successfully navigate every challenge that we face and, in doing so, continue to move our district forward for the students of Bristol Warren.

Mr. Andrade, superintendent of schools for the Bristol Warren Regional School District, sent this letter to parents, teaches and personnel in the district.

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