Sara Adams stood outside Barrington Middle School on Thursday night, June 22, holding a small homemade sign that pleaded: Save Nayatt’s MAC.

Adams hoped her sign would catch the attention of passersby and members of the Barrington School Committee as they arrived for their 6:30 meeting. 

The MAC at Nayatt is a multi-age classroom program that allows students in different grades to share the same learning environment. Adams said the MAC has numerous benefits and has helped her son. 

“My son has anxiety when there are a lot of different transitions,” Adams said.

Two years ago, when Adams and her family moved to Barrington, she was concerned about how her son would handle the new school. The multi-age classroom, she said, was and continues to be the perfect fit.

“This program is phenomenal because it has continuity and still evolves, so he has a new teacher every year but he stays with the same students, he stays in the same part of the building,” Adams said. “And it really builds on itself, sort of like a nuclear family. It gave you that feeling of safety.”

But on June 15, Nayatt School Principal Melissa Moniz sent an email to parents announcing the eventual end of the MAC. 

The email stated the district’s curriculum has evolved. The multi-age classroom is no longer needed to support project based learning, it stated. “…all classrooms in our school now engage in project-based learning.”

According to the email, officials also based the decision to phase out the MAC program on equity and enrollment.  

“Because Nayatt is the only elementary school in Barrington with a MAC program, access to multi-age classrooms is not equitable for all students in the district,” stated the email.  

“Enrollment has also been a challenge in recent years, with a large decline in MAC enrollment and an increase in K-3 enrollment that requires schools to have the scheduling flexibility to create consistent class sizes regardless of program.”

Adam Resmini attended Thursday night’s School Committee with an intention to speak about the MAC phase-out. Resmini said the MAC been around for decades and benefited countless children.

“I don’t see why the system needs to reduce its standard to make it accessible to everybody, because that’s an option and a choice that families in Barrington have been able to choose for 40 years, right?” Resmini said. “You’ve had folks, when I was a kid, who went through that program and speak very highly about it. They signed a petition. There’s a lot of people (opposing) the sudden change.”

Resmini said the district has not provided any real data or rationale to support the elimination of the MAC program. 

“If there is data, let’s have a discussion about it and see what can happen,” Resmini said. “But the first thing I think should have taken place was a sit-down with those teachers who have dedicated their whole careers to it.”

Resmini said he learned that Nayatt teachers were not consulted prior to the district’s decision to eliminate the decades-old program. 

“There’s a teacher now who’s been doing it for over 20 years and she was never consulted,” Resmini said. “That’s frustrating. And to see the time and effort and dedication they have for these kids, I think that has impassioned all of us to stand up for not only our children but for them (the teachers) as well.”

Future agenda item

During Thursday night’s meeting, Resmini asked School Committee members to add the MAC situation to a future agenda. He wants people to have an opportunity to speak about the planned phase-out.

Standing outside the middle school prior to the meeting, Resmini said he believes solutions can be implemented to address any of the program’s problems. 

“There’s so many benefits to it and I really think there was not enough promotional material to increase enrollment, because I know that’s one of the pieces they also mentioned,” Resmini said. “They mentioned a decrease in enrollment the last couple of years, but we all know Covid had a significant impact on our ability to communicate with each other and for teachers to communicate with each other. There were no parent meetings taking place.”

Nayatt parents are also concerned about what will happen to the teachers who currently work with students in the MAC. The email from Moniz touched on that point — it stated that the phase-out would be a gradual process, taking place over the next couple years. 

“All MAC educators will continue their roles during the phase-out process and will continue to be a part of their Nayatt grade-level teams following the transition years,” stated the email. “We are so appreciative of the wonderful work the teachers do!”

Save the MAC

Parents are hoping a better, more robust conversation about the program could help save the MAC from elimination.

Adams said teachers should have been given an opportunity to work with district leaders.

“They (teachers) were never asked questions about how they could maybe modify the program to make it fit the deep learning that they’re bringing in,” Adams said. “I think that is part of the reason that I am here because I feel that everybody should get a voice in this. And it feels like it’s being mandated from above without proper procedure.

“My son’s been in it two years. He would have one more year to go. We have really loved it. I think it’s a fantastic opportunity and I’d like to see if continue.”

When asked if she thought there was still time to save the MAC, Adams said “I don’t know, but I’m here so there must be some hope. And even if the program doesn’t change I feel like there ought to be an opportunity for us to voice our opinions so that they know there are people who really believe in it and think it should stay."