Marlboro School Profile
The Marlboro School serves kindergarten through eighth grade students in the town of Marlboro and is located in the southernmost part of the Windham Central Supervisory Union (WCSU). Currently 82 students attend the school. An additional 10 preschoolers receive education through a collaborative arrangement with local preschools which is supported by the Marlboro School District. Students are served in multiage classrooms with a kindergarten, 1st-2nd, 3rd-4th, 5th-6th, and 7th-8th configuration. In addition, we house the All Abilities program for students with intensive special needs and particularly those diagnosed with autism.
Marlboro is typical of many small, rural Vermont schools. In the early 1990’s our enrollment peaked at 115 students. After that it declined to a low of 75 students during the 2003-2004 school year. Now, bucking trends elsewhere, we are growing once again, but in a small town it is difficult to make accurate projections as to future growth.
In terms of governance we are our own school district and are overseen by a locally elected school board. The school enjoys an excellent reputation in the larger community and is a source of pride to many townspeople. In the past we have attracted parentally placed tuition students from nearby towns and currently have 5 such students enrolled.
Independence is part of Marlboro’s reputation. Although part of the Windham Central Supervisory Union (WCSU), we are isolated geographically and there are a number of ways in which we operate independently. Out of eight elementary schools we are the only one serving kindergarten through eighth grade. We have no designated high school. After eighth grade the town pays tuition which families may use either for a public high school education or to put towards the cost of a private school. We are also independent of the supervisory union in our business practices as we manage our own budget and bookkeeping. We share few resources other than Special Education and services from the superintendents and curriculum coordinators.
Other unique features of the Marlboro School include a strong belief in the importance of self-expression through poetry, arts education, foreign language learning, and field research. Under the direction of a local poetry teacher, all students write a number of poems and publish their favorites in a school anthology. Violin instruction is part of the curriculum for all 1st – 3rd graders. This is in addition to regular art, music, and band programs. Every spring the 7th and 8th grade class has an in-depth experience with drama which culminates in performance at Marlboro College’s Whittemore Theatre. This winter, through a generous grant from the Vermont Arts Council, all students participated in 5 weeks of work with local artists in drumming, theatre, pottery, dance, painting, or photography. Whenever possible, after school activities in the arts are offered. Spanish is taught to all 3rd – 8th grade students. All students participate in frequent experiential learning activities and from 5th grade on engage in in-depth studies. In the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 school years these culminated in multi-day field research trips to Cape Cod, New York City, Washington, D.C. and Costa Rica.
Volunteerism at the Marlboro School is strong. Our Parents and Friends group engages parents in school activities and our Community Resource Coordinator helps to connect community members with school needs. Parent and community volunteers support the school and our students in many ways. Weekly reading to a class, working one on one with students, planning family activity nights, talking with students about their work in the community, fundraising, building a new playground – these are just a few of the ways we benefit from community support. In 1999 the Marlboro School Association was founded to provide resources for special projects that are beyond the scope of the annual budget.
Marlboro has an exceptionally committed staff. In the five years since the current principal has been here, only one classroom position has needed to be filled. There were many highly qualified applicants to fill that position, even though it was only part time. We have a strong connection with the graduate program in education at Antioch New England. Several of our teachers received their Master’s degrees there and we have student interns from Antioch every year. In addition, all of our classroom teachers have received Highly Qualified designation from the state of Vermont.
Meeting the academic needs of individual students within the context described above is an essential goal at Marlboro. Development of a strong Educational Support Team (EST) process has been a major asset in working towards this. In 2004 our school board supported the creation of an Instructional Support Teacher position. Although we did not receive Title I funding at that time, the board recognized the need to create a structure which supports all students in reaching their potential. As a result, this teacher collaborates closely with classroom teachers to provide additional support in reading, math, and study skills to students whose needs are recognized through the EST process. In addition we have developed a model which provides direct support both in the classroom and in resource rooms. Our Special Educator serves students in the primary and 3rd-4th grade classrooms while the Instructional Support Teacher focuses on the 5th-6th and 7th-8th grade classrooms. She also supports the English Language Learners in these classes and finds that the strategies used to meet their needs are very effective with all learners. This highly integrated model allows teachers to know students well, to follow students for several years, to collaborate effectively with classroom teachers, and to support students within their classroom environment.
In the fall of 2006, in recognition of our commitment to progressive education and after several years of investigation through our action planning process, Marlboro officially affiliated with a national school reform movement, the Coalition of Essential Schools (CES). We recognized the need to connect with like-minded schools and to expand our vision outwards. As a result we have organized our action planning and our professional development around the Ten Common Principles espoused by CES. In the past two years this has led to an increased focus on school climate, through growing our “Tone of Decency”, and on development of a local assessment plan using “Multiple Forms of Assessment”. A local CES group focused on K-8 education has recently formed and, as a staff, we attended a daylong gathering this spring. This group is called the New England Coalition of Progressive Educators, Pre-K - 8 (NECOPE).
As we continue to focus on “Tone of Decency”, we see the need to increase our support for the development of healthy minds, bodies, and hearts. This includes the implementation of the Marlboro After School Program, exploration of a School Brunch program, and, in 2007-2008, work in several classrooms with Paul Hoak and his Kidstrengths program.
Development of our local assessment plan has been grounded in a definition of Learning Realms and creation of student portfolios that reflect students’ learning in these realms. This spring, 8th graders will graduate based on the successful completion of their portfolios as assessed by a panel of school staff members. We are beginning to use Critical Friends Group protocols to guide our work with portfolio assessment. In the coming year our school-based professional development will focus on deepening this Critical Friends work.
According to the Department of Children and Families’ School Age Report, 41% of school families are Medicaid eligible. This percentage along with a drop in total school population in WCSU to below 1000 students qualifies Marlboro for Title I funding. Although we learned of our eligibility in the spring of 2006, we decided to spend a year in planning before seeking funding as a Title I Schoolwide program.
As we analyzed date from a wide variety of sources in order to review the needs of our students, we recognized that much of what we have in place can be described as a schoolwide plan and is working well. We also recognized that current initiatives need time, support, and follow-through in order to be as effective as possible. This is reflected in the following Title I Schoolwide Action Plan for 2007-2008. The staff of Marlboro School and the Action Plan committee members listed below accept responsibility for the implementation and monitoring of this plan.
2006-2007 Action Plan Committee
Kelly Salasin-Deane, parent
Rhonda Carpenter, parent
Kathy Pell, parent and director of Meetinghouse Preschool
Celia Segar, former parent and current volunteer
Augusta Bartlett, school board
Judy Jarzombek Lang, primary teacher
Tim Hayes, junior high teacher
Francie Marbury, principal