Superintendent review on tap when School Committee reconvenes Thursday

WORCESTER — After going nearly a month between meetings, the Worcester School Committee will be returning to action on Thursday to get revved up for the upcoming school year.

Teachers and staff will report to Worcester Public Schools on Aug. 22, and the first day of school is set for Aug. 26. With that in mind the School Committee has received a wide collection of donations from around the community to help the early days of the school year run smoothly.

A list of donations to the system, which need to be approved by the committee at the meeting, includes:

• $8,300 in furniture donated to school library space at La Familia and Chandler Magnet School from the La Familia/Chandler PTO. The PTO also donated $5,986 in books to the library.
• 5,500 backpacks from Cradles to Crayons.
• 2,500 reusable water bottles for students from Cornerstone Bank.
• The donation of a truck from IPG Photonics Corporation to South High Community School's Diesel Program.
• 300 filled backpacks from the 200 Foundation.
• 200 backpacks from the People for Urban and Rural Education.

Evaluation of superintendent

Also on the agenda is the evaluation of Superintendent Rachel Monárrez by members of the School Committee.

Monárrez issued a lengthy self-evaluation report during the last School Committee meeting on July 18, where she highlighted growth in third-grade testing improvements that showed growth in the percentage of students who are reading at grade level from the start of last school year until the end of last school year.

Monárrez touted the district's success in literacy for those students in her most recent letter to parents , which was published on Monday.

"Our district level early literacy data reveals our youngest scholars are learning to read at an accelerated rate, per our STAR testing results. We are most pleased with our rising fourth graders who spent their kindergarten year in virtual learning. They have made an 11 percentage point increase in their reading abilities, which prepares them to enter fourth grade ready to tackle more rigorous text," Monárrez wrote.

Monárrez is entering her third school year in the role, after joining WPS in July 2022, after previously serving as the deputy superintendent in San Bernardino, California. She signed a contract extension late in 2023, which runs through June 30, 2027.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Superintendent review on tap when School Committee reconvenes Thursday