Trifecta of Goals Being Met at North Dover

��This year, we're highlighting what our schools are doing toward our three primary district goals: attendance, kindness, and academic achievement. Today, it's the North Dover Elementary �� Pirates.

The Kindness Club at North Dover Elementary practices what it preaches, and is spreading that message to the school's youngest students through fun activities like Kindness Bingo and by modeling positive behavior. And that's just one of the three goals the school is taking super seriously during the 2024-2025 school year.

March 7, 2025- To say that the three goals which were introduced for the 2024-2025 school year—attendance, kindness, and academic achievement—are being met at North Dover doesn't quite do justice to how tenaciously and equitably they're being approached.

Principal Colleen McGrath and Supervisor Dina O'Donnell have implemented a wide range of initiatives for each goal, and we have the proof.

Attendance

Momentum for last year's goal hasn't ceased. If anything, it's ramped up. Here is what the school is doing toward attendance this year:

Classes with perfect attendance are announced at end of each day
Each class has a Perfect Attendance poster on display outside of its room each updated daily with attendance info.
At the end of each month, students with perfect attendance receive a certificate and/or Perfect Attendance pencil, and one student per class is selected for a free Papa John's pizza
An end-of-year perfect attendance breakfast will be hosted by the PTO

perfect attendance to date Pirates photo

Meet the results of the school's attendance efforts. These young Pirates, flanked by O'Donnell (top left) and McGrath (top right), have perfect attendance to date. If they can keep it up, they'll find themselves at a special, PTO-sponsored, end-of-year breakfast celebrating their ability to show up each and every day.

Academic Achievement

Academic success and improvement is an evergreen goal, but the team at North Dover keeps managing to branch out in all directions. And that strategy is rooted in something intrinsic to a strong education: acronyms.

"Our data team carefully analyzes student performance data and provides feedback to teachers during PLCs," said McGrath. PLCs, btw, are professional learning communities, and they're a crucial element to the team approach to academic achievement.

The school is also one of the flagship buildings for the TRRS H.I.T. project—a.k.a. the Hi-Impact Tutoring grant program—that was extended for the 2024-2025 school year at certain schools. The before-school H.I.T. program is focused on improving math scores for grades 3, 4, and 5.

The STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) Club Art Enrichment program impacts all levels, from the second-grade group led by Dawn Gawalis to Keith Cheek's fourth graders, whose custom-designed ceiling panels provide a 360-degree view of a school culture that values arts-infused education (below). Speaking of arts, "Do-Re-Mi" might not technically be an acronym, but the third-grade Recorder Club led by Ms. Kaye nevertheless teaches students the foundation of learning to play a musical instrument.

Then there's the WIN period��"What I Need" time. The three-days-a-week sessions have teachers using data to drive standards-based instruction tailored to the needs of students.

All of these acronyms merge to make a big difference irl.

"We have seen improvements," said O'Donnell. "The latest progress on the iReady diagnostics shows increases in both typical and stretch growth for math and reading."

Academic acronyms, ftw!

The Grade 2 STEAM Club in action

A H.I.T. program tutor provides morning math instruction to fourth graders at NDE.

Hands-on math interventions take place during WINN periods.

Fourth-graders at NDE have designed striking and vibrant ceiling panels throughout the school.

Kindness

This school year is centered around the Kindness Campaign, and if their work on those first two goals is any indication, you can bet that North Dover is going above and beyond for this one.

Monthly kindness pillars are displayed on school ramps, and staff members dole out tickets to students demonstrating these traits. Those names are put on the pillars by fifth-grade students twice a week, with one super-kind student per grade receiving a monthly gift card courtesy of the school's PTO.

Every classroom plus the guidance office actively teaches lessons on empathy, kindness, respect, and conflict resolution. Those lessons are then flipped for the Pirates' Gold initiative, where students acknowledge teachers who are modeling kindness and gratitude. Now that's kind of cool.

There's a Kindness Chain and Coping Skills Fair (above). Kindness Clubs throughout the school are involved in a number of activities aimed at connecting with peers and establishing a genuine culture of goodwill, including weekly reading sessions, story times, and student-led presentations on the growth versus fixed mindset.

"Our partnership with and outreach to St. Luke's Food Pantry is something our school community truly embraces," said O'Donnell. For four to six weeks throughout the school year, students lead collection efforts to gather items needed by the pantry: paper products, canned goods, non-perishable items, and more.

The fourth-grade Kindness Club at North Dover reads weekly to pre-K students.

Team building takes place during "Building, Thinking" classroom sessions.

Grade 5 ambassadors stand alongside representatives from St. Luke's.

Helping the local pantry

Grade 5 students alongside the school's monthly kindness pillars

And there you have it, the proof. North Dover was given three goals to meet during this school year, and they've attacked each from all angles, reaping the rewards. Makes sense. They are pirates, after all.

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