MassIDEAS Press Release

Barnstable Intermediate School Awarded Mass IDEAS Implementation Grant

for School Redesign

Hyannis, MA, May 22, 2020 -- Barnstable Intermediate School (BIS) was recently awarded one of three Implementation Grants for school redesign through Mass IDEAS (Innovating Design in Education for All Students), an initiative of Next Generation Learning Challenges. Following on its previous Mass IDEAS planning grant, Barnstable was selected in a competitive process that included responding to a multi-part Request for Learning, and completing in-person team interviews with Mass IDEAS in March 2020. They are joined by two other grant teams, Mohawk Trail Regional School (Shelburne Falls), and Monument Mountain Regional High School (Great Barrington) in this work focused on school redesign.

The combination of collaborative teams, grant funding, support, and community engagement allows for the effective implementation of redesigned public schools. The BIS grant of almost $375,000 combined with professional learning and coaching from Mass IDEAS, will work in tandem to promote BIS’s effective school redesign implementation. Generous funding for these grants was provided by the Barr and Nellie Mae Education Foundations. The Implementation Grant Team leading this work in Barnstable consists of Michael Andrews, 6th grade English teacher at BIS, Christopher Hall, Barnstable Parent, Jennifer Mullin, 6th and 7th grade Technology Teacher at BIS and Barnstable Parent, and Jennifer Perry, Director of Teaching and Learning for grades 6-12 in Barnstable. This team will collaborate with BIS Principal James Anderson and others including BIS students, families, and staff to implement the redesign.

Over the next 15 months, the team will engage teachers, students, families, and community partners in a collaborative process to redesign learning that places students at the center. This includes focusing attention on two overarching goals: 1. Improving relationships between and among various stakeholders within the learning community and 2. Continued refinement of rigorous, relevant, and engaged learning opportunities. Both goals seek to provide a learning environment for students that extends beyond the school building and into the community in ways that enrich the student experience and connect student learning to the local economy. At the same time, the team heard from students and families during the planning grant phase that there is a real need to make a school of nearly 800 students feel smaller and provide more opportunities for students and families to be connected. This feedback guided the planning of structures, like 6th and 7th grade paired “neighborhoods”, the Family Action Committee, and a daily small group advisory program, that will enhance opportunities for relationships to develop and deepen between students, families, and educators at BIS. While the implementation of the new BIS model will be gradual over the 2020/2021 school year, as teachers engage in professional development and pilot new practices, many of the systems and structures will be established in the Fall of 2020 to support the gradual implementation throughout the grant period.

In the coming months, there will be multiple opportunities to gather input, engage a variety of stakeholders, and bring the learning and support that the Mass IDEAS framework provides back to the BIS community. The implementation grant team is energized to continue the work of bringing the BIS community together to reimagine what school could look like for 6th and 7th grade students in Barnstable.

To learn more about Barnstable Intermediate School, please visit:https://www.barnstable.k12.ma.us/Page/83

Learn more about Mass IDEAS and the Implementation Grant process