NPS Superintendent's Newsletter
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"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all."
Stanley Horowitz
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The Northampton Public School District is a community of learners committed to equity and the success of each student.
Building Communities of Engaged Students
Enabling Students to Reach their Potential
Nurturing Kindness, Empathy, and Inclusivity
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Continuing with this year’s thematic focus, “Connect, Support, and Thrive: Building Resilience for All Students,” the next element in our five-part series is “Support”.
The primary goal of the Northampton Public Schools (NPS) is to provide high-quality academic instruction and comprehensive behavioral interventions that guarantee every student has the chance to thrive. Achieving this rigor requires consistent adherence to essential school-wide structures, including a robust shared curriculum, structured opportunities for professional collaboration, and a system of focused, actionable feedback.
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High-Quality Academic Instruction 📚
High-quality academic instruction is the deliberate, evidence-based teaching practices that ensure all students have access to rigorous, grade-level content in an accessible and engaging manner. It's not just what is taught, but how it's taught.
It is characterized by:
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Curriculum Alignment and Rigor: Instruction is aligned with state/national academic standards and learning objectives, consistently requiring students to engage with challenging, grade-level content and critical thinking. The district is in its third year of new math and ELA curriculum at the elementary level, and working on addressing the ELA curriculum at the middle school this year through the assistance of the PRISM III grant. Principals and Associate principals will be visiting classrooms more to observe instruction and support teachers in the implementation of the curriculum.
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Data-Driven Decision Making: Teachers using ongoing assessments (formative and summative) to monitor student learning and adjust instruction in real-time. This ensures that teaching meets the specific needs of the students currently in the classroom. Caregivers should expect updates from their child’s teacher on their progress.
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Differentiation and Scaffolding: Teachers employing a variety of teaching methods, materials, and support structures (scaffolding) to make complex content accessible to students with diverse learning styles, readiness levels, and backgrounds.
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Explicit and Systematic Teaching: Core concepts and skills are taught directly, clearly, and in a logical, step-by-step sequence. This is particularly crucial for foundational skills like reading and math.
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Active Student Engagement: Instruction promotes active learning through discussion, problem-solving, projects, and collaboration, moving beyond passive listening.
High-Quality Behavioral Interventions 🚦
This year we are focusing on a universal understanding of MTSS (multi-tiered systems of support) and how to appropriately implement to improve both academic and behavioral outcomes for our students. High-quality academic instruction and behavioral interventions are essential, interdependent components of an educational system designed to maximize every student's potential for academic success. Part of the ongoing work is to identify specific strategies that we can rely on to support our students who may need short or long term tiers of support.
Such supports are designed to teach students appropriate social-emotional skills and behaviors, reduce challenging behaviors, and create a positive, predictable learning environment. The focus is on teaching behavior, much like academic skills.
They are typically characterized by:
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Proactive and Preventive Strategies: These involve establishing clear, positive expectations for behavior school-wide (e.g., through RULER, Second Step and Restorative Practices) teaching those expectations explicitly. The goal is to prevent problem behavior before it occurs.
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Tiered System of Support: Interventions are delivered across multiple levels (or tiers), with intensity matching student need.
- o Tier 1 (Universal): Supports for all students (e.g., clear school rules, social-emotional learning curriculum).
- o Tier 2 (Targeted): Supports for small groups of students exhibiting similar, non-responsive behaviors (e.g., small-group social skills training).
- o Tier 3 (Intensive): Highly individualized support for students with persistent, severe behaviors, often guided by a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) and resulting in a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP).
The Interconnection
The synergistic relationship between academic and behavior is that a student struggling with behavior will have difficulty accessing high-quality academic instruction, and a student receiving instruction that is too difficult or unengaging may exhibit challenging behavior. Delivering high quality instruction and interventions for both academics and behavior is essential to creating an equitable, supportive, and effective learning environment where every student has the opportunity to succeed academically.
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Get Ready: Preparing Our Students for an AI-Driven Future
The world is changing fast, and our district is committed to ensuring every child is future ready. Technology, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI), is no longer a future concept—it's here, and it will fundamentally shape the landscape of life, careers, and even democracy. The jobs of tomorrow will demand a different, higher-level skill set, requiring our students to master creative, critical, and analytical thinking in addition to the foundational skills of reading, writing, and mathematics. We are dedicated to preparing them for this evolving workforce and the new demands it presents.
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Three Key Considerations for Our District
As we navigate this new technological era, there are three critical areas the district is focusing on to guide our decisions and strategy:
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Embracing AI's Potential While Managing Its Risks: We recognize that AI is an invaluable tool that can be used to support human decision-making, enhance instruction, personalize learning, and improve operational efficiency. Our state partner, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), echoes this, noting that AI can assist in everything from generating instructional materials to identifying students who need intervention. However, we are moving forward with a crucial eye on its limitations and ethical challenges. AI is not a replacement for educators or human relationships; it cannot grasp context, nuance, or ethics like a human. We must actively work to mitigate harmful bias, ensure data privacy, and address misinformation to use AI safely and responsibly.
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Developing Clear, Standardized Usage Guidelines: Your children may already be experiencing changes in their classrooms as teachers begin to address AI. Some educators may embrace it, while others may ban or limit its use in assignments. Currently, we have not set a district-wide standard. This period of exploration is essential as we weigh the vast possibilities and potential impacts of AI on learning. Moving forward, the DESE guidance for AI in K-12 education will be instrumental in helping us shape a thoughtful policy and set clear regulations for usage that balances innovation with public trust and academic integrity.
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Investing in Educator Training and Long-Term Strategy: We understand that preparing for this shift requires a deliberate, long-term approach. Over the past year, our Director of Digital Literacy, Kate Zak, and our integration specialists have been providing professional development to staff and administrators. This training has focused on sharing foundational AI knowledge and introducing safe tools that can be used to differentiate instruction and meet course standards effectively. This is just the beginning. Our journey will be a long-term, multiphase change process that assesses our readiness across leadership, infrastructure, and instruction. This crucial conversation will involve educators, caregivers, teachers, non-instructional staff, and students to ensure a safe, responsible, and effective implementation for the entire NPS learning community.
We are committed to a cautious but enthusiastic adoption of this powerful technology, always prioritizing the data privacy, ethics, and academic integrity of our students. We look forward to continuing this vital conversation with you!
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Updates for Strategic Plan - Year 2
Net Zero Carbonization and facilities along with the Consolidation work groups met on October 1 and will continue to meet jointly to continue their work discussing various configurations of school models.
Out-of-School Time – the staff met on September 30 and will begin to develop a plan for the pilot program at Ryan Road for next school year. The plan will include logistics and operations, financials, staffing and program management.
*Please visit the links within the score card to learn more about the work that is occurring.
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Attendance
"Every day counts!" We want your children present in school. When your child is absent, they miss out on the opportunity to learn with their peers. Missing 10% or more of school for any reason impacts students' academic success in reading and numeracy. Chronically absent students may not reach grade level standards falling further and further behind. Also, there is a higher risk for falling behind in social-emotional development and executive functioning.
Help us help your child to be successful by sending them to school.
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Restorative Practice
We are in year 2 of implementation with the goal of training more staff to incorporate restorative circles within their classroom. Our counselors and administrators will use more intentional restorative practices to address conflict among students.
Additionally, YEA and Collaborative Resolution Group will host the first multigenerational community building circle at the Northampton High School library on Wednesday, October 22, from 5:30-7:30PM.
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To love all children, we must struggle together to create the schools we are taught to believe are impossible: schools built on justice, love, joy and anti-racism.
Bettina Love
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Immigration Enforcement and Its Effect on NPS Schools
As we enter the fourth week of school, we are on high alert regarding our immigrant students. Many districts across the nation are feeling the impact, which is causing trauma and affecting students' attendance. Although NPS has not been directly affected by ICE agents entering our school buildings, we remain vigilant and concerned for our families.
We have protocols in place at each of our buildings should ICE agents arrive, and our bus drivers also have procedures for drop-offs and pickups. Currently, the two largest teachers' unions (NEA and AFT) have filed a lawsuit to challenge immigration officers' presence on school campuses. We once again encourage our families to use the "know your rights" information from the Attorney General’s Office.
Peace, Unity and Joy
Dr. Portia S. Bonner
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From Stress to Smartphones, From Freak-outs to Friendships: What Parents Need to Know (And Do!) About Worry, Anxiety, and Depression presented by Lynn Lyons, a licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist for over 35 years.
Lynn spoke at Convocation this year and was well-received by the staff. Lynn was asked to offer her expertise to the NPS community.
Thursday, October 23, 2025
6:30 - 8:00 PM
NHS Auditorium
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HALF-DAY for conferences (ELEMENTARY ONLY)-
Wednesday, October 22 and Wednesday, October 29
Schools dismiss according to the following schedule:
- Elementary -- 8:00-11:30AM
NO SCHOOL - Tuesday, November 4 (Primary Elections)
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Steps we take for calling a snow day;
- Day before inclement weather -- DPW, Transportation Director and Superintendent put on their meteorologist hats and review weather reports to see if the decision can be made the day before. If no clear cut decision is made, go to step 2.
- Beginning at 4:00AM the day of inclement weather--DPW, Transportation Director and Superintendent have a conference call to discuss the current weather. At that time, a decision is made based upon safety, road conditions and timing of the poor weather conditions.
- Notifications of the decision is sent out to families via ParentSquare and posted on the weather channels 22 and 40 by 5:30AM. Notification will also be posted on the districts website (www.northaptonschools.org).
Important times to remember:
Delays are for two (2) hours, schools will begin at the following times:
- Elementary at 10:00 AM
- Middle School at 10:30 AM
- High School at 11:00 AM
During delays, bus pick up will be two (2) hours after original time (i.e., bus picks up at 7:30 AM; for delay, bus will pick up at 9:30 AM).
Early Dismissal times:
Elementary Dismissal at 11:30 AM
Middle School Dismissal at 12:25 PM
High School Dismissal at 12:50 PM
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We're excited to share that we've been invited by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to present and facilitate a Farm to School workshop at the National Farm to Cafeteria Conference in New Mexico! We'll be sharing the great work that Northampton Public Schools is doing with Farm to School, and we'll also be teaching schools from across the country how to design and adapt their own farm to school programs. |
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Our first one this year was a dip made with yogurt, sunbutter and honey. With our October Harvest of the Month in mind, the students had the chance to dip local apples from Pine Hill Orchards into this tasty dip and overwhelmingly enjoyed it! 397 students loved or liked it and 194 said it wasn't for them. One student said, "You always have an ingredient that I usually don't like, but I always end up liking it mixed with what you make for us!"
You can find the recipe on Parent Square from the Freshampton team.
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Bridge Street announced the following events:
- 10/17- Halloween Party/Trunk or Treat
- 10/17- Wear Pink Day for Breast Cancer Awareness Month
- 10/21- W3NA Mayoral Debate from 6-8pm (not sure if this needs to be included)
- 10/31- Pajama Day
On October 3, Bridge Street hosted Hispanic Heritage Night.
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The Ryan Road Inclusive Playground is officially open! We are so excited to foster social interaction, support diverse sensory needs, and offer varied play experiences that ensure every child feels a sense of belonging. These values: connection, inclusion, and community - are what guided the design of this beautiful new space.
Ryan Road playground featured in the Daily Hampshire Gazette.
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Fire Safety in PK--We had Megan from the Northampton Fire Department come to talk to our PreK classes about fire safety. The children sorted objects that were hot & not hot and talked about items to avoid in the home (oven, lighter, match, grill, cigarettes). Megan put on all of her fire gear to familiarize the class with what a firefighter would look like during an emergency and how they are helpers. The class was able to choose a hat and the presentation was a huge success!
Garden at Leeds: We had a very productive garden season. Students worked tirelessly to get the garden ready for Fall/Winter. We are ending our short but productive garden with seed pod dissecting, sorting tomatoes and watching the signs of fall in the garden. We can’t wait for our spring garden time.
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The community celebrated the grand reopening of the tennis and basketball courts at JFK Middle School on Wednesday, September 24.
More information in The Reminder article:
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Student Union prepares for community forum of running candidates
Candidate Forum featured in the Daily Hampshire Gazette.
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Northampton High School Theater Department will present a new adaptation of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. This iteration of Frankenstein is from the perspective of Mary Shelly as she deals with personal loss and the demons that haunt her. Watch as Shelly herself narrates the story and personally dons the moniker of “Creature.”
Frankenstein will be performed at the Northampton High School auditorium on November 6th, 7th, and 8th at 7:00pm. $15 for adults and $10 for students. Tickets at www.nhsstage.com
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Send Our NHS Music Students to Williamsburg — Help Us Hit $7,000
From April 9–12, 2026, the NHS Chamber Choir and NHS Wind Ensemble will travel to Williamsburg, Virginia to take part in the Williamsburg Heritage Festival, a 4-day, 3-night national music festival and adjudicated performance showcase organized by WorldStrides.
We are raising $7,000 to ensure that 13 students in need can fully participate. Several require full coverage of the cost.
(PayPal – select “J. Scott Brandon Fund” from the dropdown menu)
At the festival, students will:
- Perform on a national stage and receive adjudication by a panel of professional musicians
- Participate in an onstage clinic, receiving feedback to grow their musicianship
- Visit Colonial Williamsburg, one of the world’s premier living history museums
- Attend the awards ceremony at Busch Gardens (included)
- Enjoy included hotel accommodations, meals, and guided festival activities
- Be covered by accident & medical insurance and supported by 24/7 WorldStrides staff for their health and safety
This is an extraordinary opportunity — but with a cost of $850 per student, some of our students may not be able to attend without help.
About the JSB Fund
The J. Scott Brandon Grant Fund was established to remove financial barriers in music education. It supports lessons, instruments, supplies — and now, by funding field trip expenses, ensures no student is excluded from opportunities like this festival.
Administrated by the Northampton Arts Council, all grant requests (for lessons or field trips) are reviewed by a Sub-Committee of school and Arts Council members.
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Play and learn all around town with our NPS Early Childhood Center!
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Smith College Museum of Art: Stroller Tour on 10/30 + Art Playdate on 11/7
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Local Libraries: Hadley Library Playgroup every Tuesday, 10 am-12 pm; Monthly Family Game Time at Forbes Library on 10/28
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Jackson St. School: Monthly Caregiver Cafe on 11/3 + Math Everywhere Playgroup in November
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Online: Parenting workshop with Chrissy D'Agostino on 11/6
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Fitzgerald Lake Conservation Trail: with Kestrel Land Trust on 11/9
To register for programs and more, please click the link!
This registration link will stay the same for the whole school year. Please bookmark it and check back often! Programs added on a monthly and seasonal basis include parenting workshops, playgroups, family walks with Kestrel Land Trust, art events at Smith College, family Game Times at the Forbes, home visiting with Parent Child+ and so much more.
Did you know the NPS Early Childhood Center is a United Way Diaper Hub?
We are! If you have emergency diaper needs please call us. Sometimes we even have wipes in stock. Call 413-587-1471, text 413-341-9158 or email EarlyChildhood@Northampton-k12.us
- The Northampton Public Schools Early Childhood Center provides services to young children and families in our city. All families with children ages 0-6, and a little older too, are welcome to engage with the staff and programming we offer. EarlyChildhood@Northampton-k12.us
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Northampton Public Schools Considers Cell Phone Ban
As Massachusetts moves to join other states in banning cell phones in schools, Northampton is preparing to develop its own policy. The Northampton School Committee’s Rules and Policy subcommittee has been discussing the issue for the past several months.
The district has engaged with the nonprofit ReConnect Western MA, which presented to the School Committee on the social, emotional, and mental health effects of cell phone use on students. A caregiver forum was also held with Dr. Allie Baker, a psychiatrist and medical advisor for Wait Until 8th, to discuss the impact on youth mental health and provide data on the pros and cons of phones in schools.
At a recent meeting, the School Committee requested the formation of an ad hoc group to determine what a new "bell-to-bell" cell phone policy would look like. This group will include representatives from various stakeholder groups.
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Key Purposes of the Ad Hoc Group
The primary purpose of this group is to:
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Gather Information and Expertise from diverse stakeholders, such as caregivers, teachers, students, administrators, and community members, to ensure all perspectives on the issue are heard and considered. This helps to create a comprehensive policy that addresses various concerns, such as academic distractions, social development, and emergency communication.
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Review of Legislation: The group will review the recommendations in the legislation and include those recommendations in the designing of the policy.
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Draft a Policy Proposal: The group will research best practices and existing policies in other districts to create a draft cell phone policy that is informed, effective, and tailored to the needs of NPS. This includes defining where and when cell phone use is permitted, how phones will be stored, and what the consequences are for not following the policy.
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Provide a Recommendation: The group's final deliverable is a formal policy to the School Committee. This document will outline the proposed policy and the reasoning behind its recommendations, allowing the School Committee to make an informed decision.
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Duration of the Group: This is a temporary group formed for the single purpose of creating recommendations for the School District. Once its task is complete, the group will dissolve. The expected timeline is to begin early-October 2025 and end with a presentation to the School Committee during its December meeting.
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Expectation is to conduct a pilot of the policy during the spring of 2026 with a full implementation of the policy for school year 2026-2027.
The Ad Hoc Group held their first meeting on October 16.
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Do you have a skill you'd love to share with kids?
We're looking for passionate community members to teach after-school enrichment classes to our elementary students.
You could lead a one-hour class in anything from dance, music, or arts & crafts to gardening, coding, or creative writing—whatever you're good at!
This is a great chance to make a positive impact on young students and get paid for your time. Classes are one hour long and you'll be compensated $40 per class.
We can't wait to hear from you!
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Join the PTA/PTO: Becoming an active member of the Parent Teacher Association or Organization is an excellent way to get a broader perspective on school-wide initiatives, connect with other parents, and contribute to the school community.
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