NEW: WPS and Peabody Public Schools Launch Community Innovation Partnership

Peabody, MA --- WPS is excited to unveil a new partnership with Peabody Public Schools, designed to enrich the educational journey of over 400 sixth graders at J. Henry Higgins Middle School.

Under the visionary leadership of Peabody Superintendent Josh Vadala and Higgins Middle School (HMS) Principal Todd Bucey, this collaboration is poised to deepen students' sense of community by increasing authentic learning experiences.

As design partners, WPS provides Peabody Public Schools with funding for professional learning stipends and learning materials, strategic consulting, design and implementation support, and program documentation. "We middle school people tend to be pretty insular and skeptical of outsiders coming in but It didn’t take long to determine that WPS was a group we wanted to work with; their depth of knowledge, their ability to articulate exactly what we were thinking, and their approach that works perfectly with how our school runs we knew would be a great match," Principal Bucey shared.

Building a Shared Vision

The district, together with WPS, launched a dynamic discovery process last spring engaging students, families, and teachers in a collective dialogue about their vision for middle school. 

"We saw a perfect opportunity to leverage our soon-to-be-newly-envisioned enrichment block to strengthen the transition from 5th to 6th and really lean into building community and a sense of belonging."

Co-Designing the Innovation Project

Feedback from students and community members affirmed that HMS staff have cultivated a vibrant sense of connection and belonging among learners. Building on this foundation and guided by the vision of creating community through authentic learning, a dedicated design team of HMS and WPS staff met throughout the spring to co-design an innovation project.

Creating Conditions for Authentic learning

The Design Team outlined a "Blueprint for 6th Grade Experience," designed to foster students' sense of ownership for their learning. This innovation project includes multiple activities that will be interwoven throughout the year:

• Community Building activities: strengthening belonging among learners and teachers 

  
  

• Interest Exploration: igniting learner's curiosity and passion

  
  

• Design Challenges: fostering creativity and problem-solving skills

  
  

• Try It Day Events (Career Awareness): offering glimpses into various career paths

• Interdisciplinary Projects: equipping learners to increase ownership of their education journey 

  
  

Teacher capacity building is an important component of the Blueprint as well. WPS will support teachers to develop learner centered practices by facilitating monthly professional learning at HMS.

Join Us

Do you reside on the North Shore? We are actively seeking community volunteers who are eager to foster career awareness with middle schoolers. Interested in collaborating? We'd love to hear from you! 

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The WPS Institute creates innovative programs and partnerships to transform learning. We advance models of schooling where learning thrives everywhere, in classrooms and beyond; where students and their families are empowered to shape their own educational journeys; and where entire communities contribute to the development of young people.