Fly Five Learning

There seems to be some concern in the community about how some educational COVID-19 relief monies were spent locally. If you do a little bit of digging, it’s easy to find out how and why these funds were utilized.

As I mentioned in my March 31 post, in Massachusetts, local education agencies were required by the state to allocate at least 20% of federal COVID-19 relief funds to address learning loss, with specific requirements for assessments, evidence-based practices, and support for students and families. These funds were intended for a wide range of purpose, including immediate technology needs, tutoring and other learning support, mental health services and professional development.

It is also a fact that in 2016, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) held a special meeting on the topic of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) within the public school system. This was a great opportunity for members to discuss and share key ideas, information and examples from SEL experts in research, policy and practice. This group continued sharing findings and focused on success stories as to how this relates to overall student health. The state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Schools (DESE) has determined SEL curriculum standards for implementation to continue supporting student mental health and wellness throughout the school year.

There are five broad but interrelated areas of competence with the subject of SEL. They are:

• Self-awareness (ability to understand one’s own emotions and feelings;)

• Self-management (ability to control one’s emotions and feelings in various situations;)

• Social awareness (ability to empathize with others and understand perspectives which differ from one’s own;)

• Relationship skills (ability to establish and maintain healthy, supportive relationships, as well as socialize with others;) and 

• Responsible decision-making (ability to make caring and constructive choices.)

  
  

These competencies can and should be taught, discussed and applied at different levels within a child’s development. The state investigated and researched systems to recommend for use within local school systems. The ORR administration determined that the “Fly Five” curriculum best met each grade level’s expected development and decided it was the best choice for use. Paid in full, the system includes a physical set of student workbooks and teacher curriculum with no expiration date, currently held in school departments’ inventory and intended for use during school year 2025/2026. Full disclosure of the purchase shows that there is an optional student-enrichment component which actually does expire five years after the purchase date. This can be extended for short money and seemed a wise overall investment when the sale was finalized.

At that time (2023) several other priorities, such as the rollout of the “Acceleration Academies” curriculum (purchased during the same timeframe) took precedence. The three elementary school committees had recently completed their research of literacy programs and had chosen one that was the best high-quality, uniform one for the tri-town schools. Since this program was already in the process of being rolled out, it was decided that the focus would be to get our children’s academic measures strengthened before implementing the SEL curriculum. Implementing both at once would put an unnecessary burden on staff and an overwhelming course load on students. 

It is easy to see that these decisions were not made swiftly or without thorough research. Pandemic relief funds have been wisely spent over the last few school years and I believe they will continue to be. Our administration should be supported by its school committee members, those who are elected to represent the voice of the local constituency.