Implementation Grant from Mass IDEAS (Innovating Design in Education for All Students), an initiative of Next Generation Learning Challenges at Tides, with generous funding provided by the Barr and Nellie Mae Education Foundations.
Funding from this grant will allow MTRS to continue with plans for an all-school redesign, which began last year with funding via a $150,000 Mass IDEAS Planning Grant. In 2019, MTRS was awarded the 16-month long planning grant to gather valuable student, staff, and community input. This data, and the work completed throughout the planning grant period, provided the MTRS Mass IDEAS team with the opportunity to present a plan for whole-school redesign, the MTRS “Trailblazer Model.”
The Mass IDEAS implementation team includes MTRS members: Principal Marisa Mendonsa, Assistant Principal Diane Zamer, Art Teacher Rachel Silverman, 8th Grade STEM Teachers Drue Johnson and Travis Minnick, Guidance Secretary (and MTRS parent) Pam DuPree, Guidance Counselor for Grades 10-12 Sara Neuenschwander, Paraprofessional Tim Shearer, MTRSD Director of Curriculum Sarah Jetzon, and MTRSD Communications Specialist Carla Potts.
“We are excited and honored to continue our work with Mass IDEAS in redesigning the school experience for our students through the Trailblazer Model,” said MTRS Principal Marisa Mendonsa. “Our faculty, staff, students and community members have worked collaboratively throughout the planning grant phase to consider the ways in which our school could provide innovative, rigorous, and engaging experiences while also supporting the social-emotional needs of our students. I am proud of the work our stakeholders have put into this process and am excited to begin implementation in the fall.”
