INTERIM (SUMMER) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
August 27, 2015
I hope all of you are having / have had a wonderful summer. It’s been busy at CES and, since it’s a long
stretch between our June 24, 2015 meeting and the first meeting of the new school year (September 30,
2015), I’m sending an interim report on some of the summer highlights.
Highlights from the Executive Director
Official notification that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education had approved all
of our Licensure programs, including the new principal and supervisor/director programs, was
one of the high points of the summer. This was the culmination of eight months of hard work by a
great team of both in-house professional development staff and licensure instructors, consultants
who teach courses for us, and thinking partners from member districts and the DSAC. We are
especially grateful to member district superintendents, principals, and teachers who were strong
partners in the process of crafting a licensure program that would meet the needs for initial and
additional licenses for teachers and administrators. I can't overstate the power of collaboration in
making our program review so successful.
The CES Strategic Plan, finished and approved by the Board in the spring, has been operationalized by
each department and platform at CES through the development of 2015-16 work plans built off the
priority areas. The September Leadership Council meeting at CES will be conducting a cross-walk and
synthesis of these plans, and highlights will be presented to the Board as part of the Board packet for
the September meeting.
The Social Justice and Equity (SJE) Committee developed goals and activities to expand our work, with
the assistance of Amherst consultants Dr. Barbara Love and Dr. Russ Vernon-Jones. Three 2-day
workshops are scheduled for the end of August, September, and October for the Northampton-based
CES staff to develop shared knowledge and understandings about the SJE work. The Committee will
present more information to the Board at the September meeting.
I met with the new superintendents in our collaborative and continued to meet with key state
partners at ESE, EEC, CommCorp and DYS as well as with our regional partners (the Readiness Centers
and DSACs) to further develop relationships and to assure the partners of our effectiveness and
continued commitment to the work. I have also begun meeting with legislators from our districts.
CES has continued to work with the Lower Pioneer Valley Educational Collaborative on region-wide
collaboration with and services to member districts. We have also met with the coordinator of the
Berkshire Superintendent Roundtable about collaboration with school districts in the Berkshires,
partly in response to ESE’s initiative to involve all districts with a collaborative. We will be presenting
several workshops in November for the county-wide PD day in the Berkshires.
Three final notes about some work of the Executive Director. First, as the Western Massachusetts
representative for the MA Organization of Educational Collaboratives (MOEC), I have been involved in
meetings with officials at DESE about ways MOEC and DESE can work together for the benefit of our
member districts; we are increasingly being asked by DESE to help with professional development In
the region and statewide. Second, as the representative of all 26 collaboratives on the Safe and
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August 2015 Executive Director Report to the Board of Directors
Supportive Schools Commission, I took part in intensive Commission work this summer; I am hopeful
my involvement will help our member districts to be well positioned for the RFP expected to be
released in early November. Third, I will be continuing in the second year of the three-year New
Superintendent Induction Program.
I look forward to a productive year ahead! See you at the September meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Bill Diehl
STRATEGIC GOAL 1: MEETING MEMBER DISTRICT NEEDS by collaborating to build needed
strength and capacity based upon recognition of current and upcoming demands and trends in
education.
STRATEGIC GOAL 3: DEVELOPING EXEMPLARY EDUCATORS - through the delivery of highquality and distinctive professional development.
SELECTED / REPRESENTATIVE ACTIVITES

With representatives from our districts, we planned and held the 2015 Summer Academy,
designed to respond directly to the range of expressed needs and interests of educators in
member districts. Fourteen workshops (out of 36 planned) were held between July 27 and
August 14 at CES, Greenfield Community College (Downtown), Frontier Regional, and
Mohawk Trail Regional. 226 educators participated (an increase from 115 last year).
Workshops received very positive evaluations. We are analyzing attendance in order to try
to increase participation in 2016.

Our Forge of Innovation summer programs, sponsored by the National Endowment for the
Humanities, involved educators from across the country in study of local sites of historical
innovation. Thirteen teachers from member districts participated (from Franklin
County Tech, Frontier Regional HS, Hampshire Regional HS, Michael E. Smith Middle
School, Mosier Elementary School, Pioneer Valley Regional HS, Smith Academy, Smith
Vocational and Agricultural HS, Swift River Elementary School, and White Brook
Middle School). Due to CES’ grant from NEH, these workshops were free to participants; in
addition, the teachers earned a total of $15,600 for participation plus a free graduate level
course.

Special Ed staff member Eva Gibavic conducted an ESE-funded Assistive Technology
Institute this summer, for the 5th summer in a row. The Institute gets excellent reviews.

Since June, the FY 15 Title III consortium, serving over 400 English language learners
(ELLs) in 17 member districts, provided: three family engagement workshops; four
"Effective Instructional Strategies for ELLs" professional development workshops; and
about 700 hours of individual and small group tutoring. Completion of the PD workshops
meets the requirement that as of 7/1/16 all teachers renewing their licenses must have
completed 15 hours of ELL professional development. (These programs were free.)
Consortium members include:
o Franklin County: Frontier Regional and Union #38 School District, Gill-Montague
Regional School District, Greenfield Public Schools, Mohawk Trail Regional School
District, Rowe School, Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District;
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August 2015 Executive Director Report to the Board of Directors
o
o
Hampshire County: Amherst-Pelham Regional School District, Belchertown Public
Schools, Hadley Public Schools, South Hadley Public Schools, Hampshire Regional
School District, Westhampton School, Williamsburg School, Southampton School,
Northampton Public Schools, Ware Public Schools;
Berkshire County: Adams-Cheshire Regional School District, Berkshire Hills
Regional School District, Central Berkshire Regional School District

Google Trainings were held in Greenfield, Frontier Regional, Belmont, the Summer
Academy, and for Special Education in Institutional Settings.

A full slate of fall professional development workshops is scheduled, primarily serving
educators in our member districts. Thirty-two workshops are planned, with more
possible, based on districts’ requests. Among the topic areas addressed include Struggling
Learners; Educator Evaluation; District Determined Measures; Social Justice and Equity;
ways to support Special Ed students and English Language learners in the classroom;
Behavior management; Safe and Supportive Schools; effective Math, Literacy, and Social
Studies instruction; and Attorney Tate’s presentation on Legal Issues for Schools.

We are launching our principal mentoring program this fall, developed in response to
member districts’ request to support new (as required by MA regulation) and experienced
principals. We are beginning the year with two mentor-mentee pairs.

Professional Learning Communities for educators, primarily from member districts, are
slated to begin soon and include Arts Integration; Assistive Technology; English Language
Learners; Mathematics; Secondary Literacy Leadership; Science; Social Studies; Social
Justice and Equity; Struggling Learners; and Technology in Education. The fall 2015 PLC
meeting dates are posted on the CES website at http://www.collaborative.org/areasfocus/professional-development/plcs.

CES staff and consultants have received their professional development to become trainers
in the Sheltered English Instruction (SEI) Center for the Pioneer Valley and Berkshire
regions; CES was chosen to run this Center. Centers are permitted to provide RETELL
coursework to districts that would like to train more staff that were included in each
district’s allocation, individuals who seek the SEI Endorsement for professional
advancement, and educators who were unable to complete the RETELL course it was
offered in their own districts.

Preparations are underway for the Technology in Education (TIE) 2016 Conference on
January 14, 2016. Our keynote speaker is: Antero Garcia is an Assistant Professor in the
English Department at Colorado State University. See more at:
http://www.collaborative.org/areas-focus/technology/tie-conference/2016-tiekeynote#sthash.OcLIF1rt.dpuf

At the June Board meeting, we had an engaging and informative discussion about the
disproportionate impact on school finances of charter schools and school choice on
rural schools (e.g. our member districts). The Board decided to focus further on this
issue and identify strategies and legislative positions that we might pursue as a unified
group moving forward. At the Board’s request, our CES evaluation team has been collecting
data about the impacts of charter schools and choice and will have a packet of information
for the Board prior to our September meeting. This will include: the actual figures on
school choice (including charters) in the region and how it has grown over the years; the
amount of influence on declining enrollments that comes from changes in census (fewer
families in our catchment area, with fewer children) in addition to “charter and choice
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August 2015 Executive Director Report to the Board of Directors
migration;” and the fiscal impact locally as well as in comparison to large urban districts like
Boston or Worcester.
STRATEGIC GOAL 2: FOSTERING THE SUCCESS OF CHILDREN, YOUTH AND FAMILIES, WITH A
FOCUS ON THOSE PLACED AT RISK – by providing educational programs, policies and practices
that foster the success of families, youth and children.
SELECTED / REPRESENTATIVE ACTIVITES – SPECIAL EDUCATION
Overall, we had a very successful (and very fast!) summer with our programs. Summer enrollment
was 30 students:
○
○
CBWE - six (all non-member)
HEC Academy – 24 (17 member +7 non-member)
One student in CBWE graduated; he will age out into adult services as of November, but is taking
the fall off to do some activities w/ his parent. Six Academy students took the Accuplacer (1 student
hasn’t yet tested, & will do so next week). Four students scored well enough to enroll in fall
courses, and are in fact enrolled at HCC for fall.
Projected fall enrollment = 37 students
○ CBWE = 5 (all non-member)
○ Academy = 32 (23 member, 9 non-member)
BIG CHANGES AT THE ACADEMY! - In response to new regulations from DESE, and in order to
increase the effectiveness of our work with students, we instituted a number of changes that have
required quite a great deal of interviewing, logistical planning, physical labor, etc.
○ Major new hires are: Nurse--Asheley Cole; History Content--Feyla McNamara; Biology
Content--Eric Huston; ELL--Laura Bisbee; and Full-time clinician--Tones Smith (formerly
part-time)
○ No more separate MALP program; 7th & 8th graders will be part of CALP homeroom
(currently only two 8th graders)
○ There will be three special education homeroom teachers (CALP, TALP, & VALP)
○ There will be one transition teacher focused on IEP-related transition needs
○ Old MALP space now becomes NEW Therapeutic Learning Center (TLC)
Preparing for Special Ed Orientation on 8/26, and 2 day SJE Retreat on 8/27 and 8/28; first day of
school for students = 9/2
We are all very excited for the new changes we are in the process of preparing for!
SELECTED/REPRESENTATIVE ACTIVITES – Early Childhood
Largely in response to concerns expressed by our member districts about behavioral challenges
being experienced in PreK-3 classrooms, and in response to recent studies and reports, CES has
been pro-active in finding ways to support early childhood mental health and address issues such
as pre-school and kindergarten suspensions. A productive "Early Childhood Social Emotional
Health Summit Planning Meeting" was hosted by CES on Monday July 13th at the Worcester
Library. Several key statewide stakeholders from DESE, EEC, DPH, DMH, Davis Foundation, MSPCC,
Together for Kids, BHN, United Way of Hampshire County, and other agencies and/or programs
who share an interest in promoting the social emotional health of young children in Massachusetts
were either present or participated via ZOOM. This energizing and inspiring summit planning
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August 2015 Executive Director Report to the Board of Directors
meeting was a reflection of the passion, and the result of much effort of the Early Childhood
Department - Summit Planning Committee and several key CES representatives.
Coordinated Family and Community Engagement Programming:
The EC dept was awarded continued Coordinated Family and Community Engagement (CFCE)
funding for FY16. Some of our summer programming included:
● Family centers in Amherst, Belchertown and the Palmer/Monson Family Network have
held playgroups once a week in July and August. These family centers plus those in
Easthampton and Ware also hosted weekly playgroups at local parks.
● Four music/movement sessions were held at the Hatfield Library.
● The South Hadley Family Ctr. co-sponsored a series of three children's concerts held at
Buttery Brook Park in July.
● Playgroups were held in Goshen, Chesterfield and Westhampton.
Assessment for Responsive Teaching (ART):
Several ART trainings were held for early childhood programs in June and July and a few more are
scheduled for August. In addition, MKEA training sessions are scheduled for August.
Strong Foundations for Young Children (SFYC):
Both SFYC staff and parent aides continued their services to families in both Ware and Easthampton
who participate in this project. There will be openings for a few more families this fall.
BHN-ECMH Project:
The Early Childhood Mental Health (ECMH) staff on this project continued to provide services to
early educators and families with young children in both Hampshire and Franklin counties. We
anticipate a few openings to serve some new families this fall.
SELECTED/REPRESENTATIVE ACTIVITES – Special Education in Institution Settings
SEIS is working to reach the goals set out by the Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education for all school districts and students in the Commonwealth. SEIS moved forward on all
these goals over the past year. We have an exciting year ahead of us as we implement the plans the
team worked so diligently to develop during the 2014-2015 school year. Below is an outline of
many of those gains.
 Strengthen curriculum, instruction and assessment in academic, social emotional and
workplace readiness domains:
o New curriculum was purchased for the educational programs at Massachusetts
Hospital School and for those in the Department of Mental Health (DMH) programs.
o A two year professional development plan has been developed and approved by the
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
 Improve educator effectiveness in the provision of special education services:
o Exemplars and training has been established to ensure highly professional, standard
based progress planning notes and progress notes are written for all SEIS students.
 Use data and technology to improve student performance and program effectiveness
o A two year technology plan has been developed for all SEIS program sites. This plan
has been approved by DESE. Implementation and training will occur at the start of
the new academic year.
 Collaborate with host agencies, school districts and families to coordinate services for
students to transition from the programs to the community
o Collaboration among host agencies has increased via joint committee work,
curriculum updates, and planning. Co-teaching at the Department of Youth Services
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August 2015 Executive Director Report to the Board of Directors
o
(DYS) sites will continue. Clinical and Education staff at DMH sites will continue to
collaborate to ensure successful outcomes for their students particularly as it relates
to reintegration into the community.
Customer satisfaction surveys for students, parents, and host agencies will be rolled
out this fall.
SELECTED/REPRESENTATIVE ACTIVITES – Department of Youth Services (DYS)
 Training for DYS PD facilitators has been completed and our 6 day PD plan is ready to
launch for 2015-16. Theme for the year: Future Ready: Personalizing Teaching, Learning,
and Transition Planning
 Co-Planning will be a focus for 2015-16 as we aim to maximize the expertise of both Gen Ed
and Special Ed teachers working in small programs serving a population of almost 55% of
youth with previously identified disabilities.
 Revised Program of Studies has been completed for 2015-16, recognizing the wide range of
content needs for our highly transient population.
 New grading and student conferencing guidelines are being ushered in for 2015-16 that are
in line with a competency based approach to teaching and learning.
ADDITIONAL SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS
Development - New Grants / Funding

ESE awarded our CES Afterschool Department the Massachusetts 21st Century Community
Learning Centers - Supporting Additional Learning Time (ELT and OST) grant to support
out-of-school time (OST) programming at the Sheffield Elementary School in Turners
Falls (Gill Montague School District)

CES applied for “Exemplary” status for six of our afterschool/21st Century Community
Learning Centers. FIVE of our six programs were approved, and will continue to receive
funding from ESE. The programs are at: Greenfield High School; Maple and Pepin
Elementary Schools in Easthampton; Converse Middle School; and Memorial
Elementary School in West Springfield. This is a highly competitive process and few
programs are awarded the Exemplary status. This is a real credit to the principals, teachers,
and afterschool staff at the two schools, and to your dedicated leadership of the
district. THANK you for your unflagging support of these programs that bring so much to
many children at Maple and Pepin.

CES also was selected to develop and manage our first fee-for-service afterschool program
at the Norris School in Southampton. We are excited about this opportunity to use our
expertise to run a high-quality and affordable afterschool program in one of our member
districts.

CES received a grant form ESE to participate on the Educator Policy Team of the Adult and
Community Learning Services Teacher Quality and Effectiveness Group and on the ABE
Task Force for Teacher Effectiveness to continue the development of the ABE Educator
Evaluation System.

Against a nearly impossible deadline, we wrote and submitted a large proposal (that was
then awarded to us) to provide professional development on the new Preschool and
Kindergarten Standards in the domains of Social and Emotional Learning and Approaches to
Play and Learning to the state's mixed delivery system.
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August 2015 Executive Director Report to the Board of Directors

We were also awarded a grant from ESE for Professional Development for Science
Curriculum Mapping. The award occurred at the end of July, with the end date for
deliverables at the end of August.

A sister collaborative in Connecticut (Education Connections) asked us to partner on a
major US DOE grant proposal – Launchpad to STEM Innovation & Careers -- for funding
by the Investing in Innovation (i3) Development Program. Our district partners in this are:
Greenfield School District, the RC Mahar Regional School District, and the GillMontague School District (Turners Falls High School).

We also collaborated with the University of Massachusetts-Amherst’s School of Education
on a major proposal to the Institute of Education Sciences of US DOE. The proposal is for
the use of college and career readiness brief solution-focused counseling and social support
network development to improve transition outcomes for incarcerated youth with (and
without) disabilities.
Communications Department

The 2015 Customer Satisfaction Survey received over 210 responses in May and June of
2015, and results have been compiled and an Executive Summary report prepared.
Satisfaction with services remains high. The report will be provided to the CES Board and
Superintendents and posted on the CES website. A summary is included in this
communication.

Preparations are underway for the promotion of the CES fall professional development
calendar, and registration will begin for the January 2016 Technology in Education (TiE)
Conference by late September.

We are making substantial progress in finalizing and implementing our new, shared
database (SalesForce CRM). As of this writing, a large data migration of existing data in
filemaker is underway, accomplished by our own Dantae Davies, David Olsson, and David
Greenberg. The plan is to be up and running for events and licensure management in the
next few weeks.

CES Profiles: In the first of what we hope will be many new Profile posts, our CES
Newsroom blog featured an article and interview of one of our many talented CES staff
members. You can read the article featuring Barbara Cheney, Lead Teacher at Mount Tom
Academy, at http://blog.collaborative.org/blog/2015/08/10/barbara-cheney-ces-profile/.
TECHNOLOGY


●
We have hired a part time Help Desk Technician, Steve Grabowski. He will be working MonFriday from 8:30 - 12:30. Because of a department restructuring, there is no impact on the
CES budget of this hire. He will be supporting CES and DYS staff.
We continue to work with a number of districts on technology integration, Google
applications, web site design and other services.
We are designing a MakerSpace course which will offer advice on how to create a
makerspace in school settings.
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August 2015 Executive Director Report to the Board of Directors
Business Department




We are moving forward with Chronos, the new time and attendance system. The initial
implementation date is scheduled for early October.
The Purchasing Co-Op bid, which includes many of our member districts, for School Year
2106 has been successfully completed.
The selection of the new Financial Software package is proceeding and expected to be
implemented in the Spring 2016.
The annual audit has started. The auditors have completed the testing phase of the audit
and field work is scheduled for late September. The Business Department is finalizing the FY
2015 results and preparing for the Audit.
I hope you find this selection of summer activities informative and helpful. I look forward to seeing
you at our first Board meeting of the new school year, on September 30, 2015.
Please feel free to call me if you have any questions or want further information about the activities
outlined in this report.
Best regards,
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August 2015 Executive Director Report to the Board of Directors