Franklin Overview

The Franklin School is one of five elementary schools serving the town of North Andover. Franklin houses approximately 325 students in grades one to five with a staff of seventeen classroom teachers supported by specialists and teaching assistants. Our students begin instruction in kindergarten at the Bradstreet School and continue at Franklin from first to fifth grade. Franklin school (and all schools in North Andover) endorses a model of full inclusion with services provided in the classroom wherever it is possible. Franklin also has five integrated preschool classrooms for approximately 95 young children.

It is the purpose of Franklin Elementary School to help all students learn in a caring, motivating environment with a commitment to excellence through school/parent/community partnerships. We also value creative thinking and a problem solving approach.

Classroom teachers promote learning through their support of a full inclusion model utilizing on-going assessment, individualized lesson plans, modified materials and class arrangements, grade level conferences, and continuous parent communication. The support staff (counselor, diagnostician, speech therapist, special education personnel, reading teacher, custodial staff, community volunteers, physical therapist, occupational therapist, nurse, and office staff) work together to create a positive environment that ensures every student the opportunity to experience success.

Our goals for 2002-2003 include an effort to make the transition for all students new to Franklin as easy as possible and to continue the implementation of the Lesley Collaborative Literacy program. In addition, our school is working through the School Council to develop the second year of a five year school improvement plan - developing goals in the areas of curriculum, assessment, technology, and professional development. During the next school year, we hope to integrate the arts more fully into the classroom, develop and better model for including all children at recess times, encourage teachers to use a variety of instructional techniques, utilize the curriculum library, and develop strategies to continue our commitment to inclusion by all staff.

We will continue to work on strategies to increase the success of Franklin students on the MCAS tests. Writing will continue to be a priority and the Investigations math program, which is aligned to the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks, will be used to help students learn the fundamentals of mathematical concepts. Making sure that the entire Franklin community is informed and involved in school activities will remain a priority.

Franklin students work on the iBooks which are part of Franklin's new rolling computer lab.

Our emphasis in technology for the 2002-2003 school year will be on learning applications of our present equipment and integrating new equipment into the curriculum. Our goal is for teachers to continue to develop skills in incorporating technology as an integral part of their teaching lessons and to learn to create lessons based on standards through the use of the curriculum library. We also hope to become better users of the internet and the world wide web to supplement the knowledge base of our students.