METCO District Director Curtis Blyden presented his annual report on the state of the METCO program in Lynnfield to the school committee recently.
According to Blyden, METCO families “have a level of satisfaction.
“What I hear, what I see is students are having a really awesome experience,” Blyden said. “They are fully engaged in the school community. I think our kids feel supported and welcome in the community.”
Blyden opened with an overview of the program. Currently, there are 41 METCO students, including six seniors, in Lynnfield.
“That number is average for what we typically do in Lynnfield,” Blyden said.
The high school and middle school have the highest number of students with 19 and 13, respectively. There are five students at Huckleberry Hill School and four at Summer Street School. Every grade from 1-12 has at least one student with the high school (6), grades 6, 9 and 10 (5 each) having the most students.
“The middle school and high school are the largest places so far,” Blyden said. “We’ve slowly started to rebuild the elementary schools. Over the last few years, I have been trying to focus on entry points being first grade.”
Blyden said 95% of all METCO students in Lynnfield had siblings also enrolled in the district.
“One of the things we’re going back to in our recruitment process is for several years we were taking high school and middle school kids and we really want to get back to rebuilding the foundations in the elementary grades,” Blyden said. “That sibling trend, that legacy trend as we call it, is strong and will continue.”
In terms of academic performance, Blyden students are in “solid academic shape” with 68% (13) making the credit/honors list this year, compared to just seven two years ago.
Blyden said the program’s main focus is creating collaborative relationships with teachers and parents, connecting students with academic resources and building partnerships in the community. Student progress and achievement is monitored on a regular basis. Students also have the opportunity for summer academic enrichment.
“The big ones we’ve been focusing on this year have been connecting students with academic resources, college scholarship support and building community partnerships,” Blyden said.
In terms of new opportunities, Blyden said, thanks to a METCO grant, middle and high school students have been working with Livius Prep receiving individual subject remote tutoring and help with college scholarships.
“It’s been working out really well and we’ve definitely seen some positive academic data from it,” Blyden said.
Blyden said college acceptances include Boston College, Boston University and Buffalo State with students applying for more than 50 scholarships, which he said is “high.”
“Every year more and more of our kids are getting into more and more schools, which is awesome,” Blyden said. “One of our students found out this week that he received a Christian A, Herter Memorial Scholarship, which is a very competitive scholarship.”
According to its website, the scholarship, which funds 50% of college tuition for students attending U.S. colleges, is geared toward students “whose socio-economic backgrounds and environmental conditions may inhibit their ability to attain educational goals… (and) who have overcome major adversity in their lives.”
Committee Member Jamie Hayman noted the obstacles METCO students typically need to overcome, like getting up at 5 a.m. for a minimum hour-long one-way commute.
“One of the biggest wins I’ve seen… is the work you have done rebuilding the program… not just for METCO kids, but for all of our students,” Hayman said. “It is really important to recognize what these students are overcoming… That is something that should be celebrated and recognized. The support that the METCO team is giving is really impressive. I applaud those outcomes.”
In response to a comment from Committee Member Jim Dillon, Blyden said the high level of satisfaction enjoyed by families is due to several factors.
“A big part of that is the communication they are having with their teachers about their child’s academic progress,” Blyden said. “I’ve known a lot of kids since they were second or third grade and a couple since they were infants, so there is a level of confidence families have in our relationship.
Committee Member Kate DePrizio said Blyden is “a welcoming presence to all of our students.”
Committee Member Kim Baker Donahue said she echoed the sentiments of fellow committee members “for everything (Blyden) has done. Having grown up here, I think it’s amazing that you’ve been able to rebuild this and have it thrive. It’s just awesome for everyone.”
Chair Kristen Elworthy thanked Blyden for the work he has done to support the students.
“The work you do to support the kids is obviously showing and we are seeing that trend of success.”
