Since the pandemic, Massachusetts has experienced one of the widest academic achievement gaps between “poor and non-poor” students of any state studied by researchers from Harvard and Stanford Universities, according to a recent article about the study in CommonWealth Beacon.
Many of Massachusetts’ “Gateway Cities, home to lots of the state’s poorer students, saw declines of as much as a full year of learning,” the article explains. “While many districts began to see achievement gains from 2022 to 2023 — the first full year when students returned to in-person learning — many Gateway Cities saw achievement levels continue to drop, making the achievement gap even larger now than it was before the pandemic.”
However, in two Gateway Cities, Salem and Springfield, City Connects plays an important role in local schools. Our City Connects Coordinators and Program Managers have developed deep relationships with students, families, schools, and community partners. We’re honored to be part of these communities’ larger efforts to help students learn and thrive, and we are delighted to share some of their good news.
In Salem, School Superintendent Stephen Zrike recently announced that the city “saw its four-year graduation rate increase to 80.6 percent, its highest rate since 2017-18, while its drop-out rate and chronic absenteeism rate each have decreased significantly.”
In addition, “Salem’s drop-out rate dipped to 2.8 percent – its lowest since the 2017-18 academic year,” bringing the rate back to pre-pandemic levels.
“While we are still not at our strategic goals of a graduation rate of 88 percent and a dropout rate of 2 percent, we are making important progress towards our north star,” Zrike says. “Special thanks go to our staff, students and their families for the hard work to ensure that all of our students graduate with their diploma and so many other credentials, certificates and credits.”
This work is part of Salem’s 2023-2026 Strategic Plan to be a “diverse and welcoming community that promotes the academic, social, emotional and physical development of each student through the equitable delivery of challenging, relevant and joyful learning experiences.”
The strategic plan points to engagement opportunities that have helped fuel Salem’s success, including City Connects. And our coordinators have been busy supporting students through community partnerships that engage families, provide basic staples, and make holidays happier.
Salem’s commitment to being a thriving home for children promises to help its students achieve lifelong success.
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In Springfield, City Connects has had no greater champion than School Superintendent Daniel Warwick. And after a 48-year career as an educator who has been devoted to improving education, Warwick is retiring.
Warwick grew up in Springfield and began his career as a substitute teacher. He served as a special education teacher and a supervisor, and he went on to become a principal.
“As Superintendent, Warwick oversaw every aspect of the district, which includes an annual operating budget of more than $790 million, managing over 60 public schools, with approximately over 5,000 employees, and more than 23,000 students,” an announcement from the City of Springfield notes.
In 2010, Warwick visited Boston to learn more about City Connects, and he decided to launch our program in Springfield.
“City Connects had a big impact on school climate because students who aren’t getting services often have trouble with regulation in school, and they disrupt the environment for themselves and other kids,” Warwick told us earlier this year.
“Providing proactive supports makes a difference,” he added. “Our suspensions and arrests are down 70 to 90 percent. And having City Connects’ specifically tailored, individual plan has really made a huge difference for our kids, because if we don’t take care of their specific needs, their academics are going to be problematic.”
During Warwick’s tenure, Springfield’s schools’ successes have included: increasing the district’s graduation rate from 56.4% to 84.6%; reducing the dropout rate from over 10% to 3.9%; and closing achievement gaps “in every subject and student category, establishing Springfield as the highest performing urban school high-poverty district.”
“These markers, largely considered the most important measures in public education, represent the biggest improvement in the state,” the city’s announcement adds.
At the City Connects level, our coordinators have helped provide students with clothes as well as desks and beds and fun ways to build healthier habits.
For Warwick, all this work has been part of being a Springfield native who loves his city.
“I am deeply honored and privileged to have spent my entire 48-year career in the city I was born and raised in and that I deeply love,” Warwick says in the city’s statement. “It has been a journey filled with challenges, triumphs, and the unwavering support of an incredible community.”
City Connects is proud to play a part in connecting students and their families to resources in the Springfield community, helping to create a strong educational foundation that will benefit Springfield’s students for years to come.
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