Weather did not deter NEASC evaluation at Cranston East

By Pam Schiff
Posted 3/22/17

Similar to the post office creed of “neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds,” the NEASC (New England …

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Weather did not deter NEASC evaluation at Cranston East

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Similar to the post office creed of “neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds,” the NEASC (New England Association of Schools and Colleges) evaluation team for Cranston East was able to accomplish in two days what they had scheduled to take them four to complete.

“We were very fortunate that the snowstorm came when it did.  Virtually all of our data gathering was scheduled to occur on Sunday and Monday. The only thing that a few team members missed was shadowing some CHSE students for a couple of periods on Tuesday morning. Generally, on Tuesday, team members verify the data that were collected and begin to draft sections of the report.  I will note that both Sean Kelly and Andrea DiCicco were in touch with us constantly during the visit and provided us with anything we requested in a timely manner. They were also available via mobile telephone and e-mail on Tuesday. Hence, the fact that we were sequestered at the Crowne Plaza on Tuesday had little impact on the preliminary report that was generated since we were at CHSE on Wednesday before we departed. I provided the administrators, faculty and staff a brief overview of some of our findings, both strengths and needs, Wednesday afternoon before the team left CHSE.  I do not believe there were any surprises,” NEASC evaluation Chairman, Donald D. Gainey, Ed.D.

Not only were teachers, faculty and administrators involved with the evaluation, DiCicco assembled a team of 16 students, four from each grade, to be shadowed by the visitors.

“I think the NEASC process and visit was a major learning experience as both the students and faculty were able to learn so much more about Cranston East through statistics and demographics, and we were all able to showcase our skills, talents and school pride to an important group,” said

Senior Amelia Lavallee, who created and presented the BOLTS PRIDE video to the entire school community and NEASC guests, was also one of the panel presenters.

Student Council President Megan Scarborough added her thoughts. “Having such important visitors at our school was exciting and terrifying all at once. As a student, I felt this responsibility to prove to them how spectacular our school is, and that means highlighting things that are so deeply rooted in our culture we forget how extraordinary they are. Things like our warmth, diversity, community, they’re the factors that make East the school it is, and I hope we were able to demonstrate that,” she said.

East Principal Sean Kelly was practical about the whole situation.

“The visit schedule is set by NEASC. We were able to slide some of the visit around and had ‘overbooked’ our scheduled meetings by having ‘extra’ teachers and students attend meetings in anticipation of the event of weather. I believe the team was comfortable with the amount of time they had on site,” he said.

NEASC coordinator for East Andrea DiCicco made sure she was prepared for the pending storm.

“I know I placed more individuals [teachers, students and parents] in our Monday meetings, to compensate for the potential of any lost time on Tuesday,” she said.

With all the data collected, it is now a waiting period for Kelly, DiCicco and the rest of the Cranston East team.

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