Coyle and Cassidy High School and Middle School
Personalized learning, strengthening student support services and fostering a spirit of service is the focus of the 2017-18 school year at Coyle and Cassidy High School and Middle School. Personalized learning for grades 6-12 is at the core of the academic program and reflected in two major school initiatives. Through the generosity of the Carney Family Foundation, Coyle and Cassidy is one of seven diocesan schools participating in a Blended Learning initiative in which data driven personalized learning takes place with the integration of technology. Principal Kathleen St.Laurent and Director of Instructional Technology, Cherie Gilmore have been working toward personalized learning for the past two years. Both were selected along with administrators and educators throughout the state to be part of the first cohort of a Leadership in Blended Learning Program sponsored by MASSCUE (Massachusetts Computer Using Educators). They are excited to be part of the diocesan initiative which involves working with a consulting team. Recently, they along with a teacher team from Coyle and Cassidy participated in a readiness assessment which involved educational training along with a site visit to the school. According to St.Laurent, “Blended and personalized learning allows teachers to assess student progress based on immediate and ongoing data. In this way, student mastery can be measured and students can move forward at their own pace. We are very excited about moving forward with this initiative.”
Meeting the needs of students with specialized learning needs is another important school wide initiative. We are pleased to announce the appointment of Nichole Rich ‘93, Ph. D to the position of Director of Student Support Services. Dr. Rich has an extensive background in education and has served as a teacher, administrator and Professor of graduate courses in special education. In her new role, Dr. Rich will be directing and coordinating our new Student Support Services Program designed to assist students with specialized education needs and provide academic support to all students in order to help them achieve their fullest potential. We are most grateful to Mrs. Kerry Peroni ’90 and the Catholic SEAL (Specialized Education for All Learners) Foundation for their financial support of this program.
Keeping with the school’s motto of “Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve”, Coyle and Cassidy students continue to keep service at the forefront. This summer, ten students and two adults from Coyle and Cassidy High School had a heart warming experience serving others with the Romero Center (https://romero-center.org/) in Camden, NJ. Their eyes and hearts were open to the many injustices that exist in our world today as they spent time serving people in need at a soup kitchen, homeless shelter, rehabilitation center, food pantry, and children’s center during the week in one of the poorest cities in the United States of America. This experience transformed our students in so many ways. They will share their experiences with our school during a Human Awareness Day on March 15, 2018. As Blessed Oscar Romero reminds us, “Aspire not to have more, but to be more.” Our school plans to offer another summer mission trip this year assisting those impacted by recent hurricanes. Service is part of the everyday life of the CC student. In addition to our School based food pantry and senior community service agency placements, our entire junior class will participate in a retreat on October 26, 2017, where an important part of the day will include serving our neighbors in need. Students along with chaperones will be broken into small groups and serve at a variety of agencies where they will help children with physical, mental and learning disabilities; assist and spend time with the elderly; deliver furniture to people in need; and assist with meal planning at a local soup kitchen. he purpose of the retreat with prayer, personal witnesses and shared reflections is to expose our students to a variety of agencies where they can learn, grow and love and make a powerful difference in their community.
The desire to serve continues long after our students graduate. Many of our cooperating agencies are staffed by our own graduates. In addition, over 200 alumni have volunteered to serve in a newly created Alumni Relations-Mentoring program. At CC, our students truly do “Enter to Learn and Leave to Serve.”