As the Superintendent of the Malden Public Schools, I want to welcome you to one of the most diverse, exciting and progressive school districts in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Since the first day I came to the district, in July, 2007, I've had the opportunity to talk to and work with parents, community members, teachers, principals, other administrators and instructional leaders, School Committee members, university partners and students, and I have yet to connect with anyone who wasn't extremely thoughtful, talented and deeply committed to the Malden Public Schools. This is clearly a very special place.

The Malden Public Schools are dedicated to serving every, single student to the very best of our abilities. We expect hard work, thoughtful engagement and great results from every student, teacher, administrator and other staff member in the district. Whether your child is a superstar in academics, athletics, the arts or any other endeavor; or your child is struggling to manage the curriculum or other challenges s/he may face, we are committed to making him or her feel special, and we are committed to making his or her experiences in the Malden Public Schools extremely rewarding and productive.

Prior to the opening of school, the district's Leadership Team, which includes principals, other administrators, teacher leaders, coaches, the President of the teachers' union and a representative of the School Committee, met and talked about how we can continue to move our schools into a place of prominence. We talked about three long-range goals I'd like to share with you now.

Student Achievement: All students will be knowledgeable, independent learners who meet or exceed benchmark standards on local, state and national assessments.

Our kids, all of our kids, have to know a whole lot about a whole array of subjects when they graduate from Malden High School…and proficiency on the MCAS is not enough. We discussed how we will ensure every student who graduates from Malden High will have a competitive score on the SAT or ACT and succeed in at least one Advanced Placement course by the time the end of twelfth grade. We are setting our sights high and we intend to meet our goals.

Just as important, we have committed ourselves to the idea of developing independent learners who have the skills and strategies to gather, consider, and make good use of more knowledge than you or I will ever hope to have. Fifty years ago, folks came to schools because schools were the single place where they could go to gather new knowledge and share it with their peers. The internet has put that concept to bed. If our students are going to be competitive, they have to access, interpret, analyze and use knowledge effectively on their own and we're going to make sure every Malden High School graduate can do just that.

Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment: All teachers, coaches, teacher leaders and administrators deeply understand standards-based curriculum, effective instruction, and ongoing assessment and implement each with a high degree of proficiency.

You can go to some schools where all the students who are admitted are already very knowledgeable and skilled, and few have special educational needs or come from countries where English is not the native language. The students in these schools often continue to be successful even if the teaching is lackluster, because of the foundation they have already brought to school. Schools that are committed to educating all children well, as all of Malden’s schools are, cannot afford lackluster teaching. If none of our students are going to be left behind, then all of our teachers must be highly proficient at their craft. As a district, we have defined precisely how we're going to meet this challenge.

Communication & Collaboration: All members of the Malden Educational Community routinely engage in open, honest, respectful and challenging discussions that lead to improved curriculum, instruction and student performance.

The only way all teachers are going to become highly proficient at their craft is to watch one another teach, talk with one another about their craft, study best practices together, and find ways to apply these best practices in their classrooms each and every day, in collaboration with principals and other administrators. This doesn't happen very often in any schools, but it is precisely the kind of work we are pursuing in the Malden Public Schools. This is a toughie because there's very little history of this kind of collaboration in any profession. At the same time, it is SO essential that I will commit every bit of energy I have to making it happen. The teachers (and administrators) who work with your children will be the best teachers you can find anywhere in or near Malden.

I'm sharing all of this because the Malden Public Schools are YOUR schools and it's your business to know exactly what we're all about. We want and need you to become a partner with us on our great journey to becoming the very best urban school district in the country. Come on in and find out whether everything I've talked about above is a bunch of fluff or the very real thing. On behalf of everyone who works in the Malden Public Schools, I look forward to seeing you.

Best wishes always,

Sid Smith, Superintendent