Case Study of a Massachusetts High School with Improving
Cohort Graduation Rates and Declining Annual Dropout Rates:
Turners Falls High School
Gill-Montague Regional School District, MA
Hallmarks of Turners Falls’ Strategies
Focus on student-schoolcommunity connectedness
Conflict resolution approach
Ninth grade academic
support and outreach team
Stability provided through
community supports
Individualized learning plans directed at
college and career readiness
Prepared by RMC Research
for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education
June 2015
Introduction to the Case Study Project
The Turners Falls High School case study is one in a series of three school profiles that describe how high
schools in Massachusetts are increasing graduation rates and simultaneously reducing the number of
students who drop out of school. The profiles highlight strategies used by the high schools, including
programs and roles supported by MassGrad grants (funded through the federal High School Graduation
Initiative) as part of Massachusetts’ College and Career Readiness strategy.
Massachusetts has made great strides in increasing statewide high school cohort graduation rates and
decreasing annual dropout rates over the last five years. These positive changes are the result of an
emphasis on the importance of improvement in these two areas from the Massachusetts Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE) and the dedicated, thoughtful work of school districts and
schools to better meet student needs.
In 2014 ESE commissioned RMC Research to study and profile three of the high schools that have made
steady progress in increasing high school graduation rates and decreasing high school dropout rates:
Malden High School, Turners Falls High School in the Gill-Montague School District, and West
Springfield High School. The purpose of these case studies is to provide information for other school
districts on promising strategies to support dropout prevention and increasing graduation rates. The
three high schools were selected to maximize the variation in geography, high school size, and student
body demographics. Each of the high schools has a range of effective strategies. Malden is a large urban
school in the Boston area with an ethnically diverse student body. By contrast, Turners Falls High School
in the western rural part of the state has a student body of about 260 students. West Springfield serves
an urban and suburban area with a student population that is increasingly economically disadvantaged.
As the case studies illustrate, the three schools have made documented progress in improving
graduation rates while reducing the number of dropouts, and also improved student achievement as
measured by MCAS results. The case studies describe how they achieved those improvements including
the actions district and school leaders took to stimulate changes, the new roles that were introduced,
and the types of supports that were developed for students at-risk of failing to graduate or dropping
out. Each case study concludes with a distillation of lessons from the school’s experience that might be
applied to other high schools.
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is grateful for the district and
school staff included in the case study project. Staff were generous with their time, which resulted in the
rich information presented in all of the case studies representing the great work happening in each
school. Thank you.
1
“If we can get students to feel like they really belong
to the school community they’ll stay in school
and be more responsible.”
District Director, Teaching and Learning
Turners Falls High
School is a small rural school located in
Turners Falls High School enroll in the Technical
School instead. Students must decide in middle
school if they want to transfer in 9th grade to
the Technical School.
the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts,
about ninety miles west of Boston. The high
school is part of the Gill-Montague Regional
School District that serves PreK-12th grade
students from the towns of Gill and Montague
and 7th-12th grade students from the town of
Erving. In addition to the high school, the
district has three elementary schools and a
middle school. The middle and high school each
has had its own administration and faculty but
occupy separate wings within one school
building, sharing common facilities such as the
gym and library.
Turner Falls High School students follow a five
period block schedule that includes four 85minute academic block periods, a 30-minute
lunch period, and a 30-minute GAP (Guided
Academic Progress) block. Students must earn
140 credits to graduate. Semester academic
courses (English, history, mathematics, and
science) and the yearlong GAP course that meet
daily are valued as 5.0 credits each; physical
education and health courses are 2.5 credits,
and electives are either 2.5 or 5.0 credits.
The school district serves students from diverse
economic and educational backgrounds, and
counseling staff report that the student
population includes a high number of students
who are placed in foster homes in the district
under the care of the Department of Children
and Families, students from economically
stressed families, transient students, and
students from families that have been affected
by alcohol and drug abuse.
Regional population: 11,300
Turners Falls HS: 261 students
49.4% low income
3.1% English learners
21.8% special needs
86.6% White, 8.8% Hispanic,
1.1% African American
The nearby region has many educational
options, including the Stoneleigh Burnham and
Northfield Mount Hermon private schools,
several popular high school charters, a number
of parochial and private elementary schools,
and the Franklin County Technical School in
Turners Falls. Historically, approximately onethird of the students who might have attended
Number of teachers: 29
Per pupil expenditure: $14,736
(Gill-Montague School District)
2
Indicators of Improvement
The information below illustrates basic indicators from the story of improvement at Turners Falls. It is
important to note that the small size of the school’s student population makes it more difficult to
observe trends because the experiences of only a few students in a class can skew or obscure patterns.
In addition to having small numbers, Turners Falls has also had a fluctuating student population base,
further complicating the picture. For example, class cohort size fluctuates as much as 20-30 percent
from one year to the next.

From 2010 to the present, the number of dropouts has been reduced to a few students per
year, and the annual dropout rate fell below the state average

Cohort graduation rates (4 year and 5 year) improved over 10 percentage points.

Generally the percent of Turners Falls High School students completing MassCore has been
higher than the state average rates.
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
2012-13
2013-14
STATE
AVG.
2013-14
Annual Dropout Rate (%)
3.5
(n=11)
4.4
(n=14)
7.8
(n=23)
2.8
(n=8)
2.1
(n=6)
1.2
(n=3)
2.0
4-Year Cohort Graduation
Rate (%)
68.6
69.1
68.1
65.8
83.3
82.8
86.1
5-Year Cohort Graduation
Rate (%)
69.6
74.5
75.0
69.6
84.5
--
87.7
Absent 10 or More Days (%)
40.5
40.3
33.4
44.1
43.6
40.4
30.4
Promoted from 9th to 10th
Grade (%)
94
89
84
97
85
89
92
MCAS Grade 10 Eng. Lang.
Arts Proficient or Higher (%)
87
70
82
86
92
87
90
MCAS Grade 10 Math
Proficient or Higher (%)
84
63
78
75
86
73
79
MassCore Completion (%)
100
100
82.1
100
69.7
72.7
72.4
Indicators
3
Changes started with a school-community
exploration of ways to address drug and alcohol
abuse and other risk factors prevalent among
youth. During the 2008-09 school year, the GillMontague regional district conducted a study
along with other nearby towns to identify factors
associated with students dropping out of high
school. The study pointed to a common risk
factor for dropping out—low levels of student
connectedness to the school.i
Connecting with Students
Turners Falls High School improved conditions
for student success on a steady basis over time
despite numerous challenges not uncommon to
small rural schools and districts. The regional
school district confronted budget issues,
administrative and staff turnover,
disagreements about priorities on the part of
school board members from the various towns,
limited community mental health and social
services to support the high needs population,
and competition from a wide range of
educational options in the region.
The survey was an eye opener that sparked the
staff’s consciousness of student dropout
resulting largely from social-relational issues and
a lack of engagement in academics and failure to
progress toward graduation. Faculty came to
understand the importance of developing
supportive, meaningful relationships with
students and building students’ social and
academic connectedness throughout the school.
In particular, the district and school have been
challenged by lack of continuity in leadership
with a high turnover of administrators. The
district has had six superintendents and five
high school principals within the past decade
and six special education directors in eight
years. With each new administrator, there have
been shifts in priorities, which are felt directly
and acutely by students and staff in a small
district.
Supports for At-Risk Students
Over the past five years, Turners Falls High
School has put in place various dropout
prevention strategies that have contributed to
increasing student engagement in school and
improving graduation rates. Programs and
student supports include: 1) social-relational
programs such as the introduction of Rise Up
more than 10 years ago and the Restorative
Justice Program in 2013; 2) academic supports
that include the creation of the 9th Grade
Academy in 2007-08, the Alternative Learning
Center/Justice Center (the Center) in 2013 (a
component of the Restorative Justice Program),
Credit Recovery in 2011, Individualized
Learning Plans (ILPs), and the addition of the
Guided Academic Progress Course (GAP); 3) a
guidance system that includes a Student
Support Team, Graduation Coach, and Advisory
Program; and 4) external supports provided by
the Gill-Montague Community School
Partnership (the Partnership).
However, a core group of school staff and
community members have overcome what
might have been overwhelming disadvantages
by pulling together to provide the continuity of
services and consistent environment needed to
support students. Staff have taken on multiple
roles and assumed responsibilities for students
that go beyond their teaching responsibilities.
“Often a school staff member is the only
adult in the student’s life.”
Guidance counselor
Through a set of strategies—all designed to
create “connectedness” for students—staff
have helped students develop a sense of
belonging to the school community through
building close relationships with faculty and
supportive interactions among peers.
4
Turners Falls High School
Supports for At-Risk Students
• 9th Grade Academy
• Alternative Learning
Center
• Credit Recovery
• Rise Up Course
• Individual Learning
Plans (ILPs)
• Restorative Justice
Program
• Guided Academic
Progress Course
(GAP)
SocialRelational
Programs
Academic
Supports
Guidance
System
Communit
y Supports
• Student Support
Team
• Gill-Montague
Community School
Partnership
• Graduation
Coach
• Advisory
Committee
5
to the community. Students create and plan
community service and outreach projects that
help them “make connections far beyond the
four walls of school.”
Social-Relational Programs
Turners Falls High School introduced two
programs intended to help students at-risk of
dropping out develop the social and relational
skills they need to build positive connections
within the school community.
Through these projects and group discussions,
students develop communication,
organizational, and interpersonal skills that
benefit them both in and out of school. Course
time also is dedicated to researching career
paths and preparing for entrance into college or
the job force after high school.iv
Rise Up Course
The original Rise Up Programii was brought into
the high school more than 10 years ago by the
school district’s Director of Teaching and
Learning as an alternative in-house program for
at-risk students. This program was adapted and
evolved into the current Rise Up Courseiii in
2009. Rise Up is now a daily 1.5-hour, semesterlong course with ten or fewer students each
semester who are drawn from grades 9-12. It is
offered twice a year, and acceptance into the
course is by invitation only. Students take the
course once during their high school
experience.
In addition,
faculty report
that the course
“Rise Up teaches
provides
you how to talk to
students with a
each other.”
“reality check”
Student
about what is
happening in
their school and community, counteracts any
misperceptions they may have formed about
the behavior of other students (e.g., students
often have exaggerated beliefs about the
normal frequency and alcohol consumption
habits of their peers), and helps them see how
their learning is linked to the world around
them.
The course includes both at-risk students who
are recommended for the class, and other
students who are not at risk of dropping out in
order to serve as model students and facilitate
the formation of friendships with a wider
variety of peers.
The Rise Up classroom climate is conversational
and supportive for the students. The teacher is
comfortable and open about talking with
students about challenging and weighty topics
(e.g., current and past struggles in their own
lives). Although teamwork is challenging for
many students, Rise Up students become very
close to and supportive of each other over the
semester—creating a sense of community built
from shared experience that extends well past
the semester. For example, on one day when
several students were absent from school, their
classmates called them from a speakerphone in
the classroom to wish them well and encourage
them to return to school soon, which shows
how the course has helped build connections
and social support among the students.
“Service-learning helps students who may
not feel connected to the school to connect
to the community and feel like they are
doing something important.”
District Director, Teaching and Learning
Rise Up provides the opportunity for students
to participate in self-governing activities (e.g.,
realistic goal-setting, team building activities,
communication, classroom policy choices) along
with community service-learning activities (e.g.,
volunteering at a homeless shelter,
participating in community food drives). It is
designed to help empower students to have a
more active voice in their school and to connect
6
Students in the Rise Up course plan and host a
weekly all-school meeting convocation—an
opportunity for showcasing achievements and
talents, providing information about serious
topics (e.g., a video of a former pro football
player discussing his struggle with drug
addiction and the impact it had on his athletic
career), faculty sharing about their own
interests, and group contests and spirited fun.
Karen Hidalgo, high school graduation
coach/counselor) worked together to obtain
grant funding, design the program, bring school
and community members together, and
organize a three-day training at Greenfield
Community College in summer 2013 for local
school administrators, teachers, guidance
counselors, and school resource officers.
The Partnership has continued to support the
program through coaching and regular checkins with the high school staff. In 2014, a sixmonth Massachusetts Alternative Education
Grant enabled the Partnership to provide
professional development in restorative
practices to the Turners Falls High School staff.
In addition, the coalition expanded training and
coaching this year to ten school districts in the
region through collaboration with the
Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, the GillMontague Regional School District, and the
Mediation and Training Collaboration of
Community Action.
Rise Up helped make student-faculty
relationship building a priority at the high
school. Martin Espinola, Gill-Montague’s District
Director of Teaching and Learning: “If we can
get students to feel like they really belong to
the school community, they’ll stay in school and
be more responsible.” The program enjoys
strong student support.
Restorative Justice focuses on concepts of
justice and ethics, structured around a
nonjudgmental group discussion that is directly
related to student experiences and facilitated
by the program’s coordinator. Students keep
journals that are used to facilitate back and
forth communication between the students and
the coordinator. Students can either be
assigned to the class or take it as an elective (for
example, some students are assigned because
of disciplinary issues that occurred the previous
school year while others are interested in
learning about the approach).
Restorative Justice Programv
The Restorative Justice approach was
introduced into the Gill-Montague Regional
School District in fall 2013 as a pilot to train
teachers and staff to implement restorative
practices as part of the discipline procedures at
the middle and high school.vi Although the GillMontague Community School Partnership
director, who had a background in peer
mediation and conflict resolution, had been
trying for years to bring restorative practices
into the district, it was difficult to get things
moving due to high administrative turnover.
Grant funding helped prioritize the program.
Restorative Justice represents a shift in
discipline from punitive to educational and
provides a supportive, positive mediation
approach to dealing with behavioral issues and
focusing on students’ needs. Solving problems
and giving students a voice is the primary goal
of the program. David Bulley, Restorative
Justice coordinator and teacher: “It is an
approach that focuses on nonjudgmental
discussion, developing empathy, and repairing
the damage done.”
Partnership and high school staff (in particular,
Kara McLaughlin, Partnership director and
7
At Turners Falls High School, the program now
consists of a semester-long course, mediation
services for behavioral incidents, and the
Alternative Learning Center/Justice Centervii
(the Center), all conducted in the same
classroom space. All students are welcome to
the Center, which serves as a place where
students can drop in as needed when they are
under stress or need a place to talk about
school or home issues.
Academic Supports
Turners Falls High School has put into action
several different types of strategies to support
students’ academic learning and maintain their
advancement toward graduation. The 9th Grade
Academy addresses the distinctive needs of
incoming freshmen; the Alternative Learning
Center/Justice Center is open to all students but
is primarily focused on helping students at risk
of behavioral issues and dropping out to
increase the time they spend in their academic
classrooms rather than losing learning time due
to being disciplined at school; Credit Recovery
offers students the opportunity to make up
credits they need for graduation; Individualized
Learning Plans guide students in exploring and
creating future college and career plans; and
the GAP Course provides academic support to
all students.
“Through Restorative Justice you start with
a new slate every time.”
Student
In a small school like Turners Falls, everyone is
aware of the restorative practices approach.
The program’s coordinator serves as a neutral
intermediary for students who are sent to the
Center by a teacher (i.e. when a behavioral
issue arises in the classroom) or who opt to
come on their own to deal with stress or an
issue they are having in school or at home.
9th Grade Academy
The high school offers an academic support
system for incoming ninth grade students
through the 9th Grade Academy that was
established in 2007-08.
This mediation process is constantly being
reinforced with teachers and has had strong
support from the principal who reported that
more than half of teachers are open to the
approach. Staff report that some of the
teachers who may remain skeptical of
restorative justice practices sometimes feel that
students are being treated “too softly” and
believe that more traditional methods for
dealing with discipline issues, such as detention
and suspension, work best.
“The Academy’s purpose is to establish an
environment in which the level of
connectedness of 9th graders with the school
community is enhanced, as a team of
teachers working with the same students is
able to provide integrated instruction (team
teaching) and, as important, has
opportunities to share important
information regarding these students. A
critical component of a program with this
design is regularly scheduled common
planning time for all teachers on the
team.”ix
The Turners Falls principal and Restorative
Justice coordinator report that internal and
external suspensions, detentions, and Center
visits have decreased significantly from last year
and are down from the beginning of the 201415 school year. They highlight the overall effect
of the program as follows: “These students, in
many situations, have become social leaders in
continuing to grow our culture as one that is
respectful and restorative in nature.”viii
Through the Academy, a team of five ninth
grade teachers—English language arts, science,
history, algebra/geometry, and the special
education teacher (who also serves as the team
leader)—provides academic experiences to
8
ninth grade students to ease the transition from
middle to high school. The Academy “provides a
school experience comparable to that provided
in the middle school format in which a team of
teachers provide integrated instruction and
through regular interaction with one another
may have enhanced insight into the academic,
personal, and social needs of the students they
teach.”x
Academy students take their core academic
subjects for the entire school year while
students in the other grades take four
semester-long classes that last 82 minutes for
each subject. Ninth grade students take English,
science, history, and algebra or geometry for
the entire school year in 40-minute blocks,
rather than for a semester in 82-minute blocks
as the 10th-12th grade students do. Ninth grade
students are then able to take an elective such
as photography, recreational sports, and French
each semester during two 82-minute semesterlong classes.
The teaching team shares a common prep time
to plan instruction and discuss at-risk students;
collaborates to develop an understanding about
what works with specific students and parents;
and works toward building student-teacher
connections (for example, if a student is unable
to build a connection with one teacher, the
student may be reassigned to another teacher).
Priority is placed on meeting with students, and
at times, the team will meet as a group with a
student or family to send a unified message that
“their teachers are on the same page.”
“Try to get them motivated at the
start and to understand the
importance of graduation – it
matters!”
Ninth Grade Academy team member
The Academy teaching team reaches out to
students before they arrive at the high school.
At least one team member and guidance
counselor meet individually with eighth grade
students as they get ready to select their
classes. Each student works with his or her
family and guidance counselor to formulate a
four-year individualized plan for graduation,
following a college-bound graduation pathway
or a different core graduation pathway based
on the student’s needs, talents, and interests.xi
The eighth grade students are taken on tours of
the high school and hear from current students
about their experience at Turners Falls High
School.
Alternative Learning Center/Justice
Center (the Center)
The Center is part of the Restorative Justice
Program at Turners Falls High. Students go to
the Center when they are sent out of the
classroom due to inappropriate or disruptive
behavior or when they have been suspended. It
is meant to be an educational experience where
students continue to do their classwork and
participate in discussions directed at problem
solving and repairing any damages done to
relationships in school—for example, helping
students understand how their disruptive
behavior results in “lost learning time for other
students while the teacher is occupied [with
dealing with the disruption].” Time spent in the
Center is focused on returning the student back
to the classroom so they miss out on very little
class time dedicated to academic learning.
The team also reaches out to parents to let
them know the kinds of experiences their child
will have at the high school and sponsors open
house events before the start of the school year
during which students can visit the school, get
their schedules and tour the building. In
addition, the high school and middle school
counselors meet to review the backgrounds of
entering 9th grade students to identify
potentially at-risk students.
A certified teacher heads the Center “so
students do not lose learning time to discipline;
rather, they learn discipline in addition to their
9
coursework.” As the Center’s teacher describes
the process:
Credit Recovery
Credit Recovery is another program that was
brought into the high school by the district’s
Director of Teaching and Learning. The district
has continued
to budget for
“We often had more
and supervise
students who
this program.
needed
Credit
Most years at
Recovery than could
Turners Falls,
take it.”
the credit
recovery
Graduation
program has
coach/counselor
been offered
as an online
option to students who are unable to obtain
credits either due to transfer or failure to meet
course expectations.
“Every student who is referred out of class
meets with a teacher trained in restorative
practices. After a conference the student is
asked to fill out a ‘Ticket Out’ which asks the
traditional restorative questions: What
happened; what were you thinking; what
were you feeling; was any harm done; and
how can you repair that harm? Failure to
complete the ticket out in a satisfactory way
is not punished or scorned, but students
must stay in the Alternative Learning Center
until they make a plan to restore the harm
they caused. The reasoning behind this
approach is that if a person did damage to
the community they need to repair that
damage before re‐entering that
community.”xii
The program began at Turners Falls High School
close to 10 years ago as a summer opportunity
with just one online course. At first,
administrators struggled with getting the
faculty’s support, but in recent years they have
been able to offer online courses throughout
the school year as well as during the summer.
Teachers and paraprofessionals staff the high
school’s computer lab and provide assistance to
students individually or in small groups when
they are having trouble.
“You need to meet students’ basic needs so
they can learn…every decision is based on
the student’s needs.”
Principal
The Center provides a culture where students
can visit before a potential behavioral incident
erupts in order to “pre‐process” and discuss the
underlying issues with a trained teacher or
guidance counselor, rather than attempt to
“navigate the difficult social waters
themselves.”
The high school’s yearly Program of Studies for
Grades 9-12 describes credit recovery as
follows:
According to one student, “It helps me because
there is someone who listens, who helps you
understand what you’re going through, and
helps you resolve issues and get back into
class.” The number of students sent to the
Center has varied over the years. At one point,
many students needed the Center; however, as
staff reports, as a result of Restorative Justice
techniques, they have seen behavioral changes
in students and, as a result, fewer students are
attending.
“A web-based curriculum that is aligned
with the state standards and differentiated
to meet a variety of learner’s needs. The
multimedia instructional content appeals
to students with different learning styles
and levels of ability ranging from below
grade level to those capable of advanced
coursework. Students appreciate the selfdirected and self-paced model and the
teacher is able to individualize instruction
and remediate as necessary so students
can demonstrate mastery. Online
curriculum is combined with skills based
10
instruction to bring all students up to grade
level and beyond. This program is
especially useful for students who are at
risk for dropping out due to prior failure
and students transferring from other
schools who may be missing a course in
our required sequence. Students are
expected to be self-motivated and willing
to work independently.”xiii
development of the state’s ILP implementation
guide last summer.
At the high
school ILPs
“Most of the 9th
comprise a
graders were positive
comprehensive
about the ILP and
four-year
enjoyed the process.”
portfolio of a
student’s
Graduation
progress and
coach/counselor
personal
growth, academic plans, and career
development through their high school career.
The class of 2018 will be the first class with ILPs
for all four years.
Typically, the program has been full
(approximately 15 students), and there has
been a waiting list with priority given to
students who were closer to graduation. Staff
report that the program attracts students and
keeps them in school, to some extent because
they like the up-to-date computer
lab systems and programs. Most
importantly, faculty note that
it’s important to help students
graduate because students,
especially in a small school
setting, tend to drop out
when they get very far behind
in course credits.
Students start their portfolio by using
the Massachusetts Career
Information System (MassCIS) to
explore interests, careers, and
colleges. Related activities include a
ninth grade seminar focused on
college and career readiness including
the ILP, learning styles lesson and
inventory, a career cluster inventory, and
college field trips. Students then develop
their own ILPs and explore their interests and
talk about their goals with assistance from
school guidance counselors, teachers, and
parents/guardians.xiv ILPs are implemented
through the students’ weekly advisory program
which is taught by faculty members and
designed to focus on college and career
readiness, academic check-ins, and socialemotional growth.
In addition, a small high school like
Turners Falls doesn’t always have the
certified teachers needed to teach certain
subject area courses, e.g., in math or science. A
program like credit recovery can provide
students with online access to these courses so
they don’t “miss out.” Finding the time in
teachers’ schedules to supervise the credit
recovery lab can be challenging in a small
school, leading to some disruptions in the
schedule of credit recovery opportunities.
The school is moving forward on
institutionalizing the ILP approach, funded
through a state Integrating College and Career
Readiness (ICCR) demonstration site grant. This
year, Turners Falls’ staff has piloted an
electronic ILP system with the entire 9th grade
class using MassCIS online resources for
education and training, and counseling staff are
developing an implementation guide. Staff
report that students have shown a range of
engagement, with most 9th grade students
willingly involved in the process.
Individualized Learning Plans (ILPs)
Turners Falls was one of the first high schools in
the state to create Individualized Learning Plans
for all students. The high school’s graduation
coach/counselor, Karen Hidalgo, had attended
ILP presentations provided by ESE and followed
up by piloting an ILP checklist/guide with a
small number of students. ESE used the school’s
resulting ILP template to inform the
11
The team finds that many of the high school
students (estimated at about 30%) have
experienced some level of trauma, e.g., poverty,
drugs in the home, poor family/school
communication, and they need personalized
attention in dealing with these issues. In
addition to providing students with academic,
career/college, and social-emotional
counseling, guidance counselors have taken on
a “triage-type” role in dealing with student
trauma or crisis situations and connect students
with outside services, such as mental health
counseling, when necessary. High school staff
have attended presentations and training on
topics such as how trauma affects student
learning.
Guided Academic Progress
(GAP) Course
GAP is a yearlong course that was started at the
high school three years ago. The course is
focused on providing students with academic
assistance and meets for a 30-minute period,
three times per week. GAP offers students the
opportunity to individually and collaboratively
work on projects, academic skills, study skills,
class work, and homework within the school
day under the guidance and supervision of a
teacher. The course is mandatory and all
students are automatically enrolled each year. If
a student needs extra time or support in a
specific subject area that is not the expertise of
the GAP teacher, the student can meet with the
subject area teacher during the GAP period.
Graduation Coach
Through grant funds, Turners Falls High School
was able to add a graduation coach for a few
years whose main focus was to reduce the
dropout rate. She began by tackling the
problem of high absenteeism, which remains
stubbornly high. The coach put in place plans
for tracking
attendance and
immediately
addressing problems.
Guidance System
Similar to other high schools, Turners Falls has
been interested in finding ways to re-tool and
extend the services of the school’s guidance
department to best address students’ needs for
support. Staff believe that they need to begin
by looking at students’ home and school
experiences.
The coach’s goal was
to figure out why
students were
missing school (e.g.,
difficulty falling
asleep or waking up;
transportation issues
and missing buses;
illness; anxiety, etc.);
and to create a plan
to support them,
both inside and outside of the school. For
example, previously, the school had not been
addressing attendance issues directly with
students. The coach instituted the practice of
calling students who are absent and talking to
them about each absence.
Student Support Team
The high school’s Student Support Team, which
includes school administrators, guidance
counselors, and health staff, meets weekly to
discuss students with varying needs who may
be in crisis and design strategies for
intervention that “align with other steps taken
to assist students with challenges that may
weaken their connection to the school
community.”xv The team uses data from the
Massachusetts Early Warning Indicator System
(EWIS) to identify students who may be at risk
and makes referrals to guidance counselors
who also seek feedback from middle school
counselors about individual students.
12
The coach has conducted exit interviews for
students who have dropped out and reached out
to students who had previously dropped out of
school to encourage return. She related one recent
success when a student who had dropped out
quickly returned when he realized that he was not
able to obtain work without a high school diploma.
The coach also began to work with other
guidance staff on guiding students through the
postsecondary selection process. While most
Turners Falls High School students go on to
attend 2-year or 4-year college programs, the
guidance staff believe they could be more
successful in assisting students with decision
making.
readiness. Since 2008, the Gill-Montague
Community School Partnership has supported
the advisory program with some funding and inkind staff time, such as providing faculty
training and coaching.
Community Supports
The Gill-Montague Community School
Partnership is a broad-based coalition of
organizations, families, youth, and community
volunteers focused on reducing substance
abuse, violence, and school dropout. In
addition, the coalition is proactive in supporting
school issues such as diversity education and
mediation strategies. The Partnership
collaborates on common goals and networks to
connect community and school resources. It
supports service-learning activities and several
types of youth groups, as well as initiatives for
increasing youth connections to the schools,
providing opportunities and recognition for
youth, and supporting area parents. One of its
many initiatives has been helping the district
and its schools understand student trauma.
Advisory Program
Turners Falls High School received a two-year
grant to improve college and career readiness
through ongoing daily student advisory classes
provided by faculty members. An advisory
committee of faculty and students developed a
curriculum and provided training for staff. The
school has continued to fine-tune the program
to better meet student needs and interests
based on their feedback and suggestions.
“The Partnership is working on
school connectedness, looking at
how our schools can be more
trauma-sensitive, and putting
programs in place that can help
students stay in school, be more
successful, and make healthier
decisions.”
For example, two years ago in response to
student feedback, changes were made to
include a rotation of five different types of
advisory lessons and activities focused on: a)
team building to improve school climate and
build community; b) college and career
readiness to empower students to plan for
success and take charge of their futures; c)
activities to build self-esteem, self-confidence
and social-emotional growth as well as to teach
kindness and respect for others; d) academic
check-ins that will empower students to take
charge of their current academic success; and e)
fun activity days designed to give students
positive feelings about school and build
connections to other students.
Partnership director
The Partnership operated as an unfunded
coalition of community and school leaders for
its first three years; received a two-year federal
Drug-Free Communities grant in 2006; and a
five-year Drug-Free Communities grant in 2008.
Over the years, the Partnership has conducted
annual youth risk behavior and prevention
needs assessment surveys, examined the data,
and compared local results to regional and
national findings. The Partnership joined the
As mentioned earlier, ILPs are implemented
through the students’ weekly advisory program
through its emphasis on college and career
13
MassGrad Coalitionxvi when it began three years
ago as a “coalition of coalitions” when four
school districts came together to work on
dropout issues. The districts are committed to
looking closely at student needs in the region,
creating an infrastructure for support, and
making system changes.
The group has provided numerous
opportunities for community members and
school staff to meet, discuss, and learn about
various youth issues; provided coaching and
training to the community, districts, and
schools; and actively solicited and managed
grant funds supporting the region’s youth.
The Partnership has played an important
leadership role by creating stability for students
at the high school through ongoing
communication with school leaders and support
and funding contributions to sustaining dropout
prevention programs that otherwise would
have “fallen through the cracks.”
The coalition’s primary funding and in-kind staff
time has gone toward supporting mediation
programs at the elementary, middle, and high
school levels; the high school’s advisory system;
and restorative practices coaching and training
for both community and school staff locally and
regionally.
SUMMARY: A STRATEGY OF CONNECTEDNESS
The faculty of Turners Falls High School have been able to create a sense of
community and student connectedness to the school that has contributed to
reducing the dropout rate and increasing graduation rates with an at-risk
population. The school’s context as rural, small and isolated, and
economically and socially stressed continues to pose challenges which have
motivated teachers and community members to find ways to work together
and form meaningful connections with students. Despite frequent turnover
of district and school leaders and district budget woes, long-term and new
faculty have worked together with community support to maintain academic
courses, student support services, and school activities that are motivating
for students in a supportive culture for academic achievement.
14
Lessons for Other Schools
Fostering Student Connections
In a small community, everyone knows everyone’s business—conditions which can exacerbate tensions
and cause rifts. In such settings, it is especially important for students to learn to live with and create
supportive relationships with adults and peers.
Turners Falls faculty share the expectation that they will strive to develop personal connections with
students. Important in the hiring practice over the past few years is recruiting teachers who are eager to
commit to the school’s student-centered philosophy around forming supportive relationships with
students. Given the small size of the faculty, the high school staff have had to take on multiple roles and
responsibilities for students that go beyond their teaching responsibilities. Teachers and counselors
often reach out to connect with students through phone calls and home visits.
Staff members believe that the level of connectedness of students with faculty has markedly increased;
students don’t want to disappoint the faculty with whom they have built genuine relationships. Many
high school staff and community members serve students by coaching a sports team or leading an
afterschool activity and find such roles helpful in building supportive relationships with students.
Faculty members say that they have become increasingly
cohesive as a staff with newer teachers bringing energy,
enthusiasm, and fresh teaching ideas to help them connect
“Making personal
with students and increase student engagement. For
connections
with an adult is
example, one teacher started a school musical, and there
important to me.”
are now fifty students involved (from acting to props
management). In addition, Turners Falls has several faculty
Student
members who became high school teachers after
experiencing other successful professional careers; they
bring a work world perspective and talents to the faculty that are evident in creative elective course
designs such as a biology course based in an onsite greenhouse that grows food for the cafeteria and
hosts a community garden. This depth of faculty real-world experience and innovative instructional
ideas create unique opportunities for students to build trusting relationships with teachers inside and
outside of the classroom.
A small number of students and small class size can make it easier to establish a positive peer
community. In a visit to Turners Falls High School, the close bonds among students are evident. Faculty
observe that students want to support their peers with whom they have shared experiences inside and
outside of school. At Turners Falls, classes are small and students seem unusually aware of the
importance of creating a caring community within their close-knit environment. Both Rise Up and
Restorative Justice have had a positive influence on school culture by helping students learn to address
problems and interact with each other in positive, ethical and open ways. Students report that they are
comfortable sharing perspectives and feelings and talking about difficult topics and issues with their
15
peers. These strategies have helped students, especially
those who are at risk of dropping out, to develop
confidence, “find their voice” in the school, and develop the
interactional skills they need to connect positively with each
other and create a strong peer community.
The way that adults interact with students—engaging in
positive interaction strategies, treating students as
responsible individuals, and expressing interest in their
personal lives—has much to do with the confidence with which students engage each other. The
Turners Falls’ ILP process and advisory sessions provide opportunities for faculty to model behaviors and
provide explicit guidance to help students with productive relationship building, while the school’s
expanded guidance system, e.g. the addition of a graduation coach and student support team, provides
students with additional advisory supports.
Maintaining High-Priority Programs
Despite recent years of instability caused by administrator and faculty turnover and budget cutbacks,
Turners Falls High School has been able to reduce the number of dropouts and increase graduation rates
while maintaining consistent levels of achievement. Faculty members have worked together to provide
continuity for students and programs and operated from a shared sense of student-centered values.
“Teachers are dedicated – they take on responsibilities for students that go
beyond their teaching responsibilities – they do whatever needs to be done.”
They have placed high priority on connecting students with faculty and encouraging student
engagement—crafting motivating, hands-on learning experiences and courses; using pedagogical
techniques that demand participation such as the Rise Up, Restorative Justice, and ILP portfolio
approach; recognizing the importance of sports and the arts in students’ lives; and treating students as
individuals who are each critical to creating the school community.
Principal
Teacher and school leaders are clear about their priorities—commitment to programs that meet
students’ needs—and dedicate themselves to continuing important initiatives with or without funding.
The high school has faculty members who have been there long-term and are willing to work hard to
provide a consistent focus on increasing graduation rates and sustaining relationships with student at
risk of dropping out. Staff report that there are a few key high school faculty members who are deeply
committed to the community and the students and who go beyond their teaching responsibilities to
support programs they believe are essential to dropout prevention.
16
Building on External Partner Support
The Gill-Montague Community School Partnership has served as an unusually robust community partner
for Turners Falls High School, illustrating how community resources can extend the capacities of a small
school, provide external supports, and create program stability for students. The Partnership has been
sensitive to its role as a collaborator, recognizing the importance of engaging key school district leaders
in its governing/leadership structure and understanding the balance of supporting school programs and
priorities while not pressuring or pushing programs on the school. The Partnership has had a “roll up our
sleeves” mentality, taking on the responsibility of grant writing, for example, thereby reducing the
burden on a small school district. Continuity of leadership within the Partnership has helped to provide
stability to program offerings, and therefore also lent stability to the school. The Gill-Montague
Community School Partnership has helped to sustain programs when grant or school resources have
disappeared.
17
Questions for other schools to consider
Fostering Student Connections
 Do students believe they are part of a supportive peer community? What are the ways to
find out about the strength of connections students have with each other?
 Are there courses and activities explicitly designed with community building in mind?
What are students’ perceptions of the value of those activities? Are faculty from the
separate schools also members of the high school’s academic departments?
 Do members of the school community engage with other community members in
understanding and supporting the needs of at-risk students? What mechanisms would
facilitate ongoing engagement?
 Do faculty value relationship building with students? How can other adult advocates be
brought into the picture?
Maintaining High Priority Programs
 Does the school have key faculty members who have provided leadership and stability? In
what ways do administrators and other leaders acknowledge the contributions and role of
those faculty members?
 Do school leaders and faculty have the opportunity to discuss shared values? What
forums would be ideal for sharing and reinforcing values that motivate faculty?
 Are new leaders and teachers introduced to values that undergird the school culture, e.g.,
relationship building with students? What are the best ways to help adults learn to
operate in the culture of a small community?
 Does the school offer courses designed to help students build skills related to selfgovernance and community building? Which faculty might be interested in offering such
courses? If courses are being offered, what are students’ perceptions of the courses?
Building on External Partner Support
 Does the school have a well-established community collaborator? How does the
collaborator view its relationship to the school?
 Do community collaborators include school leaders in its governance structure? What
would be the benefits of adding school personnel to the governance structure?
 Does the community collaborator add value and remove burden from the school? What
skills are represented in the collaborator’s organization that could benefit the school?
 Is the community collaborator proactive in reaching out to the school with innovative
ideas and supports for student programs? In what ways can school leaders maintain
ongoing communication with community collaborators about the school’s goals and
needs?
18
Endnotes
i
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. (2011). Gill-Montague
Regional School District Level 4 District Review (p. 41).
http://www.doe.mass.edu/apa/review/district/reports/level4/11_0674.doc
ii
The Rise Up Program was introduced more than 10 years ago as the high school’s version of
the Reconnecting Youth Program, which was originally brought into the school through a 2003
Drug-Free Communities grant (Reconnecting Youth Program website:
http://www.reconnectingyouth.com/programs/).
iii
In 2009, the current Rise Up Course was established at the high school. The Rise Up Course
differs from the original Rise Up Program (and Reconnecting Youth Program) in that it
incorporates a community service component and shifts the focus from working solely with atrisk students to including both at-risk students and students who are not at risk of dropping out
in the course.
iv
Turners Falls High School 2013-14 Program of Studies for Grades 9-12. http://toolbox1.s3website-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/site_0606/Program_of_Studies_2013-2014.pdf
v
Bulley, D., & Osborn, T. (2014). Restorative justice for everyone: An innovative program and
case study from Turners Falls High School in Massachusetts. Restorative Justice Online:
http://www.restorativejustice.org/RJOB/restorative-justice-for-everyone-an-innovativeprogram-and-case-study-from-turners-falls-high-school-in-massachusetts
vi
The Recorder. (October 28, 2014). Restorative practices program in schools focuses on community.
http://www.recorder.com/news/townbytown/montague/14036665-95/restorative-practicesprogram-in-schools-focuses-on-community
vii
A separate description of the Alternative Learning Center/Justice Center is provided under
the heading of Academic Supports included later in this profile because of its priority of keeping
students in class and working on academics.
viii
Bulley, D., & Osborn, T. (2014). Restorative justice for everyone: An innovative program and
case study from Turners Falls High School in Massachusetts. Restorative Justice Online:
http://www.restorativejustice.org/RJOB/restorative-justice-for-everyone-an-innovativeprogram-and-case-study-from-turners-falls-high-school-in-massachusetts
ix
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. (2011). Gill-Montague
Regional School District Level 4 District Review.
http://www.doe.mass.edu/apa/review/district/reports/level4/11_0674.doc
19
x
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. (2011). Gill-Montague
Regional School District Level 4 District Review.
http://www.doe.mass.edu/apa/review/district/reports/level4/11_0674.doc
xi
Turners Falls High School website: http://tfhs.gmrsd.org/index.cfm?pID=11831
xii
Bulley, D., & Osborn, T. (2014). Restorative justice for everyone: An innovative program and
case study from Turners Falls High School in Massachusetts. Restorative Justice Online:
http://www.restorativejustice.org/RJOB/restorative-justice-for-everyone-an-innovativeprogram-and-case-study-from-turners-falls-high-school-in-massachusetts
xiii
Turners Falls High School 2013-14 Program of Studies for Grades 9-12. http://toolbox1.s3website-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/site_0606/Program_of_Studies_2013-2014.pdf
xiv
Turners Falls High School 2014-15 Student Handbook: http://toolbox1.s3-website-us-west2.amazonaws.com/site_0606/gillmontaguetfhs_studenthandbook_093014.pdf
xv
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. (2011). Gill-Montague
Regional School District Level 4 District Review.
http://www.doe.mass.edu/apa/review/district/reports/level4/11_0674.doc
xvi
The MassGrad Coalition was formed in 2012 by the Partnership for Youth and the GillMontague, Greenfield, Athol-Royalston and Ralph C. Mahar school districts, with the aim of
reducing dropout rates in area schools. Since that time, the group has brought state and
community-based social service providers to the table, and has invited other area school
districts to participate. The Coalition receives MA Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education (MADESE) funding that promotes collaboration among districts/schools and their
community partners to more effectively address the needs of a targeted group of students at
risk of dropping out or to address a specific graduation challenge and implement strategic
interventions that could have a positive impact on raising student graduation rates. Franklin
Regional Council of Governments website: http://frcog.org/boards-committees/massgradcoalition/; MADESE website: http://www.doe.mass.edu/ccr/massgrad/coalition.html
20