By Frank Santangelo
Meet this week’s Special Person of the Week:Chad Mazza
Mr. Mazza currently serves as Principle of Winter Hill Community Innovation School, Somerville’s first Innovation School.
During his first year at Winter Hill, Mr. Mazza facilitated data-driven Common Planning Time for his K-8 staff as well as increased inclusion practices. Additionally, Winter Hill has adopted responsive classroom as their social curriculum. As the final stop on the NEA 2013 Back-to-School tour, NEA president Dennis Van Roekel toured Winter Hill and experienced a healthy dose of student-centered learning (The article in neatoday.org is entitled in Massachusetts, Education Innovation is in Full Force). Current initiatives at Winter Hill include: increased Common Planning Time, Breakfast in the Classroom, school dress code, Guided Reading, Wildcat Chat (monthly Parent workshop designed to strengthen the school – home relationships,Dog B.O.N.E.S (monthly visits by a trained therapy dog for therapeutic, social and literacy services). To assist in effectuation these initiatives, Winter Hill has been able to recruit and sustained a significant number of additional school volunteers. Winter hill was recently awarded the 2007 Prozen Prize for Innovative School, sponsored by the Boston Foundation.
Our hats are off to his true Somerville spirit!
We here at the Somerville News Weekly salute you for everything that you do to make Somerville a better place.
Congratulations!