As students prepare to return to Swampscott Elementary School, several new changes are being introduced for the upcoming school year.

On Tuesday, Principal Lori Sanborn; Superintendent Jason Calichman; Liz Driscoll, the elementary student services administrator; and Vice Principal Ivy Horgan greeted students and parents into the elementary school to answer questions, share updates and unveil the new Big Blue Lobster artwork.

“Some of the stuff we’ve been doing this summer is fine tuning,” Sanborn said. “Last year, we were in survival. We were getting through it, we were merging three buildings. This year, we’re excited. We’re actually making improvements, really digging in, looking at how we can improve everything for our kiddos here at this school.”

Sanborn announced that all student-family matters will now be handled in one central space, at the green office, rather than being split between lower and upper school offices as they were last year. 

In terms of day-to-day routines, first and second grades will now have separate lunch and recess periods. Kindergarten will continue to have its own schedule, while third and fourth grades will share a combined time.

Driscoll noted that recess will have “more structured environments” to promote positive behavior, while still giving students a range of choices, from playing tag to relaxing in the fresh air.

“Just making things a little bit safety first, and also connecting with kids, which is always very important to us,” Sanborn said.

The school is also reintroducing a district-wide focus on social emotional learning (SEL). In addition to having two physical education periods each week, students will have a block focusing on the SEL curriculum.

“The administrative team, we’ve been putting together some lessons geared toward that,” Sanborn said. 

Students will also participate in Small Group Instruction (SGI), designed to offer differentiated support based on individual learning needs. The administration is still “fine tuning” the details, but they are working with Sarah Kent, who is the district’s new director of teaching and learning.

“She may, based on what she needs, be working with a different third grade teacher at that time,” Sanborn said. “We’re all going to get a focus, and that focus may change with every trimester.”

Calichman noted that a similar model is used at the middle school, where “enrichment blocks” offer both support and academic challenges.

“Students might be high achievers in one aspect, math. They’ll go to one teacher, and they’re going to get challenging work. Some students might be struggling with fractions or whatever. That’s where they’re going to raised up,” Calichman said. “You’re hitting every student. So if you’re struggling, you’re getting the bar raised. If you’re a high achieving student, it’s going even higher.”

Calichman discussed how this allows each student to receive the different support and curriculum they need. 

“My job is to give you and your kids an experience that is better than anywhere else,” Calichman said. “I want the bar to be here academically, behaviorally. They’re going to make mistakes, but I want them to make them with us. We’re going to learn from them.”

Calichman said that “as great as last year was,” he’s expecting that this school year is “going to be better.”

“Kids come first here,” Sanborn said. “I want everyone to really love coming here.”

Another new thing within the building is a blue lobster. Nate Fontes-Fried created the artwork for the school with wood donated from families throughout town, and it is visible as soon as someone walks into the green doors of the building. 

There were also two new faces at the presentation. Driscoll and Horgan introduced themselves, as they stepped into new roles within the elementary school. Driscoll has been in the district since 2010, she said. She started as an applied behavior analysis (ABA) tutor, and Driscoll has also served as a special education teacher and board certified behavior analyst (BCBA) chair.

“I’m super excited to get this year started,” Driscoll said. 

Horgan has worked in Massachusetts for the past 17 years, working in the special education and multilingual departments in Winthrop prior to joining the special education department in Swampscott most recently. 

“I’m looking forward to being a part of the community here,” Horgan said.

Updated August 11 to indicate that SEL is in addition to 2 PE classes per week.