Office of Teaching and Learning

The new year is well underway in our Marblehead Public Schools! Each day, incredible learning happens in our schools. We are proud of the diverse learning opportunities provided to our students. From collaborative projects to hands-on learning activities, our students are not only acquiring new knowledge but also developing critical skills that will serve them well into the future.

In alignment with our District's mission, our staff collaborates to "foster in all students a passion for learning and to provide safe and nurturing, inclusive school environments in which they can develop the values, knowledge, and skills needed to achieve full potential in their personal, social and work lives to become engaged and contributing members of society."

We have had a successful launch of Wayfinder, our new Social Emotional Learning curriculum, and we want to share the next unit family letter with you.

Please click on the grade level for your student to learn more about the second unit in Wayfinder, which also includes a "Wayfinder at Home Activity" for you to try!

Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade

Family Letters in Spanish:

Kindergarten, primer grado, segundo grado, tercer grado, cuarto grado, quinto grado, sexto grado, séptimo grado, octavo grado, noveno grado, décimo grado, undécimo grado, duodécimo grado

Our quarter grading periods for Marblehead Veterans Middle School and Marblehead High School shifted due to the recent calendar adjustments.

Below are the adjusted quarterly dates for MVMS and MHS:

Quarter 2:

• End: Friday, February 7, 2025

Quarter 3:

• Midpoint: March 13, 2025

• End: Tuesday, April 15, 2025

Quarter 4:

• Midpoint: May 21, 2025

• End: Last Day of School

We are now in our second year of implementing the Wit & Wisdom literacy curriculum (grades K-6), which ensures vertical alignment across the grade levels.

For example, students are examining these essential questions:

Grade K, Module 2 - What makes a good story?

Grade 1, Module 1 - How do books change lives around the world?

Grade 4, Module 2 - How does a challenging setting or physical environment change a person?

Grade 6, Module 2 - What is the significance and power of the hero's journey?

This vertical alignment begins in kindergarten with students learning to retell a story. In 1st grade, students build on that knowledge to identify elements of a good story and how books can change the lives of people around the world. In 4th grade, students expand this knowledge to "infer and describe the effect an extreme setting has on a character or speaker in a story or poem." Culminating in 6th grade, students closely examine the hero's journey to better understand how it is ever present across cultures and time.

(Pictured: 2nd graders working diligently on their writing assignment from Wit & Wisdom.)