Media contact: Noelle Lemoine, executive assistant; tele: 413-597-4277; email: [email protected]
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., May 28, 2021—Williams College has announced its 2021 Bicentennial Olmsted Awards for Faculty and Curricular Development to the Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public School (BART), Hoosac Valley Regional School District, McCann Technical School, Mount Greylock Regional School, North Adams Public Schools, Pine Cobble School, and Pownal Elementary School. Each entity will receive $5,000 for professional and curricular development projects.
BART is developing an academic master plan that will modify how the school employs the courses in its college-preparatory curriculum. As a result, it will use the funds to provide students with free course-related materials and access to AP tests.
The Hoosac Valley Regional School District will use the funds to create a uniform professional development plan that supports students’ social-emotional skills. In addition, it will expand practices to provide both universal instruction and early intervention with the development of these skills.
McCann Technical School will continue its preparation for implementing standards-based grading. It will also offer professional development in best practices and strategies in effective teaching with Chromebooks in a 1-to-1 setting.
Mount Greylock Regional School (MGRS) will partner with Playworks to help staff learn to use games to support students’ social-emotional development, as well proactive behavior management strategies for successful social interactions and behavior with students. Continuing work around diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, MGRS will increase efforts to learn about gender identity. It will also partner with Williams’ Center for Learning in Action to bring Dr. Simran Jeet Singh to Williamstown to discuss cultural literacy and representation with students, staff, and families.
North Adams Public Schools will provide three K-6 teachers, one in each of the elementary schools, with a stipend for their use of ST Math with students. The funds will also support training that aligns with its new district improvement plan and its equity focus. In addition, it will add a math tutor within the summer 21st century program to focus on skills-building with K-5 students.
Pine Cobble School will use the funds to engage a Teaching Tolerance educator, helping educators teach youth to be active participants in a diverse democracy, in the school’s Social Justice 101 workshop with faculty and staff. It will also add two faculty members in support of the OWLs (Our Whole Lives) program, which teaches students about healthy relationships, self-care, gender and sexual identity, puberty, and other topics.
Pownal Elementary School will supplement efforts in professional development in the area of trauma informed practices for the school’s staff.
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Founded in 1793, Williams College is the second-oldest institution of higher learning in Massachusetts. The college’s approximately 2,000 undergraduate students are taught by a faculty noted for the quality of their teaching and research, and the achievement of academic goals includes active participation of students with faculty in their research. The college is also home to roughly 100 master’s students enrolled in its renowned graduate programs in Development Economics and the History of Art (the latter offered in collaboration with the Clark Art Institute). Students’ educational experience is enriched by the residential campus environment in Williamstown, Mass., which provides a host of opportunities for interaction with one another and with faculty beyond the classroom. Admission decisions on U.S. applicants are made regardless of a student’s financial ability, and the college provides grants and other assistance to meet the demonstrated needs of all who are admitted.
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