Freshman Focus Network: Collaborating to Scale Promising Practices

Imagine you are a school leader looking to strengthen the middle-to-high school transition and student experiences in Grade 9. Where do you begin? This was one of the many questions facing school administrators at Burncoat High School in Worcester, MA.

1,179 students attend Burncoat, primarily from Worcester’s Burncoat and Greendale neighborhoods. Roughly 70 percent of students identify as students of color, 67 percent are from low-income households, and 23 percent are multi-language learners. While planning to bring the school leadership team’s vision into reality for this school community, Dean of Students Dan Falcucci knew that other schools were tackling this exact question and that there was an opportunity to learn alongside those school teams.

Through a partnership between RISE and Worcester Public Schools, educators from Burncoat and other high schools in Worcester were able to participate in RISE’s Grade 9 Summer Symposium, a two-day event where educators gather to learn from RISE team members and peers from our school networks about the elements of successful Grade 9 practices they have implemented. Falcucci offers thoughtful reflections on this experience.

“After attending a RISE event, you need to reflect on what you have learned and think of what ideas or strategies you can put into place to give you some quick wins at your school,” Falcucci offered. “For Burncoat, our first priority was data visibility, so we started by focusing on data transparency and the prioritization of Grade 9.”

In response, Falcucci created a monthly newsletter focused specifically on 9th-grade work. This newsletter updates the full staff on Grade 9 progress, interventions, and best practices to provide a consistent platform for communicating all things surrounding the 9th-grade team.

Energized by this experience, the partnership expanded in 2022-23 to include participation in RISE’s Freshman Focus Network (FFN), a year-long arc of coaching and professional learning aimed at strengthening key conditions for success around the Grade 9 transition. Worcester’s South High School participated that year as well, and in the 2023-24 school year, the remaining high schools in the district joined, creating a mini district-wide network within the larger FFN.

The FFN is a prime example of the power of networks: last year, educators from 18 schools across nine districts and four states not only worked together to problem solve on topics around the Grade 9 experience but also heard from educators in our Core Network who have been supporting Grade 9 students through innovative strategies for years.

A highlight of last year’s FFN programming was a site visit where educators from all 18 schools gathered at East Hartford High School, a partner in RISE’s Core Network since 2015. This event embodied the spirit of crossdistrict and cross-network collaboration as East Hartford modeled practices they have implemented which have led to improved Grade 9 on-track results. This included demonstrations and discussions of improvement team meetings, teaming structures, the On-Track Coach role, and other elements of their Grade 9 culture.

While just one of the many strategies Burncoat has implemented that are leading to the results shared in this section, the newsletter is a helpful example showing how schools are able to hear of something that’s working in one place and launch a version that works best for their own school culture. Scaling proven practices that build the capacity of educators and create the conditions that lead to improved student outcomes are hallmarks of a network community, and we’re excited that the FFN continues to grow and that a new network focused on Postsecondary Success will launch soon.