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Everyone likes to be recognized for their efforts and the Ambrose School is no different. The school recently received an A from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), being named a School of Recognition.
“It’s very exciting,” said Ambrose Principal Andrea Phelan.
A School of Recognition is an honor bestowed by DESE on a handful of schools that “demonstrate progress toward annual accountability targets, with an emphasis on improved achievement in ELA (English language arts) and math.”
Which is to say it’s based largely on MCAS scores, so while she is excited, Phelan said, she doesn’t actually like to celebrate the honor too much because MCAS scores can be complex at best.
“Truth be told, we were a School of Recognition before COVID,” she said. “We had some difficulties during COVID.”
The Ambrose was named a School of Recognition for the 2018-2019 school year.
“It was my first year as principal, but I couldn’t take credit for it,” Phelan said, noting the honor was based on the previous year’s MCAS scores.
Then in 2020 schools were shuttered when the pandemic swept in and classes went remote with online teaching. It kept students in school, so to speak, but achievement growth suffered not just at Ambrose or in Winchester, but across the nation.
Phelan said while the shutdown did impact the schools, she believes they all have most definitely turned a corner since those days of remote teaching.
“Teachers are doing an amazing job honing in on addressing needs and exactly what those needs are,” she said. “And I think that’s happened across all the schools in Winchester.”
Still the caveat to the School of Recognition honor is the complexity of the MCAS tests, she said, which is merely “a snapshot of a student on a given day.”
Phelan said every kid that comes to Ambrose comes with a different heartbeat. Some are good at math, some are good at art or music and next year, with different students, things could look very different, she said.
Isn’t MCAS over?
In 2024, voters backed Question 2 to end the use of MCAS as a graduation requirement. But, Phelan said students still participate in the standardized testing.
She calls it just another assessment tool, a way to measure how students are doing but said it doesn’t take all their work into account. There are times where the MCAS scores and writing samples are pretty good, but in their view the entire picture of what students are doing is outstanding, she said.
Winchester schools are lucky, she added, in that they have a number of assessment tools, both formative and summative to keep on top of student achievement.
It takes a community
Phelan was also quick to say that the honor of being a School of Recognition really has nothing to do with the principal. She got to go to a ceremony at the State House, along with Superintendent Dr. Frank Hackett and receive a certificate from state Rep. Michael Day, but the hard work to get there, that’s done by everyone else, she said.
It is, in fact, the school community she credits – students, teachers, support staff and parents.
“We are truly blessed at Ambrose, we have a great community” she said.
Phelan has been in the district for a long time. She jokes she is the oldest of the elementary principals. She did her student teaching at Lincoln, taught at Muraco, did AP at Lynch and is now principal at the Ambrose School. Vinson-Owen is the only elementary school she has not worked at, she said.
“I’ve had a journey,” she said. “And I think all our schools are awesome and my colleagues are doing amazing work.
Chris Stevens is an award-winning journalist who has spent 25 years chasing, editing and photographing stories on the North Shore. She is the co-founder and managing editor of Gotta Know Medford.
