Franklin Regional Intermediate School named among Discovery Education Schools of the Year

During the 2017-18 school year, Franklin Regional administrators and staff opted to partner with Discovery Education, which helps educators integrate modern technology into their lesson plans, and provides academic support through multimedia content and other classroom tools.

During the same time period, district officials were working to put a Google Chromebook in the hands of every student and undergoing technology upgrades, 30 of its teachers volunteered to undergo two years of training as Discovery “digital ambassadors,” in order to help other teachers once the program was in place.

On May 9, Franklin Regional Intermediate School was named one of Discovery’s Schools of the Year in its annual Education Awards.

Intermediate school teacher Megan Melucci said the Discovery program couldn’t have come along at a better time.

“We were integrating a lot of technology, so it was a pretty big ask,” Melucci said. “It wasn’t just professional development and then teachers were left to figure it out on their own. We had coaches who came in once a month for two years to support us.”

When the school district was forced to switch to remote learning in the early days of the covid pandemic just a couple years later, Melucci said the Discovery training was a crucial component of making it work.

“It was absolutely revolutionary,” she said. “The next year, I was doing hybrid online learning with kids at home and in the classroom, and the following year, I was the Westmoreland Online Academy teacher, which was entirely online with four school districts. Those decisions never would’ve happened, had I not had the background and experience from Discovery to support it.”

In a blog about this year’s awardees, Discovery officials said the intermediate school incorporates innovative practices to help ensure students are motivated to grow academically, emotionally and socially.

“Franklin Regional’s Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) practices allow teachers to meet the students exactly where they are academically,” Discovery officials said. “The data is analyzed weekly to determine students’ progress toward the next tier and teachers receive professional development, materials, and resources to ensure consistent practices across all grade levels and tiers of support.”

The support program began two years ago, and Melucci felt it was a big part of why the intermediate school earned its Discovery award.

“They wanted to know how we’re ensuring that all students’ needs are met,” she said. “We started the MTSS, really drilling down and making sure students have the competency to be successful. The Discovery program and MTSS was a culture change in the building, and everyone was on board.”

Intermediate school Principal Rob Buffone agreed.

“From where we started, our teachers had a opportunity to gain confidence in technology, and that’s allowed them to explore things now without hesitation,” he said. “I think it’s validation of all the work the teachers have done.”

Melucci said students often want to know how a classroom lesson applies to real life, and Discovery helped supply some of those real-world examples.

“Dr. Buffone said ‘competence equals confidence,’ and Discovery is a tool we can use to add that different dimension that sometimes papers, tablets and textbooks don’t,” she said.

Discovery officials came to the intermediate school on May 9 to present a banner and officially recognize teachers and staff.

“It’s hard to capture what goes on across the building every day,” Buffone said. “An award like this is a great way to help illustrate it.”