September 2016 Post

Class of 2017 Senior Cruise!

It is great to see our schools filled with students again after just an incredible summer!  A lot of preparation takes place during the summer as we gear up for the new school year. This summer was especially busy with over $2 million of projects taking place in our district. New boilers were installed at the Wheelock School. These boilers replaced the original boilers from 1969. This project was supported by the Mass School Building Authority, so the taxpayers of Medfield will be reimbursed up to $180,000 on this project. The first reimbursement check for over $113,000 was received last week. Our other big project was the renovation of our turf and track at the Medfield High School. The field was ready for use on August 30th our students love it!  The resurfacing of the track, our new scoreboard donated by Needham Bank and items on the punch list will be completed in the next few weeks. Thank you again for supporting these important projects for our kids.

Reminder-Twitter Highlights The Positive!

Please don't forgot to follow our teachers, principals, and me (@JeffreyJMarsden) on Twitter to see the endless examples of positive news coming out of our schools!

Medfield 2021- Our Vision for the Future

Our strategic plan is nearing completion and once it is approved by the Medfield School Committee, it will be posted on our website. A special thank you to everyone that supported and participated in this important process. During the development of this plan, we had over 130 people attend our focus groups and over 800 people participate in the survey. This was a great representation of our entire school community!

 The feedback we received from the focus groups and survey were the basis of our five overarching goals.

Goal #1  Medfield Public Schools is committed to a collaborative learning culture of continuous improvement for students and staff.

Goal #2   Medfield Public Schools is committed to supporting and developing the health and social emotional well-being of all students and staff.

Goal #3   Medfield Public Schools is committed to developing the whole child, recognizing the contributions and needs of all students

Goal #4   Medfield Public Schools is committed to contributing to a vibrant community by fostering a collaborative, communicative, and consistent education for all students.

Goal #5  Medfield Public School is committed to continued investments in the facilities and equipment to optimize student learning.

Medfield Talks- Our Parent Speaker Series for 2016-2017

Medfield Talks is a collaboration among MCPE, PreK-8 PTO, MHS PTO, SEPAC, Medfield Foundation, Medfield Music Association and the MPS Leadership Team. Our first speaker is Michael Thompson, PhD  on October 26th in the Lowell Mason Auditorium at MHS. Michael is a best selling author and entertaining speaker who will share his thoughts about "The Pressurized Child". Student stress was an area identified as a "challenge" during our strategic plan process.  MCPE has graciously sponsored this event. To learn more about Dr. Thompson please visit http://michaelthompson-phd.com/

There will be two other speakers in this year's series. Michael Delman will be here in February to discuss how we can help our kids with executive functioning and Dr. Ruth Potee will be here in May to speak about the effects of alcohol and drugs on a developing adolescent brain. Exact dates will be released in the coming weeks.

Welcome to Michelle Manganello- Our School Resource Officer

We are very pleased to welcome Officer Manganello to our team at the Medfield Public Schools. Officer Manganello's home base is MHS, but she is working in all of our schools. SRO's are common in most area school districts and this is the first year since the early 2000's that we have this position. In 2014, The Massachusetts Task Force Report on School Safety and Security highlighted the importance of having an SRO in Massachusetts' schools. Her responsibilities include working with younger students with "stranger danger" and DARE, as well as supporting families and students of our older students. She has been very busy over the past few weeks working with us to improve the elementary bus routes. Michelle is a positive role model and we are thrilled to have her in our schools! Thank you to Chief Meaney for advocating for this position in the Police Department's budget. You can contact Officer Manganello at  Mmanganello@email.medfield.net 

Medfield Teachers- Summer is for R and D not just R and R! 

Our teachers were busy this summer completing Research and Development projects that impact all five schools. Teachers wrote proposals in the spring and then projects were brought to the Leadership Team for approval. Some examples of projects include: Social Emotional Learning, stress management, curriculum development in Mathematics, Language Arts, Engineering, Science, Reading, and Standards-Based Grading to name a few.  A total of sixty-one R and D projects were funded over the summer. Thanks to the many teachers for working  to improve instruction and learning for our students!