March Post

This blog entry has information regarding the Fiscal Year 2018 budget, Dale St.'s State Commendation Award, Digital Learning Day 2017 and the 2017-2018 school calendar.

Don't forget to check #medfieldps on Twitter to see all of the great things happening in your schools.

FY18 Budget Process Update

The School Committee held their annual Public Budget Hearing on January 23rd. During that meeting we outlined the entire FY18 budget by identifying budget drivers, connected the budget to our strategic plan Medfield 2021, and bench-marked our spending to "like" communities. Please click here to view the presentation and pay close attention to the bench-marking slides.

 Since January we have been working with the Warrant Committee to finalize a budget that fits within the Town's overall financials. This week the School Committee voted a new budget that reduces our increase to 4.62% and reduces the original budget amount by $671,768. These reductions are due to receiving updated information/projections, cuts to non-personnel line items, and using our reserve accounts to offset the FY18 operating budget. The reserve funds were built up over the past three years and their use, along with the cuts will prevent a Proposition 2.5 override. We anticipate that the 4.62% increase will be the recommendation of the Warrant Committee.

Please remember that our budget for next year is not finalized until it is approved at the Annual Town Meeting on April 24th (and possibly a second night on the 25th). Please visit here to learn more about the FY18 School Budget. 

Special thanks to School Committee members Maryanne Sullivan, Chris Morrison, Anna Mae O'Shea Brooke, Tim Bonfatti and Eileen DeSisto for their hard work and dedication to our students.

Dale St. School is Designated a "Commendation School" by the Commonwealth

Principal Steve Grenham accepts the "Commendation Award" from Lt. Gov. Polito and Secretary Peyser.

Dale St. School was among 51 schools across the state honored recently by Governor Charlie Baker. School Committee Chair Maryanne Sullivan, Superintendent Dr. Jeffrey Marsden, Dale Street Principal Stephen Grenham, and Dale Street teachers Mike Douglas, Kerry Cowell, Kelly Bertschmann, Julie Lowerre, and Leanne DiPesa represented Dale St. School to receive the Commendation School award from the Baker-Polito administration at the State House ceremony. Senator Jim Timilty and Representative Shawn Dooley (not pictured) were also in attendance to support Dale Street's accomplishment.

In a press release from the Massachusetts Department of Education Governor Baker said, “I’m proud that our Massachusetts K-12 education system is one of the best in the country, and I thank the educators and communities across the Commonwealth who are leading the way and providing high-quality educational opportunities for their students every day. It’s an honor to recognize these schools, their students and their families for all of their success and hard work toward closing achievement gaps in Massachusetts.”

Dale St. School was recognized for making significant improvement in student achievement. 

Medfield's Digital Learning Day

Last week we hosted our 5th Digital Learning Day with over 500 participants! The day featured keynote speaker Justin Reich (MIT and founder of Ed Tech Teacher), over 100 workshops taught by Medfield teachers/students/administrators, and teachers outside the district. We had 40 other school districts visiting Medfield for the day. Special thanks to our Director of Curriculum Kim Cave, and Integration Specialists Neal Sonnenberg, Diane Horvath, and Debby Fromen for all of their hard work planning this outstanding day of learning.

Please visit the DLD 2017 highlight video  produced by our students and the DLD presentation  from the March 13th School Committee meeting. 

2017-2018 School Year Calendar

The calendar for next year can be found here

Congratulations to everyone that participated in  The Wizard of Oz!
Especially  Liam "The Lion" Dewey,
Tommy "The Tin Man" Cadman, Faith "Dorothy" Samson, and Lori "The Scarecrow" Barney.
Special thanks to Director Mary Ann Hatem for 26 years of changing kids' lives!