January Post

Happy New Year! I wish all of you a healthy and happy 2019. This post will include a reminder regarding "snow days", highlight the first pass of the 2019-2020 school budget, an update on the Dale St. Project, and other important information. Please remember to check #Medfieldps on Twitter or Google to see all of the awesome experiences taking place in the Medfield Public Schools!

School Cancellations, Delays, Dismissals...

We will once again utilize the Blackboard-Connect System to notify parents if school is closed, delayed, or dismissed early. The phone call will be sent to each household and parent cell phone number that is currently on file with the district.

We have been lucky so far...

In addition to the phone call, the announcement will appear on:

• Twitter @JeffreyJMarsden (I actually do this first...so follow me!)
• Facebook (Medfield Public Schools page is linked to Twitter)
• Television Stations: Boston 25, WBZ 4, WCVB 5, and WHDH 7
• Our district website: www.medfield.net

Please remember that there will be times when school is not cancelled, delayed, or dismissed early and the weather is still inclement. Those days will feature slower travel for buses and cars, but will not necessarily require a change in the normal schedule. Important:  If you feel it is unsafe for travel, you always have the option to keep your child home.

Fiscal Year 2020 Budget-Initial Draft

It is that time of year again as we begin to build the budget for the the 2019-2020 school year or also called the Fiscal Year 2020 Budget. After many meetings with principals, directors and department leaders, we presented an initial budget to the Medfield School Committee on December 17th. This version of the budget is our first pass "draft" which includes additional personnel and supplies requested from each building. The current budget increase stands at 4.85%. This initial budget request is typically larger than the public hearing version (7:30PM on January 28th in MHS Auditorium) and the final version at Annual Town Meeting (7:00PM on April 29th in MHS Gym). 

The Initial FY20 Budget presentation can be found here. 

Important: Watch for an email during next week with a more detailed presentation and an opportunity to give feedback on the budget prior to the public hearing. 

MSBA Moves Medfield to the Next Phase

On December 12th,  School Committee Chair Anna Mae O'Shea Brooke, Town Administrator Kristine Trierweiler, School Building Committee Chair Mike Quinlan, Director of Finance and Operations Michael LaFrancesca, and I attended the Massachusetts School Building Authority meeting in Boston. The MSBA accepted all of our work submitted in Phase 1 and voted to move the Dale St. School project on to the feasibility phase. Our first major task will be to hire an Owners Project Manager (OPM). The feasibility phase will take about a year to complete. During this phase we will engage the public with focus groups and eventually have construction recommendations for the project. Information on the Dale St. Project can be found here. We will continue to update this site as the project progresses.

Did You Know?

• Medfield High School students Erin Sullivan and Sophia Gustafson led four assemblies for Grades 9-12 students that explained the philosophy of Challenge Success and described our initial vision of what Challenge Success will be in Medfield. The Challenge Success working group of students, parents, teachers and administrators continue to meet regularly as we continue to "roll out" this important initiative.
• NESDEC has our enrollment growing 31.5% over the next ten years after dropping 13.7% during the past ten years. The growth figure is without development at the former Medfield State Hospital property.
• The SEL Task Force (students, parents, teachers, a community member and administrators) continues to meet and focus on areas around student and staff wellness, screen time, and school start times and schedules. Special thanks to all of these great volunteers working to improve school and life for everyone at MPS! Special thanks to Mrs. Susan Cowell and Dr. Dave Worthley for co-chairing this important committee.
• Principal Nat Vaughn and Math Department Chair Susan Bycoff meet monthly with all of our new teachers, as well as consult with their teacher mentors. Induction programs are critical for teachers new to the profession or new to our district.
• The next Superintendent's Parent Advisory is scheduled for January 23rd at 9:30AM at the Blake Library. I hope to see you there!