Schools to have new website
A new and improved website for the Harvard Schools is under development. Bromfield art teacher Martha Brooks showed the School Committee the site organization and some sample pages at last Monday’s meeting. Each of the five components—central office, special education, community education, the Bromfield School, and Hildreth Elementary School—will have a webmaster to keep content up to date, according to interim Superintendent Joe Connelly. Webmasters will earn a stipend for the work.
Fewer kindergarten sections are a possibility
The current projection for kindergarten enrollment in the fall is now “probably 50,” Connelly reported to the School Committee, down from 52 at his last report. In light of that decrease, Connelly said, he is tentatively changing his recommendation from four sections of kindergarten to three sections for next fall. But he urged the committee to hold off on a final decision until their meeting on July 23.
Connelly noted that the candidate pool for kindergarten teachers is very good, giving him and Principal Linda Dwight confidence that they will be able to hire a strong candidate if needed, even late in the summer.
Committee member Keith Cheveralls said the situation signaled a trend that will soon impact Harvard’s class-size policy. “Declining enrollment is a phenomenon across the Commonwealth,” he said, “and we are going to have to adapt.
Committee considers Bromfield space for local cable TV
Harvard’s Community Cable Access Committee currently resides on the ground floor of the old library, but it might be ousted if that building is used for town offices while Town Hall is undergoing remodeling. On Monday night the School Committee discussed offering the cable committee a newly cleared space in the basement of the Bromfield School. The former storage area, which has about 1,000 square feet, will not be needed for class use in the foreseeable future, according to School Committee member Keith Cheveralls. He said that establishing the cable office in the high school would be an educational opportunity for Bromfield students, some of whom already work with the local cable station.
Model UN plans for next year’s conferences
The School Committee unanimously approved three overnight trips to conferences for Bromfield’s Model UN Club next year. The club’s adviser, world geography teacher Bryce Mattie, described plans for students to take part in one conference in Chicago and two in Cambridge, Mass., one at Harvard University and one at MIT. She explained that the club has about 70 members, and delegates to the conferences would be chosen based on consistent prompt attendance at meetings.
