Bromfield Model UN plans for Genoa in 2014
The School Committee approved a request for the Bromfield Model United Nations to attend the international conference in Genoa, Italy, next February. Jake Turchetta, current president of the Bromfield Model UN, explained that the club’s goal is to take part in an international conference every other year, with 16 to 24 students expected to participate. Turchetta said that students had already earned $4,000 to help defray the cost of the 2014 trip and planned to continue raising funds.
While the committee voted to approve the trip, Chairwoman SusanMary Redinger noted that the members had previously asked for an overall plan for international trips. “We’d like some sort of master schedule, an idea of what is coming down the pike,” she told Bromfield Principal Jim O’Shea. Redinger pointed out that when the committee gets each trip application separately, other worthwhile trip possibilities may lose out simply because of timing. She asked that future applications be grouped, perhaps twice a year. O’Shea agreed and said that the hiatus in international trips for several years after 9/11 had led to “pent-up demand,” producing the current spate of applications.
Comings and goings at HES and Bromfield
Interim Superintendent Joe Connelly reported that Hildreth Elementary School second-grade teacher Cindy Hansen and Bromfield music teacher Talia Mercandante had both recently submitted their resignations. Hansen taught in Harvard for 19 years, Connelly said. Mercandante taught both chorus and instrumental music at middle and high school.
Connelly also announced the hiring of three new teachers. Janet Brown will come to Bromfield as an English teacher. She has 15 years’ experience and currently teaches in Franklin, Mass. Olyan Rosal will teach Spanish at Bromfield. She is a native Spanish speaker and comes to teaching as a second career after having been a lawyer and business owner in Caracas, Venezuela. At the elementary level, Juliana Steadman, who was a substitute at Hildreth last year, was hired as a kindergarten teacher.
Redinger, Wright take next steps in superintendent process
Principal Linda Dwight submitted her formal application for the position of superintendent to the School Committee, meeting the July 8 deadline that the committee had set. The committee voted to appoint Redinger and member Kirsten Wright as a subcommittee to develop a timeline and action plan for the next steps in the process. Although Wright was not present, she had previously expressed her willingness to serve on the committee.
Those upcoming steps include at least one meeting with the faculties of Hildreth and Bromfield, a final interview with the School Committee, and focus groups in the fall. In addition, the committee may ask the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents for the names of two retired or current superintendents who could serve as outside consultants on Dwight’s candidacy.
Connelly noted the importance of setting a final date by which the decision on Dwight’s candidacy would be made. Redinger said she had spoken with the search firm Future Management Systems (FMS) about the committee’s decision to put an outside search on hold while considering Dwight’s application. She said that the School Committee should aim to make a decision by its September 16 meeting, so as to leave time for an outside search if Dwight is not selected.
School Committee gets evaluation training
Although members Keith Cheveralls and Kirsten Wright were not present, the School Committee heard a training presentation by Dr. Anne McKenzie, director of the Lower Pioneer Valley Educational Collaborative, on the new educator evaluation process. The School Committee is responsible for evaluating the superintendent each year. The superintendent, in turn, evaluates principals; and principals, the teachers. As described by McKenzie, the same general process will be used for evaluations at all levels.
The process begins with self-evaluation and goal-setting. McKenzie urged the committee to resist the tendency to adopt “a gazillion goals,” but instead to do less and do it well. She noted that the school district “needs to be clear about what constitutes excellence for you. . . . The School Committee has a higher responsibility because it sets the tone for the entire district.”
In evaluating a superintendent, McKenzie said, each School Committee member writes an individual assessment of the superintendent’s performance in various categories, rating each as unsatisfactory, needs improvement, proficient, or exemplary. The chairwoman then compiles the individual ratings, and the committee discusses them in open session. McKenzie emphasized that the committee must come to an agreement on the superintendent’s evaluation; having five different evaluations is not an option, she said.
