by Marty Green ·
Friday, August 23, 2024
With just days to go before the new school year starts Aug. 28, preparations are in high gear at both the Bromfield School and Hildreth Elementary School. At HES, a new fence along the south side of the playground field will keep balls from rolling into the parking lot—and children from running after them. At Bromfield, new hallway floors are getting their final touches.
As of last Monday, enrollment for the Harvard school district stood at 1,056 students, with some registrations still coming in. Official enrollments aren’t tallied until Oct. 1 each year, but this year’s number is already the highest in five years. A 2012 study projected that, by now, Harvard’s enrollment would be at least 150 students lower than it is. Instead, enrollment seems to be inching upward again.
For residents who want to know when traffic in the town center is likely to be heavy, Bromfield students will be arriving between 8 and 8:15 a.m. and will be dismissed at 2:40 p.m. For the elementary school, hours are from 8:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Assistant Superintendent Dana Labb. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Dana Labb joined the district’s administrative team as assistant superintendent earlier this summer. He was most recently principal of the Blanchard School in Boxborough and has 24 years’ experience in teaching and administration.
In a brief interview, Labb said his first steps will be a phase of “listening, learning, and connecting” in the early weeks of school. He explained he wants to connect with students and families as well as with his fellow educators. He has already met with the literacy task force that is evaluating the district’s reading curriculum, as well as with HES Principal Rebecca Katsh-Singer about the professional development program for teachers.
Explaining why he moved from classroom teaching into administration, Labb said, “I want to clear the path for educators to do their very best. … You have very highly qualified educators here.” A main focus this year, he said, will be continuing with a flexible approach to learning known as Universal Design for Learning, or UDL, which allows students a range of pathways to success.
Also new to the leadership team is Daniel Hudder, the Bromfield Middle School principal. (See interview, page 1.)
As classes begin, students will also see quite a few new faces in the front of the classroom. At least 14 new faculty and staff members have been hired as the year is set to begin. The number of school employees has not increased, however; all the new staff members are filling previously existing positions or replacing positions that had earlier been dropped.
HES will have a new kindergarten teacher, because an increase in enrollment led to the need for five sections of kindergarten this year instead of four. HES will also have a new first grade teacher and two new third grade teachers.
At Bromfield, a new middle school Spanish teacher has joined the world languages department, and there is also a new middle school counselor. And at the high school, two new faculty members will be teaching biology, physics, and chemistry.
Both Bromfield and HES have new special education teachers. A school psychologist, an adjustment counselor, and a behavior analyst round out the new staff members.