Superintendent: 'Hiring Staff' and 'Repaving Paton School Campus'

The following was submitted by Superintendent of Schools Joseph Sawyer 

Dear Shrewsbury Families,

I hope that you are enjoying the summer school vacation. Things are still busy in the Shrewsbury Public Schools throughout the summer months, as we have a number of summer programs that provide various educational opportunities for students, such as our Summer Enrichment Programs at the elementary and middle school levels, ongoing special education support programs, and the upcoming Application Boot Camp to help incoming seniors with their college search, just to name a few.  

Administrators have been engaged with planning for the upcoming school year and hiring staff to fill open positions. Teachers have been participating in professional development coursework at colleges and universities, as well as in learning and curriculum development opportunities offered by our school district such as our annual Summer Institute and the recent Mathematics Curriculum Institute for K-8 teachers. The Public Buildings Department is coordinating cleaning and maintenance of the buildings, which right now includes the repaving of the Paton School campus.  As you can see, there is a lot going on during the summer months at our schools.

We are working hard to be well prepared for the coming school year, which begins on Tuesday, Aug. 27. Until then, let’s hope for some great August weather to enjoy (but don’t forget to finish that summer reading!).

I also want to send a huge thank you to Avalon Bay Communities and Shrewsbury Federal Credit Union for again providing funding for our Coordinator of Volunteer Activities: Since 2006, our school district has benefited from the outstanding work of Beth McCollum, our coordinator of volunteer activities.  In fact, the quality of Ms. McCollum's work is so outstanding, this past year she was nominated and was selected to receive the Shrewsbury Education Foundation's John P. Collins Award for Excellence. 

Thanks to Ms. McCollum's efforts, our students have benefited from a variety of educational experiences provided by volunteers, ranging from visiting lectures from professors at local colleges, to doctors and scientists from UMass Medical School leading discussions in our bioethics classes, to local chefs sharing healthy recipes in our foods classes. Ms. McCollum also made connections that helped our district support military families, use volunteer support for bus safety drills, and provide volunteer translators to help with communications with non-English speaking families.  Ms. McCollum also continues to be instrumental in fundraising initiatives through organizing the annual Road Scholars 5K Race and coordinating participation in school benefit programs with local supermarkets and department stores. As you can see, the coordinator of volunteer activities brings great benefits to our district, and we are extremely grateful to two local businesses for again privately funding the position this past year.   

Our thanks go to Avalon Bay Communities and to Shrewsbury Federal Credit Union for their donations of $7,500 each.  It is outside financial support like this that makes a crucial difference for the quality of education we provide to our students.

Finally, I want to remind families that the PowerSchool Parent Portal has been reopened.  Parents and caretakers, please log on as soon as possible to confirm/update your emergency contacts and acknowledge that you have read the Student Handbook.   

Best wishes for a great August with your family.

Respectfully,

Joe Sawyer

Superintendent of Schools