September 1, 2014
Welcome Back to our Students, Parents and Faculty!
As the 2014-2015 academic year begins let me welcome back our faculty, students and families. We will continue to offer opportunities for excellence and will reaffirm the importance of public education through our work with the children of Franklin. When we open our doors on Tuesday, our administration, faculty and staff will share their commitment, talent and passion to inspire your children to achieve.
This school year will welcome the Class of 2018 to the new Franklin High School. Much of this short summer was spent completing the new school and preparing for the transition. The new high school is an amazing gift to our students from the community and we invite you to join us for a tour when we officially dedicate the facility. Dedication weekend will be September 20 and 21. (Details to follow).
The Facilities Department and DPW personnel engaged in a number of summer projects. Anyone who traveled down Lincoln Street this summer will know that the town completed an expansive project and it include renovation and addition of sidewalks. Also the concrete curbs at the Keller/ASMS complex were replaced with granite curbs thus making the entry much safer.
While students were vacationing many of our educators engaged in rigorous professional development. About 50 of our staff attended the Building Learning Communities (BLC) conference in Boston. Many of us learned much about using technology to support learning. We will be developing a Digital Learning Committee of educators and administrators to design a comprehensive plan to use digital learning.
Also this summer our elementary teachers worked on developing lessons to support the implementation of the new mathematics program Envisions. We will be setting up a series of math programs aimed at parents to review the program and to understand the mathematical content in K-5.
On September 4 and 5 all of our kindergarten teachers will attend a mandated training by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). This training will teach the educator how to use the MKEA, the Massachusetts Kindergarten Educational Assessment tool. As we accept state funds to implement free full- day kindergarten we are mandated to complete the assessment and staff must be trained. We will report back to the School Committee as the assessment of students begins in late fall.
The Franklin Public Schools has gone global and you will be hearing from FHS teacher Mike Walsh and his students who visited China in early summer. Also our Director Art Education, Jane Hogan and Director Instructional Services Pre K-12, Joyce Edwards spent two weeks in China visiting schools and learning about education in China. We look forward to hearing about their journey at a School Committee meeting in late September.
As we open school please extend your thanks and appreciation to the Facilities Staff and DPW who worked tirelessly to open all of our schools. Also as we now have busses, vans and students on the road again, we ask that you leave some extra time for traffic and to be mindful of all crosswalks. We want all our students to get to school safely.Warm Regards and All the Best for a Successful Year,
Maureen Sabolinski
Superintendent of Schools
This e-mail has been sent to you by FRANKLIN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT. To maximize their communication with you, you may be receiving this e-mail in addition to a phone call with the same message.
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For more information about the Franklin Public Schools you can visit their webpage via the Franklin Town site or directly here http://franklindistrict.vt-s.net/Pages/index
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