July 6, 2010

The last weeks of the school year are a mix of many emotions. Students moving up, students moving on, retirements and other transitions among our staff make for an added flurry of activity. Some notable points at the close of the year include:

• The community again showed its generosity to our graduating seniors and other recent graduates. The scholarships awarded this year, as in previous years, reflect the spirit of this community to help and support its children as they seek higher education.
• At year’s end, the school operating budget was passed using one million dollars of Federal Stimulus Funds to fill the gap between the School Committee’s requested budget and the figure funded in the city budget. This resulted in no lay-offs for financial reasons and the expansion of programs in our Career/Technical Education, Special Education, and ESL programs, as well as, the creation of an Alternative Program for high school students

We have, at this writing, filled four of the five principal vacancies as follows:

• Waltham High School – Greg DeMeo
• McDevitt Middle School – Beth Gavin
• Stanley Elementary School – Jennifer Hacker
• Plympton Elementary School - Maureen Taddeo
• Fitzgerald Elementary School – appointment pending

Vacancies still exist for Assistant Superintendent of Schools and Director of Special Education. In the interim, Paula Alexander, the Assistant Director of Special Education, has been named Acting Director of Special Education.

This has been a great year for many reasons in the district but one I’d like to highlight is parent involvement at the district level. More parents have been involved and have been able to find an arena for their voice to be heard through the rebirth of the Citywide Parent Advisory Council, better participation in the Citywide PTO and Open Parent Forums to hear the parents’ perspective on the Elementary School Challenge Program, redistricting and input on the School Operating Budget. We look to expand those opportunities in the future.

Thank you for all your support, your help and your feedback. Have an enjoyable and safe summer and we’ll see you in September.