Monday, January 31st- Evening Activities Conclude at 6:00 PM

Monday, January 31st

Due to the weather, all activities in our school buildings will conclude at 6:00 PM tonight. No activities this evening after 6:00PM.

19th Annual Evening of Jazz- Tuesday, February 7th

If you are interested in seeing a tremendous night of jazz performed by students from FBMS and MHS, then save the date on Tuesday, February 7th for the 19th Annual Evening of Jazz.  Our talented performers will be on display at 7 PM at the MHS Auditorium.  Here's a link to additional information:

19th Annual Evening of Jazz

GWS Weekly Newsletter

Looking to find out what's happening at the GWS?  Just look at this week's Newsletter.

SRS Weekly Message

All that's going on at the SRS can be found on this link to their Weekly Message.

Martinson Messenger

If you're looking to find out what is going on at Martinson Elementary School this morning, just click on the latest version of the Martinson Messenger

Ventress Memorial Library Calendar

We wanted to share a link to the Ventress Memorial Library Calendar.  They have a number of tremendous activities slated for all grade levels.  We hope you can take advantage of these great programs.

Ventress Memorial Library Calendar

FBMS Weekly Newsletter & Leadership Message

The following link will take you to this week's FBMS Weekly Newsletter & Leadership Message.

FBMS Newsletter

Eames Way- Virtual Backpack

Eames Way's Virtual Backpack- January 27th

DWS' "Webster's Weekly"

Webster's Weekly- January 27th

Marshfield High School's- "Our Story"

Here's a link to MHS' "Our Story", which gives you a glimpse of the the past two weeks of MHS happenings through Twitter.  Enjoy.

MHS- Our Story

FBMS Wonder Fair

Here are a few images from today's Wonder Fair at the Furnace Brook Middle School.  Thank you to all who made this special event so successful.

MHS Scholastic Art Award Winners

Congratulations to our MHS Scholastic Art Award Winners.  What an talented group of individuals!

Gold Keys:

Lilly Austin- Photography

Kelly Bishop- Printmaking

Rachael Dunn- Printmaking

Olivia Gill- Sculpture

Lauren Middleton- Sculpture

Silver Keys:

Jamie Apgar- Drawing and Illustration

Olivia Kaiser- Photography

Mary Kate Larson- Sculpture

Rebecca Stack- Sculpture

Honorable Mentions:

Lilly Austin- Drawing and Illustration

Laura Casey- Drawing and Illustration

Alyssa Doust- Drawing and Illustration

All gold key artworks will now move on to be judged nationally. All gold and silver key winners will be invited to a ceremony at the Museum of Fine Arts in March.

7th Annual Marshfield St. Patrick's Day 5K

Below is a link to the 7th Annual Marshfield St. Patrick's Day 5K, which will take place on Saturday, March 18th.  This race is the major fundraiser for the Marshfield Educational Foundation (MEF).  The MEF does amazing work on behalf of the MPSD and, on an annual basis, provides over $100,000 in creative grant opportunities for our educators.

We hope you can take part in this wonderful event.

Click the link to find out how you can take part in the: 7th Annual Marshfield St. Patrick's Day 5K

SC Votes Preliminary FY18 Operating Budget

Last night, the School Committee voted 5-0 in support of an FY18 Preliminary Operating Budget that totaled $48,291,788.  This represents a 5.25% increase over the current FY17 budget.  The district had to submit a preliminary budget number to Town Hall prior to next Monday and will do so now that this vote has taken place.

Of the 5.25% increase, just over 3% will go to cover contractual obligations.  In addition, the district leadership team, brought forth $859,931, in needs based increases from the district's 5-year Financial Plan.  The district leadership team met over the past few months with the Committee's Budget Subcommittee to look at what priorities from the Financial Plan to bring forth.  Ms. Carol Shrand and Ms. Kendra Stetson-Campbell are the two SC members who serve on the Budget Subcommittee.

There will be continued work over the next few months on the budget, once we find out what the Town's target budget number is.  A final vote on the FY18 Operating Budget will take place at the April 11th School Committee Meeting, before it is presented to Annual Town Meeting on April 24th.

Below are components of the Financial Plan which are represented in the FY18 Preliminary Budget:

•Increase Technology/STEAM educators at elementary level.

•Create Robotics/Applied Physics staffing at MHS

•Increase music instruction at elementary level.

•Provide additional coaching/supervision in MHS athletics.

•Increase administrative support at FBMS.

•Bring health education into the elementary schools.

•Increase chemistry supplies/materials at MHS

•Increase World Language instruction at FBMS.

•Fund resources to support Social Emotional Learning.

•Establish out of school transition program at FBMS.

•Increase reading educator staffing at FBMS.

•Create College Board/SAT review courses at MHS.

•Continue to meet needs of English Language Learners.

•Add math specialist educators at the elementary level.

•Restore general and instructional supplies.

•Increase annual technology expenditures.

2017 Strategic Planning Process

To MPSD Community and Staff:

Each school district in Massachusetts is required to have a District Strategic Plan.  A Strategic Plan provides a vision, mission and values for our schools and outlines goals, objectives and action steps that will help guide the district over the next five years.  The Plan also guides the school district’s actions, fiscal decisions and student achievement outcomes.  Since we are in the final year of our current five-year Strategic Plan, the Marshfield Public Schools will work over the next few months on formulating an updated Plan.

This year, we will conduct our planning as part of a pilot project with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, using the Planning for Success model. The planning process will be led by Lori Likis, a consultant to the Department of Education. She will coordinate the six scheduled planning sessions that will take place between February 28th and May 17th.  There will be three sessions with the district Leadership Team and there will also be three sessions with a larger Planning Committee which will consist of members of the Leadership Team, teachers, parents, community-members at large, two school committee members as well as high school student representation.

If you are interested in being considered to serve on the Planning Committee, please fill out the attached form and either send it electronically to my assistant, Ruthann Despier, at rdespier@mpsd.org or mail it to MPSD, 76 South River Street, Marshfield, MA  02050 by February 3, 2017. We appreciate and encourage your interest and will select individuals in order to create a Planning Committee that represents our district and community.

The Planning Team commitment will be for a minimum of three planning sessions at the Ventress Auditorium.  Two of the meetings will take place between 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM.  Those will occur on March 9th and May 17th.  A third session will take place on April 5th between 1:00 PM- 4:30 PM.  Those who are selected to serve on the Planning Committee will be notified by February 13th.

The Strategic Plan is an extremely important component to our school district and I am excited to work with key stakeholders in formulating the plan that will help guide the district over the next five years.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey W. Granatino

Superintendent 

Strategic Plan Interest Form

If you are interested in serving on the Planning Committee of the MPSD Strategic Plan, please fill out the information below.  You may send it electronically to rdespier@mpsd.org or you can mail it to the Superintendent’s office at 76 South River Street, Marshfield, MA  02050 by February 3, 2017.

Full Name:  ________________________________________________________

(Circle Appropriate Title)    Teacher           Parent                H.S. Student            Community Member        

School(s) Affiliation _________________________________________

Home Address:  _________________________________________________

Phone Number    ___________________________________________

Email Address:     ____________________________________________

Briefly explain why you are interested in being a part of the Planning Committee:

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

School Committee Finalizes Updated Policy Manual

After 11 months of work, the School Committee voted for final approval of their updated Policy Manual at last night's Committee Meeting.  Since last February, the Committee has been reviewing and revising past Committee bylaws and policies through the coordination of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) and their representative, Jim Hardy.  

School Committee Chair, Sean Costello, and Secretary, Rich Greer, formed the Committee's policy subcommittee and work along with Superintendent Granatino in revising policies and ensuring they were in alignment with DESE requirements and state laws and regulations.  Policy work is one of the core responsibilities of the School Committee and a solid, comprehensive Policy Manual is essential for every School District.

All of the policies (Sections A-L) will soon be available online, on the district's website.

Coach Silva To Return For Final Season

Below is the press release that went out on January 21st, on the status of the Head Football Coaching position at MHS:

After a meeting this afternoon with Superintendent Granatino, Principal Keuther and Coach Silva, it was decided that Coach Lou Silva will return for one more season as the Head Football Coach for the Marshfield High School Rams for the 2017 season. 

At today’s meeting, we were able to satisfactorily address the issues that were raised in previous discussions between the administration and the coach and we are pleased to have Coach Silva lead the Rams for the 2017 season.  “Lou Silva has been the face of Marshfield football for over 40 years and he will be able to finish his career at the helm of a program he has worked so hard for,” said Principal Keuther.

Coach Silva added, “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to coach one more season and I appreciate the administration for being open minded and willing to allow me to return as head coach.  At this time, I also want to announce that I will be retiring from coaching at the close of the 2017 season, so I can spend more time with my family.  I have been very fortunate to coach so many great young men and to be a part of this tremendous community.  Marshfield football means so much to me and my family and I can’t wait to start working with the kids.”

Marshfield School Committee Chair, Sean Costello, also noted that, “I appreciate the efforts of our administrators and I’m glad that they were able to have an open discussion with Coach Silva while reaching an agreement that allows for him to return to the job that he loves for one more year.”

While we understand the interest surrounding this matter, we cannot offer any additional information, nor will we be able to take part in any interviews, due to the confidential nature of the personnel process.  

DWS 5th Grade World Travelers

Here's a few pictures from DWS 5th graders, who took part in the History Travelers presentation this morning.  It was a fun morning for the students and for their parents who were able to watch and take part in the program.

Preliminary FY18 Operating Budget

At Tuesday's School Committee meeting, Tom Miller and I made a presentation on our FY 18 "Needs Based Budget".  In it, we outlined the rationale behind the creation of our operating budget and we took time to outline the wonderful things we've been able to do in the district, thanks to the support of the Marshfield taxpayers over the years.

We then looked at items within our financial plan and how they impact our proposed budget.  Tuesday was a first read for the budget, and the School Committee will review it once more at our next meeting, prior to voting the preliminary number to send to Town Hall.

Here's a link to the PowerPoint presentation.  Please feel free to review and we hope you find it helpful and informational.

FY 18 Preliminary Operating Budget