Dancing with the Wrentham Stars- March 8th- Please support WEST

I know, I can't believe it either. Yes, I  am one of the "star" dancers for this outstanding community event. After ten weeks of dancing lessons, I will be performing with my instructor/professional dancer Ashlee Bourque of Showcase Dance Productions in Wrentham. Fortunately for me, Ashlee has a great sense of humor and a lot of patience. Please support WEST by "voting" for me at  http://www.wce02093.org/

 Dr. Seuss Day-2013

School Committee Chairman Mr. Ed Goddard with his daughter Calvi and the rest of Ms. Frizzell's class. A special thank you to all of our visitors on March 1st.

 Wrentham Schools Receive USDA Award

 I am pleased to announce that the Frederick J. Delaney School and Charles E. Roderick School  have been awarded the Healthier United States School Challenge Bronze Award from the United States Department of Agriculture.

The HUSSC is a recognition award for schools who have demonstrated a commitment to excellence with both nutrition and physical education to promote a healthy school environment. We are now one of the 4% of schools in the United States that have won this prestigious award. It is a wonderful accomplishment for our Food Service Department and the entire district!

 Here is why we were selected:

• Lunch menus included broccoli, sweet potatoes, veggies sticks, romaine salads, low fat milk, whole wheat breads, whole wheat pizza and low fat entrees.
• Parent volunteers, members of the PTO, and staff from Hockomock YMCA have participated in taste tests with our children. Our kids try and enjoy "not so traditional" school lunch foods like black bean salsa, edamame and steamed broccoli.
• The food service staff is terrific. Led by Food Service Director Judy White, they love their jobs and it shows! They model our core values and give service with a smile! All of our members belong to the School Nutrition Association of Massachusetts and attend many after school trainings to help keep our children healthy.
•  Our Physical Education teachers and our Health teacher are committed to wellness. The yearly Gym Show, Field Day and the daily physical education classes are keeping our kids moving. In addition, our comprehensive Health curriculum is helping our students make great choices.
• Our Nursing staff is an integral part of our team in Wrentham. Nutrition education,vision and hearing testing, and food allergy trainings. Our nurses are great! 

Congratulations to our outstanding staff for making wellness a priority in Wrentham!

The USDA will visit Wrentham in April to present the awards

A related article:

http://wrentham.patch.com/articles/wrentham-school-district-awarded-health-and-nutrition-recognition

As always, your feedback is welcome.

Jeff Marsden

School Security-Always A Focus At WPS

As a result of the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, school districts all over the country are reviewing their procedures, enlisting experts, and making improvements to their current practices. We have gone through the same process in Wrentham. In addition to working closely with the Wrentham Police Department, we also held a parent meeting to gain additional input. About 45 parents attended the meeting where the focus was on suggestions for improvement, as well as explanations of our current practices. A parent (who works as a director of security) in attendance commented,"I think we can all leave here tonight knowing that the schools are doing a good job with the two most important aspects of building security; access and communication." Even though we meet the recommendations of Homeland Security, one of our core values in Wrentham  is continuous growth and learning.  To that end, we have taken the following actions since our parent meeting:

• The entire staff met with the administrative team to review the updated lockdown procedures.
• School Committee Chair Ed Goddard and I met with Chief Anderson and Lt. McGrath to discuss the possibility of adding a School Resource Officer (SRO) for the district.
• Improved visitor signage was placed in all buildings.
• We moved foreword with the bidding process for reconfiguring the main entrance of the Delaney School.
• Panic buttons with a direct line to the Wrentham Police Department will be installed strategically throughout the district during the week of January 22nd.
• Staff members will be attending additional training organized by District Attorney Michael Morrissey and Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Rowe.
• A local security expert will do building "walkthroughs" and attend our next lockdown drill and give us recommendations.

In addition, we will be sending home information to all parents prior to our next lockdown drill. This notification will include information on preparing your children prior to the drill.

Please see a related story from this week.

http://wrentham.patch.com/articles/wrentham-school-committee-looking-into-new-security-measures


As always, your feedback and comments are welcome.

Jeff Marsden
Superintendent of Schools




Link to Parent Letter of December 14th.

http://wrentham.k12.ma.us/C1/School%20Notices%20from%20the%20Princi/December%20Notices/Safety%20Letter%20to%20Parents.pdf

Welcome and thank you for visiting the Superintendent's Blog.  The intent of this blog is to highlight some of the experiences and activities that lead to the outstanding education taking place in Wrentham. In addition, this is an efficient way to receive periodic updates on your computer or mobile device.

2012 Norfolk County DA's "Safe Schools" Grant

Wrentham Police Chief Jim Anderson and I recently accepted a grant from District Attorney Michael Morrissey. This is the second year we have received this grant to improve school safety. We have used these funds to purchase security cameras for each school's perimeter. Special thanks to Wrentham resident and Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Rowe for her help and support with this grant program.

Educator Evaluation- Ahead of The Curve 

A lot has been written in the media to highlight the new law that has brought "sweeping changes" to the way educators are evaluated. However, the changes are not so "sweeping" in Wrentham. In 2007, after examining the evaluation model that had been used for many years, the School Committee, teachers and administrators wanted an instrument that focused on "best practice" and allowed for well targeted feedback. During the entire 2007-2008 school year, the Evaluation Committee met outside of the school day to revise our evaluation system. Through the collaboration of our outstanding teachers and the administrative team, we developed a thoughtful instrument that now mirrors the rigorous model developed by the Commonwealth. In fact, we utilized the work of  the same scholars (Charlotte Danielson, Kim Marshall, and Jon Saphier) that were used in the development of the statewide model.

As a learning organization,we understand that teaching is a very complex process and that teacher quality is critical to student performance. Therefore, we view teacher evaluation not as a "gotcha", but as a vehicle to improve instruction and learning for all of our students.  In order to truly impact our students, educator evaluation must promote the growth and development of our teachers and leaders. I am very proud of the work done by our Evaluation Committee as they provided strong leadership in the area of educator evaluation.

A special thank you to all of our families that  have supported our Cradles to Crayons initiative and our collection for the Wrentham Food Pantry. Your generosity is greatly appreciated. These community service projects support our mission "...for students to make connections between their actions and the world around them."


 Sincerely,

Jeff Marsden
Superintendent