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