ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Committed To Helping Each Student Reach Their Greatest Potential

Educational Excellence

The needs of our students, balanced with the town's fiscal constraints, guide my approach to educational excellence.

Champion of our neighborhood elementary school approach, small class sizes, experienced teachers in classrooms, professional development and district-provided materials.
Helped negotiate fair contracts with the Winchester Education Association (WEA) teachers’ union that brought teacher compensation in line with market rates, reducing teacher turnover.
Supported an enrollment-driven fractional increase to 1 FTE in Mandarin at the High School.
Developed a process with district leadership to map our literacy curriculum, solicit input from teachers and parents, and analyze district performance to inform continuous improvement in how we teach students to read.
Supported over $300K in the 2024-25 school budget to provide direct literacy support to students and teachers, such as resources, programming, and extended day and/or extended year literacy opportunities including transportation so access doesn’t become a barrier to participation.*
As part of our three-year goal to have one math specialist in each elementary school, supported hiring two specialists in 2024-25 and to explore coding and computer science in our elementary schools to develop and expand 21st century skills.*
Supported seed funding for performing arts at WHS and McCall with the goal of hosting school-run theatrical performances at McCall in the future.*

Emotional & Physical Safety

To be ready for learning, a student must feel a sense of safety, belonging and acceptance for who they are, and that their social and emotional needs are supported.

Achieved a School Committee goal of one full time social emotional learning coach in each elementary school, especially important in our post pandemic recovery. We also have social-emotional coaches at McCall and WHS.
Supported a proactive approach to behavioral health by reviewing student feedback in the biannual Youth Risk Behavior Survey and considering district recommendations to support all our students.
Supported updates to the 2022 Bullying Prevention and Response Plan which included feedback from community partners on supporting students with special needs.
Implemented additional security measures such as access controls, communications systems, and new high definition, multi-lens, camera systems that are networked with emergency responders.
Supported building and district-based security team planning and incident response training.

Learning Spaces

Our students learn most effectively in an accessible, comfortable, safe, and secure environment.

Endorsed need for construction of new learning spaces aligned with current accessibility standards promoting a sense of belonging.
Supported retrofitting existing buildings during renovations to meet ADA requirements.
Championed upgrades and replacement of heating, ventilation, and cooling systems with electric heat pump and other non-fossil fuel sources, whenever possible.
Supported Athletic Director's recommendations about reconfiguration of the WHS gym.

*Subject to approval at Town Meeting

Fiscal Stewardship

The district runs a very lean organization with 90% of our budget going to support our educators and staff.

As chair of the school committee, worked collaboratively with district administration, town management and select board on shared interests.
Supported partnering with the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) to receive tens of millions of dollars in state support for our school building projects.
Supported direct ownership of solar at Lynch which effectively eliminates the town's power utility bills for a larger school built to house Lynch Elementary and the town-wide integrated pre-K program.
Worked with administration and school committee to deliver fiscally responsible budgets to meet the needs of our students, including early retirement incentives and enrollment-informed adjustments.
Advocated at Town Meeting for more efficient and equitable use of school building rental income in support of facility upgrades at all our schools.
As a member of the School Committee’s finance subcommittee, supported an equity analysis of athletics and other fees that parents contribute for our programs and services.

Sustainability

Moving towards a more sustainable future is both a healthy and more fiscally responsible choice. We seek more predictable, cost competitive, and reliable energy sources, and fewer stranded assets.

Supported replacement of the district's diesel food service delivery van with an electric van.
Encouraged the inclusion of an electric bus option in transportation bids, signaling district preferences.
Advocated for evaluation of electric heat pumps and other non-fossil fuel options whenever heating systems need replacing.
Championed sustainability at the new Lynch, including solar, net zero, full kitchen, dishwasher, reusable trays, etc.

Lynch & Muraco

As a matter of equity and continuous improvement, I support bringing all our schools up to modern state-of-the-art facilities. With Lynch well underway, I am fully committed to the Muraco building project next.

Supported the full replacement of Lynch Elementary School.
Advocated for Lynch being the town’s first all-electric, sustainable, net-zero building.
Supported improvements to Parkhurst, including 14 modular classrooms as swing space for Lynch students during construction.
Endorsed a third bus tier to transport Lynch Students to Parkhurst during construction.
Participated in Lynch traffic improvement community planning meetings.
Supported district leadership submitting Muraco Statement of Interest for MSBA funding in 2025.