Winchester High School Senate Endorses Tom Hopcroft for School Committee

The Winchester High School Senate, the broadest elected student government organization at the school, today announced its endorsement of Tom Hopcroft for School Committee as one of the two candidates “who best embody the WHS Senate’s mission of empowering students through innovation, inclusivity, and compassion.”

The Senate ran a very thorough and professional selection process. The “WHS Senate’s interview panel facilitated input from the WHS student body to craft the panel’s criteria of experience, goals, passion, current involvement in our community, and relationships with students” before conducting interviews with each of the School Committee candidates.

In selecting Tom Hopcroft for this important endorsement, the Senate considered his experience, values, goals, and perspectives. They noted several of the attributes that stood out and helped inform their decision:

Tom has “dedicated himself to diversity and inclusivity throughout his career, connecting previously underrepresented groups in the tech industry with career and mentoring opportunities,” and his “experience working closely with high school students and his eagerness to continue this work in the future with a particular focus on understanding the mental health concerns of the student body through data analytics” were key factors in making their decision.

The Senate also valued Tom’s “STEM-focused and data-driven perspective [and thought this] would provide the School Committee with a complex understanding of the increasingly vital role technology plays in education, including improving remote schooling options.” They noted that, his “innovative approach would be instrumental if elected with the many changes Winchester currently faces with superintendent selections, the rebuilding of Lynch and Muraco, and transitioning back to in-person learning.”

They also noted that his “work with the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education as the chair of the Fiscal Affairs and Administrative Policy Committee would directly transition into transformative action on the School Committee,” and finally that his “passion and dedication to understanding the needs of all students” was of particular importance for any School Committee member.

I am proud to have been selected by the Winchester High School Student Senate for this important endorsement. At the end of the day, we are all here to improve the educational experience of our students. The voice of our students is one of the groups that are sometimes overlooked, to our detriment, in policy debates. I am committed to hearing all the voices in our town, especially our students. I thank the Senate leaders for sharing their priorities with me and taking the time to learn about me. This endorsement is a great honor and means a lot to me.

Read the entire WHS Senate School Committee Endorsement Letter here. If you have any questions about the Winchester High School’s endorsement evaluation process, or would like to know more about the Senate’s ongoing efforts, please email winchesterhssenate@gmail.com or follow us on instagram @whs.senate. The WHS Senate interview process was overseen by Katie Lew (‘21), Sarine Meguerditchian (‘22), John Bellaire (‘21), Kaitlin Tan (‘24), and Katie Kavanaugh (‘24).