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Fall 2022 Update

Welcome back to the 2022 - 2023 School Year!

Last year the Dedham School Committee began sharing quarterly updates in an effort to ensure ongoing communication and information sharing with our school families.  In this first report of the school year, you'll find information on:

  • Superintendent Search Update - Including an invitation to participate on the Screening Committee
  • Summary of Presentations to School Committee from September & October
  • Update on the Oakdale Elementary Building Project
  • 2022-23 School Committee goals and subcommittee roles.

As always, we want to hear from our families, so please let us know if you have questions or feedback.   You can find this Fall 2022 update, along with all meeting minutes and other helpful information online at:  www.dedham.k12.ma.us/schoolcommittee 

SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH UPDATE :  INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE!

Thank you to the 200+ family and community members who provided input via the focus groups and survey, helping us better define the attributes and topics most important to our community as we seek our next Superintendent of Schools. 

NEXT OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE: We are seeking up to three parent/guardian members and one community member to join our Superintendent Candidate Screening Committee. 

The School Committee has the sole authority to appoint the Superintendent, but we believe it is critically important for members of the community and schools to be an active part of the hiring process. Therefore, we will be appointing a Screening Committee to review applications, interview candidates and recommend selected candidates to the School Committee for further consideration.

Parents and guardians of students at all grade levels in Dedham Public Schools may apply to be on the Screening Committee.  Anyone interested will need to be available to attend several evening meetings including all the candidate interview sessions. Applications are due no later than Friday, November 18th by 5:00PM.  Additional information on how to apply and a full list of scheduled meetings is included at the end of this email.

CURRENT SEARCH TIMELINE:

  • Screening Committee will be approved on November 22, 2022
  • Finalists announced to full School Committee in January 2023
  • Full interviews of finalists in public School Committee meetings
  • Goal: new Superintendent to be named in February or early March for a start date of July 1st

SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER PRESENTATIONS TO SCHOOL COMMITTEE

At our September 21st meeting, we heard the following presentations:

  • Summer Programs in Review: Alissa Freda, DPS Director of ESY/ESD shared an update on summer programming from summer 2022 and discussed plans for afterschool enrichment and summer programming moving forward.  (9/21/2022)
  • Student Demographic Report: Superintendent Welch provided an overview of the student and educator make-up in our district. View the whole presentation here. (9/21/2022)
  • Oakdale Community Forum: At a joint meeting with the School Building Rehabilitation Committee, members from the community were given opportunity to have their questions answered following this presentation. (9/28/2022)
  • Human Resources Update: Elizabeth Simone, the new DPS Human Resources Director presented a brief update on hiring in the District. (10/5/2022)
  • DPS Assistant Superintendent Dr. Ian Kelly provided an overview of the latest Spring 2022 MCAS scores released. (10/19/2022)

OAKDALE ELEMENTARY BUILDING PROJECT UPDATE

The School Building Rehabilitation Committee (SBRC) has been hard at work laying the groundwork for the next iteration of the Dedham School District with the Oakdale Elementary School Building project. This is Dedham’s 4th time being invited into the school building process with the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA). We have successfully vetted and on-boarded the company Vertex (Compass) as project manager, and are working to confirm the project designers.

On Sept 28th we held the first of many public meetings about this project. This well-attended event was predominantly an informational session as the project is just getting started, but many questions were entertained that ultimately led to a deeper understanding of where we are and where we’ll be heading in the upcoming months and years.

Members of the SBRC and Project Managers will be attending PTO meetings at the various schools over the next few weeks to continue this introductory discussion. A future schedule of public meetings around town will be released soon, so that anyone interested in the future of Dedham Schools can engage in the project conversation.

If you have any questions or comments, or want to learn more, go to: www.dedham.k12.ma.us/oakdaleproject.

SCHOOL COMMITTEE 2022-2023 GOALS & SUBCOMMITTEES

Each year the School Committee sets committee goals for the upcoming school year.   This year, we established four goals with a focus on: a new Superintendent contract, FY’24 Budget development, long-range district infrastructure, and fostering safe, supportive, inclusive schools and school environments. You can view the full language of our 2022-23 Goals here. 

Additionally, the committee reset our sub-committee assignments for this school year: 

 subcommittee assignments grid

 

TO PARTICIPATE:   SUPERINTENDENT SCREENING COMMITTEE DETAILS

Parents and guardians of students at all grade levels in Dedham Public Schools may apply to be on the Screening Committee. 

Anyone interested will need to be available to attend several evening meetings including all the candidate interview sessions.

Interested applicants should also understand that much of the business of the Screening Committee will require a high degree of confidentiality as potential candidates’ names and application materials will be reviewed and discussed.

To Apply To Be On The Screening Committee:

If interested in applying, please send an email to Mayanne.briggs@gmail.com (Chair of the Search Subcommittee) detailing your interest in serving, your involvement in the district (which schools your children attend, extracurricular activities, PTOs, etc) and any other details you want to be considered by the Search Committee in forming this Screening Committee. Applications are due no later than Friday, November 18th by 5:00PM.

PLEASE NOTE: In applying to the Screening Committee, you are agreeing to participate in all of these meetings in their entirety.

  • Thursday, December 1, 2022 from 7:00 PM - 10:00PM via Zoom, at which time our NESDEC search consultant will facilitate a training workshop. In this meeting the committee will also begin reviewing applications, set an interview schedule, agenda and list of interview questions.
  • Monday, December 5, 2022 at Dedham High School, from 4:30 - 6:30 PM for the second training and review meeting.
  • 3 Interview meetings where we hope to interview approximately 10-12 candidates selected from the reviewed applications.
    • Monday, December 12, 2022 - at DHS - 4:00-8:00PM
    • Wednesday, December 14, 2022 - at DHS - 4:00-8:00PM
    • Thursday, December 15, 2022 - at DHS - 4:00-8:00PM
  • Saturday, December 17th from approximately 9:00AM - 2:00PM, a final meeting where at the conclusion of the interviews, the Screening Committee will convene to recommend 3-5 candidates for further consideration to the Dedham School Committee.

Selecting a new Superintendent of Schools is of the utmost importance to our community and it requires an extraordinary commitment of time and energy. The School Committee greatly appreciates your interest and participation in the process.