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PLATFORM

I believe that the right to a free and appropriate public education is one of our most important rights. As citizens, it is our responsibility to ensure that our educational system offers the opportunity for each individual to reach his or her full potential.
 
I believe that communities are strengthened through the civic engagement of its citizens. Given my training, experience, and passion for public education, serving on the Sudbury School Committee is a way that I can offer my talents to strengthen our community and our schools. I would like for my daughter and all of our children in Sudbury to benefit from our public schools.
 
I believe that our schools are at a critical crossroads during a period of truly positive growth and change. The superintendent's vision is that our schools will "Challenge ALL Learners", and I support that vision. A recent SPS Parent survey shows that only 61% of respondents feel that we are currently reaching that goal. 
 
I believe that we must
  • Nurture the individual potential of every student
  • Ensure physical, emotional, and intellectual safety
  • Guarantee voice for all learners
  • Prepare our children for 21st Century careers
  • Control the taxpayer costs of providing a public education
  • Support our teachers so that they can support our students
Nurture the Individual Potential of Every Student

Research tells us that there is no "average" student. Every student is an individual, and every individual has unique learning needs. Our challenge is to meet those unique learning needs to nurture the potential of each and every student.

  • We need to continually build our capacity to deliver personalized learning to increase student motivation, engagement, and achievement.

  • We need to utilize research-based philosophies like Universal Design for Learning www.udlcenter.org and The Science of the Individual www.individualopportunity.org to ensure that we are building learning communities and selecting curricula that will be flexible and responsive enough to meet the needs of every student.

  • Every student should learn something new in every subject, every day. Each student should be taught (to use educator-ese) in his or her Zone of Proximal Development. This means that we are giving each student "just right" challenge to help him or her advance relative to his or her own skills.

    • Children who are over or under-challenged experience stress that can lead to anxiety, depression, underachievement, and maladaptive behaviors.

    • Without sufficient challenge, students cannot learn to work hard for their achievements, develop study skills, and persist through challenge. Research shows that lack of the opportunity to work hard for success leads to the risk of the development of a fixed mindset.

  • There is a strong demand in Sudbury for advanced work, particularly in math. We need to leverage research-based, no/low-cost acceleration options like subject-matter acceleration, curriculum compacting, and grade telescoping to provide access to advanced content regardless of age or grade.

  • Every student should have opportunities to participate in enrichment programming in his or her area(s) of interest. This provides an opportunity to shine and to build on strengths rather than to remediate weaknesses.

  • We need strong professional development to help our teachers, administrators, counselors, and psychologists to nurture the potential of at-risk populations.

    • Twice-exceptional (2e) students are capable of advanced work and have a disability (such as ADHD, ASD, or SLD). Research shows that without 2e-specific training, schools are unlikely to identify and develop the full potential of 2e students.

    • Students with situational educational challenges that impact their ability to demonstrate their potential in school are less likely to be offered opportunities for advanced work and less likely to reach their full potential as learners. This group can include

      • ELLs and other non-native speakers of Academic English

      • Students new to Sudbury whose prior educational experiences differ from those offered in Sudbury

      • Students who have experienced interruptions in their learning for medical or other reasons.

 

Guarantee Voice for All Learners

One of the greatest responsibilities of the School Committee is to serve as the voice of ALL students. We must ensure that every child's voice is heard.

  • Every student has the right to have his or her needs heard and met.

  • Whether a child's educational experience is typical or atypical, every parent should feel that he or she can speak freely about his or her child's needs and that those needs will be heard and met.

Prepare Our Children for 21st Century Careers

We must prepare our young men and women to participate in the changing workforce of the 21st Century. Although gains have been made, women are still underrepresented in many fields. A strong foundation in 21st Century Skills and STEAM content areas will prepare our students for the careers of the future. 

  • We must explicitly teach our students the skills that they will need to thrive in the 21st Century workforce:  Creativity, Critical Thinking, Collaboration, and Communication. www.p21.org

  • We must also prepare our students with strong foundational knowledge in STEAM content areas: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics.

 

Control the Taxpayer Costs of Providing a Public Education

In today's economy, we are all eager to economize. In particular, our seniors, who are the backbone and stability of our community, must be cautious to keep their expenses from rising. Many of our retirees have lived in Sudbury for all or most of their lives, and many of them are actively giving back to the community as volunteers in a variety of capacities from politics to preservation to plantings.

  • We must ensure that we are sensitive to their needs and that, whenever possible, we seek improvements to our educational system that are no-cost, low-cost, or cost-neutral. 

  • We need to seek private funding for improvements whenever we cannot find ways to fund them with the resources that we already have. 

Support Our Teachers so That They Can Support Our Students

Our teachers cannot support our students unless we support them. The field of education is ever-changing. From the students themselves to the tools available to serve them, no two years in education are alike. We are fortunate to live in a town where we already make a significant investment in professional development for our teachers.

  • We need to ensure that the professional development that is received is robust, relevant, and personalized to their needs.

    • Teachers must have voice and choice with respect to their professional development.

  • Teachers must feel supported to take risks, innovate, make mistakes, and to learn and grow from those mistakes.

Ensure Physical, Emotional, and Intellectual Safety

Every student should feel safe and be safe at school. We must ensure each student's physical, emotional, and intellectual safety. Research shows that feelings of safety (or lack thereof) have a direct and measurable impact on learning and IQ. Simply put, if our students do not feel safe, they cannot learn and reach their potential.

  • ​Physical safety

    • I support reasonable solutions that have been vetted by law enforcement and proven by research to make a measurable difference to student safety at school.

    • I support strong policies, staff training, and peer education that help students with medical conditions such as diabetes and food allergies to feel safe at school.

  • Emotional safety

    • Every student should feel safe to be his or her true self at school. It should be safe to be intellectual or athletic, quiet or outspoken, similar or different.

    • I support the implementation of research-based social-emotional learning (SEL) curricula with measurable outcomes as well as ongoing staff training and improved resources to support emotional health.

    • I take a strong stand against bullying behavior of any kind. Bullying has no place in our schools, in our professional discourse, on our School Committee, or in our political process. We, the adults, are the role models for healthy, safe emotional choices.

  • Intellectual safety

    • Every student should feel safe to let his or her talents shine at school. Every student should feel encouraged and supported by classmates and educators to develop those talents to their full potential.

 

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