This week's Educator of the Week is Ms. Erika Barrett. Ms. Barrett has worked in various roles across the District over the past eleven years including time in the Early Childhood program, as well as in our Curriculum office. Since 2016, she has been the MPSD's Personnel Coordinator.

Ms. Barrett has interaction with almost all of the employees of the district and she single handedly welcomes every new employee to the District and ensures they have all of the paperwork needed to start in their role.

She advises our employees on all aspects of Human Resources including salary, benefits, insurance, medical leave, sabbaticals, and retirement. She is consistently the first one to the office and one of the last to leave. When meeting with, and processing, new employees at various times throughout the year, Ms. Barrett always has a smile on her face and the correct information to help meet the needs of a new teacher, ESP, custodian or secretary.

Her role has grown over time and she is an integral part of the leadership team at the Ventress. She is our point person with the Massachusetts Partnership for Diversity in Education (MPDE) and has coordinated our presence at a variety of job fairs in the region.

Beyond her work in Human Resources, Ms. Barrett also volunteers time with the MEF and plays a variety of roles when they have their St. Patrick's Day 5 K Race. She is also quick to lend a hand when we have our annual We Are Marshfield Project (WAMP).

We are so fortunate to have Ms. Barrett on our team and we congratulate her on being our Educator of the Week. #WeRMarshfield

Under the leadership of Joanie Pozerski & Marie Kurmin, over 300 MHS Seniors and adult volunteers participated in volunteer work at over 40 locations across the community on Friday.

This is one of the highlights of the year and WAMP continues to grow in popularity and in the impact it has on the town of Marshfield.

From the Winslow House to Rexhame Beach, the volunteers worked at homes, schools, parks, beaches and a variety of other locations. The motto of WAMP is "One Heart - Many Hands" and this year lived up to that message as a total of 311 volunteers and 622 hands did all they could to help our community. #WeRMarshfield

Starting this week, the district will be growing our Facebook, Twitter & Instagram presence. There are so many wonderful things to share about our students and staff and we want to make sure we are getting that information out appropriately to our stakeholders.

This has been brought up over the years and we have heard from students, staff and our families that moving our social media footprint beyond just Twitter would better highlight the successes that occur across the district every day.

Below you will find information on what this entails along with links to our new social media pages. We hope you will follow us and spread the word. Please note that Twitter accounts that are currently being used by teachers and administrators may still remain, but the link below will be the official Twitter page for the district.

Social Media - #WeRMarshfield

What: Marshfield Public Schools is growing our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram channels. Click on the icons and follow along!

Facebook - @MarshfieldPublicSchools

Twitter - @MPSDRams

Instagram - @MarshfieldPublicSchools

Why:

1. Celebrate our students.

2. Keep parents, students, alumni, and the community in the loop of what is happening in our district.

3. Promote the great things happening with activities, athletics, and other events.

4. Build an ongoing conversation about the positive impact our district is making in the lives of our students!

What do I need to do?

• If you are on these social media sites – follow us!

• Help promote the pages to your family and friends.

• If you aren’t on these sites – that’s OK. The district will continue to provide communication through traditional channels.

The Marshfield Education Foundation (MEF) has stepped up once again to help support creativity and innovation in the classroom. On Tuesday, May 2nd, educators from across the District will come together to celebrate 23 grants, totaling $149,000 from the MEF. This is the largest sum of grant money ever funded in a single grant cycle. Since its inception, the MEF has awarded more than $1.1 million in grants to the Marshfield Public School educators.

When reviewing this year's grants, it is nice to see that all five elementary schools, the middle school, and high school will benefit from the 2023 grant cycle. From a release put out by the MEF, here's a sampling of grants being awarded by the Marshfield Education Foundation for the 2023-2024 school year include:

• Anatomage Table – With this innovative, fully interactive dissection tool, Marshfield High School (MHS) students are able to digitally manipulate real life 3D cadavers under varying states of wellness or disease to develop a deeper understanding of how variations in biological structures affect function of the whole organism. MEF is extremely excited to help fund this initiative. We will be only one of about 40 schools in Massachusetts with a table like this.

• Building Online Diverse Libraries – As students get involved in more book clubs and read

independently, it is important for students to not only see themselves in literature, but have

access to quality diverse books and through online, diverse libraries, so students have more

access to literature and can form a greater love for reading. This grant will go to Furnace Brook Middle School.

• 3D Printing Our Way to Proficiency – 3D printers at Daniel Webster School (DWS) and Eames

Way School (EWS) will enhance the science, technology and engineering curriculum standards for grades 3-5 through hands-on project-based and inquiry-based learning experiences. Students will learn how to design and build with a 3D printer with the goal of more students achieving a higher score on the Grade 5 STE MCAS assessment.

• OT Winslow’s Way -- This grant will support students at Governor Winslow School (GWS) in the general and special education setting by providing various Occupational Therapy supports and tools that can be utilized and implemented by educators; which will help to reduce the number of students referred to RTI which as a result will strengthen students physical, cognitive, psychosocial and sensory needs and increase overall performance in school.

• Numbers Make Sense with Rekenrek Tools – This is a district-wide grant to the five elementary schools to support students in grades K-2. The goal is to strengthen students’ number sense and fact fluency skills with Rekenrek tools (number racks).

• Musical Martinson – Through the use of a variety of instruments, Martinson Elementary is

looking to build an outdoor musical station in order to create an inclusive environment for

students to explore sound, build, SEL skills and create music.

All other grants for the 2023-2024 academic year include:

• Easels, MHS

• Microscope Mania, FBMS

• Supporting English Language Learners, DWS

• JR. Lego Masters, Martinson Elementary School (MES)

• hELLo Pebble Go! (Technology for English language learners) MES

• Ukulele, DWS

• Branching Out with the Glowforge, MHS

• Let’s learn about our world-en francais! FBMS

• Classroom libraries: Language & Reading=Culture & Identity, FBMS

• Collaborative School Chess Program, MHS, FBMS, MES

• Pickleball Y’All, FBMS

• APE-MOVES, (adaptive PE supports for special education students) FBMS

• Digital Microscopes, MHS

• Deep Dive into Historical Analysis, MHS

• Ramsware Art Display, MHS

• Removing Barriers to Lifetime Personal Fitness, MHS

• Rocketbooks: Developing Systematic and Transferable Executive Functioning Skills, MHS

As we have noted here in the past, the MEF is an amazing organization that does so much for teaching and learning in Marshfield. Since its inception, the MEF has awarded over $1.1 million in support of 203 grants across the Marshfield Public School district. This wouldn’t be possible without the great support of the Marshfield community and sponsors who have continuously supported their largest fundraisers, the Marshfield St. Patrick’s Day 5k, Circus Smirkus, and their Fall Giving Campaign.

To learn more about the Marshfield Education Foundation please visit

https://www.marshfieldfoundation.org, OR follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Thank you to our friends at the MPD and MFD for taking time from their busy schedules to greet our students as they arrived to school on Friday. "High Five Friday" has come to represent the wonderful partnership the MPSD has with our safety officials and our students and staff always look forward to this special day. #WeRMarshfield

After six years on the Marshfield School Committee, Ms. Brigid Boyd will be stepping down this year. Ms. Boyd has worked tirelessly to support the needs of our students and staff and has been dedicated to finding ways we can improve the learning experience for all of our educational stakeholders.

Her seat on the School Committee will be filled by Ms. Lauren Dargan. Ms. Dargan was elected to fill the seat at this weekend's town election. Ms. Dargan has already worked to help our school district by previously serving on District Strategic Planning Committees and stepping up to volunteer on Principal hiring committees. We look forward to the leadership and vision that Ms. Dargan will bring to the School Committee.

We want to thank Ms. Boyd for all she has done for the MPSD. We are a better district because of her hard work and dedication to the students, staff and families of Marshfield.

On a small Greek island, Sophie Sheridan (played by Meg Lembo) dreams of the perfect wedding- one that includes her father giving her away at the altar. The only problem? She doesn’t know who he is! Her mother Donna (played by Carly Connor)- the lead singer of her 70s pop group Donna and the Dynamos, refuses to tell Sophie who he is.

So Sophie takes matters into her own hands and does some research. Finally, she finds three possible fathers- Sam (Bennet Regan), Harry( Joe Mamet) , and Bill (Alex Robinson). Thinking that she’ll be able to tell who her father is the moment she sees him, she invites all three to her wedding. But when they arrive, she discovers that it will be much harder than she thought!

We hope you can come and see this fantastic show being put on by the MHS Theatrical Society. The shows can be seen on the weekends of May 5th and May 12th at the MHS Auditorium.

On April 24th & April 25th, Marshfield held its Annual Town Meeting. Over the course of the two nights, those present at the ATM voted to support the MPSD FY24 Annual Budget of $55,778,939, which represents a 3% increase over the FY23 Budget. The ATM also voted in favor of our $290,000 capital budget request, which will go towards replacing the hardwood floors at the DWS gymnasium as well as replacing all of the wall padding. In addition, ATM supported a Select Board article that provided $300,000 for repairs at the Preschool Building on Furnace Street. We cannot thank the ATM enough for their continued support of our schools.

ATM also voted overwhelmingly to support the District's request to become a member of the South Shore Regional Vocational Technical High School (SSRVTHS). With passage at the Marshfield ATM, the District still needs to receive the support of six of the eight current members of the SSRVTHS. Currently, two of the eight member districts have had their ATMs and they both voted in favor of Marshfield joining. We should find out in the next few weeks if the other communities vote in favor of us joining.

If the votes are in favor of Marshfield, we would be eligible to join as of the 2024-25 school year. Thank you for everyone's support of this important initiative.

You can find a link to the MHS team schedules HERE and we hope you can find time to swing by for a game or two this season. #WeRMarshfield

Information from the Marshfield Boys & Girls Club:

There is Summer Camp at the Boys & Girls Club Marshfield. Campers enjoy a variety of activities each day to include: sports, arts, swimming, outdoor adventure, STEM and new games, making new friends. Your camper can register for the traditional weekly schedule or the unique option of daily enrollments.

Visit the website- bgcmarshfield.org for more information and registration.

If you are interested in joining our team at the MPSD you can click on the link below to review open positions across the District:

Employment Opportunities

May 3 - District Wide Early Release

May 3 - FBMS Conferences

May 5, 6, 12, 13 - MHS Mama Mia Production

May 9 - MPSD School Committee Meeting - MES

May 10 - Elementary Conferences

May 20 - SRS 5K Race

May 23 - MPSD School Committee Meeting - Ventress Building

May 29 - Memorial Day (no school)

June 3 - MHS Class of 2023 Graduation Ceremony

Eames Way School

Governor Winslow School

Daniel Webster School

Martinson Elementary School

South River School

Furnace Brook Middle School

Marshfield Health & Wellness

Email: jgranatino@mpsd.org
Website: www.mpsd.org
Location: 76 South RIver Street, Marshfield MA 02050
Phone: (781) 834-5000
Twitter: @MarshfieldSuper