SOUTH DEERFIELD — 2016 brought significant changes to the southern Franklin County public school system, including a new superintendent and the relocation of its administrative offices.
“When I joined the Frontier and Union 38 family as the new superintendent … it did not take me long to realize that I had joined a robust district that was headed in a positive direction with strong momentum,” Superintendent Lynn Carey wrote in a letter of thanks to the district, via email.
Carey took the reigns on the first of July, following the retirement of superintendent Martha Barrett, who was highly respected throughout the district. Barrett served as an educator in the district for more than 20 years.
“One of my first duties as superintendent was to determine where to move the central office personnel because substantial and costly upgrades to the Christian Lane location were required to comply with local building codes,” Carey continued, noting, “we decided to relocate our offices to the Frontier Regional School building.”
Frontier staff bids goodbye to Supt. Martha Barrett, who made them feel like “family.” https://t.co/0dTN3ByHuj pic.twitter.com/pQWCVb3oaU
— The Recorder (@TheRecorderNews) June 7, 2016
Also of note, the district revamped its science curriculum, with help from Hitchcock Center for the Environment.
“The new curriculum engages students in the engineering design cycle of asking questions, imagining, planning, and creating solutions to a problem, and then analyzing the results and redesigning their solutions,” Carey noted.
Within the school’s English and social studies programs, teachers “are working to align expectations for student writing,” in order to “create a more meaningful experience for our students as they learn to become proficient writers.”
Finally, Carey wrote, to increase the quality of the district’s early childhood education, “we are pleased to announce that our Union 38 schools will now provide full-day preschool sessions with optional after-school programing for working families.”
You can reach Andy Castillo at: acastillo@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 263
On Twitter: @AndyCCastillo