Summer Schedule June 17 - August 16 - School Department Central Office at Town Hall
Dear Shrewsbury Families & Community Members,
On behalf of everyone in our school district, thank you for voting to support the building of a new Beal School!
This much-needed capital investment will replace the current Beal that was built in 1922 and provide space to address overcrowding in all of our elementary schools, while also providing room for our projected enrollment growth in the coming years. The location at the former Glavin Center on Lake Street (next to the soccer fields) is extremely well-suited for a school site, and I am confident that the project team will deliver another cost-effective building that will provide an excellent educational environment for our community’s children for decades to come.
Please join me in thanking the School Committee (Jason Palitsch, Chair; Erin Canzano, Vice Chair; Sandy Fryc, Secretary; Dr. Dale Magee; and Jon Wensky) who provided a strong argument to the community on behalf of this project and worked hard to make the case. Thank you also to the Board of Selectmen, the Finance Committee, Town Meeting members, Rep. Hannah Kane, and Sen. Michael Moore for their very strong support for a new Beal and their efforts to ensure we could procure the Glavin site from the state. I am also grateful for the work of my fellow members of the Beal Building Committee: Jim Kane (Selectman, Chair); John Masiello (community member and construction professional, vice chair); Sandy Fryc (School Committee); Erin Boucher (community member and construction attorney); Kevin Mizikar (Town Manager); Bob Cox (Superintendent of Public Buildings); Patrick Collins (Assistant Superintendent for Finance & Operations, School Department); and Chris Girardi (Principal, Beal Early Childhood Center), as well as former member Dan Morgado (retired Town Manager). I appreciate the skillful work that Mr. Collins and Mr. Girardi, along with Amy Clouter (Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, & Assessment) and Meg Belsito (Assistant Superintendent for Student Services) did in creating an outstanding educational plan to inform the building design, with the support of many School Department educators and staff. Thank you for the excellent efforts of our architects, Lamoureux Pagano Associates (Kathryn Crockett, Sean Brennan, and Natalie Gabrielle) and our owner’s project manager, PMA Consultants (Paul Queeney and Deborah Shaer). I am also grateful to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for partnering with our town to fund the project.
A positive vote would not have happened without incredible efforts by the Community Supporters for Beal ballot committee. Thank you to campaign co-chairs Beth Casavant (Selectman) and Jason Palitsch (School Committee Chair), Jason Molina (Campaign Manager), Erin Ryan (Campaign Treasurer), and Kelly Barner (Campaign Media) along with all of the volunteers and supporters who contributed to the campaign’s success. Thank you as well to former School Committee member, John Samia, for writing the “pro” argument for the official town mailing on the ballot question. Please forgive me if I’ve omitted anyone who deserves special mention.
Finally, I am deeply grateful to everyone who voted to support the building of a new Beal School. On behalf of the children and educators it will benefit, thank you! Our town will be a better place because of it.
Joe Sawyer
Superintendent of Schools