February 5, 2022
Dear Shrewsbury Families, Colleagues, & Community Members,
I trust you weathered yesterday's icy weather, which was certainly appropriate for the start of the Winter Olympics. It's hard to believe it has been over 40 years since I was cutting out Sports Illustrated photos of the stars of the Lake Placid Olympics to tape to my bedroom wall (especially this one). Our kids today might know about this from the film Miracle, and it's a bit humbling to realize that for my daughters imagining 1980 is like me thinking back to 1950!
Please note the information below regarding a public forum for the finalists for the Oak Middle School principal position; two non-educator job openings in human resources and data management, and some superb student art to brighten your day.
Public forum for finalists for Oak Middle School principal: With Dr. Ann Jones retiring at the end of June, we are in the midst of a search for the next principal at Oak Middle School (click here for a description of the search process we use). You are invited to interact with each of the three finalists at a public forum this coming Tuesday evening, February 8, from 6:00pm to 8:00pm in the Oak Middle School Auditorium. Full résumés and feedback forms will be available at the forum; the most recent leadership experience for each finalist candidate is listed below:
Hallie Burak
• Ms. Burak is currently the assistant principal of the O’Donnell Middle School in Stoughton, where she has served in that role since 2013. Prior to that, Ms. Burak was the Head English Language Arts and Reading teacher at the same school starting in 2011.
Liz Garden
• Ms. Garden is currently the principal of the Mayo Elementary School in Holden, where she has served in that role since 2018. Prior to that, Ms. Garden was principal of the Roche Elementary School in Groton since 2013.
Elizabeth York
• Ms. York is currently the principal of David Prouty High School in Spencer, where she has served in that role since 2016. Prior to that, Ms. York was the principal of Avon Middle/High School in Avon, MA since 2013.
Job openings for Human Resources Manager, Data Specialist, & more: Our school district is currently seeking excellent candidates for two important full-year, district-level positions: a Human Resources Manager (salary range $85k-$110k depending on education and experience, posting here) and a Data Specialist (salary range $75k-$85k depending on education and experience, posting here). Successful candidates for both of these positions are to begin as soon as possible after notice to their current employer. Several other open positions for educator and support positions can be found on our current openings webpage here. I am hoping many of you reading this may have interest, or that you will pass along the information about these opportunities to people in your network as we seek outstanding individuals to help us fulfill our mission of providing a great education to Shrewsbury's students. Qualified candidates with diverse racial, ethnic, cultural, religious, class, and/or gender background and experiences are strongly encouraged to apply.
SPS K-12 Winter Art Festival: Our students have created some incredible artwork under the tutelage of our excellent Visual Arts educators. Click here to view the excellent pieces selected for inclusion in our online K-12 Winter Art Festival. You will be impressed!
Thank you for your continued support of our public schools.
Respectfully,
Joe Sawyer
Superintendent of Schools