Message from the Superintendent - November 6, 2024

Dear Shrewsbury Families, Colleagues, & Community Members,

Our school district's mission includes helping our students develop "an appreciation of our democratic tradition."  Recently, I have been impressed to see this at work both in our town and in our schools in the weeks leading up to yesterday's election.  I want to publicly thank our Town Clerk's office staff and all of the poll volunteers who worked so hard to make the democratic process possible, and I also want to thank all of you who exercised your right to vote – both for participating in our democracy and for being role models for our community's children.  

I also want to recognize the excellent work that our educators did to build awareness and knowledge leading up to the election, particularly at the secondary level where Shrewsbury High School and Oak Middle School students had the opportunity to learn about the issues and participate in mock elections.  In particular, thank you to Jenn DiFrancesca, Director of Social Sciences at SHS, and Rob Dunn, Middle Level Social Studies Coordinator, and to our teachers in those departments for their skillful efforts to provide these relevant experiences, which fulfill our mission to prepare the next generation of voters.

Much has been written about the political divisions in our nation.  Today, people across our country and here in our community are feeling different emotions regarding the outcome of the election. For many, those are elation, satisfaction, and justification; for others, disillusion, indignation, and even fear.  Regardless of these political divisions, I believe it is critical that our Shrewsbury community unite around the shared values that bind us.  This includes the importance of providing an excellent public education focused on the well-being of all of our children, where they are taught and nurtured well regardless of who they are or where they are from.  Our schools must be places of belonging where our young people can learn to engage with others who have differences in background and opinion, and, as our policy states, "to grow in their understanding of the difficult and complex problems they face as citizens in today's world."  

We certainly live in a difficult and complex era.  While our society and world will continue to be roiled by deeply divisive issues, it is my hope as the adults in our community that we will make sincere efforts to understand one another in order to seek common ground for the common good.  As author Amanda Ripley suggests, this does not require us to give up or stop fighting for our deeply held beliefs, but it does require us to be curious, avoid "us vs. them" and "good vs. evil" categorical thinking, and recognize that the reasons someone thinks differently than you are usually complex.  

Despite whatever societal challenges lie ahead, I am confident that we in Shrewsbury will work together to best meet our collective responsibility to provide our children with what they need to thrive.

Respectfully,

Joe Sawyer
Superintendent of Schools