·         School Committee

Sherborn School Committee is comprised of five elected members. Current members’ are: 

Gayle Murphy                     653-8893            gaylemurphy@earthlink.net
Clare Graham, Chair           655-0513            aussie4@comcast.net
Shawn Laughlin, Secretary  545-1449            shawnlaugh@aol.com
Rick Linden                        655-6271            lindencsc@yahoo.com
Heather Peck                     655-5041            hapeck@comcast.net 

·         School Committee Goals

Goals are developed annually. These goals are shared with the community at one of the Committee’s meetings, usually in September.  Activities and progress against the goals are revisited and measured during the school year.

Goals can be found on the Pine Hill web site. 

·         K-schedule

After many years of studying kindergarten options and applying for state grants to fund full day kindergarten the Committee voted beginning with the  FY03-04 to support two full days (Tu/Th) and 3 half days (M/W/F) from September for all kindergarten students.   

The Committee has been unable to fund the two full days from September to December due to the needs and demands that monies be appropriated elsewhere, but has included thus far funds for the two full days beginning the first week in the new year for the period January to the end of the school year. 

Since these funds were not available, kindergarten parents have collected together the monies to cover the two full days (September to December) and graciously donated this money to the town of Sherborn to cover the educational costs for their children on those days. The collection of this money and donation to Sherborn occurred in FY 04-05 as well and is in place for FY 05-06. 

·         Calendar

The school calendar is set by the School Committee in conjunction with the Dover and Regional School Committees, usually in January of the prior year.  This calendar includes the state mandated 180 days, plus 5 provisional snow days and usually two extra days to ensure we meet the state mandated hours of education. These two days ensure we meet the 900 instructional hours mandated by the State. 

·         Meeting Times

School Committee meetings are held the second Tuesday of the month if possible, September to June at 6:30pm in the Pine Hill Auditorium.   

All are welcome. Minutes are posted on the Pine Hill web site. 

·        Communication with the School Committee

 The School Committee begins each meeting with Community Comments – an opportunity for parents and others to raise issues before the Committee. Also, during the meeting, the Chair may open the meeting to additional community comments or feedback.

Additionally, parents and others are welcome to give feedback or raise issues of concern in person, on the phone or by email.

The Pine Hill Family Handbook details communication between home and school on page 11. 

·         Working with Dover and Regional School Committees

The Sherborn, Dover and Regional School Committees meet together in October, January, April and May to discuss issues of joint concern or interest. These dates and times are posted in the “Dover Sherborn Press”, on the school’s website and each town hall. 

·         Class size policy

The Sherborn School Committee recognizes that class size can be an important factor in good education. For planning purposes, the School Committee supports the following class size guidelines: 

Grades             K-3                  18-23 students per class

                        4-5                   20-25 students per class 

The process that the School Committee uses to determine class size considers many factors including group composition, staff needs, available space and the financial health of the school budget. In keeping with this policy, the School Committee will adhere, whenever possible, to these guidelines.   
 

From School Committee policy 3151