By NEIL ZOLOT
WAKEFIELD – The School Committee met the new Director of Athletics, Health and Wellness, Michael Murphy, at their meeting Tuesday, Sept. 10. “I was looking for a sports town with a community feel,” he said of moving from a similar job at Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical High School in Danvers to Wakefield. “I understand the impact athletics can have on a community, hopefully positive. If you put in the right coaches and put kids in the right position, they do the tough work of putting the right teams on the field.”
He also said moving to a district and working with physical education and health and wellness curricula for an entire school system was a logical step in his career. “This position is Athletic Director but I have a soft spot for P.E. and Health and Wellness teachers,” he said. “It’s always a fun dynamic figuring out how to put a curriculum forward and what’s being done from a curriculum point of view and what makes sense.”
Murphy hopes to use professional development days for curriculum mapping and adjusting to new standards from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in “a collaborative effort to understand the challenges before us and acknowledge the good things being done to put our best foot forward.”
Murphy was recommended by a screening team headed by Assistant Superintendent Kara Mauro and High School principal Amy McLeod. “He distinguished himself in every round,” Superintendent Doug Lyons reported. “None of the other candidates had the breadth of experience he had.”
“It’s a job that covers the whole town,” Mauro added. “There’s a lot to it.”
“I enjoyed the process,” Murphy said. “I like to talk to new people and find out what districts are like. Some of my questions turned into conversations.”
On behalf of School Department Facilities Director Tim O’Brien, Lyons briefed the School Committee on improvements at various schools. A new gym floor was installed at the High School after water damage related to construction of a new high School caused damage to the old one. “The flooding in the field house was the result from drains that needed to be diverted while the new culvert was being installed,” he explained. “It’s a more playable surface and more springy. Unfortunately, it will only be there for two years.”
“It looks amazing,” School Committee member Peter Davis observed.
A new play structure and rubber surface were installed at the Doyle School, which houses pre-K students. “It’s more appropriate because it’s lower to the ground,” Lyons said of the play structure. “3 and 4 year olds had trouble with the higher structure.”
A new Kindergarten play structure and rubber surface were also completed at the Dolbeare School and the gym floor there was refinished.
In addition, O’Brien’s report to the School Committee said, “American Alarm has completed the installation of new Genetec Security Camera systems across the district and monitoring stations have been installed in all main offices.”
Lyons also reported that a Request for Proposals to retrofit solar panels at the Galvin Middle School has been issued. He said it is “in line with the town’s shift to green energy and electric centered power,” which includes adoption at the November 2023 Town Meeting of the state’s new Specialized Stretch Energy Code requiring new construction to have electric power systems or be pre-wired for future electrification.
