THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT introduced 12 out of 14 new educators during the New Teacher Orientation Program at the Central Office on Tuesday, Aug. 23. (Dan Tomasello Photo)

 

By DAN TOMASELLO

LYNNFIELD —The clock is ticking. It won’t be long now before summer vacation ends and a new school year begins.

Students in grades 1-12 will be returning to the classroom on Wednesday, Aug. 31. Kindergarten orientation will take place on Thursday, Sept. 1, and the first day of school for kindergartners is Wednesday, Sept. 6. The first day for Lynnfield Preschool students is Thursday, Sept. 7.

Friday, Sept. 2 will be an early release day.

While students and families are enjoying the remaining days of summer, school officials, teachers and staff members having been spending this week making sure everything is ready to rock and roll for students’ return on Aug. 31. Custodians have been making a final push to make sure each of the town’s four schools is in pristine condition when students return.

“The past two years have been challenging professionally and personally for all of us, and we are so looking forward to opening school without restrictions or mandates,” said Superintendent Kristen Vogel in an email sent to the Villager. “We are looking forward to sharing our joy of being educators with our students.”

Vogel said the school system has hired 14 new educators for the 2022-2023 academic year. She also said the district launched a new website this summer.

“We hope that it makes finding information about our schools easier for our families and the community,” said Vogel.

Vogel said the School Department is now using the PowerSchool student information system.

“We are excited to have rolled out a new student information system this summer,” said Vogel. “As with any new system, we are continuing to learn it even though we began the implementation process at the beginning of the last school year. Parents have been logging in and have the ability to update emergency contact information, see student progress in classes, sign off on the usual beginning of school forms and register for bus transportation. The system allows us to communicate directly with parents in an efficient and effective way. It is a huge improvement over our old system, and we are looking forward to starting the year with the new system.”

School schedule

Hours for the school year are as follows:

Lynnfield Middle School: 7:40 a.m.-2 p.m.

Lynnfield High School: 7:50 a.m.-2:26 p.m.

Huckleberry Hill School: 8:20 a.m.- 2:30 p.m.

Summer Street School: 8:50 a.m.-3 p.m.

Preschool a.m. session (3-year-olds): 8-11 a.m.

Preschool p.m. session (4-year-olds): 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Elementary schools

Principal Melissa Wyland said she and Huckleberry Hill School’s educators and support staff are looking forward to students’ return on Wednesday, Aug. 31.

“Our dedicated staff is excited to welcome back our learners,” said Wyland. “We know it is going to be a great year.”

Summer Street School Principal Karen Cronin, who is beginning her second year leading the elementary school, agreed.

“The dedicated and talented staff of Summer Street School and Lynnfield Preschool is excited to welcome all of our students to our joyful school,” said Cronin.

Wyland said the Huckleberry Hill expansion project is “in its final stages.”

“It has been an extremely busy summer on the hill,” said Wyland. “The second grade wing, new gymnasium, playground, bus loop, parking lot and other classroom renovations will be complete in September. It has been an enormous project, but the results are worth it.”

School Building Committee Chairman John Scenna said construction of Huckleberry Hill’s new gym is “nearing completion.”

“We still need to install the gym floor,” said Scenna. “It’s a phased installation that is similar to installing hardwood in a house.”

Similar to the Huckleberry Hill project, Cronin said the Summer Street project is “finally coming to a close.”

“Finishing touches have been put on the new fourth grade classrooms and various office spaces,” said Cronin. “More space has been created in the all-purpose room, a dividing screen has been installed in the gymnasium, and our two preschool classrooms have undergone beautiful renovations. Most importantly for our students, a new playground has been installed for our first through fourth graders.”

Scenna said construction of the new softball fields that will be located behind Summer Street will take place this fall.

Vogel once again thanked the community for supporting the $18.75 million elementary schools’ expansion project.

“We are excited to have new classroom additions and renovations, and updated outdoor play spaces to Huckleberry Hill and Summer Street Schools for our teachers and students,” said Vogel.

Scenna anticipates the elementary schools’ expansion project will be “substantially complete” in September

In addition to the school expansion project, the elementary schools will be working on two new initiatives that were included in the 2022-2023 school improvement plans.

The first initiative involves implementing an intervention block to provide additional support to students. The second initiative seeks to help improve students’ reading skills by using a program called the Science of Reading.

Lynnfield Middle School

Principal Stephen Ralston said he and the rest of Lynnfield Middle School’s staff are looking forward to the 2022-2023 academic year getting underway.

“We are welcoming several new staff members, students new to Lynnfield Public Schools, and our rising fifth-graders from Summer Street School and Huckleberry Hill School,” said Ralston. “Aug. 31 is going to be a fantastic day and kick off to an anticipated year of middle school normalcy after these challenging past two-and-a-half years.”

The middle school will be ushering in a new era this academic year with the addition of new Assistant Principal Jeremy Greenwood. He succeeded former Assistant Principal Tom Sallee, who left LMS in June in order to become Stoneham Central Middle School’s principal.

“The transition has been great thus far,” said Greenwood. “The summer days have allowed me to get up to speed with the policies and procedures of the Lynnfield Public Schools and really get familiar with LMS. I’m really looking forward to having the students and staff back in the building next week so that I can start building positive connections within the school community and get down to the real work.”

Greenwood served as Pollard Middle School’s assistant principal from July 2017 through June 2022. He worked as a guidance counselor at the Needham middle school from August 2012 through June 2017. He previously served as a school counselor at Abigail Adams Middle School in Weymouth from August 2003 through August 2012.

In addition to welcoming Greenwood to the LMS team, the middle school will be focusing on differentiating instruction this academic year.

“The goal is to create more personalized experiences for students that engage them in student-centered learning and receive social-emotional supports that meet the needs of all students,” said Ralston while giving an overview of the LMS improvement plan during a recent School Committee meeting. “We know that one-size does not fit all. We are going to adjust our practice to make sure the curriculum and activities are accessible to all students.”

Lynnfield High School

Principal Bob Cleary said he and Lynnfield High School’s faculty and staff are excited about the upcoming 2022-2023 academic year.

“We are very excited about the return to school,” said Cleary. “We are looking forward to the energy that students and staff bring to the building and our school community.”

Similar to LMS, the high school is welcoming a new administrator this academic year. Athletic Director/K-12 Physical Education/Health/Wellness Coordinator Mia Muzio has succeeded former Athletic Director Mike Bierwirth, whose contract was not renewed.

Muzio served as Wilmington High School’s AD from July 2020-June 2022. She was Weymouth High School’s interim athletic director from July 2019 through June 2020. She has coached several Cape Ann League sports teams, which included a stint as rival North Reading’s varsity field hockey coach from August 2013 through March 2017.

“Through these experiences, I have also learned that coaches do more than just teach the fundamentals of the game,” Muzio stated. “Coaches are educators. Through my leadership and understanding of educational athletics, I can support coaches in creating a positive, goal-orientated environment conducive to positive youth development.”

Lynnfield High will also begin implementing the second year of the Vision of the Graduate initiative during the 2022-2023 academic year. The New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), which will be making its decennial visit to the high school next spring, is now requiring high schools to implement the new initiative.

High School Assistant Principal Brian Bates recently told the School Committee that teachers will be helping incoming freshmen create a Google Site webpage as part of their portfolio defense. He explained that students will be using the portfolios to archive evidence from their four years of high school. The students will use the evidence they collected in the portfolios to demonstrate they are proficient with the Vision of the Graduate’s focus areas.

“We are going to have freshmen focus on two pieces of evidence for each of the skill areas that they can put into that Google Site,” said Bates. “It’s where they will keep all of their work.”