News&Notes from the Superintendent

“I have always loved the first day of school better than the last day of school. Firsts are best because they are beginnings." ~ Jenny Han

It has been a wonderful couple of days welcoming back our Faculty and Staff for the 2024 - 2025 school year! Thank you to our School Committee members, Vice Chair Art Batacchi, and Stephanie Ullrich, for attending Convocation, and to Chairperson, E. Bonnie Silvers, for giving a welcome address. These days offer the opportunity to welcome new colleagues, celebrate our amazing educators, reconnect with each other, attend professional development sessions, have collaboration time, and to prepare for the return of students - which is the best part of the work!

We also had an inspirational guest speaker, Dr. Joe Sanfelippo, who talked about how to lead from wherever you are in an organization, and how to build a culture where there is trust, where we celebrate the value that each individual brings to the team, and that we extend that message to the greater school community! We are grateful for the opportunity to bring amazing speakers to the District, and to learn and grow in our roles as educators to be the best we can be for our students and families!

Tomorrow is the day! We look forward to seeing all of our scholars for the first day school - which is a half-day for students. Please note that we expect there to be paving happening on Berkshire School Road over the next few days most likely slowing traffic getting on to the Sheffield Campus. We can't wait to see our students!

Please find below updates & events happening in our District ~

At this time, I do not have any pressing information to report on the state budget. However, we are always reviewing our budget progress here in the District. Our goal is to give monthly updates to the School Committee as we move through the fiscal cycle, and I plan to have weekly meetings with our Business Office for regular updates. Also, as part of my Superintendent's Roundtable meetings with Select Board Members,Finance Committee members, and School Committee members from our five towns, I will obtain suggestions and feedback on how best to enhance our communication and budget presentation to ensure that we are meeting the needs of all stakeholders so they are able to make the most informed decision on funding our schools.

As always, I will continue to update our school community with any information available for review or consideration as well as all opportunities to advocate on behalf of our students, staff, and families!

I am also including a reminder about two new Task Force Initiatives we are hoping to get off the ground this year. We would like to establish a Task Force to discuss the development of a cell phone policy for SBRSD, and a second Task Force on strengthening attendance. If you are interested in participating on either one of these Task Force Teams please send my Executive Assistant, Michelle Castellano, at mcastellano@sbrsd.org, a message expressing which group you would like to join. We would like to get these teams up and running early in the school year, and we thank you in advance for your interest!

To review the 2024-2025 Budget Information, please see the District website at https://www.sbrsd.org/documents/district/budgets/fy25-budget/567699 .

In welcoming back our Faculty and Staff, I reached out to members of my Student Advisory Councils to ask if they would be a part of our opening days. Of course, we had an overwhelming response by our students who stole the show with their clear love of their schools, for their teachers, and especially the favorite school lunch item - orange chicken!

A special thank you to rising senior, Logan English, who wrote a wonderful tribute to many who have touched his life and helped him on his journey in the District which began at age one, and then performed for us Frank Sinatra's "My Way" for which he received a well-deserved standing ovation.

A heartfelt thanks to Jigen McCarthy, Sabeena Kudal, Ezekiel McLaughlin, Arabelle McLaughlin, Emma Siket, Robby Schur, Leslye Bautista-Cruz, Makayla Carpenter, Tyler Nourse, and Kelly Krom for introducing our speakers and being part of the Convocation and playing such a big role in welcoming back the Faculty and Staff with us!

We continue to reinvent and re-imagine our work with Transcend!

As we move into our year two work, the core team is actively engaged in building out our BerkStudio model, and we had our first meeting with our new coaches last Friday. The hope is to continue the structure of having a Core Team, a Design Team, and a Community Team model, and we are developing a timeline and schedule that we hope to share in the next few weeks.

The four sub-committees have met several times to tackle the areas of Student Voice and Interest, BerkStudio Program Development & Innovation, Eagle Education & Advisory Board, and Funding and Resource Management. Most groups met last week for their final meeting of the summer, and I hope to be able to share summaries of that work in the next few weeks after we get school opened and are back into a school-year schedule!

We encourage other members of our school community to join us in this work and share their thoughts and expertise as we continue our journey forward!

To learn or become a part of this incredible community focused initiative please find the link here at https://www.sbrsd.org/page/transcend-partnership.

Don't forget to mark the first day of school on your calendars. We can't wait to see you on August 28th!

Take a look at our Early College course offerings below! Do you see a class that interests you? Talk with our Early College Coordinator, Lindy Marcel, and enroll now!

Interested in learning more about our Early College program? Visit our website!

Innovation Pathways offers opportunities for students to explore cutting-edge technology and in-demand fields! The program emphasizes real-world skills through career-focused experiential learning. Participants connect with industry mentors, go on field trips, get set up with internships in their areas of interest, and more!

Mount Everett currently offers two technical pathways in Advanced Manufacturing and Information Technology.

To learn more about our Innovation Career Pathways please use the links below! To express interest in learning more about Innovation Pathways please use our form - Expression of Interest Form

Please feel free to reach out with questions or concerns as I welcome the opportunity to hear from you.

Best,

~ Dr. Beth Regulbuto, Superintendent of Schools