Dear Members of the School Community

Welcome to the start of the 2010-2011 school year. We are excited to welcome back to school over thirty-two hundred students, eager to learn, with teachers pledging to meet the learning needs of all children. We know our challenges are significant. Recent budget cuts tied to the economic downturn have created class sizes not conducive to meeting this goal. We look to our parents as our partners in this quest and want you to understand the critical role you play in meeting this promise. Learning needs to be a team effort involving the school, the student, and parents. Together we can meet the promise of optimal learning for all.

We will be shortly rolling out a new website for the Freetown and Lakeville Public Schools aimed at improving the consistency of our message and creating an easy to use portal for student and parent information. It is our hope that this new website will strengthen the relationship between school and home. Please look for this new website in early October.

We also continue to call your attention to the effort to fully regionalize the Freetown and Lakeville Public Schools, grades PK-12. A new regional agreement has been accepted by the Regional School Committee and will be put before town voters this fall. Look for upcoming public information sessions later this month which will assist the community in understanding this agreement and what it will mean to the education of our children.

Wishing you a successful school year,

John E. McCarthy
Superintendent of Schools