Medfield Public Schools

in our core values. They define how adults behave within the district and how we treat each other and our students. By our example, students will behave in a way that’s consistent with our core values.” “We are fortunate to have an outstanding faculty and staff in Medfield.” Medfield Public Schools has recently undergone an eight-month review of its strategic plan, involving parents, students, teachers and administration in outlining a newmission and vision for the district. Dr. Marsden relays.“Our vision is to empower students to make a meaningful difference.We feel like we have a strong academic program, and we focus certainly on rigor in making sure students do well academically, but we also pride ourselves on developing the whole child.” EARLY EDUCATION INITIATIVES The district places a strong emphasis on early education, boasting a robust preschool program that accommodates various needs in the community. “We try to make sure that we can educate and get as many of our young students in as possible,” Dr. Marsden asserts. “We want to support them, and we want to make sure that they can get right into the culture of our district as soon as they can. If there are any needs that those students may have, we feel like any interventions that we make in the early years will pay off for them in the subsequent years.” With a waiting list of over 60 children, efforts have been made to expand the preschool offerings, utilizing available space in two elementary schools. Currently, Medfield offers a full-day tuition-based kindergarten program, but there are plans to transition to tuition-free over the next three years. “We value early education, we think it’s important. Right now, about 90% of our students are in full-day kindergarten. We want to make sure we have that experience for all of our kids.” ELEMENTARY/ MIDDLE SCHOOL EXCELLENCE Medfield Public Schools prioritizes reading and literacy, evidenced by the district’s success in 3 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 5, ISSUE 03 MEDF IELD PUBL IC SCHOOLS