Letter To Editor... Request Attend New Elementary School Forum

Letter to the Editor,

My name is Anna Mae O’Shea Brooke, and I am a member of the School Building Committee and a current School Committee member. I am reaching out to encourage you to please attend this Sunday’s Public Forum regarding the proposed new elementary school project for grades 4 and 5. Whether you are just starting to tune in to the details or have been following the planning process from the beginning, this is an important meeting to attend.

At the forum, we are planning to provide an update on the entire project and spend time reviewing the decisions that went into the site selection of the Wheelock Campus. We understand there still remains community concern about this change, and we want to have another opportunity to address these reservations.

The existing Dale Street School, now over 50-years-old, needs to be replaced. Both sites, the current Dale location and the potential new Wheelock Campus, presented advantages and disadvantages for us to consider. But after an in-depth analysis of each site, the School Committee, the School Building Committee and the Selectmen unanimously concluded that the Wheelock Campus will provide the strongest educational benefits for our students and the most flexibility to address the longer term needs of our town.

In all the time I have spent reviewing the many scenarios presented, I have never taken lightly any of the decisions we needed to make. I’ve always understood a new school is a substantial commitment of resources and the potential of a new location added even more weight to the responsibility I felt throughout this entire process (and still do).

This project warrants much more discussion than can be accomplished in this letter. A new school is an important investment in our town’s future and the education of our children. We are eager to connect with town residents and share the meaningful work that has gone into the project and the exciting elements of a 21st century learning environment.

The forum will take place at the Dale Street School Auditorium at 4pm and I hope you can attend.

If you can not, please tune on Medfield TV's YouTube channel or we will be broadcasting through FaceBook Live.

With gratitude,

Anna Mae O’Shea Brooke
111 Pine Street
tinyurl.com/mednewschool