District News
![Superintendent Schott, pictured outside.](/media/images/LizSchott.width-400.jpg)
Dear Kentfield Community,
At its regular December Board Meeting on Tuesday, the Board of Trustees, staff, family and community members said goodbye to outgoing Trustees Ashley Paff and Cynthia Roenisch and thanked them for their 23 years of combined service.
Then the Oath of Office was administered to new Trustees Sarah Killingsworth and Davina Goldwasser, and reelected Trustee Heather McPhail Sridharan.
Sarah is the parent of two boys, Colin (6th grade) and Sean (4th grade), and a long-time volunteer in our schools, on the kik Board, and as co-chair with her husband John of the successful Measure A Parcel Tax campaign in March of this year. Sarah is a practicing attorney and mediator whose top three priorities for the district are better community dialogue and transparency, greater differentiation in education, and fiscal responsibility.
Davina Goldwasser is Director of High Schools in San Francisco Unified School District. Her two sons Asher and Lev are in 3rd and 1st grades respectively. Davina’s goals are to support teachers in full implementation of differentiated instruction, to provide a voice for students and families, and to hold the district accountable for meeting the needs of underperforming student groups.
Heather McPhail Sridharan has served on the Kentfield School Board for five years, while simultaneously raising her four children - Tara (7th), Mira (5th) and twins Samir and Anya (3rd). Heather’s priorities are to ensure differentiated instruction across all subjects and classrooms, addressing the achievement gaps between student groups, and monitor the fiscal stewardship of district resources. Heather is a fourth generation Marin native.
The incoming Board was seated, and elections were held for Board leadership positions. Heather McPhail Sridharan was chosen Board President, and Sarah Killingsworth was elected Clerk.
The organizational portion of the meeting was followed by the Education Showcase featuring Art at Bacich and Science at Kent. Fourth graders Vivienne Fitzgerald, Elaina Leighton, Ethan Greenberg and Henry Segal along with 3rd graders Cali Grigg, Rachel Towns, Joy Orrego, Nico Orsine and Sarthak Kamble described, demonstrated and taught Board members the technique known as Suminagashi. This was followed by 7th graders Neave Cleary, Kiana Collins, Matthew Marotto and Anderson Rowe describing their Science focus on testable questions. The Board was challenged to identify testable questions about photos of animals in their habitats and about dipping birds.
The Kent building projects were officially accepted by the Board with its approval of the Notice of Completion provided by our contractors. Of note is the fact that not quite 70% of the contingency was used at Kent meaning over $200,000 will be returned to the District for application to other facilities needs. Work continues at Bacich of course where the projects are 22.84% complete as of November 30, and 16.05% of the contingency has been used.
Liz Schott
Superintendent
One More Day to Submit Your Opinion in the Youth Truth Survey
Submission Deadline is Friday, December 14, 2018 by Midnight.
Please take 15 minutes to complete an online survey that will help us improve Bacich and Kent. We have again asked YouthTruth – a nonprofit organization that supports hundreds of schools and districts across the county – to conduct an anonymous survey on our behalf.
Please access the survey before it closes at midnight on Friday, December 14, by clicking this link: http://www.ytsurvey.org/ksdfamily18
Please note:
- The survey needs to be completed in one sitting.
- We ask that one member of each household fill out the survey.
- If you have more than one child who attends the same school, you may respond to the survey multiple times – one time per child.
- If you write any comments, please do not include your name or anything else that might identify you. Your responses are anonymous, and they will be combined with the responses of other parents and guardians before being shared back with school and district leadership.
We sincerely thank you for taking the time to help make our schools better places for our students. Your input is valuable to us.
If you have any questions about the survey, or our plans for how we will use your feedback, please contact Superintendent Liz School at lschott@kentfieldschools.org.
School Board
School Board Information
Next Meeting: January 8, 2018 at 5 p.m. in the District Office.
- The Agenda will be posted by 5 p.m. the Friday before the meeting.
Finance Committee Meeting
- Thursday, January 10, 2018, 3:45-4:45 p.m., District Office