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.