Working for Northville's Students

---

We should all be proud of the Northville community. With friendly residents, safe neighborhoods, and world-class public schools, my family is thrilled to make this community our home and send our children to Northville Public Schools. 

Despite the school district’s many successes, I know we can be better and do better for our children.  When my daughter moved from the early childhood program at Old Village School to Winchester Elementary, I was shocked by the number of students in her kindergarten class. Twenty-five kids to one teacher. A classroom full of 5- and 6-year-olds who cannot tie their shoes, miss their moms and dads, and are at various levels of academic preparedness.  Although our teachers are phenomenal, I couldn't help but think this is not an ideal situation for the educators or the children.

As she moved to first grade, the class size became bigger. I was worried her teacher did not have the adequate time to invest in all the students in the class equitably.  I was not the only one with these concerns. At pick-up and drop-off, I heard other parents share similar concerns.  After some preliminary research, it became evident to me class sizes do matter.  As the STAR study illustrates, this is particularly important in K-2, and has long-term effects that last well beyond those specific grades. See e.g., https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/STARSummer99.pdf  With this information, I reached out to Winchester staff, district administrators, and our state representatives to advocate for our children and gather ideas on how to best address the issue of large class sizes.  

From there, I gathered a coalition of more than 70 first-grade Winchester parents who, like me and so many other parents and community members across our district, wanted to do all they could to support the schools and our students. The coalition sent a letter to the administration and spoke directly to the Board of Education at several public meetings.

Although our efforts to reduce class sizes are not finished, I am happy that we brought awareness to this issue,  and I will  continue to push for what is best for students and teachers.   This is one of the many reasons I decided to run for the Northville School Board.  I will work hard, bring people together, and keep our children at the forefront. I hope you will join me in building an even better future for our schools.