Franklin Public Schools
District Newsletter
March 2022
Last day of school is now June 22nd due to the snow day on 1/7 & 2/4.

Half day March 25th
Critical Conversations
The Impact of Social Media
We invite you to join us for our second installment of Critical Conversations series. We will be focusing on the impact of social media with our keynote speaker Georgia Wells who is a tech reporter for the Wall Street Journal. Wells will join our panel of community stakeholders as we Identify strategies to establish a healthy relationship with social media that maximizes the benefits and mitigates the negatives. The event will be March 24th from 6pm-8pm at the FHS Auditorium or via zoom.
Lifelong Learning Institute - Summer Registration
Lifelong Learning is the community education branch of Franklin Public Schools, providing high-quality extended day child care, music lessons, and enrichment programs in an affordable and safe environment.

There are a variety of offerings for students of all ages. Take a peek at our Summer program offerings...
Summer STEM
Morning classes from July 11th-22nd. Students grades 1-10 will have access to programs such as Financial Literacy for Teens, Forensic Science Workshop, Computer Exploratorium and Math Academy
Solutions Extended Day Summer Adventure - a 5 week program with various activity themes running from 8:30 am – 3:30 pm. Families of students entering K-5 can choose one or more weeks of this camp, with options for early drop-off and/or late pickup.
STAR Enrichment - morning classes in July for students entering grades K-5. Example classes include Silly Science, Minecraft Break Battle and Build, Coping with Crafts, Author’s Workshop, etc.
Preparing for College for high school seniors - classes for rising high school seniors such as Common App Bootcamp and Writing Your College Essay.

There’s something for everyone!
FY23 Recommended Budget
Our FY 23 Budget also continues services to support “Pandemic Recovery” utilizing both Operating Funds as well as Federal Grant funding to prioritize: social-emotional supports, academic interventions, health and safety practices, and continued support of technology integration.

The budget also prioritizes and recognizes growing needs within our student body. Despite overall student enrollment going down, we are seeing more intensive needs by students receiving special education services. We are also experiencing an increase in our English learner population, with more students overall and more students with limited or interrupted formal education and/or earlier language proficiency.

The budget is an iterative process. The School Committee will hold a budget hearing on March 22 and it is anticipated they will vote on a final budget on April 12. Finance committee and Town Council budget meetings will be in May.
Equity Audit Focus Groups
Franklin Public Schools has hired Public Consulting Group (PCG) to conduct a districtwide Equity Audit. The goal of this audit is to identify strengths and areas for improvement in FPS and to make recommendations on how we can move towards achieving the best outcomes for each student in our community. An essential component of this work is hearing a wide range of voices from across our district.

As a part of the Equity Audit, PCG is conducting a series of virtual family focus groups next week (March 21 and March 24) and we invite you to participate. Please sign up for a focus group using the following link as soon as possible: Family Focus Group Registration Form

Once you sign up you will receive a calendar invite that will include additional information regarding the details of the focus groups and a summary of what to expect. Please contact Kate Christie with PCG at [email protected] if you have any questions. Data collected will be used to employ evidence based strategies to prioritize and accurately address barriers to student success. The D,E,I Director will be critical in using information learned from the audit and developing and enacting a plan from the findings. A final report will be presented in late May.

You can learn more about the equity audit through this FAQ.
Franklin All Night Party Returns!
The Franklin HS All Night Party is back and the ANP Committee is excited to would like to welcome families of new and returning students to join the team. You do not need to have a FHS senior student in order to volunteer. Your involvement contributes to the support of the present senior class and guarantees the continuation of this tradition for your future seniors. This event requires the support of the school community, volunteers and business partnerships to make this event a success. The party takes place after the seniors finish their graduation starting at 11pm on June 3rd. The ANP Committee will hold a VIRTUAL informational and planning meeting for all interested volunteers at 7PM on March 31st via Google Meet. A volunteer and donation form will be shared with the community early April.
From the School Committee
During the March 8th School Committee meeting the Superintendent's Recommended FY23 budget was presented. The presentation is available to view via this link.

Save the date! Our Legislative Forum will be held on April 14th at 6:30pm at FHS. Stay tuned for details.

Please join us for our next School Committee meeting on Tuesday, March 22th at 7pm where we will hold our Public Budget Hearing.

Superintendent Search
The School Committee has been discussing a process to fill the vacancy and they held a special meeting on Tuesday, March 1, where they decided to explore the possibility of Lucas Giguere as an internal candidate. They are establishing a process for that and more information will be forthcoming soon.
Happy Spring to our FPS Families, Faculty, Staff and Franklin Community!
Franklin Public Schools