Welcome and Happy Columbus Day!  My name is Tim Farmer and I am the Superintendent of Schools for the town of Sharon, Massachusetts.  Beginning today I plan to post a minimum of two to four blog entries each week during the school year (and maybe a few during the summer, as well).  These postings will range from providing readers information about district events – to celebrating district accomplishments – to narrating the district’s story.  Nowadays, in this wired world which is so influenced by social media, anyone has the opportunity to tell their own story.  With this blog, I hope to share the evolving story of the Sharon Public Schools.

To me, the Sharon Public Schools represent more than six, individual silos (Early Childhood Center included) where educators strive to inspire learners to “change our world”.  (For those who are up-to-date with the goings-on of the school system, you know that in the previous sentence I incorporated a portion of the district vision statement.)  Instead, the Sharon Public Schools is an educational institution that operates collaboratively to pursue our district mission and vision.  To me, if our story is successfully told, it includes the daily accomplishments and challenges of the learners in our classrooms, as well as the story of our amazing teachers, administrators, and support staff who work so hard to inspire and to hold children accountable for high quality outcomes.  Our story is also told by our parents and community members who contribute to the vibrancy of the school system in innumerable ways, as well as by the members of our School Committee who work selflessly to ensure that our system is a democratic model for students and for the community.

In essence, the story of the Sharon Public Schools comes complete with many chapters.  At times, like in life, some chapters will come to readers of this blog with enthusiasm, joy, and a sense of celebration.  At other times, a chapter or two in our story may contain sad news, or they may simply contain just a hint of humor.  Regardless of the nature of the information provided, I’m hopeful that when reading this blog consistently, readers will begin to see the story of the Sharon Public Schools unfold.  It’s an evolving saga, and it takes some time and knowledge in order to begin to see how the threads are woven together (In future posts I’ll try not to rely so much on metaphor!).

This blog is not meant as a venue for sharing time-sensitive information.  Whether it’s calling a snow day or notifying parents and the community about a change in bus arrival/drop-off times, I’ll continue to use what we call the BLI messaging system for that purpose.  BLI is the system that notifies parents and staff via email and/or voice mail of important, time-sensitive information.  This blog is also not meant as the venue for all-things-important related to the school system.  For that information readers are encouraged to continue visiting our website at http://www.sharon.k12.ma.us.

In closing, and more than anything else, I hope this blog is useful to its readers.  If you find it to be useful, please share the link with a friend, a neighbor, or a member of the community – regardless of whether or not they have children in the school system.  Everyone in our Town has an investment in what happens in our school system, so I’m hopeful this blog serves its main purpose well…to tell the story of the Sharon Public Schools.

p.s.  As I become more comfortable with the workings of this blog site, I hope to incorporate both pictures and video.  For now, I understand the site may look bland, but that will change over time.  Please keep reading!