Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Reception at The Savings Bank in downtown Wakefield provided a chance for Dr. Stephen Zrike to meet some of the town's residents and officials.
Dr. Stephen Zrike, Wakefield's incoming superintendent of schools, had a chance to meet dozens of town residents, educators, and some local officials Monday afternoon during a reception at The Savings Bank. The Wakefield School Committee selected Dr. Zrike as superintendent back in March, ending a search process that began last year. He has a three-year contract set to run through June, 2016 and said Tuesday that he will be starting his duties on July 15th.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
School Committee members voted to appoint Dr. Stephen Zrike as the new superintendent of the Wakefield School District.
Dr. Stephen Zrike would start his duties as the new Wakefield superintendent of schools on July 1st, under conditions approved Tuesday night by the school committee. Zrike's choice was first announced last month. During the meeting, Committee Chairman Tom Markham reported that Zrike will have a three-year contract running through June 30, 2016. His salary for FY 2014 would be $160,000, with guaranteed 2.5% raises in FY 2015 and FY 2016. Other terms of his employment agreement will include 20 vacation days and a $3,000 annuity. "This concludes a long, thoughtful and methodical process that began in earnest last October," said Markham. "We went through a very active community-wide endeavor, which took some time. But it should have." Several …
Friday, March 15, 2013
Dr. Stephen Zrike said to be excited about opportunity to become next superintendent of Wakefield schools. Parties stick by March 22nd deadline for contract.
Dr. Stephen Zrike has reportedly agreed to enter into contract negotiations to become the next superintendent of the Wakefield School District. According to a statement from Wakefield School Committee Chair Tom Markham, he and committee Vice Chair Anne Danehy spoke with Zrike on Thursday morning for an hour. “Zrike informed me that he is excited about the prospects of coming to Wakefield and is honored to accept the school committee’s offier to enter into superintendent contract negotiations,” wrote Markham, adding that the parties agreed to keep their existing March 22nd deadline to conclude negotiations. “In each of the three telephone conversations held in the past few days, Dr. Zrike has expressed his sincere interest in Wakefield and …
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Dr. Stephen Zrike was chosen last week as next superintendent for Wakefield School District. New Bedford, where he was also finalist, chose another candidate this week.
Last Thursday, the school committee met to vote in favor of hiring Dr. Stephen Zrike as the next superintendent of the Wakefield School District. At Monday's meeting, members found themselves discussing how much time to give him for contract negotiations - as well as how much time should be expected for Zrike to actually say whether he will accept the job. Committee Chairman Tom Markham reported that on Monday night, New Bedford had decided to choose another candidate for its own superintendent, having also interviewed Zrike as a finalist. "We are still waiting for Dr. Zrike to communicate in a formal manner with the Wakefield School Committee," said Markham. Zrike apparently did indicate to the Wakefield committee on Friday that he wanted…
Friday, March 8, 2013
Latest snow storm brings a little bit more than expected.
Wakefield Public Schools will be closed on Friday, according to Patch news partner 7News. Meanwhile, the National Weather Service has a winter storm warning in effect for the region until 1 p.m. today. The NWS forecast for the Wakefield area now calls for a total of 6 to 10 inches. As recently as yesterday, many media outlets were forecasting between 1 and 3 inches from this storm.
School Committee voted 4-3 in favor of Zrike before adopting motion to re-state vote as unanimous. For now though, he also happens to be a finalist for New Bedford superintendent.
The Wakefield School Committee voted to offer Dr. Stephen Zrike the superintendent's position, potentially capping a months-long search process. Zrike currently oversees the Pilsen-Little Village network of more than two dozen public schools in the Chicago area, and he is a former principal of the Blackstone Elementary School in Boston. Board members voted 4-3 in favor of Zrike after nearly an hour of discussion. Chris Callanan, Kevin Piskadlo and Chair Tom Markham voted in favor of current Wakefield High School Principal Dr. Kimberley Smith. Lisa Butler, Kate Morgan, Janine Cook and Vice Chair Anne Danehy voted for Zrike. After the initial vote, the board adopted a motion by Piskadlo to make it a unanimous vote for Zrike. The meeting …
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Two candidates in town on Tuesday and two more on Wednesday.
The four finalists to become the new Wakefield school superintendent are visiting town Tuesday and Wednesday, and parents, school staff and residents will have a chance to meet and speak with all of them: Stephen Zrike meets parents at Dolbeare School from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. He meets school staff at the Woodville Library from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., and he has a public meet and greet at the Galvin Middle School Library from 1:45 to 3:30 p.m. Kimberly Smith meets parents at the Greenwood Library from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and meet school staff at the Greenwood Library from 10 to 11 a.m. A public meet and greet is at the Dolbeare School Library from 1:45 to 3:30 p.m. Tomorrow (Wednesday, Feb. 27), Bonnie Gifford meets parents at the …
Friday, December 7, 2012
Focus groups to be held for various constituencies of the Wakefield Public Schools as part of the superintendent search process.
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Friday, December 7, 2012
The following is an announcement from the Wakefield School Committee: The Wakefield School Committee has engaged the New England School Development Council (NESDEC) to assist them in the search for the next Superintendent of Schools. An integral part of the process involves input from the following eight constituencies or stakeholder groups of the Wakefield Public Schools: parents of current students, alumni and members of the general public, teachers and instructional support staff, district administrators, principals and school & main office support staff, Town Officials and municipal department heads, and the School Committee itself. A focus group will be held for each of these groups and all members of the school community and general …
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Rate of 2011 graduating seniors comparable to or above most area communities.
Wakefield ranks far above the statewide average when it comes to high school graduation rates, according to data from the state department of education. In a table on the state DOE website, Wakefield had a 93.1% high school graduation rate in 2011. Elsewhere on the North Shore, Masconomet had a 99.1% rate, trailing only three charter schools that each had 100% rates. Neighboring Lynnfield also scored high statewide with a 97.2% rating. For 2011, Wakefield had a 3% dropout rate while 1.7% of graduating students got their GED, out of a total of 231 students in the class. In contrast, some districts such as New Bedford, Lawrence and Chelsea only had about half of their students graduate last year. In Massachusetts, the statewide high school …
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4:40 pm on Wednesday, May 1, 2013
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