It was beginning to look like the summer season would kick off with a special Town Meeting, but a deal between the town and the Winchester Soccer Club over an easement for the Muraco culvert project has been reached. However, the details, including the cost of that settlement, has not
Photos of a transgender Episcopalian chaplain with his cats, a transgender Methodist minister who regularly challenges his own denomination to end discriminatory policies, a same sex couple with their daughters and an openly gay Episcopal Bishop all have three things in common: they are all smiling, they are all part
The trend to not allow non-residents to attend Winchester Schools was continued last week when the School Committee voted unanimously to opt out of School Choice. “School Choice would essentially allow students who are non-residents to attend Winchester public schools for essentially the state per pupil amount,” explained Superintendent Dr.
Take a stroll through Europe — and get to know an area of downtown Winchester you might not be all that familiar with. In the eyes of Judy Mastrocola and her partners in fun, those are two very good reasons for joining the “Progressive Dinner Through Europe, on Church Street,” on
Spring Town Meeting has wrapped up its business and some town leaders have already turned their attention to next year with the formation of the State of the Town Committee. The School Committee is the latest to join the working group being pulled together by the Select Board. School Committee
The new art show being hung at the Winchester Public Library this week might be an annual event, but this year it comes with a twist. “We wanted to honor the 175th anniversary of Winchester,” said Trish Gannon, a Winchester Artist Network member and participating artist. Gannon also serves on
If you want to know exactly when childhood ends, just ask Katie O’Connor. “It’s when your parents give you a cell phone with unfettered access,” she said. Arming a child with a cell phone while experts are urging parents to limit screen time seemed like the ultimate irony
A big step toward a possible new Muraco school building was taken when the School Committee voted April 10 to submit a Statement of Interest to the state’s School Building Authority. “I’m absolutely thrilled, as someone who lives in the Muraco neighborhood, to have this moving forward,” said
The Early Literacy Team (ELT) has been running a marathon at a sprinter’s pace, said Tom Chang, of Collaborative Educational Services (CES), the group that has been working with the district to right its literacy ship. “I also wanted to encourage you to think about what ways we could
Karen Maruyama Bolognese will remain the Winchester School Committee chair for at least one more year. In light of the recent town election on March 22, the School Committee had a quick reorganization session last week with Superintendent Dr. Frank Hackett playing the role of chair. “The process after the
After decades of sameness, the School Department has tweaked its budget timeline and while it has been a blessing to them, not everyone is on board. “I do think there’s merit to the sequence of the process,” said Town Meeting member Carol Savage, who spoke during the public comment
The cost of education is going up. The Winchester School Committee voted 4-1 last week to increase the district’s level service budget by 7.15% to bring the newly proposed fiscal year 2026 budget total to $70,870,718. School Committee member Michelle Bergstrom was the lone holdout, but
It has been more than a year since Winchester’s early literacy program came under fire in a big way, but Superintendent Dr. Frank Hackett said change is coming. Albeit maybe not as fast as some would like. An Early Literacy Team made up of educators is looking at seven
Call it serendipity that paved the way for the organ extravaganza coming to First Congregational Church on March 21. Rev. Jane Ring Frank said they chose the date for a concert some time ago when they were setting the Ripley Concert Series Calendar. Frank said because she works with the
Fiscal trade-offs, literacy, Special Education and “optimizing the relative roles among the Select Board, School Committee and Finance Committee in developing the annual school budget” were all on the table during the School Committee candidate’s debate March 6 at the Jenks Center. The event was sponsored by the League
Some 34 years ago, a very good looking man invited me out to dinner and we went to Lucia Ristorante on Hanover Street in Boston’s North End. I don’t remember a lot about the evening except everything was exceptional and being in the North End in evening light
