File photo/Jerry Callaghan, Callaghan Photography
In the past decade I heard the phrase constantly while working on overrides for Sherwood, and the library, “why aren’t we doing something about Beal”?
Fifteen years ago my eldest daughter got anxious and agitated when we drove by Beal, she was terrified she would have to go there for school. We live in an area of the Floral School district who send their kindergarteners and some of their first grade students to Beal; Floral was overcrowded even before it opened. Like many new parents I didn’t know first graders were sent to Beal, but I was relieved when told me that my daughter attend Floral not Beal.
I have learned more about our schools, how we fund them and Beal because my youngest daughter attend two years there. She has an IEP for a hearing disability and for being diagnosed with High Functioning Autism. The principals and the staff at Beal are truly amazing with their tiny students in a building designed for adult sized high school students. The staff does an stellar job constantly propping up Beal; opening windows in winter to regulate the temperatures in some rooms, distracting kids when a fire truck or police car goes by the classrooms near the road, and finding ways to safely plug in electrical items into aged and overburdened electrical outlets. My daughter was not able to access an FM system for her hearing aides which would have allowed her to concentrate just on the teachers words and not pickup all the sounds around her with her hearing aides. How many other students were not able to get the best services or education due to the lack of space and inadequate design?
Researchers in education and sociology have clearly linked the importance of kindergarten education with success in later schooling and in life in general. A new Beal elementary school will allow kindergarten to blossom in Shrewsbury, keeping students together in those important primary years and access all services they need. Vote YES on Tuesday November 6, their future depends on you and you depend on their future.
Melisa Hollenback
Shrewsbury, MA
