Tom Caputo Named to Fill Vacancy on Belmont School Committee

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Photo: Newly-appointed School Committee member Thomas Caputo (right) is congratulated by Belmont School District Asst. Superintendent Janice Darias. Belmont Superintendent John Phelan is in the center of the photo. 

Technology expert Thomas Caputo was appointed to the Belmont School Committee this morning, Monday, Nov. 17 to fill the vacancy created when Kevin Cunningham resigned from the six-member board last month.

“This is a great honor and I’m proud to have been selected,” said Caputo, who has been for the past two years the Chief Product Officer at FIKSU, a technology start up providing mobile marketing technology to app developers, game publishers and advertisers.

Caputo will serve on the committee until the Belmont Town Election in April 2015 when he can seek to fill the remaining two-years of Cunningham’s term.

The Richmond Road resident – who has lived in Belmont with his wife, Sarah and their eight-year-old, third grade twin daughters for the past seven years – was selected by a joint committee of the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee from eight candidates who had applied for the position.

What guided the majority of the Selectmen and School Committee to Caputo was his experience in finance and technology.

“I think the entrepreneurial and tech specialization along with the venture capital … [is the type of] analytical study of these important issues, particularly around enrollment, [is] critical for the school committee,” said Selectmen Chair Andy Rojas.

“It is the nexus of the technology and business solutions that really spoke to me,” said Laurie Slap, school committee chair.

A dual major (graduating with a BA in computer science and biophysical chemistry) while matriculating at Dartmouth, Caputo also has a MBA from Stanford.

After working in finance in Boston and London, Caputo became a group product manager at Microsoft’s main office in Redmond, Wash. for four years. He come back east to work in venture capital, product management for a software startup in New York before joining the senior execution team at Boston-based FIKSU.

“There is an incredible wave of really interesting start ups as well as established companies that are bringing new education technologies to the market that are … helping school districts across the country to find more efficient and effective ways to educate students,” Caputo told the Belmontonian.

“I do believe that, much the way we’ve seen technology disruptions shaping a lot of industries … Belmont needs to be on the forefront of finding ways to pick the best technology programs, bring them into the school system, train the teachers and administrators to use them effectively and executing all that for the benefit of the students,” said Caputo, who looks the part of the tech pro; wearing a smart blazer over a tie-less pattern shirt, skinny jeans and nifty shoes to the joint meeting.

But Caputo told the Belmontonian that bringing technology to the classroom is not simply “supplying everyone an iPad.”

“It’s great to have the infrastructure but that alone will not solve the issues we’re facing. It’s really about … the iPad and its integration into the curriculum, the selection of the right application and tools and the manner in which it’s all used,” he said.

Caputo pointed to his background in start ups as a plus when the committee faces the challenges of finding adequate funding to maintain the district’s first-rate education reputation.

“What start ups are able to do is find efficient, creative solutions to addressing otherwise challenging problems. I will bring a little bit of that culture to the school committee; to find ways to collaborate, to identify solutions and to look at things in, maybe, a little different way,” he said.

“It won’t be easy. It will require contributions from many different groups and constituents from across the town to make that effective. I hope I can contribute in that way,” Caputo said.

 

Eight Residents In the Running to Fill Vacant School Committee Position

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A past candidate and seven other residents were named by the Belmont School Committee on Friday, Nov. 14 as the applicants seeking to fill the seat left vacant after Kevin Cunningham announced his resignation from the committee last month.

The eight candidates are:

  • Susan Burgess-Cox
  • Tom Caputo
  • Tara Donner
  • Maura Fennelly
  • Jamie Kang (who ran for the committee in 2013)
  • Kimberly O’Mahony
  • Ike Papadopoulos
  • Erica Zidel

The collection of applicants will be presented to and interviewed by a joint meeting of Belmont Board of Selectmen and School Committee on Monday, Nov. 17 at 8 a.m. in the Selectmen’s Room in Belmont Town Hall.

After the candidates are interviewed by the panel, the joint committee will vote for the appointee they feel will best fill the seat during the very busy five months until the April Town Election.

Under state law, the appointee’s term lasts only until the Town Election when they will have the opportunity to seek election to serve the remaining two years of Cunningham’s tenure.

While there will not be time for questions from the audience, suggestions or comments can be sent to School Committee Chair Laurie Slap at lslap@belmont.k12.ma.us

“Each candidate brings strengths and accomplishments and we are all pleased that this vacancy has elicited such interest. We are looking forward to the interviews on Monday and are excited to welcome another colleague at the table to help us as we continue the very important work of providing the best educational experience for all of our students,” said Slap.

Field Hockey’s Coach Smith Name to Alma Mater’s Hall of Fame

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When asked to describe her field hockey coach, Belmont High School senior co-captain Suzanne Noone said that Jessica Smith “is one of the most important adults I’ve had in my life.”

“She taught me so much, yelling at me to keep my stick down,” laughed Noone, who was recently named a Middlesex League All-Star and will likely play college field hockey next fall.

“Jess is a big reason I’ve been successful on and off the field.”

Smith, at the helm of the successful field hockey program for the past 11 season, has earned almost universal praise from players and parents as a mentor and supporter to the students who take up the crooked stick as their athletic pursuit. Many times with her three, small children in tow, Smith is on the sidelines at games or practice yelling encouragement to her charges.

So it wouldn’t be surprising to discover that Smith learned about leading a team when she was an accomplished young high school athlete two decades ago.

That past athletic prowess was recognized Saturday, Nov. 8 as Smith and 15 others were inducted as the first-ever class into the Joel Barlow High School Athletic Hall of Fame in Redding, Connecticut. (Smith was not the only Massachusetts field hockey coach honored as she entered with Salem High School’s Wizzie Crocker Phelps.)

“She was an incredible teammate, a remarkable athlete, as well as an outstanding academic student,” read the announcement of the honor.

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A member of the class of 1994 (and then known as Jess MacLellan), Smith played field hockey for the Falcons throughout high school, was a captain her senior year and was named the team’s MVP as a junior and senior. She was on the All-Western Connecticut Conference (WCC) team from 1992 – 1994, and was 1st team All- State in 1993 and 1994. She led the Falcons to the WCC tournament championships in 1993.

Smith was also a standout in tennis. During her four years at Barlow, the Falcons won the Class S State tournament in which she played first singles her final three years. She was a team captain and competed in the quarterfinals of the state individual tournament as a senior.

At Tufts University in Medford, Smith continued to play field hockey and pursued lacrosse where she became a captain of both sports and MVP during her senior year. In field hockey, she was All-American, First-Team All-New England, and All-NESCAC. In lacrosse, she was All-New England and All-NESCAC. In 1998, she won the Hester L. Sargent Award as Tufts’ outstanding female athlete.

Always the athlete, Smith has ran the New York City marathon in 3 hours, 20 minutes and the BAA marathon in 3:25.

Smith was hired as an occupational therapist by the Belmont School District in 2002 and currently covers the Winn Brook, Butler, High School and Wellington pre-school. She lives in Charlestown with her husband and their three rambunctious children.

At the induction ceremony, Smith said she often thinks of Karissa Niehoff, her field hockey coach, who made practice fun and instilled the values of hard work and fitness.

Butler Students, Superheroes Fun Run for Enrichment

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The dank, misty conditions this past Friday was no match for the likes of Batman and Captain America as the superheroes stood superhero like in the middle of the Butler Elementary School playground.

Nor was a mere 1 mile jog around the grounds of the Waverley Square school going to stop the duo from assisting Butler’s entire student population of 340 in running the same distance.

“This is a fantastic idea,” said Ann Ozawa, who came with her husband to cheer on her third grader, Zoe, as she did laps around the schoolyard.

“The kids were up and ready to go this morning and all the kids were here early,” she said as groups of parents cheered on the kids.

Yet the morning run was not some collective act of super-dopper strength, but part of a school-wide Fun Run fundraiser that exceeded the goals of students and staff.

With a goal of raising $10,000, the students – through online pledges from family, relatives and friends – smashed the objective and took in more than $18,000 with an extra $3,400 from corporate sponsors.

“The kids really surprised us. They really came through and really amazingly,” said Butler PTA’s Miriam Lapson.

(In fact, the only act of bravery was that of Butler Principal Michael McAllister who wore the Batman outfit for the entire morning as part of an agreement to get into a super hero costume if the fundraiser exceeded its goal.)

In past years, the school’s Parent Teacher Association ran an auction every three year to raise funds, said Lapson, who was on the fun run committee.

But with the school’s population changing demographics – the Butler students are more multicultural and have a wider income disparity than the other five schools in the district – “an auction just wasn’t going to work,” she said.

“We wanted something that everyone could take part in, whether you could or could not contribute, your parents don’t have to speak English. The only qualification was that you are a student at the school,” said Lapson.

That’s when the group thought of the fun run, said Lapson, which would have the added benefit of being a healthy activity and promoting physical education.

With help from The Original Get Movin’ Crew, a fun-run company based in Milford, Michigan, Butler students collected the $10,000 goal with three days to spare.

The funds raised will provide for two years of enrichment programs such as field trips, in-school enrichment, library books, teacher supplies and professional development for the Butler staff.

One superhero said the funds raised are greatly needed by staff and teachers.

“It’s huge for us. It allows us to purchase things and offer opportunities to kids we wouldn’t otherwise,” said Batman/McAllister.

“Unfortunately, some of the enrichment funding has been pulled out as we standardize our curriculum,” said McAllister. “The PTA comes through for us on that front.”

Duty, Honor, Country: Schools Salute Vets in Remembrance Observances

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The Chenery Middle School Wind Band played patriotic music, the chorus sang the “National Anthem” and several students made speeches and recited poems to their classmates and the two dozen men – many slowed with age – sitting on chairs on the side of the stage.

They were an array of armed forces veterans from Belmont and surrounding communities, coming to the school as the living embodiment of the commitment and sacrifice they gave to the country.

The school-wide assembly, held on Monday, Nov. 10 in the Chenery auditorium, is an annual commemoration of the service of all veterans and those currently in uniform.

“I want to thank all of you for showing up today because twice a year, we feel like rock stars,” said Kip Gaudet, commander of Belmont’s Veterans of Foreign Wars Post on Trapelo Road.

“We come here to represent those who can’t be here, who paid the ultimate price for the freedoms that we enjoy today,” said Gaudet, who was awarded a bronze star for “heroic or meritorious achievement or service” as a radio man in Vietnam.

Chenery’s Principal Kristen St. George advised students to take a moment on the holiday to personally reach out and thank a veteran “for their contribution … for fighting for things that are important to us and our country.”

St. George read the names of veterans with a connection to the “Chenery community” and for the student to simply “listen and to reflect.” Included in the names were of Chenery teacher Ryan Schmitt and Army Spc. Jonathan Curtis, an alumni who was killed in Afghanistan in 2010.

Gaudet read the names of the veterans who stood to receive the applause from the auditorium, including Frank Morrissey, a 96-year-old vet from the US Navy.

“Hopefully these events reminds the students of freedom’s cost,” said Gaudet after the service, before leaving with his fellow veterans for visits at the Butler and Winn Brook elementary schools before a lunch at the VFW post.

“The veterans get appreciated for their service and the kids learn something, so this morning is like a two-way street,” he said.

The highlight of the ceremony was the reading and a musical rendition of the poem, “In Flanders Fields” by Canadian Lt. Col. John McCrae who wrote the poem on May 3, 1915, moments after presiding over the funeral of his friend, Alexis Helmer.

“In Flanders fields the poppies blow
      Between the crosses, row on row,
   That mark our place; and in the sky
   The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

“We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
   Loved and were loved, and now we lie
         In Flanders fields.

“Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
   The torch; be yours to hold it high.
   If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
         In Flanders fields.”

‘Scintillating’ Spelling By Young Wordsmiths At This Year’s Bee

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Just like its namesake, the winning team at the 2014 Foundation for Belmont Education’s Spelling Bee “killed it” when it came to correctly spelling words that would stump many adults in the audience.

The Killer Bees – Chenery sixth graders Oliver and Harrison Hees, Loick Marion and Ben Prenderville from teacher Bhuvana Kaushik’s homeroom – capped a successful night by correctly spelling “scintillating” to win the crown over runners-up Chenery Spellers – Will Harkness, Jackson Mann, Maulik Bairathi and Edward Patrick Lee – after both teams survived a near-record 19 rounds of ever challenging words to spell.

“It was stressful,” said Marion who performed most of writing on the white board which was then shown to the judges.

Marion and his teammates took home a $100 savings account from the Belmont Savings Bank and a “star” trophy.

For more than six hours, a multitude of Belmont’s youngest wordsmiths – in teams of two to four – from the town’s four elementary schools and the middle school tackled words ranging from “dog” to “croissant” in the Belmont High School auditorium, cheered on by proud parents taking photos of their spellers.

More than 700 students – a record number – participated in this year’s event, raising $20,000 for the Foundation for Belmont Education. The spellers from the elementary schools were in the non-competitive “swarms” while the wordsmiths from the Chenery Lower School (fifth and sixth grades) were part of the competitive swarms battling to participate in the finals.

Under the smooth direction of long-time MC Greg Stone, the volunteers – pronouncers Laurie Graham and Anne Mahon, time keepers Kevin Cunningham and Anne Lougee along with umpires Suzanne Alcock and Joanna Kaselis Tzouvelis all led by Bee chairs Christa Bauge and Karin Lehr – pulled off the annual feat of patience personified.

The money raised Saturday by the Foundation will support projects initiated and organized by administrators, teachers and staff in the six Belmont public schools.

 

Rising Enrollment, Structural Faults Puts Schools Half-a-Million in Red

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It isn’t “the happiest news” the Belmont School Department wanted to give anytime, especially less than two months into the school year, said Laurie Slap, chair of the Belmont School Committee.

If expenditures and trends continue on their current trajectories, the fiscal year 2015 school budget will end the year approximately $500,000 in the red, according to the school’s Director of Finance and Administration Anthony DiCologero.

The forecast, present to the Belmont School Committee at its Tuesday night meeting on Oct. 28, “is not a deficit in any item,” said DiCologero. 

While there isn’t one specific cause, there is an overriding theme to the shortfall facing Belmont’s public schools: the well-noted increase of students entering the system. 

Kevin Cunningham, at his final committee meeting as he will be replaced by the next meeting on Nov. 18, said the expense spike is “enrollment driven” – with the surge of students has come the need for more services “that is driving costs.”

Due to the rapid rise in total enrollment in all grade levels, a jump in children who are English Language Learners and an increase in students requiring special education instruction has placed the budget under pressure as salaries are nearly $225,000 above the $31.4 million budgeted for the fiscal year, noted DiCologero. 

The deficit comes from adding instructors to address enrollment and ELL needs as well increasing the number of special education aides, tutors and occupational therapists.

The remaining $360,000 of the total deficit is the result of an increase in special education expenses such as $125,000 for tuition for six additional out-of-district students (Belmont pupils who are determined will be educated outside the public schools) and $60,000 in added transportation costs.

John Phelan, Belmont’s first-year school superintendent, said he has spoken to administrators, principals and staff on the need “slow down” expenditures such as bringing new technology into the schools and to “prioritize spending.”

But, said Phelan, the “big picture” is “what we need to do differently next year” to prevent repeating the same steps in fiscal 2016.

“These are structural issues,” said Cunningham. And while “this year we’ll strategically shrink it” the deficits will only continue unless expenses are placed in a more long-term context.”

Arlington-Belmont Boys’ Eights Just Miss Top 20, Girls’ Battle at Head of the Charles

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The Arlington-Belmont Crew Club Boys’ Eights spent Sunday morning in the passing lane, far exceeding their 59th seed to finish a place out of the top 20 in the club’s best performance at the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta, Oct. 19.

It was a good day for both ABC squads – made up of students from Arlington and Belmont high schools – as they bettered their expected placement in the world’s largest and most popular rowing event held on the Charles River between Cambridge and Boston.

In the men’s youth eights event – in which each of the rowers has one oar – Arlington-Belmont came out quickly from the start located just before the BU Bridge to reach the first timing mark on the 4.8 kilometer course at the Riverside bridge just 12 seconds behind the leaders. By the next checkmark at the Weld Bridge at Harvard University, the team, coached by Mark Grinberg, blistered a 5 minute 15 second split from the Riverside Bridge which was the 7th fastest time for that portion of the race.

But the effort to pass numerous boats and the pace got the better of the team as it slipped to 21st at the finish at Brighton’s Christian Herter Park completing the course in 16 minutes, 30.15 seconds, just 2.5 seconds from a top 20 finish. The crew – cox Brenna Sorkin; stroke Max Halliday; seat 7, Louis Pratt; seat 6, Adrian Tanner, seat 5, Liam Lanigan; seat 4, Nicholas Osborn; seat 3, Eryk Dobrushkin; seat 2, Brendan Mooney and bow Alexander Gharibian – finished less than a minute behind winners, Oakland Strokes based in Oakland, California, which finished in 15:38.65.

ABC’s girls entry in the women’s youth eights rowed its best in the early portions of the race with a strong leg between the Riverside and Weld bridges but found the going a bit tough into a steady breeze heading home. The squad – coxwin Ellen Cayer, Catherine Tiffany, bow; seat 7, Sara Hamilton; seat 6, Jessica Keniston; seat 5, Sophia Fenn; seat 4, Bridget Kiejna; seat 3, Alena Jaeger; seat 2,  Catherine Jacob-Dolan and Julia Blass as stroke – made it through the difficult course including navigating the narrow bridge openings which victimized the Montclair High School girls’ crew just before ABC swung under. 

Next Sunday, Oct. 26, the varsity and novice squads will finish the season with a trip to the Massachusetts Public Schools Rowing Association’s Fall State Championships in Worcester where the Boys’ varsity eights will defend its goal medal.

Town, Schools Set Nov. 12 Application Deadline for School Committee Vacancy

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Interested residents will have just about a month to submit applications for a place on the Belmont School Committee.

But the person selected by the Selectmen and the School Committee will have to keep their running shoes on because they’ll need to win their seat all over again five months later.

In a joint letter released today, Friday, Oct. 17, the chairs of the Belmont School Committee and Board of Selectmen announced the deadline for applications to fill the vacancy left when Kevin Cunningham resigned earlier this month will be Wednesday, Nov. 12 at 4 p.m.

The School Committee’s Laurie Slap and Andy Rojas of the Selectmen said the two boards will meet five days later, on Monday, Nov. 17, in a joint committee to hear from and interview candidates before voting to appoint a new member to fill the vacancy left when Kevin Cunningham resigned earlier this month.

The selected appointee will be sworn in by the Town Clerk Ellen Cushman before the School Committee’s meeting on Nov. 18.

Under state law, the appointee’s term only lasts until the next Town Election; in Belmont that occurs in April, 2015. The person elected for that committee seat will serve a two year term, which is the remainder of Cunningham’s tenure.

Those interested in seeking appointment should write a letter of interest that will include:

  • The reasons for seeking the appointment,
  • Expertise, skills and perspectives they will bring to the committee, and
  • Identify the most pressing issues facing the committee, both through the April election and beyond.

Letters should be sent to:

Cathy Grant

Belmont Public Schools

644 Pleasant St.

Belmont, MA 02478

or via email at:

cgrant@belmont.k12.ma.us

Tickets on Sale for Annual Broadway Night at Belmont High, Oct 17,18

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Who needs to travel 200 miles to New York when Broadway comes to Belmont next weekend?

Broadway Night 2014, the annual musical theater cabaret featuring the talents of the students of the Belmont High School Performing Arts Company, will raise the curtain on two shows, Friday, Oct. 17 and Saturday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. in the Little Theater at Belmont High School.

The show, which includes solos, duets, and full company numbers, has become a wonderful tradition that opens the PAC season each year.

But get your tickets now since it has become a tradition for both shows to be sold out.

Tickets are $5 students, $12 adults. Chenery Middle School 8th graders get a free ticket at the door the night of the show. Belmont School Staff get a free ticket by e-mailing tickets@bhs-pac.org 

Advance tickets on sale at Champions Sporting Goods starting Friday, Oct 10 and at the high school the week of the show during lunch mods.