Kristen is one of three candidates running for two open positions on the Northborough K-8 School Committee.
Why do you want to serve in this position?
I grew up in Northborough and am a proud alum of Proctor, Melican Middle School and Algonquin. After earning a bachelor’s degree and meeting the love of my life Michael Tietjen at Rutgers University, I returned to Massachusetts to earn a PhD in Biomedical Science at UMass Chan Medical School. When it was time to buy our first house we chose to settle in Northborough and have loved the past 9 years as parents in this community.
As a proud alum of the great Northborough schools which prepared me to pursue my dreams and the parent of 4 young kids, 3 of whom are in the school system now, I am deeply invested in ensuring that our schools provide every student with the skills and knowledge they need to pursue their dreams.
I know Northborough and our schools. I grew up here, was educated here and chose to raise my own kids here. Over the past 6 years I have been actively involved in issues before the school committee including the effort to bring free kindergarten to Northborough and joining the school model taskforce. I am already familiar with and have passion for the proceedings, purview and responsibilities of the school committee. If I earn the open seat, I will work hard to keep the excellence we all want from our schools.
2) What special qualifications and experience will you bring to the office?
I have attended Northborough School committee meetings as an audience member many times over the past 6 years taking an active interest in the proceedings and important topics coming before the committee. I was able to join the school model taskforce in its second year and have regularly communicated questions and concerns with the school committee and superintendent. My passion for education and perspective as a college classroom educator puts me in a unique position to understand in depth many topics that are important in our schools but see from a parent’s perspective. As an Associate Professor in the STEM department at Regis College I teach numerous sciences courses, advise and mentor a diverse student population, serve as the pre -medical/dental/optometry/veterinary program director and develop curriculum, degree programs and academic content and delivery in courses. Although I started my training as a scientist, I discovered a passion for education when I first had the opportunity to be a TA for the Medical Microbiology course at UMass Medical School. After completing my PhD, I taught at Assumption and Goodwin Colleges before Regis College where I have been for the past 10 years. As a teaching College the focus of Regis faculty is our teaching pedagogy. This focus has allowed me to take advantage of many professional development opportunities related to education in diversity, equity and inclusion, equitable access to learning, neurodiversity and promoting a civil learning environment among other topics.
Describe ONE other activity or (sub)committee you’ve been involved with within the town. What has it meant to you and how did it shape and impact the town?
When my oldest was still in pre-school I found out from another parent that Northborough did not have free full day kindergarten. I was shocked as full day kindergarten had long since been proven in the literature as an important foundation in educational success and seemed common. As I looked into it more, I found that most towns in Massachusetts did provide free full day kindergarten, but Northborough was part of a small group that still did not. Instead, parents needed to pay thousands for their kids to attend full day instead of half day kindergarten. Through friends we had in common I was connected to a recently formed group of moms whose goal was to bring free full day kindergarten to Northborough. Together we worked for multiple years, attending, and speaking regularly during school committee meetings, writing letters, and organizing other parents to write letters and how to get involved. Our efforts have paid off as full day kindergarten has been free for the past 3 classes.
I am very proud of my involvement and the tireless effort of the other parents in the free kindergarten group who improved our school system for our kids and all those to come. Having more hours a day means more instruction, more practice and more time socializing so our kids have the best start possible in the educational journey. Northborough has now joined most towns in Massachusetts in providing this critical educational piece to all students regardless of their family’s income.
Describe THREE key issues/challenges facing the town and how will you address them in this role?
1. The gap in learning created by the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes academic content, skill competencies as well as social emotional learning. The pandemic had a large effect on every child. The effect varies greatly and is dependent on the child’s developmental stage. This is a challenge for the students, parents, teachers and administrators to work together in various ways to support the whole child.
We must spend the time and resources needed to get the COVID generation caught up with compassion and space but also expectations of competency in key educational areas especially math and reading. Input & ideas from parents, staff, faculty and recognized experts in education and child psychology is where the ultimate best course of action can be found.
Having young kids and working in higher education has allowed me to see the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic across a broad spectrum from toddlers to college students.
Students suffered academically and emotionally; a clear plan is needed to close academic gaps and heal emotional wounds. While overall the schools have worked hard to cope with the impacts of COVID, using MCAS scores to identify gaps across the district in students’ knowledge which is an appropriate use of this assessment tool and increasing the in-school therapy dog program, more work is needed.
One unintended consequence of the district response to COVID is that every student k-8 now has a device. Students have found ways around firewalls and apps meant to block video games or other content. While technology is a great tool in education it can also be a hindrance with children on devices at school and at home. How and when these students are given access to devices should be under constant review.
2. Multiple school buildings in Northborough are old and in need of updating and repairs. The challenge is how to improve facilities when resources are limited and without interrupting student learning. Northborough needs to identify alternative sources for funding to increase the speed at which capital projects can be addressed as well as reduce the burden on taxpayers. The school committee should work closely with other areas of town government to make sure funding is available from federal and state sources when applicable or even the “rainy day funds” Northborough has accumulated if needed.
3. Our schools are having to use closets as offices and mobile carts as art rooms to create space for more students. As future construction projects are proposed and turnover in existing homes increases, the population of k-8 kids in Northborough is a challenge for our current buildings. Student space is a crucial challenge as schools are near capacity. To ensure that we can maintain our class size policy we need to consider how growth affects our schools. All options should be considered while increasing cooperation between departments of the town government.
Is there anything else that you would like to share about yourself?
If anyone has questions or would like any other information about me, please check us out at Kristen Willems Tietjen – Northborough K-8 School Committee | Facebook and feel free to reach out at kwillemstietjen@gmail.com.