Emily BerryDec 18, 20184 minWhat happens when you assume?Whether you support a potential $65 million bond issue to pay for facilities improvements in our school district or not, I hope you will ...
Emily BerryNov 14, 20183 min"Please don't say 'this is a journey'"Three of our five school board members are professors, so if there is one way to reach them, it is with an academic study of something. M...
Emily BerryNov 13, 20186 minSchool leaders hear what they want to hear: a "yes."Tonight's school board meeting will include a review of survey responses from the community gauging our tolerance for borrowing and spend...
Emily BerryOct 19, 20185 minUnequal access to powerThere's a phrase that people use now, sometimes jokingly: "all the feels," that describes Shorewood right now. All of us watching or part...
Emily BerryOct 15, 20184 minWaiting for leadership The last few days of "To Kill a Mockingbird" controversy in Shorewood have swirled to the surface a lot of resentments, assumptions, prej...
Emily BerryOct 12, 20183 minWe failed. Let's get out of the way.I'm lucky, I guess, to have a blank page here to draft my thoughts about the district cancelling its production of "To Kill a Mockingbird...
Emily BerrySep 12, 20184 minHow do we define good character and citizenship? Should schools even try?I mentioned in my preview of this week's school board meeting that our board was taking up some of the most substantive questions and iss...
Emily BerrySep 10, 20185 minTake your pick of topicsEvery parent I know has a certain thing about their kid's school that they are passionate about. One dad may not think school lunches are...
Emily BerrySep 5, 20183 minFacilities plans are crystallizing - are you paying attention?There were a good two dozen people in attendance at Tuesday's annual meeting, present to listen to the highlights of the school district'...
Emily BerryAug 30, 20183 minCheers to showing upThere were a good two dozen people in attendance at Tuesday's annual meeting, present to listen to the highlights of the school district'...
Emily BerryAug 24, 20181 minYour meetingOnce a year, the school district is required to call a meeting for village residents to consider and (usually) approve a tax levy to supp...
Emily BerryJul 11, 20188 minWalls have a way of getting political.UPDATE/POSTSCRIPT: The special Friday the 13th meeting resulted in a reversal - the wall has indeed been knocked down. Lots of wasted tim...
Emily BerryJun 27, 20182 minSpending plans for 2018-2019Tuesday's regular meeting was much shorter than usual and was missing two board members, but the remaining three voted on significant pla...
Emily BerryJun 26, 20183 minNo summer break - school district work is in full swingThis week's school board meeting should be a revealing and busy one, as the board takes up topics that should be of keen interest to ever...
Emily BerryJun 12, 20186 minLaying the groundwork for a big pile of debtI'll start this post with a positive: a room full of people showed up last week to hear about the district's facilities plan and the role...
Emily BerryMay 23, 20189 minIf a meeting happens and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?If you knew that the school district had a dozen work groups meeting regularly to discuss specific issues and advise school district lead...
Emily BerryMay 10, 20184 minA Small Town HallThe school board hosted their final linkage of the year Tuesday night, welcoming anyone and everyone for a Town Hall immediately before t...
Emily BerryMay 7, 20189 minFull email thread: our Superintendent on Student TransfersReaders, our district superintendent Bryan Davis emailed me earlier today taking issue with the way I framed my recent post on transfers ...
Emily BerryMay 3, 20185 minAre students of color and their families giving up on Shorewood School District?A few months ago, I started hearing talk of several African-American students leaving our high school and transferring to other nearby sc...
Emily BerryMar 13, 20185 minMaintenance and Operations: How Shorewood Measures Up[Important edits made to this post Tuesday, March 13 regarding the data cited here] Spend a lot of time in any of our schools, and despit...