The Changing Hopkinton Elementary Schools

Over the past couple of weeks, we've heard rumors of upcoming changes at our elementary schools. One of these rumors is that Mr. Bessette, our principal here at Maple Street, is leaving. Another rumor going around is that Mr. Carozza will be the principal for both Harold Martin and Maple. I interviewed Mr. Chamberlin, our Superintendent of schools, to see if these rumors are true or not.

The first rumor that can be confirmed is that Mr. Bessette is indeed leaving Maple Street. He will be the Assistant Superintendent for the Kearsarge schools starting next year, but will be principal here for the rest of the year.

The current principal at Harold Martin, Mr. Carozza, will be taking over as principal here at Maple Street because of Mr. Bessette's absence. This job will likely be a lot for one person to handle, so the district will hire an assistant principal to help Mr. Carozza.

The selection of the assistant principal is a somewhat complicated process. First, the district needs to get applicants. Then, each applicant will be looked over by a committee, led by Mr. Carozza. After the committee narrows down the selection, interviews will take place. Last, Mr. Chamberlin will make sure the new assistant principal is a good fit.

You may be wondering why these changes are taking place. There are two explanations that have a part in this change. The biggest reason for the changes is that the population of elementary school children is decreasing. This is happening, possibly, because families are having fewer children. Consider how many siblings (your aunts and uncles) your parents have. On one side of my family, I have five aunts and uncles. Then, compare the amount of siblings that one of your parents has to the amount of siblings you have. Mine is 5 to 1. Another reason why the changes are taking place is because of the tax burden in Hopkinton. If the schools have fewer teachers to pay, then the taxes, which are used to pay the teachers (it's a complicated thing), will lessen because there aren't as many teachers to pay.

Along with changes to personnel, the district is planning, in the future, to have three teachers in each grade, instead of four. Mr. Chamberlin also told me that the future of Hopkinton Schools is looking at having a school for kindergarten through fifth grade, sixth grade through eighth grade, and then the traditional high school. No plans have been put into place yet, but these are the plans for the future.

These new changes shouldn't significantly impact our elementary students. Mr. Carozza will add his new responsibility of being principal at Maple Street and Harold Martin on July 1st, hopefully with his new assistant principal. We wish Mr. Bessette and Mr. Carozza the best in their new roles!