August, 2015

very student has the right and potential to graduate from Springfield Public Schools ready to succeed in college or begin a productive career.  As your Superintendent of Schools, I am intent on creating a learning environment where academic success is the standard for each child. Our nearly 26,000 students come from diverse family, religious and ethnic backgrounds.  They speak numerous languages and represent many glorious cultures. Many face health or other challenges but there is one important quality that unites all of our students – the potential to reach peak academic performance.

As Superintendent, my job is to make sure all students, teachers and administrators have the tools they need to generate each child’s peak performance. Our Magnet schools are a rich and vibrant avenue to propel us towards reaching that goal.

Springfield Public Schools is especially proud to have expanded our slate of Magnet School programs made possible by a hard-won grant from the U.S. Department of Education under its Magnet Schools Assistance Program. This additional funding allows the school district to implement Magnet School programming at Springfield Central High School (in the field of Advanced Studies the Arts and STEM); Renaissance (Expeditionary Learning and STEM); Duggan Middle School (Expeditionary Learning and Social Justice), which will add a small high school cohort (60 students per grade) to the middle school. Thanks to this most recent Magnet grant, we are particularly excited to bring to the city a first-of-its kind, 6-12 Conservatory of the Arts. Along with a rigorous academic curricula designed to prepare students for college and careers, students will receive in depth arts instruction in the areas of music, dance, drama, and visual arts.

Each year, approximately 4,600 Springfield students will benefit from our Magnet programming through this most recent round of funding. Springfield Public Schools is the only district in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to offer such a wealth of educational opportunities to its students. I encourage you to visit our Magnet schools with your child and see our Magnet programs in action.  Visit with the principals and talk with teachers and students to get an up close and personal feel for how these programs work.

All of our Magnet Schools help strengthen students’ knowledge and confidence in core academic subjects and equip them with marketable career skills. They are designed to impel students to reach their life goals and imbue them with skills needed to become well-educated caretakers of our increasingly connected and global society.

I am privileged to have this wonderful opportunity to serve as the leader of this school district. I have dedicated my entire career to the Springfield Public Schools and I know what great potential lies ahead for us. I am deeply committed to improving our educational culture for our students, for our community, for ourselves and for our future.

Sincerely,

Daniel J. Warwick,
Superintendent of Schools