WORTHINGTON — This is an exciting year for the Worthington School District as it will see its very first school superintendent for the recently formed district.
Gretchen Morse-Dobosz has been and will continue to serve as the R.H. Conwell School’s principal as she also takes on the additional role of school superintendent.
“As of July 1st, I have been playing my dual role,” Morse-Dobosz said. “I have had great support from Craig Jurgensen who has mentored me very well for my transition into this position.”
Jurgensen, the former superintendent of the Hampshire Regional School District who retired this summer, had served as superintendent for the R.H. Conwell School until Worthington established its own school district in May 2014 and hired Morse-Dobosz.
“It is a different lens to look through as the educational leader of Worthington,” she said. “There is a learning curve because now I am also working alongside and supporting the school committee with what they are charged with — policy and finance.”
Morse-Dobosz said that this year the school will be continuing its very successful fresh hot breakfast program, as well as participating in a farm-to-school program, which she says will help the school become more sustainable.
“When we started the hot breakfast program, we went from having two students eating breakfast twice a week, then to about 16, and now we regularly have 18 to 23 having breakfast,” she said, noting that the school uses locally made syrup and fresh local eggs.
Morse-Dobosz said the students having breakfast at the school reported that they felt better and teachers noted a marked improvement in their academic performance.
The Conwell School will also participate in a farm-to-school program designed to connect schools with fresh, healthy food and local food producers.
Morse-Dobosz said that a team of five faculty and one parent will attend a training in October to work with the Massachusetts Farm to School institute to help create their version of how to implement a sustainable food system that involves the local community.
Throughout the year the school the group will receive training and guidance from the institute, and at the end of the training the school will be eligible to apply for a $100,000 grant.
“This would help us implement the big picture that we have of trying to be sustainable with all of our food and even possibly being a food hub for the community in the summer,” Morse-Dobosz said. “Long term, we would like to have things like our own garden and chickens, everything that we would need to be able to serve breakfast and lunch.”
Therapy dogs will continue to participate in sixth-grade reading class twice a week.
“We are going to continue our relationship with Bright Spot Therapy Dogs this year because the teachers could really see a significant increase in students’ reading fluency when the dogs were here,” she said.
The first day of school in Worthington is Aug. 29 for kindergarten through sixth grade, and Sept. 4 for the pre-school. A back-to-school barbecue will be held on Aug. 27 at 5 p.m.