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Weston’s School Committee is made up of five volunteer members who serve three-year terms and are tasked with overseeing the annual school budget, developing school system policies, hiring and reviewing the performance of the School Superintendent and advocating for the school system with residents and Town Government.

As we all know, this year has been more complicated than most (or what do I know? Maybe we periodically go through union contracts, interim superintendent and curriculum issues?), and when Alyson Muzila steps down in May, the longest-serving member of the Committee will have been there for two years. It is a difficult and complex role, all the more this year.

At Caucus this March, one candidate stepped up to volunteer–and self-nominated which in itself is a check-plus in the Owl’s opinion. Adam Newman is running unopposed as the Caucus nominee. You will also be able to meet Adam at the League of Women Voters Candidate Night later this month (more information forthcoming) and through his answers to the Owl’s questions below.

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Owl: How long have you lived in Weston?

Adam: We moved to Weston in August 2010. Woke up on a summer morning to the sound of Boston traffic and went to bed in the deafening quiet of suburban Weston – it was a wonderful and vivid transition.

What is your background in education?

I have been in education ever since getting “out” of education following my college graduation. I spent 4 years teaching middle school and high school English and coaching several sports (soccer, tennis, golf) in Boston and New Orleans. I spent two years at a business research membership organization working with senior strategy executives of Global 2000 businesses. It was a far cry from the classroom, but effectively, we were “educating” business strategy leaders on key issues and problems they were grappling with within their organizations. However, I missed the true education space, so made my way back to Boston (from DC) to join a start-up – Eduventures – that was building out a suite of market research and consulting services for companies, non-profit organizations, institutions and investors in the education space. We were helping organizations align market dynamics with their mission to make decisions that would help them achieve their organizational objectives. After ~8 years, I joined a colleague from Eduventures who was involved in investment banking working with education company owners and entrepreneurs. In 2010 – it was a good year! – we left to launch Tyton Partners, which I still lead today; our goal was to marry our consulting and investment banking skill sets to support organizations and entrepreneurs globally. I spend most of my time with executive teams and boards of leading K-12, postsecondary and workforce companies and organizations on key strategic issues. We also do considerable work with postsecondary institutions, private schools, and foundations (think Gates Foundation, Walton Family Foundation, Joyce Foundation) on strategy and investment issues. I also serve on the board of a local non-profit – Exploration School – that runs summer educational programs for students from grades 3-11 and delivers services to schools and educators.

Why do you want to join School Committee? What makes you a great candidate?  

To contribute and support our schools informed by a lifetime of work in the education space. I think I bring a unique perspective – as a parent, former educator, and business partner to education companies, organizations, and institutions across the U.S. – to support the opportunities and issues we are facing in Weston. I value diverse perspectives, balancing data with what the data means to people, and working together to find the best solutions given our context and aspirations.  

What do you think is the single biggest challenge facing our public schools? 

Rebuilding trust and alignment among all the key stakeholder communities – parents and students, teachers, administrators, School Committee – in the wake of the pandemic, the number of transitions among teachers and professional staff, and the challenging negotiations this year. Without this, we cannot tackle the diversity of both traditional and emergent issues that all school communities face – ensuring academic excellence and equity; introducing innovative practices and models; tending to the health and well-being of students, teachers, and staff; building a compelling and engaging work environment that develops and invests in its talent; and ensuring financial sustainability and efficiency in the use of our resources.  

What makes the Weston Public Schools district the best in the universe? [yes, biased] 

The intimacy and access our community enables. Good education is about relationships between the people in the school community – teachers, students, administrators, and parents. Our district’s size provides a level of scale that ensures the opportunity to interact and connect with (ideally) few barriers. I have to give a shout-out to the music program as well – if you haven’t seen the HS gym floor at a Spring Fling concert, you’re missing something remarkable.    

Do you have kids in the Weston Public School system?

My son is in 8^th grade at Weston Middle School and currently in Ecuador on a school trip led by Ms. Mongiello. My daughter is in 10^th grade and was in the district through middle school.

What do you like to do in your free time?  

We moved to Weston to benefit from the “space”, and my wife and I love to take advantage of the trails and walkways throughout Weston. I’m an avid walker and sometime runner who uses it as an excuse to get back in shape to play soccer again. I coached in the Weston soccer program for many years and like many parents, enjoy spending a significant amount of fall and spring time on athletic fields. Cooking, reading, attending music and sporting events, and travel are high on the list of things to do, and even if I don’t do them as much as I’d like, I could talk about them forever.

Who was your favorite teacher/educator growing up? Why? 

Ms. Nichols was my 10^th and 12^th grade English teacher at Needham High School. I became an English teacher because of her, and the generosity and joyful experiences she created for me in her classes; it was something I strove to emulate in my own time in the classroom. She also infected me with a love of language and literature for which I am grateful every day.

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With this story, the Owl is retiring from School reporting in the adult sense (totally continuing and accelerating reporting on the amazing students of our district) for the forseeable future. The interim superintendent will be announced officially tomorrow, Friday April 14, and you can find out about that through the official channels or by watching the zoom announcement in the morning. Updates on union negotiations can be found on the district page, the teacher union page and in the always exciting Facebook pages of our town.

Don’t forget to vote on May 6!

Go ‘cats!