 Hello Arlington. I am Jill Krojewski and I am running for school committee. Many folks, if I'm being totally honest, even myself at times, have asked, why are you running for school committee? Well, I love the town of Arlington. I love living here. I love raising my children here. And I believe that I can offer the school committee considerable experience as a parent of children going into middle school and high school next year, as a 15-year union leader, and as a 20-year high school biology teacher. Wearing these hats has enabled me to come up with collaborative and creative solutions to solve problems. After teaching through a pandemic, I witnessed the struggles that nearby communities had to work together with their unions and school leadership. I feel strongly that my path forward is to serve my town and continue to build on their respectful engagement that the school committee, school administrators, and union leadership currently have. Without a doubt, the current state of Arlington is strong. We have smartly invested in infrastructure. We have a state-of-the-art new high school and new playgrounds at many of our elementary schools. We have a new superintendent, a new central administration structure, and we no longer have to focus considerable energy on COVID. We have developed a set of strategic priorities that will serve as a guide to looking at our five-year plan. We have worked to improve faculty and staff contracts, particularly for our paraprofessionals. And we can carefully introduce a long-awaited new elementary literacy curriculum. I envision my strength on the school committee being to creatively help to implement and evaluate the thoughtful and necessary goals to ensure equity and excellence in our school system. With all this said, there is still work to be done. Our vision statement and mission uses the terms belonging, inclusion, and partnerships. We need to continue to learn and identify through conversations and data who is being left out of this strong school system. A public education system must be inclusive and serve all students equitably. This means digging into data and asking questions like, does this policy or program serve all students? How are students and families of color affected? What about our students with IEPs? As a science teacher, I know that data tells a story. What I envision myself doing on the school committee is digging into the data and really looking at the programs Arlington has and ensuring that there is equity in who benefits from these programs. I believe that the town has the capacity to add support so that the public education system isn't leaving anyone behind and all of our children can realize their growth and feel the joy that we strive for in our mission. Arlington's core value of inclusion and equity isn't confined to our student population. We need to continue to figure out how to attract and retain diverse staff. To do that, we should look closely at one, what brings educators to Arlington, and two, what keeps them in Arlington. We want our teachers to feel supported and valued so that they can have fulfilling careers in the district. Now, given our fiscal climate, we will need to do this in a transparent, cost-effective way that strikes a balance between salary and working conditions. As a veteran teacher and as someone who worked in a school district's mentoring program, I'm well positioned to take on this work. I've thought deeply about a lot of aspects of the Arlington Public Schools and what I can bring to the school committee, but my ideas are not just shaped from my experience. I've learned so much from conversations with my friends and neighbors. I am running because I want to elevate your voices, and to do this, I want to listen and hear more. Please consider reaching out and sharing your stories. You can find more on my website, JillForArlingtonSchools.com, and I hope to hear from you soon. As voters on April 1st, you will have a chance to give your input into how our town moves forward and who is best suited to help shape our schools as a part of this work. Please make a plan for this important choice.