Stoneham School Committee Hears Forest School Pitch, Approves Superintendent's First-Year Evaluation

STONEHAM -- June 11, 2026, Stoneham School Committee gave Superintendent Dr. Kristen de Francisco a broadly positive first-year review and heard an informational pitch from a nature-based private school seeking accreditation to operate at Whip Hill conservation land. Committee member Corey summarized the evaluation as highlighting de Francisco's high visibility, proactive leadership, and culture-building while identifying growth areas around formalizing feedback systems and expanding multilingual family engagement. The committee approved a $302,574.43 warrant, accepted three gifts totaling a $75 gift card, a second gift card, and a food discount from donors to a multilingual learner family night, and moved through a sweeping Section I policy review in partnership with the Massey consulting firm, retaining the district's 1978 homework policy, which Massey called one of the best it had seen. Mary Germano Saba, founder of Mulberry Forest Montessori, presented a plan for a movable tent-classroom school on conservation land, currently enrolling 11 students in Reading, with 70 percent neurodivergent and 64 percent on scholarship; no vote was taken and multiple agency approvals remain outstanding.