Reports/Memos authored as graduate school assignments or thoughts on issues pertinent to Lexington Public Schools. Please note my views evolve when presented with fresh research, insights or community input.

A trip to Virginia to see exemplary schools for the LHS-MSBA project (shared with School Committee 2024)
Thoughts on early literacy challenges 2024 (shared in School Committee 2024)
Comparison of SPED programs spending in like Districts (shared in SEPAC candidate forum)
Narrative sections of four years of Superintendent evaluations by me (2018 was for Dr. C, and 2023 evaluations happen later this year). FYI - Only composite evaluations are shared in school committee meetings, though all evaluations are considered public documents. Please note: I have always written the evaluations as assessments of Lexington Public School challenges and opportunities, while giving credit for accomplishments that year. The document also reads like the recent history of LPS.
LHS Graduation Requirements - A perspective (shared in School committee meeting 2023)
Ensuring Community Engagement for Re-writing graduation Requirements (assignment 2020)
Memo and Meeting Minutes for Budget guidelines and other matters (Sept 2023)
Reflections on LPS 2021 MYRBS data (2021)
Social emotional learning + STEM: an online Scratch (MIT) Club (2020)
Transformational Models in Higher Education Assignment: at Harvard (2022)
Memo on Madison Metropolitan School District (2021)

Statements to town groups:

League of Women Voters: Candidate statement in answer to their question: What do you foresee will be the major issues confronting the School Committee during the period of construction and transition to the new High School?
ABCL: Statement in response to their question emailed to all candidates
Merriam Hill Candidate forum: statement and answers to questions emailed prior.

Graduation speeches for Lexington High School graduations, given in the years:

2021: This was the first in-person graduation after the Covid lockdown. The class graduated in four large groups with each student sitting, masked, surrounded by empty space, away from their peers. Families were scattered in the arena in small groups, and cheering was muted. The speeches were televised and available as a link. We had just endured a grueling year. Families were sending off their children to distant places. I hoped my speech (as a mother and a School Committee member) highlighted their importance to our families, school community and town.
2023 : The graduation ceremonies had now regained their former busy-ness in schedule and audience numbers. Many of us were becoming empty nesters. It was an honor and privilege to speak to the graduating class. Therefore, I reached out to parent-caregivers to tell me what they would want to say. Many of their words were incorporated into the speech including the suggestion to keep it short!

News articles:

Lexington Observer: Letter to the editor from by Lex4Literacy
Lexington Observer: Letter to the editor from LexPride, Valerie Overton
Lexington Observer: Letter to the editor Dr. Dinesh Patel
Lexington Observer: Letter to the editor Weidong Wang, CAAL PAC Chair
Lexington Observer: Letter to the editor Avram Baskin

2017 Letters to the Editor Lexington Minuteman: Candidacy Announcement

Dear Editor

I am incredibly proud of our Lexington Public School system and our community. We pick critical projects, brainstorm and then pressure test solutions through town wide debate. It is a comforting affirmation of our participatory democracy.

This approach helps children prepare for life because they closely observe what we do. They are a product of our school system and the environment. Lexington children are artistically, athletically, and academically, some of the best in Massachusetts. Can we educate them to be the best citizens too?

These thoughts and more have made me decide to run for the School Committee in March. I have lived in Lexington for over 20 years and have children in the middle and high schools. I have volunteered in many roles such as room parent, science fair organizer, and PTO president. I serve on the Site Council for Diamond and coach the Science Olympiad team and Science Bowl teams. Our children have excelled at state and international levels. I coached a First Lego League (FLL) robotics team which won the Research Prize at the World Competition 2017 in St. Louis, out of field of over 30,000 teams worldwide. In addition to Lexington, I have volunteered in Dorchester and Lawrence schools. I currently serve as a grants committee member of the Hestia group- a philanthropic organization working in inner city schools. I believe in the equitable distribution of the greatest asset of all: education.

We are challenged by issues of enrollment, capital demands, student stress, and diverse needs while imparting quality education. These we must diligently address. However, we can also aspire to create a resilient, engaged and compassionate student community.

I will work towards that goal if given the mandate to join the Lexington School Committee this March.

Yours truly
Deepika Sawhney

PK ShiuDecember 6, 2017

News/Views

2017 Letters to the Editor Lexington Minuteman: Candidacy Announcement