Jana McCarthy, Norwell School Committee

10/31/2026

Ok - in an effort to help get information out there to the community, I am going to try to post highlights from school committee meetings.

10/26 was an outstanding meeting, with the High School Outreach taking the spotlight for the first hour. Seniors were recognized, and we heard from students and faculty about the highly successful new PeerLit Summer Reading Program.

The Business Items section was especially meaty. The first link here gives the agenda as well as a lot of the documents, but I really encourage you to actually listen to the associated presentations as they give a lot more color and context.

https://www.norwellschools.org/school-committee/members-meeting-information

To that end, I’ve picked a few highlights and given you approximate times in the video, which is this second link.

http://96.230.7.28/internetchannel/show/4856?site=2&query=norwell+school+committee

Some highlights:

Calendar change - the original 2026/27 calendar had Friday 6/18 as a holiday (to celebrate Juneteenth), bringing the last school day to Monday 6/21. We have learned that Juneteenth does not have a requirement for a supplemental weekday when it falls on a weekend, so the new last day of school will be Friday 6/18. This is, of course, dependent on snow days.

Topics with video timing:

* Superintendent Search firm - this can be found at approx. 0:54. We have chosen to move forward with NESDEC. They will be at our 11/16 meeting to discuss the process and timeline in depth.

* AP Report - this can be found at approx. 1:38. This is a TERRIFIC presentation for anyone who wants to understand how the AP program works, what it means from a teaching perspective, and who is impacted. Spoiler alert - it’s a lot more students than you might expect.

* Preliminary Level-Service Budget - this can be found at approx. 2:50. There is going to be a lot of conversation around the school budget over the next few months. Spending a few minutes to understand the how’s and why’s of this baseline will be very beneficial.

Hope you find this beneficial - have a terrific weekend!

10/30/2026

I’ll be providing some updates from our latest meeting this weekend, but as we get into budget season, you will be hearing the terms “level service budget” and “level funded budget” tossed around. Understanding the difference is incredibly important. So I made a fancy little graphic to help…welll…level-set.

10/23/2026

Oh my goodness - Monday's School Committee meeting is going to be spectacular.

From 7:00-8:00 pm the focus is all on Norwell High School. Even if (mayhaps especially if??) you don't have kids at NHS, this will give you some amazing insights into what makes this school so special.

Then we get down to regular business, but boy is there a lot of good stuff to discuss. If you've ever had questions about AP classes - what are they and why should we care - that will be discussed. Want to know what the plan is for the Superintendent search? That will be discussed! Want to get a sneak peek at the first version of a preliminary level-service budget?? Yup yup, that will be covered.

And those are just the highlights.

10/26 - 7 pm - Norwell Public Library - see you there!!!

10/22/2026

The new monthly Superintendent Newsletter is a great way to keep informed! 🤓

This month's newsletter includes:
* A detailed look at the Norwell Tiered Systems of Support
* Updates on what is happening at all four schools
* A look at what exciting stuff will be covered in the School Committee meeting THIS MONDAY (10/26) at 7 pm at the Town Library

It's a quick read and chock full of good info.

District Updates & Resources

09/12/2026

Coming Soon! I heard you loud and clear. You want more channels of communication and easier ways to distill the often-complex discussions that are happening around the schools and the school budgets. I’m going to repurpose this page to try to help us get somewhere better.

07/20/2026

This page was set up for election-related purposes so I won't be actively using it going forward. But if you are visiting or following, you likely have a vested interest in the Norwell school systems. So please reach out with any issues, questions, concerns, etc. My new email is [email protected].

Thanks again for all of your support!

05/17/2026

A giant THANK YOU to everyone who helped out through this experience. I’ve never run for anything and frankly I had no idea how much it entailed. Your support (whether it was donations, holding signs, sharing posts or just keeping my thoughts positive) were instrumental in both the winning part and the keeping Jana from losing her mind part. Woot woot! We did it!!

Hahaha - now the hard part - but the one I am TRULY excited about.

05/16/2026

Did you vote????

05/14/2026

Today I was in Cambridge for work, hosting a lunch-and-learn for early-stage biotech companies. The topic? Operational readiness.

I walked them through how to become more streamlined and efficient so they could focus their resources on what matters most: research and development. We talked about going line item by line item to find small fixes that save money, but also about larger strategic projects that require more work upfront and create bigger long-term impact.

I loved it.

Tomorrow morning I’ll be out holding signs, and then heading to the high school to help get the gym ready for Promenade. Tomorrow night I’ll be standing in the boys locker room ushering excited NHS juniors and seniors — dressed to the nines — up to the gym before getting on the busses to Prom.

And I’ll love that too.

Along the way, I’ll talk with teachers and administrators about the end of the year and the exciting plans for the new summer reading program. Earlier this year, I was part of a team of parents helping provide feedback on what that program could look like, so I’m especially excited to see it come to life - I love it!

Because that’s the thing: I genuinely love this town, and I genuinely love these schools.

And through this campaign, I’ve also seen how much opportunity there is to do good. I’ve seen places where stronger communication, trust, and collaboration could make a real difference before small cracks become much larger ones.

I want to help fix that.

I have the professional experience to help navigate budgets and priorities thoughtfully. I have the ability to bring people together and communicate clearly. And I care deeply about this community and the people in it.

I would be honored to serve on the School Committee, and I humbly ask for your vote on Saturday.

Thank you for your support,
Jana

05/13/2026

If you weren’t able to make it last night I urge you to grab a drink, relax and watch the replay. We’ve all been trying to give you little soundbites of where we stand but we each had a chance to further articulate and answer questions from constituents and it was awesome.

Watch Norwell Chamber of Commerce Candidates Night: 5/12/2026