To: Superintendent Timothy Piwowar 

tpiwowar@westwood.k12.ma.us

CC: Westwood School Committee 

aphillips-sc@westwood.k12.ma.us

mplotkin-sc@westwood.k12.ma.us

dparmelee-sc@westwood.k12.ma.us

jfrench-sc@westwood.k12.ma.us

amullin-sc@westwood.k12.ma.us

Date: Monday, August 18, 2025

Re: Pine Hill Elementary First Grade Class Size 

Dear Superintendent Piwowar,

We are parents of incoming Pine Hill Elementary School first grade students. After class lists were released last Friday, and once the immediate excitement of seeing teacher and classmate assignments for this coming school year passed, came the shock of seeing the first grade class sizes.  

Many of us were aware that our PHS kindergarten classes for last year were above average size, and we had taken some comfort last year in knowing all the kindergarten classes included IAs. But it seems the class has continued to grow. Currently, the class lists show 4 classes of 24/24/24/23, and we understand there may be at least one additional child moving into the district prior to school starting. By comparison, we understand the other Westwood elementary schools are approximately: Downey 18/18, Martha Jones 20/20 and Sheehan 21/20. We also read the projections from the June 2025 School Committee presentation, which estimated enrollment for PHS for this year’s first grade class to be 22/22/22/21. And perhaps most significantly, we understand that the School Committee guidelines established classes of no more than 22 students/class for Grades K-3.  We imagine this recommendation (although non-binding) was made after thoughtful and significant consideration by the School Committee of studies on class size and academic success, SEL benefits and budgetary factors  

We also are aware that one of the other Westwood Elementary Schools may have 26 students/class in an upper grade, and while not ideal (and also above the recommended guidelines for that grade), the reduction from 3 classrooms to 2 classrooms in that instance was thoroughly analyzed before moving forward, and included the addition of various extra academic supports.

For many of us, the strong reputation of the Westwood schools was a driving factor in our decisions to live in Westwood and enroll and entrust our children to the Westwood Public School System. Our kids mean everything to us.  We all share concerns about the burden the large class size places on teachers and staff, and the lack of individualized attention and academic, social and emotional support students may receive due to these class sizes above recommendations—particularly at the first-grade level, when it can make all the difference.  Given all of the above, we’d like to formally request that the District propose and distribute a concrete plan with additional measures (beyond what would normally be included for class sizes within School Committee recommendations) for teacher/staff support, interventional student support, and targeted student learning and engagement opportunities for the Pine Hill first graders.

Thank you, 

Pine Hill First Grade Parents