Town Government
School Committee & Superintendent
The Superintendent
Melissa Eakins-Ryan
About 846 students start their day in Berkley Public Schools, and one person answers for all of it. Melissa Eakins-Ryan is the Superintendent, proposing the school budget, setting academic priorities, and running the district day to day. Berkley is unusual in a useful way: its own schools stop at grade 8, so the district she leads is a Pre-K to grade 8 system of two schools, the Berkley Community School and the Berkley Middle School. The Superintendent is hired by and reports to the elected School Committee, which carries out an annual evaluation. That is the line worth remembering, because it means the person running your schools answers to a board you elect.
| Role | Superintendent of Schools, Berkley Public Schools |
|---|---|
| District | Berkley (Pre-K to grade 8), DESE code 00270000 |
| Reached through | Berkley Town Hall, 1 North Main Street, Berkley, MA 02779, 508-738-6057 |
| School Committee | townofberkleyma.gov/school-committee |
The School Committee
The Berkley School Committee has five members, elected town-wide to staggered three-year terms. The committee sets district policy, approves the school budget, and hires and evaluates the Superintendent who runs the schools day to day. Its meetings are public and posted to the town’s School Committee calendar, which means a Berkley student who shows up can speak. This is the board that governs the Pre-K to grade 8 schools; Berkley’s high school seats are decided by a separate regional committee.
Tara Weber
Jilleen Solomon
Daniel Fagan
Kaitlyn Robichaud
Leisel Sullivan
Two Boards, Two Ballots
- Berkley Public Schools runs Pre-K through grade 8, and the five-member Berkley School Committee above governs it.
- Somerset Berkley Regional High School teaches Berkley’s older students, shared with the town of Somerset. Berkley voters elect representatives to that regional committee, and its seats sit on the same town ballot.
- Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School in Taunton is a further option, and Berkley elects a representative to its committee as well.
The District at a Glance
- Enrollment: about 846 students, Pre-K through grade 8.
- Schools: two, the Berkley Community School and the Berkley Middle School.
- High needs: 39.3% of students.
- State data: DESE profile (code 00270000).
Curious how a bill becomes law, or how students can take on a civics project?