Town Edition
Middlesex County
Sherborn, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
In 2001 Sherborn bought the old Wilson farm and opened it to you as Hidden Meadow, and that purchase was a habit rather than an accident. The same instinct has put roughly 931 acres under the Conservation Commission and grown a 468-acre Town Forest that runs from the Framingham line all the way down to the Charles. A town does not protect that much of itself by chance. It does it one warrant article at a time, at an open Town Meeting where any registered voter can stand up and vote. This guide shows you how to get into that room, and who runs the town in between.
Sherborn at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Middlesex, in the MetroWest region about 18 miles southwest of Boston. Sherborn covers roughly 15.8 square miles, and much of it is protected open space, town forest, and farmland along the Charles River.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Jeremy Marsette.
- Schools: Sherborn runs its own elementary district, Pine Hill School, for about 393 students from preschool through grade 5, led by Superintendent Elizabeth McCoy. Grades 6 through 12 attend the Dover-Sherborn Regional district that the town shares with Dover.
How Sherborn’s Government Works
Sherborn runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Sherborn is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a 5 member Select Board to set policy between meetings and the School Committee that oversees the schools. The Select Board hires a professional Town Administrator to run the town day to day. So the money is voted by whoever shows up, the direction is set by the Select Board, and the daily work is carried out by the Town Administrator.
Town Meeting
The legislative body, and it is not a committee. Every registered voter in Sherborn is a member. Town Meeting adopts the annual budget, passes town bylaws, and approves major spending. This is direct democracy in its literal sense.
Select Board
5 members elected town-wide. They set policy, sign the warrants that decide what reaches Town Meeting, appoint residents to many town boards, and hire and supervise the Town Administrator.
Town Administrator
The appointed chief administrator. Runs the departments, builds the budget, and answers to the Select Board. Hired under contract, not elected.
School Committee
5 members, elected town-wide, who set policy for Sherborn’s own elementary district and hire the Superintendent. A separate regional committee, shared with Dover, oversees grades 6 through 12.
- Residents elect the 5 members of the Select Board and the School Committee.
- The Select Board hires the Town Administrator and decides what goes on the Town Meeting warrant.
- Town Meeting votes the budget and the bylaws, and every registered voter present can vote.
- You take part: register at 16, vote at 18, and once you are registered you are already a member of Town Meeting.
Civic Calendar
- Select Board: meets on the second and fourth Thursday evenings of the month at Sherborn Town Hall, 19 Washington Street. The agenda is posted in advance, so check the town calendar before you go.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held each spring, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait. Any registered Sherborn voter may walk in, speak, and vote on the budget.
- Town elections: Sherborn holds its Annual Town Election in the spring, and Select Board members serve three-year terms on a staggered schedule. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Sherborn Edition
- Town Administrator’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- Select BoardYour five board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Sherborn HistorySettled 1652, incorporated 1674
- DemographicsWho lives in Sherborn
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataSherborn schools by the numbers
Your County Officials
Two of the people with the most direct power over your life are elected countywide. The district attorney decides who gets charged with a crime, and what they get charged with. The sheriff runs the county jail. Both of them answer to the voters of Middlesex County, and that includes Sherborn. They appear on your ballot. Now you know what to look for.
Every county in Massachusetts elects its own, and the job is the same everywhere: the charging decisions, the jail. Look up any town in the state and see who holds these two offices there.
Your First Civic Action in Sherborn
You do not have to wait until you can vote to be heard in your own town. Here is how to take a real concern to the people who decide.
- Pick the right body. Town policy, roads, and police or fire go to the Select Board. Schools go to the School Committee. The budget and bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Select Board meets on the second and fourth Thursday evenings at Sherborn Town Hall, 19 Washington Street, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Know your members. Five Select Board members are elected town-wide, so every one of them answers to you.
- Speak. Meetings are open to the public and residents may address the board. Check the agenda for how to sign up.
- Or skip the trip. Report a pothole, a broken light, or a missed pickup to the Department of Public Works, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 19 Washington Street, Sherborn, MA 01770. Town Administrator’s office 508-651-7850.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 508-651-7853, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at sherbornma.org.
- Public schools: Sherborn’s own Pine Hill School and the shared Dover-Sherborn Regional district at doversherborn.org.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Select Board, speak at a meeting on the town’s published calendar, or simply register to vote and take your seat at Town Meeting.