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1 week ago | 
winchesternews.org | Renee Lubomirski |Chris Stevens |Joyce Westner |William Dowd
On Sunday, April 6, the eighth rendition of WinMUN, Winchester High School’s annual Model United Nations conference, kicked off with the strike of a gavel. This year marked a new milestone, with over 300 delegates representing 26 schools across more than four states — doubling last year’s attendance. Backed by over 50 staffers from the high school, the conference has left the drawing board and come to life.
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3 weeks ago | 
winchesternews.org | William Dowd |Chris Stevens
In a unanimous series of votes, the Winchester Select Board accepted donations totaling more than $348,000. Among these were notable contributions including $2,250 from Pediatric Dental Associates, Winchester Rotary Club, and Winchester Savings Bank to support Concerts on the Common.
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3 weeks ago | 
winchesternews.org | William Dowd |Chris Stevens
The Winchester Select Board voted unanimously Monday to release $364,746 from the Special Education Reserve Fund to cover unexpected cost increases in transportation and out-of-district tuition expenses. “The contract, I believe, previously was an eight-year contract that expired, went out to bid,” said Director of Finance & Operations Andrew M. Marron.
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3 weeks ago | 
winchesternews.org | Chris Stevens |Nell Escobar Coakley |Joyce Westner
Karen Maruyama Bolognese will remain the Winchester School Committee chair for at least one more year. In light of the recent town election on March 22, the School Committee had a quick reorganization session last week with Superintendent Dr. Frank Hackett playing the role of chair. “The process after the election, the policy calls for the School Committee to reorganize,” he said.
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4 weeks ago | 
winchesternews.org | Joyce Westner |Chris Stevens
The Winchester Chamber of Commerce has a new associate director — Allison Childs, who has been living in Winchester with her family for several years. “We wanted to be in walking distance of a town center,” she says, having lived in Charlestown. “I love that my daughter can walk to all three downtown schools.”One of the things she plans to focus on in her new position is supporting the “second, third, and fourth floor businesses,” she says.
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1 month ago | 
winchesternews.org | Joe McConnell |Chris Stevens
It was a night of celebration for the Winchester High School Red & Black wrestling team last Wednesday night, March 19, at the Sons of Italy on Swanton Street, when the team convened for the annual awards banquet. There was plenty to remember throughout the last four months, starting with a regular season that began slowly with three straight losses, but ended on a high note to close out the Middlesex League schedule with a 6-3 record.
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1 month ago | 
winchesternews.org | Chris Stevens |Nell Escobar Coakley |William Dowd
After decades of sameness, the School Department has tweaked its budget timeline and while it has been a blessing to them, not everyone is on board. “I do think there’s merit to the sequence of the process,” said Town Meeting member Carol Savage, who spoke during the public comment portion of the School Committee meeting last Thursday night.
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1 month ago | 
winchesternews.org | Chris Stevens |Nell Escobar Coakley |William Dowd
The cost of education is going up. The Winchester School Committee voted 4-1 last week to increase the district’s level service budget by 7.15% to bring the newly proposed fiscal year 2026 budget total to $70,870,718. School Committee member Michelle Bergstrom was the lone holdout, but not because she didn’t support the increase – because she thought it wasn’t enough.
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1 month ago | 
winchesternews.org | William Dowd |Chris Stevens
The Winchester Select Board unanimously approved an 8% water and sewer rate increase for fiscal year 2026, pending Town Meeting approval in late April. The board opted for a moderate approach among several options presented during a March 10 public hearing. The approved increase would raise the average residential user’s quarterly bill from $250.35 to $267.58, a $17.23 increase per quarter or about $69 annually. Irrigation users will see their bills rise from $937.12 to $1,009.29 quarterly.
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1 month ago | 
winchesternews.org | Chris Stevens |William Dowd
It has been more than a year since Winchester’s early literacy program came under fire in a big way, but Superintendent Dr. Frank Hackett said change is coming. Albeit maybe not as fast as some would like. An Early Literacy Team made up of parents and educators is looking at seven different evidence-based literacy curricula and circulating those materials among teachers for their input, Hackett said.
