FOR SCHOOL COMMITTEE: Barbara Kent Lawrence, Ed.D. COMMITTED TO KIDS + COMMUNITY
Promote partnerships between HWRSD and our community and look for new ways to use existing assets more fully.
Listen to students, members of the community, elected officials, teachers, and administrators to identify goals and concerns,
and help identify where these overlap.
Work to maximize the benefits of our collective resources to provide a high-quality education for our students.
These assets are not just financial - they include the experience and expertise of everyone in the community,
and are grounded in our commitment to our children.
VOLUNTEER WORK in the COMMUNITY
Since 2004, when I moved to Hamilton, I have been actively involved in the community.
Hamilton Government Study Committee: member
Hamilton-Wenham GREEN: founder and first President
Capital Management Committee: member
League of Women Voters: Board Member.
EXPERIENCE IN EDUCATION
I have many years of experience teaching students from middle school through graduate school and
in education research.
Teacher: The Potomac School, VA.
Teacher: Brunswick School, CT.
Chairman of the History Department and
Dean of Guidance
Northeastern University: Researcher in
Education, Adjunct Professor
Lesley University: Adjunct Professor and
Senior Lecturer
Director: Art House, an after school program
Grades K-6, Washington, DC
Volunteer Work in Education:
Founder and Co-Director, Field Studies: ME,
K - 12
Co-Founder and President, The Tremont
School Fund, to support the local
elementary school in Tremont, Maine
Policy Analyst :
The Annenberg Rural School and
Community Trust
Lead Researcher + Writer: Dollars & Sense for
KnowledgeWorks Foundation
As a researcher in education, I studied districts throughout the US and visited many of them. This experience and training will help me understand
local issues and find ways to address them. I hope to be a fair and proactive voice for our community of residents, students, parents, teachers, and administrators,
EDUCATION:
BA: Bennington College, Anthropology
MA: New York University, Sociology
Ed.D.: Boston University School of Education, Administration, Policy and Training
WRITING in EDUCATION:
I’ve written books and articles for foundations, government agencies, and academic journals about culture and education, education of the gifted, issues relating to school facilities, and
ways in which schools and communities can work together. My dissertation, Working Memory: the influence of culture on aspirations, won the 1998 dissertation award from the National
Rural Education Association.
These include Dollars & Sense: The cost effectiveness of small schools, Dollars & Sense II: Lessons from Good, Cost-effective Small Schools and The Hermit Crab Solution, about creative
ways to utilize school facilities. I’ve also worked with teams on projects including Schools for Successful Communities: An Element of Smart Growth for the US Environmental Protection
Agency and the Council for Educational Facilities Planners International.
For a partial list of my published papers in education please visit:
www.barbaralawrence.com/AcademicWork2.html
Thank you for your interest in the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District and in my candidacy for a seat on the School Committee. If you have any questions or comments,
please contact me at: bkl@barbaralawrence.com.
Barbara