By Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.)

I had an enlightening discussion when I sat down with school superintendent Tony Pierantozzi the other night to prepare for my budget presentation to the Board of Aldermen. My question for the superintendent was, “What new policies and programs in the schools should I highlight?”

The reason I asked was because for the first time in a number of years, the budget discussion in Somerville is focused more on what new initiatives we’re pursuing rather than on any dramatic cuts or changes in how we deliver services. While we cannot claim to be flush with cash, we are in a better fiscal position than we have been since the recession hit. It really is a testament to the Board of Aldermen, the School Committee, the people who work for the City and the people of Somerville that, while other cities and towns remain in slash-and-burn mode, Somerville is moving forward.

With that in mind, I wanted to make sure I shared some of the progress in our schools with the Board of Aldermen. And once I asked that question, Superintendent Pierantozzi smiled, opened up a folder and began to list things. In fact, he listed things so fast, my staff could barely keep up. Pretty soon we ran out of room on the slide to fit everything.

You see, our schools are not treading water, just trying to do what they have been doing. And they are not only looking into a small number of modest improvements. Our schools are looking to set regional and national standards in terms of instruction, curriculum and student activities. While even school systems in wealthy communities like Belmont and Newton are laying off teachers, cutting back programs and hiking up student activity fees, Somerville schools are moving forward system-wide.

For instance, the high school will be expanding the biotech curriculum for which it was recently named the Innovative School of the Year by the Massachusetts Biotech Council. Our music program will be expanding, unlike other communities which are scaling back music programs, charging expensive activity fees for those programs, or just eliminating music instruction altogether.

In the next year, there will be more computers and smartboards in our classrooms. The system will be adding four new instructional coaches to help boost student achievement in specific areas of our curriculum, like science and history. Afterschool foreign language and robotics programs are being added. Yes, I said robotics. Your child can go to school in Somerville and learn robotics.

We are implementing a more rigorous middle school curriculum and a high school dropout prevention program. We are also moving forward with the unification of the Healey School, the SMILE program at the West Somerville Neighborhood School and the reconstruction of the East Somerville Community School.

On top of all of that, Somerville still charges no fees for extracurricular activities or sport, something that is unfortunately becoming unique. Pre-k and full-day kindergarten also remain free to Somerville residents. Families in Somerville are getting the best educational value around when their children walk through the doors of our schools. We have top-notch teachers, rigorous academics and system with no barriers to opportunity.

Starting next year, Somerville also will offer universal free breakfast to every student pre-k through grade 12. And this is a breakfast served by our award-winning food services staff, which specializes in serving fresh, healthy food. So, if you want your kids to start the day with a good breakfast, send them to school. We have the breakfast part covered for you.

Anyway, as Superintendent Pierantozzi rattled off all the exciting new things our schools are going to be doing next year, all I could think to myself is how happy I am that my children get to go to these schools. It really is an exciting time to be a child in Somerville. I know the last day of school is upon us and I do enjoy the summertime, but I cannot wait for the doors to open on a new school year.