Josh Lobel, a candidate for School Committee, is ready to advocate for the schools in our community.
Well aware of the funding shortages and staff turnover that are challenging our school system, Lobel nonetheless sees an opportunity for change. “I believe our schools are filled with wonderful staff, and that they have great potential. I appreciate the introspection and thought with which the administration is guding the schools.,” said Lobel. “I want to work with the community to help understand and define everyone's priorities so that Arlington’s schools can offer the best educational experience possible.”
Lobel is passionate about making the quality of education in Arlington the most engaging it can be . “Students learn best when their teachers are excited about what they’re teaching,” he said. He firmly believes that enthusiastic and energized teachers make the classroom experience more engaging for students, and inspires them to aim high to reach their goals. “We need to make our schools a place where each child feels stimulated and challenged to pursue new tasks, to find different ways to solve problems, to take risks, and discover new ways of learning.”
“To accomplish this, we need to find ways to retain and recruit the best staff we can,” said Lobel. “We mentor young teachers who then leave for other school systems and we expect a large number of veteran teachers to be retiring in the near future. We need to give our teachers the support they need, such as professional development, collaboration time, administrative assistance , reasonable class size, and additional help for those students who need extra attention.”
Lobel brings special skills to the table, including expertise in both management and in computer technology. In his professional life, he is a manager of education and training for an information technology consulting company. He believes that technology offers some advantages over traditional education in four key areas: improving communications, providing better data management and reporting, connecting students to a world of information, and enriching curriculum.
Serving on the School Committee would not be the first time that Lobel would bring his technical abilities to the aid of the town. As a member of the Arlington Public Schools Technology Council, Lobel helped to pioneer the use of e-mail groups to expand communication between the schools and parents. He also organized the automation of the Bishop school library collection, greatly simplifying the circulation process, another example of the many ways that technology can free up time for teachers and administrators to spend with students.
A resident of the town for 29 years and a Town Meeting member, Josh Lobel is well-liked for his humor and intelligence, and also for his ability to work well with different interest groups on issues of importance to our community.
He looks forward to the opportunity to work on better communication and understanding between the School department and the entire community, including residents who don’t have children in the school system. “I consider building bridges between the school and community as one of my most important goals. The school committee helps represent the schools to the community, so we need to be clear about the importance of what the schools do and what the costs are. As we’ve learned the hard way, we need to depend on our own resources as the state has proven itself to be unreliable.”
Lobel is married (to Laura Wiener) and has two children in the Arlington schools (Bishop and Ottoson). He has volunteered on technical production for school plays and as a coach for the Arlington Soccer Club. His candidacy for School Committee reflects a strong spirit of commitment to the community. “Arlington is a wonderful town with a unique identity. I want to help our schools to excel in meeting our community’s and children’s needs in becoming well educated, positive members of society.”