Biography

Joseph A. Curro, Jr. was born in 1965 at Beaufort Naval Hospital in South Carolina to Barbara (Pitts) and Joseph A. Curro, DMD, a lieutenant in the United States Navy stationed at Parris Island.

Joe was raised in Weymouth, Massachusetts, attending the public schools and St. Francis Xavier Parish. During high school, Joe excelled in foreign languages, and he gained proficiency in German as an American Field Service exchange student outside Basel, Switzerland.

Joe's interest in public service was aroused in his junior year at Weymouth South High School when he was selected to attend the Boys' State program of the American Legion. As a senior, he was honored with a "Classmates Today - Neighbors Tomorrow" community service award by the Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America, and he was voted by his classmates Most Likely to Succeed.

From 1983 to 1987, Joe attended Tufts University, where he pursued the study of the Russian and German languages and helped support himself as a supervisor of the universiy's student janitor program. He supplemented his education with a summer of intensive work at the Middlebury College Language Schools and back-to-back semesters abroad in the USSR and West Germany. During this time, Joe also completed an internship in the Boston office of United States Senator John F. Kerry, worked intermittently as a substitute teacher in the Weymouth Public Schools, and as a volunteer tutor in the Somerville Public Schools. He graduated cum laude from Tufts.

For nearly three years, Joe worked as a legislative aide to State Senator Bill Golden, where he was responsible for constituent relations and the management of the Senator's legislative agenda. During this time, Joe supported Senator Golden in his role as Senate chair of the Joint Committee on Public Service, working on many pieces of legislation pertaining to the terms and conditions of public employment, including the cancer presumption bill for firefighters. He also worked with the Senator to gain passage of the state's first hate crimes statute, for expansion of civil rights protections to prevent discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and he drafted a bill encouraging the establishment of community service programs in public high schools.

After leaving the State House, Joe assisted refugees from the Soviet Union in finding jobs and establishing new lives in the United States. He also served as a coach in job search and interviewing skills to welfare recipients seeking to enter the workforce.

For several years after college, Joe was a board member of Project LUCK, working very closely with teachers, administrators, and parents on the establishment of academic and cultural exchanges between the Weymouth Public Schools and the Soviet republics of Russia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan. He also served on the Eastern Massachusetts planning committee for the annual seminar of the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership Foundation, acting as a mentor for high school sophomores, organizing discussion panels on topics such as public and community service and immigration, and coordinating transportation for the two-day conference.

In 1991, Joe commenced his studies with the fledgling Lemberg Program in International Economics and Finance (now the International Business School) at Brandeis University, from which he received a Master of Arts. He spent a semester abroad at the Koblenz School of Corporate Management and completed a market study that was recognized by the Small Business Administration New England Region as the best export case study of 1993. While at Brandeis, Joe worked weekends in the Visitor Services department of the Museum of Science in Boston.

Upon graduation, Joe was named 1993-1994 Edgar Bronfman East-West Scholar, resident at the G.V. Plekhanov Russian Economics Academy and working as a marketing intern in the Moscow office of British Petroleum. He witnessed firsthand the violence surrounding an attempted parliamentary coup and a subsequent state of emergency in October 1993.

During the course of his extensive study and travels abroad, Joe viewed firsthand the brutality of crumbling Communist autocracies, and he visited both Armenia and the Central and Eastern European sites of Holocaust atrocities. This firsthand experience informs his strong commitment to human rights and his dedication to educating new generations of people regarding the tragedies of the 20th Century.

In 1994, Joe married Lisa Moncevicz, a Colby College graduate and daughter of former Dennis Selectman Donald and Sandra Moncevicz. Shortly after their marriage, the couple decided to make their permanent residence in Arlington, renting an apartment on Park Avenue Extension and subsequently purchasing a home near the Symmes Hospital.

In 1995, Joe began working in the burgeoning world of the Internet, rotating between several stints at the Massachusetts Medical Society and a series of failed dot coms -- including a subsidiary of Ross Perot's technology empire -- and earning several professional certificates from Northeastern University. In 2002, Joe returned permanently to the Massachusetts Medical Society, where he is a leader in expanding the online offerings of the New England Journal of Medicine and the Society's professional newsletter offerings.

Joe brought his technology experience to the classroom for several years as a faculty member in the Internet Systems Management program of Bentley College. He also volunteered as a United States citizenship instructor and Disaster Action Team member with the American Red Cross. In the latter role, Joe often provided support to firefighters, performed property loss assessments at fire sites, and provided assistance to victims in some of Boston's hardest hit inner city neighborhoods; he was also on hand to offer direct support to attendees at the City of Boston's public memorial service during the week following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Joe was first elected in 1999 to Town Meeting from Precinct 15 by vote of his caucus. In 2003, he was elected again on a strong write-in campaign, and in 2006 he topped the ballot among Town Meeting members for his precinct.

Joe was very active in advocating for his neighborhood during zoning and permitting procedures for the Symmes Hospital redevelopment project. He also worked with members of the Arlington Conservation Commission and Arlington Land Trust on conservation measures at the property and with the Transportation Advisory Committee regarding traffic analyses. As a member and chair of the Symmes Neighborhood Advisory Committee, Joe pressed for more reasonably scaled commercial signage and building heights at the Symmes property and acceptance of milestones for the mix of rental and owner-occupied units at the project, and he assisted in due diligence around the hiring of a Designated Town Representative and in generating up-to-date abutters lists.

In 2006, Joe was appointed by the Town Manager -- with approval from the Board of Selectmen -- to a seat on the Human Rights Commission, and he was elected chair by his peers just eight months later. During a very busy year, Joe and the Commission responded to incidents of racist graffiti and hate mail; assisted residents with the resolution of questions regarding the fair application of specific policies of the Arlington School Committee; held numerous public forums; and conducted facilitated training for School and Town officials.

When a number of public officials received anti-Semitic and threatening email, Joe spearheaded the collection of over 1,400 signatures on a public statement regarding standards for civil dialogue. He also represented the Commission in ramping up Arlington's participation in the No Place for Hate program; last summer -- in the wake of concerns about policies of the original sponsor, particularly around the Armenian Genocide -- Joe played a leading role in helping to recast the program as a local Arlington initiative.

Joe is the father of two daughters: a first grader at Stratton School and a preschooler at Sunshine Nursery School. He is a parishioner at St. Eulalia Church, a former choir member at the Church of St. James the Apostle, and a member of Pax Christi USA, the national Catholic peace movement.

Joe credits his commitment to public service to his family: his father spent most of his life in military service with the United States Navy and Army, retiring with the rank of Colonel, and is a veteran of the Weymouth Appropriation (Finance) Committee; his mother is a former member of the League of Women Voters; and his siblings include a professional firefighter, an EFL teacher, and a former auditor of public housing authorities around the Commonwealth.

Announcement of Candidacy

I am very excited to announce my candidacy for one of three seats on the Arlington School Committee. The past year has been tumultuous in our town, and the decision to run has required a lot of thought and long discussions with friends and family. I have been very humbled by the outpouring of encouragement and support that I have already received from dozens of people in every part of Arlington, and my conversations have convinced me of the continuing need for reasonable, open-minded and objective voices on the School Committee. With this candidacy and the opportunity to serve, I hope to make a positive contribution toward that end.

As the father of two young daughters, a first-grader at Stratton Elementary School and a preschooler at Sunshine Nursery School, I have a direct interest in moving the focus of our efforts forward to ways that support our children's education and our teachers' job satisfaction, difficult tasks in these times of budgetary stress.

Our Challenges

Our challenges can be summarized in three short sentences... Learn from the past. Act in the present. Secure the future.

The people of the Arlington school system have been through a lot of pain over the last year. It can be tempting to dwell on the mistakes and missteps of the past, but -- unfortunately -- yesterday's bath water will not make us clean. We must learn from experience, review and possibly update policies that are meant to guide all School stakeholders, and then execute vigorous oversight to ensure the faithful enforcement of our decisions. As a School Committee member, I would take very seriously my fiduciary responsibility to always act in the best interests of the district.

Our primary focus should be on supporting the success of our children, while struggling to live within Arlington's five-year plan and working toward district goals. My particular interest lies with initiatives around technological literacy, linguistic proficiency, and cultural competence that will be needed in this era of globalization. And I recognize the need to remain ever mindful of the educational needs of children who enter the system with diverse backgrounds, unique abilities, and varied interests and ambitions.

Arlington's excellent faculty and staff should be respected and supported. In an era of increased accountability, we owe it to our teachers to also provide flexible options to pursue creative approaches to pedagogy and -- whenever possible -- innovative arrangements that support work-life balance and are conducive to the recruitment and retention of talented staff. Existing experiments, such as on-site childcare for faculty with young children and job-sharing opportunities, should be nurtured.

I would like to expand the covenant that the schools have with the greater community and position our school system such that it is not an island unto itself. Just as we rely on other Town agencies and boards for school-related matters like safety and playground maintenance, we should work to utilize fully the talents and resources of Arlingtonians every day. For example, I would like to see greater outreach and incentives to the community's senior citizens, inviting them into the schools to actively mentor our young people. And I strongly support the recent science and technology initiative, which is engaging professionals from throughout Arlington and envisions the creation of internships for motivated students. I would also consider the creation of tasteful, non-intrusive sponsorship opportunities intended to engage local businesses and individuals and supplement strained budgets, and I would seek to foster alumni network development activities.

The constituency for the schools needs to be broader than just the kids, parents, faculty and staff, and we are all well served when we create stronger connections beyond the classroom walls.

We need to push forward with our reconstruction and renovation priorities, starting with a renewed effort to make the Thompson School like new. And while we search for the means to keep promises to the voters regarding an eventual full renovation of Stratton, we must support and continue the existing capital improvement program and address issues of deferred maintenance for that building and the high school. And we must consider bold solutions to the problem of overcrowding at some of our schools like Bishop, taking into account demographic trends and development patterns within Arlington. Our investment considerations should encompass not only school buildings, but surrounding fields, playgrounds and pedestrian routes; addressing these will require cooperation with other Town agencies, and I believe my previous public service experience and community activism uniquely qualify me to advocate for these priorities.

Success will require honesty and openness in fiscal planning and a willingness to be an advocate for creative solutions. I am ready for the challenge.

Bringing People Together

Over the past year, as chair of the Arlington Human Rights Commission, I have had the rare opportunity to work and interact directly with principals, teachers, parents and others associated with schools around Arlington. We have had conversations regarding various aspects of school policy, discussed ways to work together to support innovative curriculum offerings, and cooperated in efforts to create environments that are welcoming and supportive for pupils from diverse backgrounds and with differing abilities.

During my tenure with the AHRC, we have held a major dialogue with a blue ribbon panel of local experts to discuss the state of special education in Arlington. We also brought the Superintendent of Schools and other top School administrators and officials together with departmental leaders and elected and appointed officials from other Town departments, boards and commissions in a day of professionally facilitated diversity training where participants were able to exchange ideas in a relaxed, open environment. These are just two examples of initiatives that helped strengthen relationships and understanding between disparate groups of people, who must so often work together.

Of everything I have done in life, I am proudest of my track record of bringing people together to benefit our public schools and the greater community, and I offer a few examples:

• In the waning days of the Cold War, I was a leader in citizens' diplomacy initiatives, helping to organize numerous academic and cultural exchanges between the Weymouth Public Schools and arts organizations and schools in the Soviet republics of Russia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan. Inspired by their participation in this program, several of the American pupils with whom I worked grew up to realize academic, professional, and humanitarian pursuits in countries of the former Soviet Union, and a number of our Russian counterparts established new lives in the United States.
  
  
• When the Stratton School needed to upgrade its aging heating system and remove a failing oil tank, it ran into an obstacle when the the gas company proposed digging up a nearby private way. I worked with School and Town officials and helped broker an agreement between Keyspan and affected residents that will allow Stratton to convert to a more fuel-efficient and cost-effective energy source, will avoid the potential of an expensive environmental tragedy, and satisfies the concerns of affected private property owners.
  
  
• In the wake of a disagreement at the Brackett School around school newsletter policy, I helped bring parents together with the Superintendent of Schools and other administrators, resulting in a school-sanctioned family support network for households headed by same-sex partners that will benefit people throughout the town.
  
  
• During the height of last spring’s angry tensions surrounding the public firing of the Ottoson School principal, a number of public officials found themselves the targets of anonymous anti-Semitic and threatening hate mail. I spearheaded the organization of a community statement of concern for publication in the local newspaper. This privately funded, full-page advertisement firmly promoted the idea that intimidation and bigotry have no place in Arlington. Over 1,400 residents and others who make up our community, including many clergy, top School and Town officials, and many teachers, signed it. Despite their very public disagreements with one another, the Superintendent of Schools, signatories to this statement of principles included most School Committee members, and around 60 Ottoson faculty and staff.

A Commitment to Education

My involvement with education and the mentoring of young people began long before I became a parent:

• I have seen public school classrooms from the inside as a former substitute teacher at the junior and high school levels of the Weymouth Public Schools, a volunteer tutor in the Somerville Public Schools, and as a facilitator with Arlington High School's annual diversity day.

• I have had further teaching experience as a lecturer at Bentley College, a citizenship instructor for the American Red Cross, and as a vocational counselor with Jewish Vocational Service, where I instructed refugees from the Soviet Union and other individuals transitioning into the workforce in job search and interviewing skills.
  
  
• For several years, I volunteered as a state organizer for the Hugh O'Brian Youth Foundation, mentoring high school sophomores on the development of leadership skills and organizing educational panels.
  
  
• As a volunteer with Net Day, I worked side-by-side with parents at the Dallin School to wire the original building for broadband Internet access.
  
  
• I am a former board member with the Project LUCK East-West Exchange, with which I volunteered as a chaperone and foreign language interpreter with teachers, parents, and pupils from all levels of the Weymouth Public Schools.
  
  
• I represented State Senator Bill Golden at advisory board meetings of the Thomas Jefferson Forum, which fostered community service programs in high schools throughout Massachusetts, and I drafted legislation aimed at encouraging the further creation of such programs.
  
  
• I served on the committee that implemented a scholarship fund check-off on property tax bills in the Town of Weymouth.
  
  
• I have helped Stratton School's Safe Routes to Schools coordinator and Friends of Greeley Park at Stratton to reach out to Town officials for assistance, and I have volunteered at various fundraising events, including Stratton's Spring Fling and the Arlington Educational Enrichment Fund's Brain Bee.

Prepared to Serve and Dedicated to Arlington

• I worked for nearly three years as a legislative aide in the Massachusetts State Senate, with much of my responsibility relating to the Joint Committee on Public Service. During this time, I learned about many of the issues and pressures facing teachers and other public employees, as well as the municipalities that employ them. I believe my direct experience with the state legislative process will help me to advocate for expanded Chapter 70 local aid, school building assistance funds, and other forms of state relief. I also feel very confident in my ability to work with Senator Marzilli and his staff and other members of our legislative delegation, including the three leading candidates for the 23rd Middlesex State Representative district, with each of whom I have previously worked in varying degrees.
  
  
• I first served as a Town Meeting Member from Precinct 15 in 1999, and I have served continuously since 2003.
  
  
• I have sat on the Human Rights Commission for nearly two years, most recently as chair, during the course of which service I have appeared before and made recommendations to the School Committee and Superintendent and have developed fruitful working relationships with many Town and School officials and residents. I have also represented the Commission as a founding steering committee member of Arlington Common Threads (formerly No Place for Hate). I helped to guide the redefinition of the committee's mission as a purely local organization after hearing continued concerns from a number of residents about our initial association with the Anti-Defamation League and protests from Arlington's Armenian community about the ADL national leadership's apparent denial of the Armenian Genocide.
  
  
• I am the former chair of the Symmes Neighborhood Advisory Committee, in which capacity I negotiated and communicated on behalf of the surrounding neighborhood with Town authorities and the private redeveloper for the Symmes site. My tenure with SNAC followed several years as a community organizer. During the course of this activity, I developed relationships with the Transportation Advisory Committee, which works directly on the Safe Routes to Schools program; and with the Planning and Community Development Department, which will surely play a leading advisory role in any future redistricting discussions and currently manages several properties that belong to the School Department.
  
  
• I was one of hundreds of volunteers for the 2005 override campaign, and I served as a facilitator at one of the Town's recent financial summits, which invited broad citizen participation in brainstorming creative approaches to our tough budget situation.
  
  
• I hold a bachelor of arts from Tufts University and a master of arts from the Lemberg Program in International Economics and Finance at Brandeis University. My graduate study included a semester at the Koblenz School of Corporate Management and a year as a Edgar M. Bronfman East-West Fellow at the G.V. Plekhanov Russian Economics Academy in Moscow. My education and training prepare me well for the assessment of budgets and the oversight of management decisions.
  
  
• I am employed as a team leader and technical architect in the Media Technology group of the New England Journal of Medicine, where I manage and evaluate professional staff. I believe this experience would serve me well as a School Committee member charged with measuring the performance of the Superintendent, as would my professional involvement with the negotiation of large contracts and the creation of budgets.
  
  
• I moved to Arlington in 1990, and my wife, Lisa Moncevicz, and I have lived in four different neighborhoods in the town. We purchased our home near the Symmes Hospital in 1997.
  
  
• I am a parishioner at St. Eulalia Church and former parishioner and choir member at St. James the Great.

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In launching this race for School Committee, I am running on behalf of the children of Arlington and all those who teach and nurture them. I take up this challenge with open eyes, an open mind, and an open heart.

I am very grateful for the support I have received thus far, and I welcome all the help I can get. If you would like to volunteer or need more information, please contact me at 781-641-4190 or JoeCurroForSchoolCommittee@gmail.com. Financial contributions can be sent to The Committee to Elect Joe Curro c/o Christine Carney, Treasurer, 98 Richfield Road, Arlington, MA 02474.

Over the next months, I look forward to meeting with the residents and leaders who keep our schools and our broader community moving forward in pursuit of ever greater excellence. I hope to win your confidence and one of your three votes on April 5.

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This campaign is dedicated to the memory of Mark Shinney, a great friend and exemplary teacher, who touched countless lives around the world.