Hello Wayland - 

My name is Erin Mueller and I am running for School committee.  My husband, Bryan, and I moved to Wayland in 2006 prior to having children. We tirelessly searched for a home here because of Wayland’s excellent reputation for its school system. 17 years later we have three children and are proud to call Wayland our forever home. The reputation has certainly lived up to its promise as Wayland continues to be among the top school districts in Massachusetts.

Our three children are happy, intelligent, free thinking, well adjusted, and confident young people, all with language based learning differences.  Elle (14) is in 8th grade at Wayland Middle School, Avery (12) a 7th grader at the Carroll School for immersion in language-based literacy instruction, and Griffen (8) is a student in the Language Based Classroom (LBC) at Claypit Hill.   

All three of our children have been involved in Wayland sports since kindergarten. After trying it all, the girls have settled on soccer and lacrosse, and our son loves Junior Warriors too and flag football as well. Bryan has coached all three kids since they walked onto the fields. Our family believes in the helpful impact of team sports to build connections in the community, teach resilience, and increase confidence. We are blessed with a community that embraces a wide range of sports, clubs, and activities that offer similar powerful benefits. Our children have found and participated in so many enriching programs in Wayland. I’m always happy to share our experiences with other parents on the sidelines or over a cup of coffee.

I was born in Michigan and moved to Massachusetts when I was eight years old and quickly adapted to make new friends. I am a graduate of the University of Maine – Farmington, with a focus on business and marketing, and a minor in art. During my time at UMF, I found my passion for spearheading programs to increase outdoor winter activities for children in my local community. I still vividly remember seeing nearly 100 local students on skis for the first time and the joy on their faces. Teaching young children to enjoy the snow and embrace a lifelong sport during the winter months will always be one of my most fulfilling experiences.  

Post graduation, I followed a rewarding career in healthcare IT, focusing on electronic health records. Here I found my professional calling, interacting with clinicians and hospital leadership. In an era with rapidly changing technology, chronic disease management, and a much needed focus on patient safety, I have enjoyed improving people’s lives by leveraging technology to improve the patient experience. 

I am engaged in a rewarding career in sales and marketing career in healthcare IT, focusing on electronic health records and interacting with clinicians and hospital leadership.  My primary contacts include executives such as: CEO, CFO, CIO, clinical leadership, physicians, nurses and clinicians. Each of them with their own strong voice, set of questions and criteria.  

My business acumen has helped to bridge complex conversations between organizational needs and budget constraints.  Healthcare organizations need to be free to focus on the best interest of the patient, it was my responsibility to be fiscally minded in my offering. I focused  on increasing efficiency of the organization by identifying current barriers that impacted patient care.  This is very similar to education.  It is imperative that we identify the root cause of inefficiency so that we can implement a program that improves outcomes, while reducing long-term costs.

I served my prior organization for several years in a recruiting capacity, hiring for both interim and permanent placements.  This experience seems particularly relevant given the volume of recent departures in our district.  I applied recruiting best practices, while building personal connections with each candidate allowing me to dig a bit deeper into their experiences and demeanor.  I relied on the analysis of the rubric but also on the candidates ability to build connection, accept feedback, respond critically and hold their professionalism and composure. 

I am drawn to organizations and opportunities that bring highly talented individuals to the table to inspire creative thinking, critical planning, and a judicious approach to implementation. I am currently consulting part-time for a pediatric neurologist in the Boston area serving neuro-diverse children. In addition to entrepreneurial tasks of starting the practice, my main focuses are to bring the team together to continually evaluate our process, adapt where modifications are needed, and maximize reimbursement while keeping the mission centered around the patient. 

I am confident that my skills will be powerful as our school committee continues our mission to "deliver a high-quality curricular educational program to the children entrusted to our care."