The most read of 2022

 What a year!

Photo UP at the Durkin Administration Building this summer

In the classic manner, we do this from ten to one, remembering that the actual number one remains the face of the blog. Many of you simply wander by from time to time to see what's new. I appreciate that!

10. "We pauperize education": A letter to my delegation (from January): "Schools should be the last thing to close!" we were told over and over, yet no one did anything to create the circumstances that would make that possible. Here's my letter to the delegation (one of several I sent) regarding that.

9. Vernon Hill School (a post from 2015): This one feels a bit like cheating, because I know what drove the traffic for this. Someone on one of the Worcester community Facebook pages asked a question about Vernon Hill (which is the former Providence Street Junior High), and the photos I have in this post responded to some of the question, so I posted a link.
This does remind me, though, that I need to be more faithful about posting photos of buildings when I have them, as they're appreciated!

8. A post on Sonia Chang-Díaz (from December): The loss of Sonia in the Senate (even as her successor is great!) is something I know I will keenly feel, as will many. This is the post which doesn't do her justice, but is my best attempt. 

7. Who are those guys? A bit about the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (a post from 2017, which probably needs updating): With the change of Governor, there have been many under the impression that we'd a) get a new Commissioner (no);  and/or b) get an entirely new Board of Ed (no). I shared this link at least once to try to straighten some of that out. I should probably update it with new names, though. Maybe once we see what else happens after Thursday...

6. A legal opinion regarding health authorities in the Worcester Public Schools (from February): One of the ongoing questions of the pandemic has been who has the authority to do what (and also who does not). In particular around schools, what the authority of the school committee versus the board of health led to a few clashes. Worcester didn't have a clash so much as a sequencing question, but I posted the legal opinion of the city solicitor to clarify.

5. SCOTUS did what? (from June): It's been an alarming year in Supreme Court decisions, and education has not escaped unscathed. This is post is on the Carson v. Makin decision, requiring Maine to fund tuition to religious schools as well as secular ones. This is due to the very particular conditions of Maine education, but it has opened the doors to vouchers effectively being required to be used similarly in states where there are vouchers. 

4. What happens next in the WPS superintendent search? (from April) Posted the night the finalists were announced (at 9:32 pm), this post was designed to ensure everyone knew exactly what was happening next.

3. Remarks on Dr. Rachel Monárrez, next superintendent of the Worcester Public Schools (from April) Posted the night we voted on the next superintendent, this post is my remarks reflecting to my colleagues on my visit to San Bernardino City Unified School District. It was also a recommendation of action (which is what we did!).

2. Finalists for the Superintendent of the Worcester Public Schools (from April): Because I knew that people weren't going to be able to listen fast enough! This simply replicates the text that was shared with the School Committee the evening it was announced. 

1. Let's talk about this charter school application for Worcester (from November): My personal subtitle for this one is "what I did over my Thanksgiving break" but it was worth it, as it caught the attention needed, and that snowballed into the work that got the community mobilized. Fingers crossed we made our case strongly enough.

What's up for this year? I have fallen away from posting about what happens at Worcester School Committee meetings, which is probably something I need to get back to. Local coverage continues to fall off, and that means that the narrative of what is and isn't happening there from those who don't attend or watch meetings is often off course. There is only so much I can do, but I should do more of what I can.

Also: Ongoing work of new superintendent! New Governor and new Secretary! And a fall election under Worcester's new system.

Happy new year, and thanks as always for reading! 

Most read of 2021

And sometimes the blogging happens at 4:30 am...

I don't spend a lot of time on my analytics on here, but once a year, I pulled them up to see what folks have been reading. Here's the top ten list for 2021:

As per usual, the blog itself is, far and away, the most often landed on, meaning that plenty of you stop by here to see what is new. Overall, this year was by far my smallest number of posts ever, which I will endeavor to do better on for the coming year. 

10. Letters to the Board of Ed ahead of yesterday's meeting, from March: These are the letters I wrote to individual members of the Board of Ed back in March when they were considering the guidance for this past fall's return to school.

9. A real "great divide" from October on the Globe continuing to ignore the elephant in the room around which parents have been behind the push to get kids back in buildings, "as normal" without masks and so forth. For the Globe, which terms its education "The Great Divide" to continue to ignore the role of race in this and other issues misses a major issue in Massachusetts education.

8. Switching to a non-pandemic local one, my comments on Worcester's sex ed vote from May is next. I rarely write out what I am going to say in a School Committee meeting, but for this vote, I did. Certainly among the most important votes that we took this term.

7. Every so often, people come across one of my older posts that has photos from a school and clearly start passing it around, and so it was with my 2015 post on Vernon Hill School. Note the WPA-era murals of Native Americans from the lobby. 

6. I spent a long time putting together a response to a student email I received last January on in-school transmission, so I decided to post it for those who might find it useful. Clearly many did!

5. My notes from the March meeting of the Board of Ed, at which they voted to change the time on learning regulations to force schools to have students in buildings full time are next, for obvious reasons. 

4. My length rebuttal to the Atlantic's article pushing for schools to reopen--one of many pieces in which the Atlantic fumbled the issue--is next. I would also note that the Atlantic piece is one of many this year in which the hyperlinks don't tell the story the text claims.

3. My February letter to the Worcester delegation, pleading with them to act as a co-equal branch of government--something, I'd note, we could still use--is next. I continue to think this:

 Had we started our response there--with Worcester, with Chelsea, with Lawrence--we would have had a very different result. 

And yet, of course, here we are.

2. Something we haven't seen in some time is a charter school application for Worcester; we had one this year (which didn't get sent forward to the next step), and that blog post is next. This is, I think, something which is not going to go away quietly in the coming years, so Worcester needs to be ready for it. 

1. And topping the most read individual posts is my March letter to the delegation questioning the Commissioner's authority, something which I have yet to hear anyone at the state level do. I think that coming out of this era, one of the things with which we need to wrestle is the question of who has what job. The model of everything being left to the local level except when the state decides it doesn't like what you're doing is not a good one. 

And on into 2022! Thanks for reading!

NO SCHOOL FOR VERNON HILL today

IPlease spread the word: 

Due to on-going repairs of a gas leak in vicinity of the school, the VERNON HILL SCHOOL will be CLOSED on FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2015.

The school was evacuated yesterday due to this leak (which does not affect the school's gas supply). Gas fumes are collecting into the school through an underground conduit; the situation is continuing to be monitored, but classes cannot meet there today. 

5 am update from Mr. Allen: As of 5am, the repairs of the gas leak near the school were still underway.  We understand that once the gas leaks are found, it will require several hours for repair.  Therefore, with all abundance of caution, it has been decided that the Vernon Hill School will be closed today. 

Vernon Hill School

Part of my periodic series of inside looks at WPS. As always, if you click the photo, it'll make it bigger.

I was over at Vernon Hill Elementary today, ahead of the impending blizzard. If you're a Worcester resident of any duration, you probably know this building, built in 1931, as Providence Street Junior High:

, 

The front entrance brings you straight through the lobby and hallway into the auditorium, where the stage is backed with a mural of the school:

(That's the new math materials in all those boxes!)

Here's what the room looks like from the front: 

 

Back out in the entryway, there are two murals. 

It says: "The intrepid Diggory Sargent. 

The mural on this wall shows the Indian attack upon the Diggory Sargent House-hold and the subsequen removal of his wife and children to Canada. This school now stands up what was once Diggory Sargent's land.

The attack on the Sargent family happened in the winter of 1703/04 during the second attempted English settlement of Worcester. Sargent had served as an English soldier durin King Philip's War and is said to have refused to leave Worcester even during the conflicts on the edge of English settlement. He was killed in the attack; his wife was killed shortly thereafter. The children were among those carried to Canada; some later returned in Massachusetts.

"The peaceful Indians of Packachoag on the opposite wall.
The more peaceful activities of the Indians are depicted.
John Eliot, Captain Daniel Gookin,  and Sagamore John are here shown in the of Nipmuck Indians atop Packachoag Hill where Holy Cross College now stands."

Eliot, known as "missionary to the Indians," who translated the Bible into Algonquian, shown with Daniel Gookin, Worcester County Sheriff, who was among those charged with founding Worcester, and Sagamore John (Horowaninit of Packachoag, who lead the Nipmucks in the area during early times of English settlement). 

"These mural paintings were made possible through the generosity of the Saint Wulfstan Society, the efforts of the Worcester Public School Art League, and the gifts of the graduating classes 1937B, 1938A and B, 1939A and B, and 1940A and B of the Providence Street Junior High School. Both murals were painted by Will S. Taylor, who attended the Worcester Public Schools before becoming on of the country's outstanding mural artists and a student of the lives and customs of the North American Indians."

Worcester School Committee meets Thursday, November 6

The Worcester School Committee has a regular meeting on Thursday, November 3 at 7 pm. You can find the agenda here.
After recognitions, we have the Superintendent's presentation of her summative evaluation. You can find the (massive) backup for that here. The School Committee will present their evaluation at the next meeting on Thursday, November 20.
We have the reports of both the Joint Committee and Finance and Operations. (In both cases, the notes start with that blog post and go forward.)
We have a response coming back on site councils.
We have a response on internships.
We have a response coming back on kindergartners on buses.
We have several congratulations being offered: students in the Columbus Day art contest; Rob Pezzella for his selection as "Changemaker for Children" from YOU, Inc; for a donation to Norrback Elementary.
We're sending the city's Byrne grant to Governance.
We have an item on the proposed changes to the teacher licensure system (on which I have posted at length). Note that right now, the proposal is to send this to the Governance subcommittee.
Miss Biancheria is asking about MCAS overrides.
She'd also like a report on coordination with the Department of Public Health on flu and Ebola.
There's a request for a report on CSX donations on Grafton Hill.
We have the quarterly special education collaborative report to consider.
There are several more proposals for congratulations--Burncoat Field Hockey; North High Health Science; South High--all connnected to Channel 5's broadcast here last week.
Administration is sending an elementary report card item to subcommittee (there's no backup; it's for updates as the pilot rolls forward).
We're being asked to approve a six year, $1.8 million contract with Houghton Mifflin for the "Go, Math!" program, being piloted this year.
We are being asked to approve two prior year payments:1,439.86 for an Instructional Assistant and $7,468.00 for an EAW Unit B administration.
We're being asked to accept a $900 donation from Agriculture in the Classroom to Worcester Tech's Biosphere.
Mr. O'Connell is sending part of the Council of Great City School's statement around standardized testing to Accountability. 
Mr. Monfredo would like to congratulate Woodland and Union Hill for receiving the Apple grant.
Miss Biancheria would like an update on dealing with arrests and youth violence.
And we're being asked to accept $13,000 from Millbury Savings Bank for Vernon Hill ($5000) and Quinsigamond School ($8000), as part of their five year commitment to those schools.

Principal and Assistant Principal appointments

This afternoon, we received the following from Superintendent Boone:

I am happy to announce the Principal and Assistant Principals selected for the following:

• Siobhan McKenna Dennis, Principal, Columbus Park School
• Lauren Chuk, Acting Assistant Principal, Canterbury Street School
• Susan Donahue, Acting Assistant Principal, Rice Square School
• Patricia Murphy-Brown, Acting Assistant Principal, Vernon Hill School
• Maureen Power, Assistant Principal, Jacob Hiatt Magnet School
• Joanne Quist, Acting Assistant Principal, Sullivan Middle School
• Tina Schirner, Assistant Principal, Grafton Street School

New principals and assistant principals appointed

We've just received the new principals and assistant principals appointed by Superintendent Boone in our Friday letter.

Jessica Boss, Principal, Chandler Elementary Community School 

 Yeu Kue, Principal, City View Discovery School 

 Mary Labuski, Principal, Flagg Street School 

 Martha Dewar, Principal, Lincoln Street School 

 Caprice Kopka, Principal, Rice Square School 

 Josephine Robertson, Principal, Sullivan Middle 

 Carenza Jackson, Principal, Vernon Hill School 

 

 Michael Dunphy, Assistant Principal, Belmont Street Community School 

 Lynne-Ann Handleman, Assistant Principal, Chandler Magnet School (ACT) 

 Renee Powers, Assistant Principal, Lake View School 

 Nancy O’Coin, Assistant Principal, Quinsigamond School 

 Caryn McCrohon, Assistant Principal, Tatnuck Magnet School 

Mary Ellen Scanlon, Assistant Principal, Thorndyke Road School 

You can find out more about them at the above link. Nearly all are internal hires.

Principal openings

You may have caught the article in today's T&G about the principal shifts for the end of this year. As these are all openings that will be happening at the end of this year, the replacement process is already underway. This involves two panels at the school: an initial screening panel, followed by an interview panel, which then forwards finalists to the superintendent (Chandler follows a somewhat different pattern, due to its status as a Level 4 school).
The openings for next year are:

• Chandler Elementary
• City View
• Flagg Street
• Lincoln Street
• Rice Square
• Vernon Hill
• Sullivan Middle

Most of these are, as you saw, retirements, and, due to the experience of our principal staff, this is not an unusually high number.

And wishing Mr. DeFalco well on his new assignment in New Bedford!

Facilities projects update

Worcester East Middle: bid out, permits going into place, construction will begin once permits are in place; plan is to have it done by the end of the calendar year
Heard Street roof: bid awarded, permits going in place, 6-8 week window (but depends on weather)
Vernon Hill masonry DONE: had to take the Vernon Hill sign down as part of that

MSBA:
New Citizens has all new windows, caulking, new shades, new boiler, just final punch list items; just need to do the doors, that will start next weekend
Lake View windows are in; still doing caulking and trim, happening second shift; then will start doors in
May Street some windows are out for masonry work (lower level); gym windows are in; window work will begin again once Lake View is done, then doors after that
Chandler Magnet gym windows are in, finishing work now; main building is for NEXT year; intending to get windows in on site, try to do some work during non-pupil periods if possible, then finish next summer
Jacob Hiatt: new boiler and such is IN

Next summer's projects are in schematic design phase, and that's due this week to MSBA (that's Columbus Park, WEMS, WAMS, and Tatnuck Magnet)

Nelson Place: Tishman Construction is the OPM, working on the architect, proposals are in
reviewing for architect: meeting is on October 22
Once that happens, then the building committee will be meeting
then review of all options, taking three or four months; narrow down to three choices from which city and schools will choose (looking to submit to MSBA in March)
that will go to MSBA Board vote

Allen notes that we may not submit four projects to MSBA next year, as we have work that cannot be covered by MSBA that is most urgent
Bedard notes removal of oil tanks, for example
Allen: estimate on those projects will be brought back to joint committee

Worcester School Committee meets Thursday!

The Worcester School Committee meets Thursday at 7 pm at City Hall. You can find the agenda here.
First off, a nice round of thank yous and honors: recognizing Hanover for donating the new playground at Wawecus, recognizing Shelia Harrity's recent selection by NASSP as their principal of the year, acknowledging Worcester Tech for their being named a Blue Ribbon School, and recognizing Garrett Levesque from Burncoat for being selected to participate in the All-National Honor Ensemble. Good stuff! Here's hoping that Garrett plays for us as well!
The report of the Superintendent is on the new PARCC test; we also have a response to frequently asked questions and the list of classes and hours that the state is proposing to pilot the PARCC at in Worcester. Take a look and WEIGH IN if this is of interest to you (you can even come to the meeting and ask for a suspension of the rules for public comment).
We have a few more appointments coming in, including Mr. Ganem's as Manager of Staff Development.
We're being asked to prior fiscal year payments in the amount of $965.59 for special education transportation; for $125 for a bus for North High; for $498 for several athletic officials; for $368.80 for a police detail for freshman orientation at Worcester Technical High School.
Mr. Monfredo is asking for a report on the new changes to MGL Chapter 222 around student exclusions.
We're being asked to accept a donation of a camera surveillance system to Nelson Place School.
We're asking administration for a report on options to expand music lessons to all elementary schools.
And we're setting a date to thank the Quinsigamond Land Task Force for buying new cafeteria tables for Vernon Hill School.

Also, coming attractions: there is a joint F&O/Education subcommittee meeting on TUESDAY at 4:30 at the Durkin Administration Building. Expect to talk budget and facilities! 

Two children missing in the Vernon Hill neighborhood: FOUND!

FOUND!

{We're asking that you PLEASE keep an eye out for two children from Vernon Hill School who are missing. The T&G has the details here. Bella is ten and a fifth grader; Landon is eight and a second grader.
UPDATE: They may be hiding, thinking they're in trouble, and they could be over as far as Grafton Street. Please, if you're over that way, go check your shed and under your porch! }

And it was passers-by that found them.

Worcester School Committee: honors for those improving grounds!

We're starting our meeting tonight by honoring the members of the Quinsig Village Advisory Committee, who enabled the building of a new playground at Quinsigamond School.
Councilor Clancy is announcing that they recently voted additional funds for capital improvements inside of Vernon Hill School and Quinsigamond School. (Hooray!)

We are also honoring District Attorney Early for the work he and his staff have done for improvements at schools around the district. (I should note that we got a list of the work that has been done and it went on for pages!)

Sleepless on Vernon Hill

Some Holy Cross students, led by Christina Kyriakos'11, will be bringing good sleep habits to 270 students at Vernon Hill School. According the article on the college website:

Sweet Dreamzzz' R.E.M. (Rest. Educate. Motivate.) Sleep Program will be replicated at Vernon Hill where 84 percent of the student body is eligible for free or reduced lunch. The program teaches children how to prepare for a good night’s sleep through healthy eating, activities and bedtime routines. Following the interactive 45-minute program, each child will be supplied with a sleep kit that includes a sleeping bag, socks, toothbrush, toothpaste, crayons, stuffed animal and fun sleep educational materials.
While often overlooked, good sleep is essential to well-being and has a sustainable impact on children’s success in learning, Kyriakos explains. According to the National Sleep Foundation, lack of sleep has been linked to childhood obesity, academic difficulties, attention deficit disorder, mood disorders, heart disease and other health issues.

They've been looking for donations for their good work (and I'm sure we can track them down if you're interested in helping out!).

h/t Nicole

Honors

We're starting tonight with honoring the Tech school for their selection by the MetLife Foundation and the National Association of Secondary School Principals as a Breakthrough School. Mr. Coughlin points us to the new website for soliciting funds for the school around this.

Acknowledgement tonight of the donation (first year) of $13,000 in total to Vernon Hill and Quinsigamond Schools from Millbury Savings Bank.

TimothyWilliams, network administrator for WPS, is being deployed overseas with the US Navy, and is, as Superintendent Boone puts it, receiving our version of "manning the rail."