Boston Globe
Nov. 15, 2007
7/11/15/schools_outline_goals/

Schools outline goals
November 15, 2007
Needham
School officials have announced the district’s goals for this academic
year. The 16-page document lists three objectives: advancing
standards-based learning, developing students’ social and emotional
skills, and promoting active citizenship. The aim is to benchmark
academic progress and create a school culture that helps students to
find their voices and become leaders. The schools will also focus on
community service projects that connect back to curriculum
requirements, according to the announcement, which is posted on the
district’s website,

– Laura Colarusso
WALTHAM

TEACHER STUDIES IN ISRAEL – A Gann Academy physics teacher was one of
10 American educators selected to participate in the Schwartz
International Leading Science Teachers Seminar in Rehovot, Israel,
last summer. Amy Kumpel spent nine days at the Davidson Institute of
Science Education, part of the multidisciplinary Weizmann Institute of
Science. Kumpel’s 26 fellow participants were from Israel, Germany,
the United Kingdom, and Singapore as well as the U nited States. The
seminar aims to promote cooperation and the exchange of ideas among
science teachers and give them the chance to learn about cutting-edge
teaching methods and research in their discipline. – Stephanie V. Siek

WATERTOWN PROGRAM ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE – To help sort out the Armenian
genocide controversy that has been widely debated in recent months,
the World in Watertown, the town’s former No Place for Hate Committee,
the Wayside Youth Coalition, and the Armenian National Committee of
America will join to host a program for the public on Nov. 28. The
presentation and discussion will focus on the history of the mass
killings, in which up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman
Turks between 1915 and 1923, and its impact around the world, with
Turkey disputing the death toll and its characterization as
genocide. A short film featuring survivors will be shown. George
Aghjayan and Sharistan Melkonian, with the Armenian National
Committee, as well as professor Henry Theriault, director of the Human
Rights Center at Worcester State College, will speak. The free program
will be held in the Watertown High School auditorium from 7 to 9
p.m. – Christina Pazzanese

Wellesley
RACHEL CARSON OBSERVANCE – The Wellesley Natural Resources Commission
will celebrate the 100th birthday of pioneer conservationist Rachel
Carson with a ceremony on Saturday. A National Book Award winner and
contributor to the New Yorker magazine, Carson won acclaim for drawing
attention to the dangers of DDT and other chemical pesticides in the
1950s, when the federal government was endorsing their widespread
use. The commission’s celebration will include a short talk and
documentary film about Carson’s life, as well as a discussion of how
to reduce pesticide use on lawns today. The presentation will take
place Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Wellesley Free Library. Coffee and
refreshments will be served. – Lisa Keen

PLAN TO SETTLE SENIOR CENTER DEBATE – Some people thought a proposal
concerning a senior center in Wellesley might have become one of
Special Town Meeting’s most contentious issues. One group wanted to
consider building a new center, others wanted to renovate the
Wellesley Community Center to improve the space now used by
seniors. But a last-minute agreement took the issue off the table last
week and a step closer to resolution. Selectwoman Harriett Warshaw
announced during Town Meeting that her board and the trustees of a
bequest to provide $825,000 for a senior center agreed to work on a
plan to renovate the Community Center to meet the needs of the town’s
elder citizens. If the two boards can agree on a proposal, Warshaw and
trustee Gail Kingsley said, the selectmen will decline the bequest and
the trustees will contribute the money toward the renovation. If no
agreement is reached, the Board of Selectmen will accept the bequest
and return to Town Meeting next spring for permission to proceed with
a study for turning the American Legion post on Washington Street into
a new senior center. The bequest was made by a longtime Wellesley
resident, Mary Esther Tolles, who died in July 2005 at age 94.
– Lisa Keen

WESTON
EXAMINING FIELD SCHOOL – The School Committee is looking for one
community member and two parent volunteers to serve on the newly
formed Field School Facility Committee, charged with making a
recommendation about whether the grade 4-5 school should be renovated
or replaced. Chaired by School Committee member Edward Heller, the
Field panel will review information about town demographics, the
condition of the school building, its grade configuration, and the
findings of a recent feasibility study. Its work would begin next
month, with its final recommendation to be delivered to the School
Committee during the 2008-’09 school year. Residents can apply for a
seat on the facility board by sending a letter of interest to Maryanne
Rogers, chairwoman, Weston School Committee, c/o Weston Public
Schools, 89 Wellesley St., Weston, MA 02493. The committee prefers
that applicants send information by regular mail, and that it be
received by Monday.
– Stephanie V. Siek

around the region
Bellingham
GREEN SIDEWALKS – Planning Board members last Thursday discussed a
balance between environmental impact and safety as they considered
whether Cedar Hill Estates, a proposed cul-de-sac of four
single-family homes, needs a sidewalk. The town planner, Stacey
Wetstein, suggested that the subdivision could have a marked
pedestrian lane on the road, rather than a sidewalk, with the smaller
paved area allowing more rain to replenish the ground water. "We’re
trying to achieve a measure of green design. You kind of have to
start thinking about where you need additional pavement, and where you
don’t," Wetstein told Planning Board members. Most agreed that a
pedestrian lane would be sufficient, especially since the cul-de-sac
would be expected to have little traffic.
Board member Glenn Wojcik expressed the most concern, saying that
young children should have sidewalks on which to ride their bikes. The
discussion of Cedar Hill Estates is to be resumed on Jan. 10.
– Alexandra Perloe

berlin
SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH – The Berlin-Boylston Regional School Committee
last week appointed an 18-member panel to oversee the search process
for a new superintendent. During its meeting Wednesday, the panel
appointed local educators and School Committee members to the search
team, to be joined by Jackie Healy, representing Berlin Memorial
School parents; Grant McGimpsey, representing Boylston Elementary
School parents; Julia Hucknall, for Tahanto Regional Middle High
School parents; and Heidi Schwehr of Berlin and Heidi MacDonald of
Boylston as community representatives. School Committee chairwoman
Christine Keefe said she expects the search panel to have its first
meeting in the middle of next month, and the district to have a new
superintendent starting in July, she said. A retired superintendent,
Joseph Connelly, is serving as the interim schools chief this year. –
John Dyer

Dover
SUPERINTENDENT SOUGHT – The school committees for Dover, Sherborn, and
the Dover-Sherborn regional district are recruiting candidates for
their soon-to-be-vacated position of school superintendent. Perry
Davis will be retiring in December, and his position will become
available on July 1, with Robert Couture having been hired to fill the
gap as the interim superintendent. Applications for the position are
being accepted through Nov. 28. The search is being conducted through
a Beverly consulting firm, Future Management Systems.
– Nadia Salomon

Lincoln
POLICE CITE RASH OF BREAK-INS – Police are asking town residents to
keep their eyes open after a string of home break-ins recently. Late
last month, an unidentified suspect broke into a home on Morningside
Lane through an unlocked garage window and got away with jewelry and
electronics. Police believe it is connected to a string of burglaries
in the area. Anyone with information is asked to contact police at
781-259-8113. – John M. Guilfoil

MARLBOROUGH
BID TO BLOCK CASINOS – The City Council could vote as soon as its
meeting Monday to restrict any casino development in Marlborough. "I
haven’t heard any opposition to it at this point from any of the
councilors," said the council’s president, Arthur Vigeant, who
initiated the measure. "It’s basically allowing the city to make a
choice. It’s a little insurance policy for us. It gives us an option
if someone wants to bring a casino to the city." If the council
approves the ordinance, a developer with plans for a casino would
first have to request the ordinance be changed, since it would
prohibit any uses not explicitly allowed by law already. There is no
formal casino development proposal, but Marlborough is considered to
be among the potential locations if Governor Deval Patrick’s
recommendation to allow such gaming is approved by the state
Legislature. – Lisa Kocian

MILLIS
STUDENT-RISK STUDY RESULTS – Seventy percent of Millis High School students
said they have drunk alcohol and 36 percent said they have used marijuana,
according to a MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation study presented to
the School Committee last month. The study, which also looked at bullying,
eating habits, and tobacco use, is available online at _millis.k12.ma.usw_
() . – Calvin Hennick

Northborough
TRAIL INTERPRETED – The Sudbury Valley Trustees organization has
unveiled a new interpretative trail in the Crane Swamp, part of the
2,225-acre Cedar Hill and Sawink Farm Reservation in Northborough and
surrounding towns. A brochure that guides hikers through the trail and
identifies plant species and geologic formations may be downloaded
from the group’s website, _sudburyvalleytrustees.org_
(http://sudburyvalleyt rustees.org/) , or picked up at the Beeman Road
parking lot and other trailheads. – John Dyer

Sherborn
VERIZON DEAL IS A GO – The Board of Selectmen has approved an
agreement allowing Verizon to provide cable television service to the
town, competing against Comcast. Verizon already offers telephone and
Internet service. Verizon spokesman Philip Santoro said residents can
expect service to be available within a few weeks. The 15-year
contract calls for the town to receive $131,000 From Verizon to
support local public, educational, and government programming, with
$58,000 paid after 90 days, $58,000 paid on the first anniversary, and
$3,000 paid each of the last five years of the agreement. – Nadia
Salomon

Southborough
IN LINE FOR ATV FROM SETTLEMENT – The Fire Department is applying for
a Polaris Ranger, a two-man all-terrain vehicle that resembles a dune
buggy, through a grant from the US Smokeless Tobacco Co. Emergency
management director Neal Aspesi said the Ranger would help first-aid
responders gain access to the 17 miles of trails and railroad tracks
in town that are inaccessible to normal emergency vehicles. The
tobacco company offers the vehicles to municipalities as part of a
court settlement agreement, Aspesi said. He said he hopes to hear back
on the application in late spring. – John Dyer
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