Westford Academy Students Honored for Their Contributions

Joseph Greene and Sameer Kini recognized for representing students on the School Committee

  During Monday night's School Committee meeting Westford Academy student representatives Joseph Greene and Sameer Kini were recognized by Superintendent Bill Olsen and the School Committee for their service. Each school year one or more students from Westford Academy are chosen to represent their school at bi-weekly School Committee meetings. After their recognition, Greene and Kini updated the committee on upcoming milestones including AP exams at the end of year, the junior cotillion this weekend, the senior prom next weekend, and Last Night on June 1 where about 95 percent of the class attends. In a separate meeting beforehand, the committee held their annual meeting with the Westford Academy Student Council to discuss what is working …

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Kenneth Morgan Media Center Ceremony

The former Westford Permanent School Building Committee chairman was on hand at the Miller School as local officials remembered his work planning new education facilities in the 1990s.

  Former Westford Permanent School Building Committee chairman Kenneth H. Morgan Jr. was on hand at the Miller School on Sunday to witness the naming of the school's new media center after him. Speakers told the crowd that Morgan was crucial for planning of more than 1,000,000 square feet of educational facilities in town, including construction of the Crisafulli, Miller and Stony Brook Schools.

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Westford Votes

Q&A With Westford's Next School Committee Member:Terence Ryan

Westford Patch sat down with the candidate to talk about issues ranging from the School Department's fiscal future to the state of local politics as a whole.

For those driving around Westford's main roads, it might be difficult to discern that there's actually an election coming up on May 1 due to the fact that there are almost no signs out on lawns. Don't tell that to Terence Ryan though. A newcomer to Westford politics, he's the third candidate for three slots for the School Committee election on Tuesday and he's been making his name visible across town. On the Friday before the election, Westford Patch sat down with what, excluding an unprecedented write-in campaign, will be the next member of the Westford School Committee for a one-on-one interview....   Westford Patch: You've already technically won... Why all the signs? Terence Ryan: I want to get my name out there. There are people who …

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Missing Child Report at Abbot Was in Error

An e-mail sent by the district indicates a missing child phone call was made in error this morning.

  As reported this morning on Westford Patch's Facebook and Twitter feeds, an phone message sent by the Westford School Department this morning indicating a child was missing at the Abbot School was inaccurate. An e-mail from the district indicates that the error came from testing a new phone application, and that Superintendent Olsen has apologized for the error and that all children at the Abbot School are safe in class. We are seeking more details, any parents wishing to talk with us can e-mail westford@patch.com

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Westford Kindergartener Earns Praise for "Rules of the Bus"

Six-year-old Meggie Norton overcame behavioral concerns to fulfill her dream of riding on the bus thanks to a song she developed along with her preschool teacher, family and a recording artist in Kansas.

Future kindergarteners needing to know what to do when they get on the school bus can thank Meggie Norton. The precocious six-year-old was recognized at the Westford School Committee meeting on last week for her role in developing “Rules on the Bus,” a set of behavioral rules for safe school bus travel for younger children set to a song.   Meggie’s song was born out of her desire to ride on the full length bus in her first year at the Miller School, just like her eight-year-old brother Charlie. At first, it seemed as though Meggie would have to ride in the Special Education van per the School Department’s recommendations due to the 40 minute ride, but her mom Kathy was determined to help her daughter’s dream come true. “While I have …

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AB

2:18 pm on Friday, April 27, 2012

Good for Meg. Matt was denied riding the regular bus by the powers that be at Central Office, and I hate putting him on that van every day. Inclusion and LRE mean our kids should be able to ride the bus with their non-disabled peers. Plus, what a great savings to the town to not have to maintain a fleet of vans. Bus monitors would be cheaper.   more ›

A New Look for Westford's Public School Food Service

Between a new website and a new policy getting rid of "pink slime", Westford Public School food service director Patti Donoghue was before the School Committee earlier this week to present what is hoped to be a new chapter for the department that was embr

It’s unclear whether Westford Public School students will return to buying lunches at the level they once did before last year’s food safety controversy, but various changes in the department were on display at Westford’s School Committee meeting on Monday night. Westford Public School food services director Patti Donoghue was on hand to introduce the department’s new website, and fielded questions from School Committee members on topics ranging from the new resource to the district’s decision to not serve “pink slime” beef causing the district to throw away 27 cases of meat and switching to serving more chicken. The website, which now offers information about nutrition and other topics in addition to school menus, costs the district $595 …

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The Future of Westford Academy Mandarin Classes Analyzed

Westford's School Committee took a critical look at the first year of the instruction in the world's most spoken language at Westford Academy and what needs to be done to ensure the long term stability of the program.

The first year of Mandarin instruction is coming to a close at Westford Academy, but the future of the program will remain as a work in progress if Monday’s School Committee meeting was any indication. Westford Academy foreign language curriculum coordinator Amy Moran reported to the Committee that enrollment will remain near approximately 20 students, with the addition of a Mandarin II class on top of the introductory offering. The beginning of Mandarin in Westford follows moves by neighboring school districts such as Concord-Carlisle and Acton-Boxborough that have been offering instruction in the world's most spoken language for the past decade. Westford had four separate possible roll outs for the language were proposed in 2009, …

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PHOTOS: The Big Event

The Big Event was a big event for Westford Education fans last weekend.

The Westford Education Foundation raised several thousand dollars last weekend at the Saint Vartanantz Armenian Church in Chelmsford, continuing a trend of hundreds of thousands of dollars raised for Westford public education over the past decade.

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