Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Earlier this month, Newsweek named Westford Academy as one of the top thousand high schools in America, and now a publication here in the Bay State says its in the Commonwealth's top 100.
After being named as the 187th best high school in America by Newsweek earlier this month, Westford Academy has received another award, this time from a publication closer to home. GoLocalWorcester has named WA as #44 in its Second Annual Massachusetts' Top High Schools list. The website ranked 345 public, charter and and technical schools across the state in a formula developed at Babson College to measure criteria such as test scores, student-teacher ratios, and graduation rates to name a few. Despite the news, Westford fell from 32nd in last year's poll by the company. Other nearby schools on the list included Wilmington (#99), Chelmsford (#90), Groton-Dunstable (#87), Shawsheen Tech (#74), Minuteman Tech (#40), Littleton (#35), …
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
The Westford Academy gymnasium was filled to the brim with innovative Westford kids and proud parents on Monday.
These are just a few of the great student inventions on hand at the Westford Academy gymnasium on Monday afternoon. If you want to share pictures of your child's great experiment or invention, share it by clicking on the "Upload Photos and Videos" button. Also make sure to check out pictures from the fairs in 2011 and 2012!
Monday, May 13, 2013
The board took at look at recommended changes to the Westford Academy student handbook last week.
The School Committee unanimously approved a set of recommended changes to the Westford Academy student handbook during their meeting last week. Presented by Westford Academy principal James Antonelli and Dean Robert Ware, the change that drew the most discussion was that of not allowing students who are failing two or more classes or who were absent to attend extra-curricular events such as proms or sporting events without administrative approval. Ware and Antonelli told the board they wanted to modify the existing wording in the handbook to provide flexibility for the administration in cases where it may help the student to attend events as well as instances where it wouldn't, also citing that discussions already take place with the …
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
The magazine's 2013 rankings came out Monday.
On mobile? You can see interactive map here. Newsweek has ranked Westford Academy as the #187th high school in the country. For its rankings, Newsweek sent out a survey to more than 5,000 high schools in the U.S., with about 2,500 schools responding in 2013. You can see the details about Westford Academy's ranking, and every other ranked high school by clicking on the markers in the interactive map above. The survey scores were then weighted and calculated using several criteria including on-time graduation and college acceptance rates. In addition, instead of averaging the number of courses offered, this year Newsweek considered the percentage of students enrolled in AP, IB or Advance International Certificate courses. The final scores …
Thursday, April 25, 2013
The show is being presented this and next weekend. Thursday - Sat both weekends. All shows are at 7:30.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Though the Lady Grey Ghosts took a three-point lead in the fourth quarter, Central Catholic ran away with a 60-51 win in the North Division 1 final on Saturday in Lowell.
Westford Academy grabbed a late lead but went cold down the stretch as Central Catholic pulled out a 60-51 win in the North Division 1 girls basketball final at the Tsongas Center in Lowell. After the Lady Grey Ghosts took a three-point edge early in the fourth quarter, Central Catholic took over. Westford scored just two points in the final 4:55 of the contest. "We made two or three runs at them and were hoping they would crack, but they just totally didn't," said Grey Ghost head coach Russ Coward. "I'm proud of our girls, but obviously a little disappointed in the outcome." Check back with Westford Patch on Monday for complete coverage of Saturday's game. Are you a big fan of the Grey Ghosts? You'll also want to see:
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Friday, February 22, 2013
It was a busy week for Grey Ghost teams, with plenty of athletes earning team and individual accolades.
When narrowing down who to feature for this week's Westford Academy athlete spotlight, there was just one problem. There were far too many to choose from. The Grey Ghosts had a jam packed week of athletic accomplishments from individual accomplishments to team accolades. Westford's girls swimming and diving team repeated as Division 1 champions on Saturday at Springfield College. Jennifer Marrkand led the charge with two individual wins and two relay victories, while Kelly Huber repeated as 100-yard breaststroke champion. During the boys competition, the Grey Ghost swimmers made a splash as well, snagging second place in Division 1. On the mats, the Westford Academy wrestling team performed well at the Division 1 North meet, with Ben Katz …
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Westford Academy's Todd Fletcher led the girls hockey team to a regular season league title.
The following questions were answered by Westford Academy girls hockey coach Todd Fletcher, who led the Grey Ghosts to a 13-2-1 league record and 14-3-1 mark overall. That was good for a Merrimack Valley/Dual County League regular season title. What has been the key to your team's success so far this season? The way that we want our team to be perceived is as an energetic team that keeps coming at you. They play smart. We give them a system and let them play in the system. We’ve been fortunate enough to have good numbers and a lot of girls that can play. We have great depth. The way our girls play with the intensity that they bring and just all in all their effort from top to bottom, you don’t find that too often. How would you describe …
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Both high schools touted near universal four-year graduation rates for its 2012 seniors according to a recently released report.
Last month, the Patrick-Murray administration announced that just over 4 in 5 high school students were graduating in four years, with students in Westford graduating at a significantly higher rate. According to data released by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary of Secondary Education, 84.7 percent of the 73,479 2011-2012 senior year high school students graduated, compared to a 98.5 percent figure at Westford Academy and a 98.8 percent figure at Nashoba Tech. "I am proud to see more students graduating on time, because now more than ever, having a high school diploma is essential to success in our 21st Century global economy," said Governor Deval Patrick in a released statement. "But until we close the achievement gap, our …
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Head Coach Russell Coward has the Westford Academy girls basketball team back in the playoffs again this year.
As part of a new feature, Patch will feature interviews with Westford Academy coaches on a weekly basis. Check back to learn more about the men and women on the sidelines leading the Grey Ghosts. This week's questions were answered by Russell Coward, head coach of the girls basketball team that this week clinched the Dual County League large school division regular season title. Coward is in his fifth year as the varsity coach after two years leading the JV team. What has been the key to the team's success this year? Two things - we have really focused on improving on defense as individuals and as a team. Over Christmas break we usually have alumni that come back to practice with the team. Asia Ewing, who plays at Stonehill, mentioned that…
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weenier
5:57 pm on Tuesday, May 21, 2013
can I get an 'amen' that we would like to maximize bang for the buck and if we can deny teachers auto step raises again next year and keep per pupil costs down so be it! we are cheap with a buck and that's cause for celebration not diminished ranking! more ›