Lots of news!

It's been a busy spring with lots happening in our district. A ground-breaking ceremony has been scheduled for Jessica's Boundless Playground, teachers have been recognized for their excellence, students have also been recognized for their hard work, and we had a visit from the Massachusetts Secretary of Education.

Ground-breaking Ceremony for Jessica's Boundless Playground!

On Monday, May 12th, at 6:00 pm, Team Jessica will break ground on the site for Jessica's Boundless Playground! There will be a brief ceremony when the first shovel will dig into the site as we get ready for site preparation work to be done. This vision has been a long time in coming, but we are getting started and look forward to the result! If you have some time, stop on by and join in the celebration! The site for the playground is adjacent to the lower parking lot at Chestnut Hill Community School.

Teacher Recognition

Lawrence O'Brien, BHS Social Studies Teacher, received the William Spratt Award for Excellence in Teaching Secondary Social Studies by his state professional organization in April. Three other teachers were recognized, along with their peers from Hampshire and Franklin Counties, as Pioneer Valley Excellence in Teaching award winners on May 6th: Rachel Goldenberg, BHS Science Teacher; Melissa Gramuglia, JBMS Physical Education/Health Teacher; and Louise Levy, BHS Science Teacher. Congratulations to one and all!

Student Recognition

Congratulations go to Jordan Gamache, grade 10, and Quinn Roche, grade 8, for their winning essays submitted to the New England Outdoor Writers' Association contest! They were recognized at a recent School Committee meeting for their outstanding work.

Congratulations also go to the BHS music department for their awards as a result of performances at the Heritage Music Festival in Chicago, IL on May 2nd:

• Wind Ensemble: Gold medal, first place, Division 3A
• Symphony Band: Gold medal, first place, Division 2A
• Concert Band: Silver medal, second place, Division 1A
• Percussion Ensembles 1 and 2: Gold medals and first place in Divisions 1A and 2A
• Concert Choir: Silver medal, third place, Division 2
• Women's Choir: Gold medal, first place, Division 2A
• Percussion 2: Sweepstakes award - high score for percussion
• Wind Ensemble: Highest Scoring Band of the Festival
• All bands: Overall Band Award
• Jennifer Ollari Barry: Maestro Award.

Congratulations also go to Ms. Lyndsay Boysen, Director of Bands, and Ms. Susan Comstock, Choir Director for an outstanding job!

Massachusetts Secretary of Education, Matthew Malone, visits BHS

Dr. Malone visited BHS on Tuesday of this week as part of his goal to visit every district in the Commonwealth. He was in the area for a meeting of a state task force on school safety that was held later that day and was very impressed with the work we have done as a district on our Emergency Operations Plan. He spent time talking to staff and students along the way.

Secretary of Education, Matthew Malone, reads an essay written by a student in Ms. Letseizen's class.
He was impressed with the work he saw!

The past few weeks have been busy ones, to say the least! We are now on the home stretch for this school year. The Class of 2014 will be graduating on Sunday, June 8th at 2:00 pm in the BHS gymnasium. It doesn't seem possible that this year is almost over.

If you have any questions or comments about this blog post, please feel free to contact me at 413.323.0423 or by email: superintendent@belchertown.org.

Enjoy the weekend, Dr. Judith Houle, Superintendent of Schools.