News on What's New at Your Schools

This school year starts, as all others, with a number of initiatives and changes for the Acton and Acton-Boxborough schools. Here’s a look at some recent developments already in place, or coming soon:

Technological updates abound, with some major goals met in all grades, said Amy Bisiewicz, director of educational technology. At , students now have a school-based email account as well as access to various Google-based applications that “really give them the same technology tools they’ll be using beyond high school” as well as allow them to “use school-based applications anywhere,” said Bisiewicz. Applications such as Google docs “open up some great opportunities for real-time collaboration,” said Bisiewicz, adding that one student recently told her he’d made changes to a paper he was working on via his smartphone—a testament, she said, “of what we have to provide them for the world we really live in.”

Technological advancements at the other schools include piloting the use of MOBI devices, “interactive tablets” that allow teachers to be mobile while carrying out functions on their laptops, at , said Bisiewicz, adding that “the teachers (there) seem really interested and excited.” At the elementary level, all classrooms are now outfitted with Smart Boards, interactive whiteboards that allow teachers in those grades “to bring technology into their lesson plans, which they’re very excited about,” she said.

The food services department is implementing a point of sale (POS) system, giving students and faculty at all schools the option to prepay for lunches online. Kirsten Nelson, food services director for Acton Public Schools/Acton-Boxborough Regional Schools, said the new system is part of efforts to “raise the bar and get everything computerized” while continuing to allow traditional cash purchases. With the new system, each student and faculty member will have an account set up with an assigned four-digit personal identification number (PIN) to be memorized by Oct. 7, the date the system goes live. “It’s really important that children have their numbers memorized by then,” said Nelson, adding that any students who haven’t received their identification number can log back into Powerschool for instructions.

Other food services initiatives include gluten-free lunches, available with 24-hour email notice to each school’s cafeteria manager, as well as the Mass Harvest to Schools program, to be held the week of Sept. 19-23, in which students will be offered “local corn they will be able to help husk,” said Nelson. Also that week will be a fruit and vegetable tasting for grades K-8 that “will give students a chance to sample (local) food as well as some they may not have tried before,” said Nelson.

Long-range plans for a Regional School District Study Committee (RSDSC) continue, with a recent to serve on the committee, following the August vote by the Acton Boxborough Regional School Committee (ABRSC) to create the RSDSC to research, evaluate, and report its findings on amending the regional agreement between Acton and Boxborough to include grades pre-K through 12. Bruce Sabot, chair of the Boxborough School Committee, said the benefits of a full regionalization between the towns include “ensuring students from Boxborough continue to have a high-quality educational experience” as enrollment declines there while also “reducing overcrowding” for Acton students, who would have access to Blanchard Memorial School. According to Sabot, committee members will include a current school committee member from each town, a current or previous finance committee member from each town and a parent from each town. All committee members will be chosen “hopefully by early October,” with RSDSC meetings likely to begin immediately afterward, said Sabot.