2009-2010 School Year Ends Quietly at the High School

Arlington High School was like a ghost town yesterday afternoon, but instead of tumbleweeds in the hallway, there were only a few abandoned pens or slips of paper the students left behind.

The students have been more or less gone since Wednesday, June 16, which was the last day of classes. The last week has been mostly finals, but yesterday was the last official day of school and the few students who had to make-up exams were thrilled, said Anne Albertazzi, the main office secretary at the high school.

Of course, not much had changed for her. "I'll be here all summer," she said with a laugh. "But the student have been very excited the last few days."

The teachers were also looking forward to a couple months off. Brian Sylvester, a language arts and academic support teacher was planning to do a lot of professional development, but also a lot of relaxing.

"I am going camping in Vermont and planning some other trips," Sylvester said.

Stephanie Griffith, an incoming junior, also had big travel plans for the summer. "I am going to San Francisco to visit some family," she said. For her, the break was a welcome change.

"Sophomore year has been really stressful," Griffith said, though she is not expecting junior year to be much better in that regard. "I am looking forward to a little break."

Joana Xhuveli, an incoming senior, was not as excited. "I love school," said Xhuveli who is planning to spend the summer working at Dunkin' Donuts. Besides that, she said she is just looking forward to coming back in the fall when school starts.

History teacher Melanie Konstandakis was planning to spend most of her summer still teaching, first as the director of Club Invention at the Peirce School and then as the director of SummerFun, a series of enrichment classes for kids offered at the Ottoson Middle School.

"It's fun but tiring," said Konstandakis. "In August I'll be doing some professional development classes in technology and hopefully taking a road trip to Montreal."

School starts again on September 8.