In the Schools, June 5

Superintendent Congratulates Graduates

With the Commencement this afternoon, Superintendent Mary Gormley had this to say to the Class of 2011 in an email to the Milton Public Schools community last week: 

We in the Milton Public Schools -- your teachers, secretaries, custodians, aides, administrators and support staff -- have spent as much time with some of you over the past thirteen years as your own families.  At times, we have served “in loco parentis” -- teaching you, cheering you, correcting you at times, and encouraging your success. For our Latin students, the phrase “in loco parentis” should be a familiar one. It means “in place of parents,” and captures the role that some of your teachers, guidance counselors, coaches and principals have played in your lives.

As a group, your class has amazed us. We recall your early grades, when you were learning to read, speak other languages, appreciate music and solve math problems. Later, you moved onto more difficult tasks, learning advanced language skills, reading longer novels and working on more complicated projects.

You performed community service for our elderly, our children, our churches and our civic groups. Your voices joined together in a beautiful chorus. You expressed yourselves onstage, whether through theater, dance or music. You wrote beautiful passages of prose and poetry. You captured the world around you in paint, charcoal and photographs. You sacrificed your time and your energy and pushed yourselves physically through our sports programs.

You have amazed us with your abilities. You have inspired us with your breadth of talents. You have achieved beyond what anyone could have imagined. On behalf of the Milton Public Schools, I want to tell you how proud we all are of your class.

We hope and expect that you will take everything you have learned here in the Milton Public Schools and begin the next chapter in your lives. I wish you continued success, health and happiness as you begin your journey. The first step will be when you walk out of your MHS Graduation Ceremony on Sunday, June 5th. The next steps are up to you.

Your Milton High School family is so proud of you. You are amazing young adults.

Mary C. Gormley, Superintendent of Milton Public Schools

St. Mary’s Places 19^th in World Finals

grade 5 Odyssey of the Mind team competed in two events during Memorial Day weekend at the University of Maryland. The team finished 19^th for the spontaneous competition and 39^th out of 61 teams overall. Congratulations to students Laeticia Clarke, James Marlow, Jacob Martens, Chloe Saintis, Matthew Tibets and Robert Toole, as well as coach Tim Banach.

Violinist Théramène Set for European Tour

Milton resident Aurélie Théramène, a student at Boston’s Commonwealth School, will be traveling to Eastern Europe with the New England Conservatory Youth Philharmonic Orchestra later this month. She joined her fellow violinists and other musicians at a kickoff concert on Friday, playing Mahler’s Ninth Symphony in Boston’s Jordan Hall under the direction of Benjamin Zander.

The tour will include performances at Vienna’s Musikverein, Prague’s Dvorak Hall, the Jihlaya Mahler Festival, the Litomysl Smetana Festival and the Bratislava Summer festival.

Pierce Receives Rocketry Study Grant

students have been selected as recipients of the 2011 Young AFCEA Rocket Box Program Grant. Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of math and science among this country’s youth. The grant will give all of Pierce’s seventh grade students an opportunity to participate in a hands-on study of rocketry and aerospace by providing:

• Sufficient rockets for targeted class size (1 rocket per 2 students) – about 160 rockets for Pierce Middle School
• Detailed lesson plans targeting: science, mathematics and critical thinking skills
• Activities to design, build and test a model rocket’s thrust, propulsion, weight and various forces that affect structure and energy transfer
• An educational DVD focusing on the mechanics and principals of rockets and recent rocketry advancements

The addition of Pierce’s program will make the other Milton Public schools eligible for more math and science grants and the AFCEA scholarship program for high school seniors.

Continental Math League winners

Several fourth and fifth grade students in the Milton Public Schools were named Regional First Place Winners in the Continental Math League competition. Fourth grade first place winners were Emily Schewe, Dietrich Werner, William Conforti, Shayla Kelly, Veronica Harris, Hannah Mitchell, Ameilia Ferreira, Alexis Daley, Julia deBord, Sarah Hancock, Katherine Murray and Katharine Barrett. Fifth-grade winners were Isaac Robinson, Sawyer Flanagan, James Conley, Regina Scott, John Weiler, James Eder, Caroline McGillivray, Elias Dow, Robert Dexter, Caleb Farwell, Ryan Au and Victoria Chen.

New Residency Coordinator Announced

In January of this year, the Milton Public Schools hired John O. Febres to fill the vacated position of Student Registrar/Residency Coordinator. Febres, a Milton resident and public school parent, came to MPS as a former teacher and school district staff person in the Boston Public Schools. He led the kindergarten registration process for this year has worked to update the process for accepting new students to the district and monitoring the residency cases in conjunction with the Milton Police.

“Mr. Febres’ full-time attention to the issue of residency, combined with his professional approach and follow-through, has already yielded significant results in ensuring that all students are in compliance with the MPS residency policy,” wrote Superintendent Mary Gormley in a recent email to the Milton Public Schools community.

PAC to Hold Reception Thursday

The Milton Special Education Parents Advisory Council inviting all parents and guardians to a reception for the current and incoming Administrators of Pupil Personnel Services, Dr. Patricia DelVal and Ms. Karen Clasby. The reception will be held on Thursday, June 9 from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. at the Cunningham-Collicot School Library.

Fifth graders, 1; Teachers, 0

The fifth graders bested the school’s faculty at the annual basketball game last week. The 55 student hoopsters never trailed in the game, easily taking home the 2011 Championship Trophy.