What You Missed at the School Committee Meeting

The Northborough School Committte elected new officers, discussed the FY11 budget, heard improvement plans about the and Peaslee schools and said goodbye to Principal Beth Ludwig at the meeting on Wednesday, June 1.

Committee elect: With nominations and unanimous votes, Nancy Berglund was elected chairman, Joan Frank vice chair and Shirley Lundberg as secretary as Northborough School Committee officers.

Always room for improvement: Principal Margaret Donohoe of the Proctor school presented an improvement plan for the school. "Not even a tornado could stop this presentation," she joked. Donohoe detailed some of the initiatives taken this past year, which included a new mural at the entrance to the school and the focus on health and wellness as was demonstrated in the "walk or bike to school day."

Johnny the K performed songs about respect, they held a Halloween candy drive, and came up with a new school pledge. The Proctor school students also held a hat and mitten drive for the victims of Japan, as well as created a tobacco poster, took a trip to the Christa McAuliffe Center, and held a "Spruce Up the School Day." Shifting to plans for the future, Donohoe detailed a two-year plan that focused on cirriculum and instruction. "We spent a lot of time discussing math," she said. The second goal cofuses on social compentency, helping the studente learn to respect and care for one another. Donohoe reported that there were 100 of the 312 students that were new to the school this year.

Principal Scott Bazydlo presented the improvement plan for the Peasleee Elementary School, with goals that include student engagement, literacy, citizenship and teacher collaboration. "No matter how hard we work," he said, "we have students who struggle. We took at look at engagement with a big umbrella. How can we make sure all our students were feeling engaged?"Bazydlo also said that the focus will shift slightly from reading to writing and student instruction of writing.

Looking to replace Ludwig: With Principal Beth Ludwig leaving the Lincoln Street Elementary School, the search is on to find a replacement. Superintendent of Schools Charles Gobron said the search committee has reviewed 30 resumes from candidates, and recommended finalists. Gobron will review the finalists in the next few days, and hopes to hire a new principal soon. "As we know, Beth Ludwig has done an exceptional job," Gobron said.  She will be a hard act to follow but we are working on it."

Not great, but good: Gobron stated that with some very careful monitoring of the current year in spending, that "We're ending the year in good shape. We don't want to say phenomenal shape, but good shape." 

Teacher retirements: Principal Patricia Montimurro announced that two teachers are retiring from the Robert E. Melican School: science teacher Richard Karb and technology teacher Don Padgett. "Both have served the district well," Montimurro said. "They both have in the ballpark of 30 plus years here. They are two wonderful gentleman, and have been great with the kids. It’s a fond farewell and well deserved and I want to acknowledge them."