Schools
5 Things You Missed from School Committee
The Shrewsbury School Committee discussed MCAS scores and the college application process.
The School Committee met last night and discussed the following items:
- Superintendant of Schools Dr. Joseph M. Sawyer said received a $1.4 million dollar competitive grant to be used for physical education.
- Three college administrators presented what their colleges are looking for when selecting students applying for admission. Dr. Susanne H. Conley, of Framingham State University said excellent reading, writing and speaking skills as well as honors/AP courses are important not only for admission but also for determining scholarships. Michelle Tufau, of Quinsigamond Community College said the college expects four years of math—through algebra and English with good essay writing skills. Grant Gosselin, of Babson College said the college is looking for students at the top 5 to 15 percent of their class, with SAT scores 1,830 to 2,120. In keeping with today’s global economy, he said students should be prepared to compete and interact with the countries of the world.
- Ellen Dolan, director of the and Mary Beth Banios, assist superintendant of schools, presented the wide variety of services the library offers that benefit students and faculty. Some of these are: Totor.com, a free online tutoring for grades 4 through early college, Mango.com, a free online resource for learning a wide variety of languages, Tumblebooks, a free collection of animated, talking picture books, both fiction and non-fiction, BrainPop, short videos on a wide variety of skills and is a resource that has potential for collaboration.
- Banios presented and Adequate Yearly Progress Annual Report. Shrewsbury students consistently score above the state average in both advanced and proficient categories. The district ranks among the top in the state. Both Banios and Sawyer agreed that although the MCAS is a very rigorous test it is only one snapshot in time and excellent teaching and learning practices produce results.
- Shrewsbury High School Athletic Director Jay Costa presented the Shrewsbury Athletic Report along with Shrewsbury High School Principal Todd Bazydlo. There are 350 to 400 athletes per season that partake in 34 different sports. The coaching staff maintains 67 positions at the high school assisted by excellent volunteers. The total cost for the Shrewsbury High School Athletic Department is $700,000. The total amount of $277,444 is appropriated by the school department budget. The remainder of the costs is raised by The Shrewsbury High Boosters, Friends of Shrewsbury Crew, numerous private donations, major corporate sponsors and gate receipts. Jay Costa said sports teach students to make effective decisions and to be leaders in their community.
The next School Committee meeting is Wednesday, Oct. 26.
