Westborough's Hastings School Growing in Preschool, Kindergarten

The district-wide preschool at Westborough's has grown up this year.

For the second straight year, a preschool classroom was added to accommodate the growing enrollment, which is the biggest change at Hastings since classes ended in June, Principal Leigh Becker says.

"We're up to about close to 100 preschool students," she says.

Hastings also has added a section of half-day Kindergarten, to handle growing enrollment there, Becker says.

"We're growing here at Hastings School," she says.

"There's a lot of new families coming to Westborough. Westborough is an exceptional school district, and I think that we're known in the area as an exceptional school district."

Meanwhile, new lighting in the Hastings cafeteria is "the big difference I think that people are going to notice when they come in this year," Becker says.

The lights are more energy efficient while giving the cafeteria "a nice, brighter look to it," she says.

"It was a little dark in there last year," she says.

Westborough students will have lunch slightly later this year: right after recess, rather than right before it, Becker says.

The state's health and wellness guidelines include this suggestion, she says.

"After being in the classroom all morning, (students) can go outside, they can release some of their energy, so when they come back inside to eat lunch, they can relax and just concentrate on enjoying their lunch," says Becker, who begins her second year leading Hastings.