Superintendent Gormley releases updates for the week of April 11th

Updates to include Milton Public Schools and the town

FROM THE DESK OF THE SUPERINTENDENT

As I shared in a blog post on March 14th, Assistant Superintendent Janet Sheehan is retiring at the end of this school year. We have been busy assembling a Screening Committee to review potential applicants.

The Screening Committee consists of representatives from the Milton Educators Association (teachers and administrators); parent representatives; a representative from the Milton Special Education Parent Advisory Council; a representative from Citizens for a Diverse Milton; one principal; two School Committee members and the Superintendent. The Screening Committee members can be found here, the MPS community is invited to reach out with input.

At their first meeting held earlier this week, the Screening Committee reviewed the guidelines for this process; received copies of pertinent School Committee policies, reviewed the job description for this position; and determined what characteristics and qualifications they feel are important for an Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Human Resources. The resumes were emailed to the Screening Committee and at the next meeting on April 16th, the Screening Committee will determine interview questions, review all applications and recommend semi-finalists.

The semi-finalists will be interviewed by the Screening Committee and finalists selected and moved ahead into the second phase of this process. Finalists will be interviewed by School Committee members, Principals and Central Office Personnel.

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MILTON FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATION

The Board of the MFE has asked us to pass on the following message: Heartfelt thanks to all who participated in Celebration For Education! Congratulations to Laurie Dunn for winning Patriots tickets and to Steve Sullivan for winning the diamond ring from Grono and Christie. The biggest winners of the night, however, are the kids who attend the Milton Public Schools. Not only will they directly benefit from each spin of the wheel and each auction bid, but the winner of the Jeep raffle, who wishes to remain anonymous, has generously donated the $25,000 back to the Foundation so that we can revitalize and modernize the libraries on all six public schools. THANK YOU!!

SCHOOL COMMITTEE

The next School Committee meeting is Wednesday, April 24th at 7:00 p.m. at Milton High School. Information on previous meetings can be found here and all meetings can be watched live or on demand on Milton Access TV.

HIGH SCHOOL HAPPENINGS

The Gile Road Preschool enjoyed a visit from the Rainforest Reptile Program this week. This program allows students the chance to see several different reptiles and learn all types of information about them. Several lucky students were picked for audience participation throughout the program and at the end of the program, the students were invited up to hold and touch some of the reptiles.

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Last weekend the MHS Debate Team ended their season at the Massachusetts State Tournament, with eight students competing. Our Debate Team is young, as many of our seasoned debaters graduated in 2018, and we look forward to encouraging their growth over the next few years. We are pleased to note that two of the freshman students in debate class this year were undefeated at the novice tournament and we are already busy rebuilding the team for the 2019-20 debate season. Our debaters also attended Milton’s town hall debate on March 26th and we were told our debaters were the best prepared participants in the room.

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On Monday, April 8th, 2019 Milton High School Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) competed in the FBLA State Leadership Conference at Bentley University. We had a record number of competing participants this year with 24 students qualifying to attend. The students gained valuable business, life and career insights from industry leading executives. They participated in leadership activities, networked with future business leaders from across the state, and competed in business events. Yvonne Nequist, Milton High School Business & Technology Teacher and FBLA Advisor writes “I would like to congratulate ALL the leaders who qualified to attend the Future Business Leaders of America Leadership Conference and further recognize the winners and state champions. All of the students’s hard work and effort has paid off. Our students are amazing and the future leaders of America.” Our FBLA State Champions and winners are invited to compete on a National level at the National Leadership Conference on June 29th – July 2nd in San Antonio, Texas!

Please join me in congratulating: State Champion Karisa Lasoff for Interviewing; State Champions Lucy Moynagh, Rachel Steinberg and Hayley McDermott for Digital Video Production; Second place in the state is Lucas Alverez for the economics competition. Finally, congratulations to our 3rd place state winners of Graphic Design, Vincent Luong, Linda Do, and Shemar Cole. Congratulations to all the winners!

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This week, the MHS chapter of SADD ran a day long “in school field trip” in conjunction with the Norfolk County Sheriff’s Office. The purpose of this program is to make teens aware of the dangers of driving while distracted and/or under the influence in the hopes of keeping them safe, by sending the message in a fun and interactive way. In preparation for the day, students made posters, activated the Distractology course as well as decide on activities that their peers would enjoy.

Jim Ross brought the simulation car in hopes of making an impact on the students during his lecture and hands on activity of what could happen while driving distracted. Our students manned obstacle courses where their peers had to wear goggles giving the effect of being impaired. Additionally, they helped their peers take the distractology course online. This course is crucial to the success of SADD being awarded a $1500 prize from the DA’s office. They are hoping the entire student body will participate. You can participate at home with your child by using the following link. A big thanks to SADD President Gwyneth Sauter, Sammy Shakeel, Chris Eugene, Elizabeth Bennet, Stella Yuan, Michael Johnson, Melvin Rosario, Zane Baker-Poveromo and John McCampbell and to advisors Robin Lee and Karen Hughes for their efforts.

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It was an exciting day at MHS today with our well attended College Fair for our junior class. More than 60 colleges and universities were on hand, as well as representatives from the armed services and SOCK – (Sharing Our College Knowledge) a parent run MHS group that assists students who are the 1st in their families to attend college. An impressive addition this year – a Coast Guard helicopter, co-piloted by a 2009 MHS graduate landed behind the field house!

PIERCE UPDATES

On Friday, April 5th Janet Applefield visited 7th graders at Pierce Middle School. Ms. Applefield is a Holocaust survivor and she visits to share her story with students each year, as our 7th grade students study the Holocaust. In addition to sharing her own personal story, she raises awareness and understanding of the dangers of prejudice. She encourages all 7th graders to stand up to discrimination and injustice – whenever and wherever they see it. Ms. Applefield sparked lots of questions from students, and we truly appreciate her coming to Pierce. Thank you to the Pierce PTO for making this beneficial educational experience possible. Ms. Applefield and her daughter, Deb Milley will be speaking at Faneuil Hall on May 5th at 2pm with a focus on the transmission of memory to generations to come. All are welcome to attend.

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Last weekend 229 Pierce 8th grade students and 24 staff members descended upon Washington DC to learn first-hand about our nation’s history and how they can exercise their rights and have their voices heard. The trip was a whirlwind of amazing experiences for our students. A special thank you to all our staff who attended this year- Mr. Alves, Mrs. Murphy, Ms. Meleedy, Mr. Fay, Ms. Starr, Ms. Pompilus, Mrs. Francoeur, Mrs. Capasso, Ms. Connell, Ms. Boissonneault, Mrs. Fraine, Mr. Zitz, Mr. Romeo, Mrs. Lombardo, Ms. Augustyn, Ms. Denehy, Ms. Clancy, Ms. Hoyt, Mr. Bonn, Ms. Hartgering, Nurse Perry, Nurse Noonan, Ms. Hupp and Dr. Spaulding. Thank you also to those who were at Pierce, holding down the fort and taking our students to a day long field trip at Patriot’s Place.

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School supplies already? Yes! The Pierce PTO has partnered with Yubbler to bring quality, economical school supplies to Pierce families. All supplies are delivered right to your house! All details, links and coupon codes can be found here.

INSIDE OUR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Collicot 4th graders enjoyed a visit from the Ecotarium Museum of Science and Nature last week and a lesson on “Designing for Wind”. Students were asked to put their engineer cap on to design an efficient wind turbine that could convert wind energy into electricity. Each team built a working wind turbine, measured its performance, and learned firsthand how the design process can create better products. Throughout the process, students tested different design features and redesigned prototypes to create the wind turbine that would convert the greatest amount of wind energy into electricity.

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It was a wonderful night at Milton High School this week when we celebrated some young Tucker artists whose work has been chosen to be displayed in the Superintendent’s conference for the next two years. These 1st and 2nd graders were enthusiastic about sharing their work with the MPS community.

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Unity Night is a highlight of the Tucker School year! Unity Night is an opportunity to celebrate the diversity and unity of families at Tucker as students collaboratively work together to perform a unique dance as a grade level. This year our choreographer, George-Marie Jasmine, enthusiastically led the students in preschool through fifth grade in routines to music from all parts of the world. The theme of our “Differences Make us Beautiful” was also brought to life by our fifth graders reading aloud poems and essays about the importance of living in and learning from one another in diverse communities.

DONATE LIFE MONTH

April is National Donate Life Month and The Milton Public Schools proud to partner with MPS parent and director of transplant nursing in the Pediatric Transplant Center at Boston Children’s Hospital, Laura O’Melia and others to bring this information to our community. Last week we were honored to support Donate Life Information Night when members of our community shared stories and information around organ donation. Laura shares her personal story here and invites all in the MPS community to consider registering to be an organ donor at this link.

Gretchen Duffy, MPS parent and a nurse coordinator for the heart transplant program at Tufts Medical Center shares the following information: Organ donation is one of the greatest advancements in modern medicine. It is a potential treatment option for someone who is suffering from an organ that is failing or an organ that has been irreversibly damaged by disease or injury. As of January 2019, there are more than 113,000 people formally listed and waiting for an organ transplant. In 2018, there were 35,528 organ transplant surgeries performed leaving over 77,000 patients waiting. Statistics show that 20 people die each day waiting for a suitable donor. Each year the number of people on the wait list continues to grow and the number of donors is significantly less than what is needed. Please continue reading here and please considering signing up to DONATE LIFE here.

INCLUSIVE SCHOOLS

The 4th grade Celebrating our Differences Program and the new unit on Autism at Cunningham were the focus of a recent Patriot Ledger article. We are pleased to share the ongoing inclusion practices in our schools.

MPS GIVES BACK

8th grader and Project 351 Ambassador Hoku Panerio-Langer shares the following after a successful drive for Cradles to Crayons. Congratulations on successfully completing our clothing drive. As a town, Milton has collected a total of 32 bags of donatable clothing to Cradles to Crayons This was well above what I had imagined we would collect and am so proud of our town. My parents and I dropped off the clothes on Sunday to Cradles to Crayons, from there it will be distributed to children living in poverty in the Commonwealth. I am so grateful for all the support that you have given me and for all the hard work that you put into this project. Thank you again for being a part of my drive! Hoku Panerio-Langer

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released a letter on Friday, April 5, asking districts to share this information Student Vaping, Marijuana, and Opioids – Risks and Resources with parents/guardians. As part of our ongoing education and support around student vaping, we hope you will take a few minutes to read through this valuable information.

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING

CARING AND CONSEQUENCES: Milton Leaders Discuss their Efforts to Reduce Substance Abuse. Please join the MSAPC on Tuesday, April 23rd at 6:30 p.m. at the Milton Public Library.

Since the Milton Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition was established five years ago, town organizations, clergy and community residents have impressively dedicated themselves to preventing youth substance abuse and helping all residents who may be struggling with addiction and other behavioral health disorders. There is still much to learn, more work to do, and yet cause for celebration.

Recognizing the power of community awareness, MSAPC’s next meeting will locally reflect the national “Communities Talk” movement called, “Caring and Consequences: Milton Leaders Discuss Their Efforts to Reduce Substance Abuse”. A leadership panel will discuss their efforts to date and their plans for the future, and will include representatives from Milton High School, Milton Police Department, Milton Health Department, Milton Hospital, and Milton’s Youth Task Force. The public is encouraged to attend this free event and ask questions of the panelists.

The Milton Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition released its first Community Health Assessment in 2014. While the results exposed high numbers of households with someone in the family struggling with addiction, as well as high rates of youth binge drinking, marijuana use and adolescent depression, the data led to some impressive town-wide actions to address these issues.

Come to our next meeting, to be held on Tuesday, April 23rd at 6:30 p.m. in the Milton Public Library, to hear what progress has been made and to inform our future priorities. If you have any questions, please reach out to Project Coordinator, Margaret Carels. MSAPC’s website is filled with valuable information and resources.

MPS SUMMER

You’ve been waiting for it and now it’s here! Please see the Milton Summer Enrichment “At a Glance” brochure to begin planning your summer fun now.

BUS UPDATES

Please see the following from the MPS Transportation Department. Registration to ride the bus for the 2019-2020 school year will open on May 15th and close on June 14th. ALL registration will be done online. Every student who plans to ride the bus must register regardless of distance lived from your assigned school and no students will be rolled over for ridership from the current school year. Please mark your calendars with these important dates. More information and links for registration will be coming later in April and early in May. Please refer any questions to Rachel Schewe, Transportation Director.

RESIDENCY

The Milton Public School’s Residency Policy states that “students who are enrolled in the Milton Public Schools shall be required to re-establish residency prior to entering grades six(6) and nine(9), and during other times as determined by the Superintendent or his/her designee. Students who are enrolled in the Milton Public Schools but who attend an educational program outside of the town shall be required to re-establish residency on an annual basis.”

Beginning June 3, 2019, Sarina Burke, Milton Public Schools Residency Coordinator will be in the Milton High School main lobby (25 Gile Road) Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and Wednesdays from 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Re-establish Residency packets will be available to download after April break and must be submitted no later than June 14, 2019 to ensure a student’s placement in Grades 6 and 9 or in an educational program outside of the district.

This process is one of the safeguards used by the Milton Public Schools to ensure that all students enrolled in our schools are residents of the Town of Milton. Although the re-registration process may be an inconvenience for some families, we hope that residents understand that this is a valuable tool to protect taxpayers in the Town of Milton. We work year-round on residency issues and this is simply one more method to assist us in ensuring residency compliance.

SPECIAL ED/SEPAC

Milton SEPAC will host Licensed Mental Health Counselor Janine Halloran for a “Simple Strategies to Help Anxious Kids” at 7pm on April 25th in the library of Glover Elementary School. During her talk, Janine will share five simple coping skills to try, including creative ways to encourage deep breathing, creating a calm down space and how to create a coping skills toolkit. This presentation is free and open to the public. Janine Halloran has been working with children, adolescents, and their families for over 15 years. She is the Founder of Coping Skills for Kids, the author of #1 Best Selling Coping Skills for Kids Workbook, and the host of the Calm & Connected podcast. Her work has been featured in Huffington Post, Psych Central, and The Skimm® Newsletter. Janine lives in Massachusetts with her husband and two children.

UPCOMING MPS DATES

April 24 Milton School Committee
April 25 MHS Faculty/Student Spring Cabaret
April 30 Town Elections
May 1 Milton School Committee Meeting Reorganization Meeting
May 2 Scholastic Honors Night
May 6 Town Meeting Begins

Parent Café – “Getting Ready for Kindergarten!” Tuesday, May 7th and Tuesday, May 14th

The Milton Public Schools, in partnership with the Milton Early Childhood Alliance, will offer a free Parent Café to parents/guardians of children entering kindergarten in fall 2019, “Getting ready for kindergarten!”. We hope you will be able to join us for one of two sessions being offered; Tuesday, May 7th from 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. at Tucker Elementary School or Tuesday, May 14th from 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. at Cunningham Hall.

Kindergarten can be a big step for your child and we would like to share some tips to help you get them ready. In addition to a roundtable discussion, all participants will receive helpful hints, a list of children’s book titles about kindergarten, and activities to help with language, fine motor, gross motor, kindergarten readiness and self-help skills.

Registration is not required but recommended. These workshops are open to all Milton families; your child does not need to be attending a Milton Public School in the fall. To register, please email [email protected] or call Susan Dolan, MECA at 617-696-2262. To complete the registration, leave your name, the session you plan to attend and a contact phone number.

ART AND MUSIC

MHS junior Samantha Baum shares the following about the recent music department trip to Toronto. On Friday, April 5th, 130 students of the Milton High School Music Department embarked on a three-day trip to Toronto, Canada for the annual cultural field trip. Students visited Roy Thomson Hall for a performance of award-winning Broadway themes by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and also to the Elgin Theatre to see the modern, Canadian musical, “Come from Away.” Other stops on the trip included the CN Tower, the Hockey Hall of Fame, and on the return, a visit to Niagara Falls. We enjoyed classic Canadian food such as Poutine and smoked meat at the St. Lawrence Market for lunch, and confirmed that Canadian currency does not smell like maple syrup! This annual music trip, once again, was culturally enlightening and a fun way to bond with members of the department.

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The Milton Art Center, Gallery 334 is hosting a teen art show, Adolescent Chaos, May 10-June 21, with an opening reception May 10th from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Being a teenager is a whole entity of life that is not only uncomfortable, but also uneasy, chaotic, authentic, inauthentic, and uncertain. How do teens today deal with coming to terms with the rest of the world along with their own identities and futures? How do we express this uneasiness and discomfort in art?

“Adolescent Chaos” is about the tension between appearances vs. authenticity. Teens are repeatedly exceeding societal expectations but underestimating and doubting themselves as they come to terms with new ideas and concepts to recreate their identities.

Interested teens, Grades 9-12, are asked to submit one work of art that illustrates the theme. The application form is available at the MAC website and please address questions to the Curator, Anna Garrity. We ask that the work be no larger than 48×48” and be exhibition ready, wired. If this is not possible, we will accept and mat artwork on paper for display. Best of show cash awards, sponsored by East Boston Savings Bank will be announced at the opening reception. Artwork will be on display till June 21 in Gallery 334 of the Milton Art Center, 334 Edge Hill Road, Milton, MA.

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On Sunday, April 28th, Milton FAME is pleased to host a unique fundraising event, our fifth annual mattress sale! Our goal is to sell over 100 mattresses, with proceeds going directly to benefit music in the Milton Public Schools. If you, or anyone you know might be in need of a mattress, please save the date and visit our mobile showroom at the Pierce Middle School Gym. This is the time to buy and save up to 50% off retail, all while supporting our students. There will be 29 sets on display and a team of experts on hand to answer any questions you may have.

ATHLETICS

The Baseball Team is off to a great start, beating both Framingham and Needham on the road. They are 2-0.

The Softball Team has also impressed, beating North Quincy, Framingham and Needham to improve to 3-0. They were down 5-0 and scored 16 unanswered runs to win the game last week!

Rugby won their first match over Weymouth last week.

Unified Track had their first ever Track Meet at Brockton High School on Tuesday, April 9th. We are looking forward to the two home meets on Thursday, May 2nd and Thursday, May 9th at 3:30 p.m. at Brooks Field.

The Rugby Team is hosting a Car Wash Fundraiser on Saturday, April 20, from 12:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. at the Cunningham School.

NEWS AROUND TOWN

The Milton Public Library has great programs for children all month long.

Please see the MECA Spring Newsletter, filled with many free activities and events for families.

On Sunday, April 28th at 3:00 p.m. Milton Community Concerts presents “A Message of Music”, featuring the Boston City Singers Tour Choir. This concert of classical, jazz, gospel, and African folk songs will take place at First Parish of Milton, 535 Canton Avenue.

The 2019 SHINDIG! is on May 4th from 6:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. at the Irish Cultural Center in Canton. The Shindig! is a family event that was created to celebrate the life of Tucker Elementary school grad Michael McHugh who died last year at age 13 from a rare pediatric cancer. The event raises money for the MCM Fund which focuses on helping low income families pay for funeral and non-medical end of life expenses. Again this year you can enjoy Blue Ribbon BBQ, line dancing, a DJ, Cornhole Tournament and lots of outdoor activities to kick-start the summer. Last year’s event was completely sold out, so get your tickets early!

The Challenger League is back and better than ever! The Challenger Division of Little League enables boys and girls with physical and mental challenges, ages 5-18, or up to age 22 (if still enrolled in high school), to enjoy the game of baseball along with the millions of other children who participate in the sport worldwide.

The MAC Spring Market will be feature two students from MPS – Maggie Mannion (Pierce) who will be showing her fun pillow cases and sewn items and Zachary Trachtman (Tucker) who will be sharing his handmade soaps called “Stinky … Clean”.

ArtWeek Milton is coming! From April 26 – May 5, your favorite local nonprofits are coordinating for a week of interactive arts and cultural activities. The Forbes House Museum is hosting two special events: The Lost Art of Letter Writing will be held on Tuesday, April 30 at 6:30 pm. Meet author Phyllis Forbes Kerr, who immersed herself in the letter-writing world of the 1800s for her book, “Letters From China: The Canton-Boston Correspondence of Robert Bennet Forbes, 1838-1840.” On Saturday, May 4, from 2:00-5:00 pm, participate in a Chinese Calligraphy workshop led by Chinese-American artist Rayna Lo.

Brookwood Community Farm is a local non profit community farm that promotes growing with organic methods and engaging a diverse community around food, including fresh food donations to 5 surrounding food pantries. Enrollment in our CSA (vegetables, fruit, egg, PTO flowers) is open for weekly or every other week pickup of shares at the farm from late May to late November. We are offering cooking classses for children – Register at the website soon! Join us for our Annual Seedling Sale May 11-12 at Brookwood Community Farm, from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. To keep up with the farm and events please follow us on Instagram and Facebook.

AMBASSADORS

As part of our E-blast, we highlight students, teachers or members of the community whose hard work deserves recognition. Please read about some of their accomplishments below:

Volunteers: Please join me in giving a huge thank you to the board of the MFE for another successful Celebration. These volunteers work tirelessly throughout the year on behalf of the students and staff of the Milton Public Schools and we are grateful for the many enhancements their dedication brings to our students. Thank you to President Will Korman; Vice Presidents Liddie Sutter, Karyn Viveiros; Treasurers Leslie Collins, Pete McLoughlin; Recording Secretary Angela Rue-Van Allen; Corresponding Secretary Allen Schweitzer and Trustees: Courtney Affanato, Tami Carpenter, Jeanne Conley, Julie Cosgrove, Winston Daley, Kate Dobin, Scott Farrell, Greg Gordon, Thuy Le, Lanita McCormick, Valerie Neville, Karly Rizzo, Ray Sambrano, Nora Vernazza, Erika Vogel and Erin Wright.

Students: Thank you to MHS students and cellists Aoife Ruth and Nicola Cross who beautifully entertained the crowd at the MFE Saturday night. We so appreciate these talented student musicians giving their time on a Saturday evening.

Staff: The Milton Foundation for Education invites you to nominate that special teacher as Teacher of the Year. Our teachers are second to none, which is what makes this event so special to us. We are currently seeking nominations for teachers who promote achievement in our children and garner the respect of colleagues, students and parents alike. We look forward to hearing from you, and learning more about the amazing teachers who inspire Milton students every day. Nominate that special teacher today. Nominations due Monday, April 29 and guidelines can be found here and a full list of past winners is here. We look forward to seeing you at the big celebration on May 22!

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