Superintendent’s Report to the School Committee, 11/15/23

Spanish Exchange at Masconomet High School

After a four-year hiatus, a group of 24 students and two teachers have arrived from Colegio Santa Ana Huesca for our Spanish Exchange Program! The students are staying with host families throughout the Tri-Town who have graciously opened their homes and will be helping to show them the beauty of the North Shore. While at Masco they will be visiting Spanish classes, shadowing their exchange partners, and participating in various workshops offered by our teachers. In addition, they are visiting New York City, going on field trips to Cambridge and Boston, and attending a Celtics game, until they return home on November 18th. Students from Masco will travel to Huesca, Spain to reunite with their exchange partners in February.  Thanks to High School Spanish Teacher Jason Tierney and Middle School Spanish Teacher Eric Bonanno for organizing this exchange!

Unified Kickball Team

On November 2, 2023, Masconomet High School special education students took part in a unified kickball game with Danvers Public School students.  All who took part had fun sharing in the game alongside of their neurotypical peers both from Danvers and Masconomet’s DECA Club.

Unified sports are opportunities for students with disabilities to participate in sporting events with students who do not have disabilities.  The goals of unified sports are to help students with disabilities feel included, spread awareness and give all students who participate an experience that will carry beyond the playing field.  Our plan is to continue this relationship with Danvers High School and find additional opportunities to expand our program.

Wilson Attends Character Conference in Washington, DC

Congratulations to Middle School English Teacher Peter Wilson, who attended the Character.org National Conference in Washington, DC on November 7^th and 8^th.  Mr. Wilson was a guest of the conference’s keynote speaker, Steve Hartman of CBS News.  Mr. Wilson uses Hartman’s “On the Road” segments in his classroom and has been working with him to promote the use of these videos as tools to teach students character traits such as empathy, resilience, honesty and compassion.

Congratulations to our Fall Athletes

Congratulations to all of our fall athletic teams as they conclude their seasons.  Here’s a review of how each team fared this season:

• Girls’ Soccer
  • The girls’ soccer team reached the Division II Final Four, where they lost 3-2 on penalty kicks to Notre Dame (Hingham).  Girls’ soccer finished the regular season 15-0-2 and won the Northeast Conference Dunn Division.
• Boys’ Soccer
  • The boys’ soccer team advanced to the Division II Round of 16, where they lost at Oliver Ames, 3-0, and ended a successful season where we won the NEC Dunn Division and finished 13-3-4.
• Cross Country
  • The cross country teams traveled to Wrentham on November 11 for the MIAA Division 2A Meet. The boys team placed 7^th and qualified for the State Finals on November 18^th at Devens.  The girls’ team finished 8^th, just missing out on a State Final berth.
• Cheerleading
  • The cheerleading team took second place at the Division 2 North event at Billerica Memorial HS on November 12.
• Field Hockey
  • The field hockey team made it to the Round of 32 in the MIAA Tournament, where they lost at Nashoba Regional , 3-0. 
• Volleyball
  • The volleyball team lost to #2 seed Algonquin 3-0 in the Round of 32. We added a 3rd level of volleyball this season and have more students participating than ever before.
• Football
  • The football team has one game remaining at Bishop Fenwick on Thanksgiving at 10am.
• Golf
  • The golf team won the NEC Dunn Division and Tyler Feldberg qualified for the Division II MIAA tournament. We also added a JV team this season.

Masconomet Students Sign National Letters of Intent

Four Masconomet student-athletes signed their letters of intent to continue their academic and athletic careers in college! The event held on November 8 and was livestreamed on Boxford Cable. The four student-athletes, pictured with Athletic Director John Daileanes are (L to R):

• Bella Misiura: Penn State (gymnastics)
• Hannah Coleman: Lindenwood University (lacrosse)
• Lauren Boughner: Merrimack College (soccer)
• Willa Paglierani: Providence College (diving)

High School Open House for 8^th Grade Families on 11/30

Masconomet High School will be hosting an Open House for families of current 8^th grade students on November 30 from 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM.  Families who attend will learn about the High School’s academic program, student services and athletic and extracurricular programs.  More information will be coming on the details for this event from Masconomet High School.

High School Parent Coffee on 11/17

We would like to welcome you to join us for our new once a month Friday coffee chat with the Superintendent as well as the building principal.  Our next High School Coffee will take place on Friday, November 17.  We hope that these sessions are a way for you to learn more about what is happening within the Masco community while also allowing you to ask questions.  All parent coffees will be held from 8:30-9:30 AM on the dates listed below.  We look forward to seeing you. 

We have coffees set up for each school. The High School meetings will take place in the High School Library and the Middle School meetings take place in the Middle School Library. Please check in with a valid ID, at the Main Office of each respective school when you arrive before proceeding to the library.

School Cancellation Notification Procedures

As we approach the winter season and the possibility of inclement weather, I wanted to share with you our procedures for communicating school cancellations and delayed openings.  These procedures have been developed in an effort to balance the needs of staff members who commute to work from a distance and families of students who may need to arrange childcare services for the day with the requests of families who do not want an “invasive” 5:30 AM phone call. 

In order to balance these needs, school cancellation or delayed opening announcements will first be communicated through “passive” means, such as Twitter and local news media outlets and then later through direct telephone contact through our Blackboard Communication System.

Once the decision is made to cancel or delay the start of school, it will be communicated through the following outlets:

1. All Media Communications will be sent out as soon as a decision has been made regardless of the time, and will be before 5:30 AM on the morning of the cancellation/delay.
2. X (formerly Twitter):  follow @mascosuper.  This will always be the first place for school cancellation and delayed opening announcements.
3. WBZ TV (Channel 4) and WBZ Radio 1030 AM.  www.cbsboston.com
4. WCVB TV (Channel 5) www.wcvb.com
5. WHDH TV (Channel 7) www.whdh.com
6. WYCN (Channel 10) www.nbcboston.com
7. WFXT TV (Channel 25) www.myfoxboston.com
8. NECN www.necn.com
9. Masconomet Website on the front page under “Superintendent News and Announcements.” www.masconomet.org
10. Direct Contact Communications through Blackboard via telephone and email will be sent out prior to 8:30 PM if a decision to close or delay school has been reached on the evening prior and at 6:00 AM if a decision is made on the morning of the cancellation or delayed opening. 

Please remember that conditions may vary widely across the three communities during a weather event.  Parents always have the final authority to make the decision that it is unsafe for their child to travel to school.

For more school-specific info, please see the High School Principal’s Masco Memo and the Middle School Principal’s Weekly Update.