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Correction: The Whittier Tech open house is planned to take place on Sunday, Nov. 3 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
One Haverhill School Committee member said Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School’s recent report to the board belongs “on the road” to win over voters.
In the aftermath of a failed approval vote earlier this year to build a replacement Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School, Haverhill School Committee Vice Chair Paul A. Magliocchetti said Whittier could overcome opposition during its next try.
While Haverhill voters gave thumbs up last January to a proposed $445 million replacement Whittier Tech, it was rejected by the other 10 communities. Magliocchetti suggested a solution.
“Part of why that didn’t happen is because we couldn’t get those other communities on board,” he said. “If they see the great things that are happening with their students, maybe they’re more likely to take a second look and support what we’re trying to do.”
Whittier Tech and Northern Essex Community College, with the support of Gov. Maura T. Healey, are now looking at the possibility of a shared campus in Haverhill.
Whittier Tech Superintendent Maureen Lynch told the School Committee two thirds, or 858 of the school’s 1,258 students are from Haverhill, for which the city paid about $8.65 million. There were no dropouts among all students in 2023.
As WHAV reported in September, Lynch reiterated Whittier Tech is the only technical school named as a School of Recognition from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
“It’s because we demonstrated progress toward our annual accountability targets, we exceeded all targets in English Language Arts, Math, Science and Technology, and we had high growth in English Language Arts and math,” she said. “I, of course, think we can do better but we’re very happy with our achievement.”
The school previously received an early college designation in 2021, and 160 students are currently enrolled to receive college credit at Northern Essex Community College.
This fall, the school is offering English Composition 101 and English Composition 102 as well as additional electives in the spring. Lynch said, “So far, so good. The kids are having a great time and it’s a great opportunity for them to experience a college campus,” she said.
Lynch said the school also aims to give back to the community that “gives us so much.”
“We did raised garden beds for the Haverhill Garden Club, in the Haverhill Brigade we did a Haverhill Rocks Village Bridge fire station sign,” she said. “[For] the City of Haverhill we did repair to department vehicles, we’ve done work with the veteran’s outreach, the Cogswell Art Center, the City of Haverhill Tree Department, we worked on a truck with the police department, we did a picture frame for the police department officers and the Boys and Girls Club we did a trophy case, which is in progress right now.”
Magliocchetti requested additional Haverhill-specific data, such as the number of students applying to get in as well as the number of students who are admitted. “I think that’s information we could use,” he said. Committee member Mikaela D. Lalumiere also requested additional admissions data, including the school’s historic acceptance rate and trends as to why some students in Haverhill would not be accepted.
“Specifically, if you’re seeing any trends or patterns of the kids from Haverhill who are applying who are not being accepted, that would be great to hear so that we can work with those kids or work with the eighth grade teachers, whoever is helping to prepare them and their applications and give them that feedback that we need to be improving in those areas,” Lalumiere said.
With member Erica Diaz making a similar ask, Lynch responded the school does accept students during the school year if spots are available. She also noted that students may appeal their application decision.
“If a student is not accepted, and there’s a story that needs to be shared that isn’t on the application, there’s a process for that and there’s the appeal process through the principal and then me,” she said. “There are plenty of opportunities, we really want to make sure that we have students that are truly interested in career technical education that are attending Whittier Tech.”
The school plans its annual open house on Sunday, Nov. 3 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.