Education

Lane Glenn Shares His Community College Story and Wants You To Do the Same

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Today is the beginning of what is hoped becomes a national campaign to raise awareness of community college benefits as well as share the success stories of some high-profile graduates. Northern Essex Community College President Lane A. Glenn launched the conversation today with a post on his “Running the Campus” blog. Even though nearly half of all students completing a bachelor’s degree also attended a community college, he says, those early beginnings tend to be forgotten. “I encounter people all of the time who have attended community colleges and seem to have let that fade from their minds,” he joked during an interview with WHAV. Instead, Glenn is calling on former community college students to speak up one-on-one, but also on social media using the hashtag #MyCommunityCollege.

Education

Committee Approves Reorganization After Airing Haverhill’s St. James School Concerns

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Haverhill students enrolled in the Haverhill Alternative School will move to Greenleaf School, while those attending the Therapeutic Education Assessment Center of Haverhill will move to Bartlett School next fall. School Committee members cemented the plan Thursday night to move the special education programs out of the leased St. James School. The schools, though, became centers of attention in the weeks after a principal and four staffers were suspended as part of an investigation into restraining a student there. A union official, teachers, parents and former students weighed in on the controversy.

Education

Haverhill Councilors Delay Consentino Roof Money; Say HHS Pool Roof Also Needs Fixes

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Paying for $400,000 in temporary roof repairs at the Albert B. Consentino School will have to wait at least two weeks since Haverhill’s elected officials couldn’t agree Tuesday night what to give up in exchange for the expense. The impasse came when some councilors balked at taking $129,000 away from planned roof repairs at Haverhill High School’s Charles C. White Pool. Mayor James J. Fiorentini also proposed transferring money leftover in other capital spending accounts. Councilor Timothy J. Jordan said he fears the pool roof won’t get the attention it deserves. “That pool roof has been in terrible shape for years,” he said.

Education

Nettle Middle School Has Second Bomb Scare in a Month

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For the second time in less than a month, police were called to Nettle Middle School as a precaution Tuesday after a bomb threat was scrawled on a bathroom wall after lunch, Principal Timothy Corkery confirms.

As was the case with the threat made in the same manner on March 13, the message was deemed “not credible” by Haverhill Police, who swept the Boardman Street school, Corkery said in an email to parents issued just after 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. A Nettle parent tells WHAV his children were not aware of the threat and were not evacuated. An additional police presence is expected at Nettle on Wednesday and Haverhill Police detectives continue to investigate the threat, department spokesman Capt. Robert Pistone tells WHAV. As WHAV previously reported, Superintendent Margaret Marotta and the School Committee posted a school resource officer at Nettle last month in the wake of several reported behavioral incidents at the middle school. Pistone tells WHAV Haverhill Officer Nicole Donnelly has assumed that role.

Education

Latest Child Abuse Claim Sheds Light on School Superintendent’s Long-Term Agenda

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Another state child abuse investigation has led to the suspension of a Haverhill school principal and four others. The latest incident, however, is shedding light not only on student restraint policies but how a new school administration deals with controversy. Haverhill Alternative School Principal John DePolo who has worked in the school system 18 years, was suspended a week ago last Friday. He was followed last week by four staffers who came to his defense. The paid leaves follow a state Department of Children and Families review of allegations surrounding restraint of a child at St.

Education

Whittier Tech Senior Among Those Receiving Scholarships; Seeks to be Registered Nurse

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A senior at Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School is receiving a help paying her tuition to a college nursing program this fall. 17-year-old Kaylee Cerullo was awarded a $2,133 scholarship Friday night during the Valley Patriot newspaper’s 15th Annual Bash. She plans to attend to study nursing at Northern Essex Community College after graduation from Whittier. Cerullo is already a certified nursing assistant at Wingate Nursing Home in Haverhill, where she is certified to work with dementia patients and administration of CPR and first aid. She seeks to become a registered nurse.

Education

Consentino School to Receive ‘Thorough’ Roof Repair; Whittier Asbestos to be Removed

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Even though the Albert B. Consentino School is facing imminent repair or replacement, the city will pay $400,000 for “thorough” roof repairs to keep the building in use. Councilor Timothy J. Jordan, a member of the Joint Facilities Committee, told his colleagues Tuesday the figure was preferable to a $2.7 million option to construct a new roof. The goal, he explained, is to contain 95% of the leaks until a new or rehabilitated school is ready in four years. A third alternative—continuous patching—was expected to cost more over the same period. Jordan noted a report that Consentino already has 700 repair patches on its roof.

Education

Cutting Haverhill Classroom Sizes Doesn’t Require Much Money; Room for 400 More

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Reducing class sizes at some schools is not the costly problem some thought it would be, School Superintendent Margaret Marotta told Haverhill School Committee members Thursday night. She conceded rearrangement of schools—and not school construction—is the solution to certain overcrowded classrooms.

“The real overcrowding was at the middle school level and, that in fact, in some of our schools we do have space. We have space in some of our elementary schools in some sections of the city,” the superintendent said. As WHAV previously reported, Marotta’s plan is to convert the leased St. James Elementary School into classes for fourth to sixth graders.