One of the many goals of the Educational Technology Department is to provide equitable access to technology for all the students of Woburn Public Schools.  It is however difficult to provide everything that comes with a new building project to all the other schools.

This year one of our goals was to bring mobile computing to the older schools so that instruction needing technology can be brought directly into the classroom. We have spent the better part of this year providing wireless access to all schools and laptops to the older elementary schools.  Each school, Reeves, Altavesta, Linscott, Hurld and Wyman have received 10 NetBooks and a cart. The Shamrock, Malcolm White and the Clapp-Goodyear have had this opportunity for a while.

Although this is not a class set, it can provide for small group instruction within the classroom. We hope to continue to increase the mobile hardware each year and add some iPads as well.

We have experienced our own version of March Madness at WMHS.  Aside from what seems to be incredibly busy class days, much of our time has been dedicated to student activities outside of the classroom.  March is a busy time of the year in the extracurricular activities such as the jazz festival in Reading, drama fest in North Andover, scince and mathematics competions and the first WMHS apearance on the WGBH - Channel 2 procustioon of TV Quiz Show Trial, athletics, and other student organizations.  In athletics,  State Relays and state tournamnet participation in girls' and boys' basketball and hockey have kept students, parents and faculty  busy.  We are fortunate that so many of our  students are involved with these activites as well as the large number students, staff and parents who attend the events to support these studnts groups. 

Woburn Memorial High School enjoys a strong reputation among high schools in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  The richness of our curriculum, the preparation of our faculty, the achievement of our students at levels well above state and national averages on standardized tests, and the record of college admissions at the nation's leading universities confirm a pattern of excellence. Education has historically been the focus of our Woburn community.  The combination of highly motivated students, supportive parents, a talented faculty, and the outstanding support of the community, reflected in the construction of the new building, suggest that Woburn Memorial High School is a model of what quality public education can be. 

In addition to preparing students for college study and for productive adult lives, we emphasize student participation in the broader community. Our extensive roster of athletic opportunities, the drama program, music offerings, club activities, and service options promotes a commitment to others through teamwork and dedication to principle. There is a vitality of spirit at this high school that underpins all that we do, and we value community interest in our school.

The culture at Woburn Memorial High School makes it a special place.  It is an incredibly exciting time to be at WMHS.  We are setting the course for a future that will expand and increase the opportunities and resources for our students.

Finally, with all the changes and challenges of any school year, the entire Woburn community, parents, staff and teachers should be commended for what looks like a successful year for our WMHS students.

The kindergarten celebrated ocean life with lessons on the oceans of the world and the sea life that inhabits the depths of the oceans and the coastlines. The students decorated their classrooms with lobsters, fish, crabs, ocean scenes and more. They dressed in bathing suits, summer wear and inflated beach balls and floats for this celebration. Through the generosity of the PTO the kindergarten had a sea life enrichment program. They had an opportunity to touch and discuss sea life with an expert. The children celebrated summer early and had a whale of a story to tell their families when they got home.

As we prepare for MCAS testing, the Hurld School has been engaged in a lot of project based learning. When Mrs. Brogna's and Mrs. Kozachuk's third grade classes finished reading Mr. Popper's Penguins, they were asked to work on a writing  assignment in which they either extended the story, summarized the story, or researched penguins and their habitats. Then they completed a diorama that became a visual of their writing assignment.  

Mrs. Burns's and Mrs. Faulkingham's second graders also had a project that they have been busy working on. It combined art, science and social studies. In art class, under the direction of Mrs. McGuerty, second graders made and painted creative creatures out of clay, which they made up by combining 2 different animals. The children had to decide a habitat and the continent on which their animals lived, but first, they needed to research the habitats and make sure they chose an appropriate continent for them. The result was a poster showing all of the information.

The students agree that when there is a project combined with their studies, learning can be lots of fun!

The fifth grade at the Hurld has been busy for the past few months.  We have been getting ready for the MCAS test.  In English we have been practicing identifying all the different parts of speech.  We are experts!  We also practiced writing Haikus, a form of poetry.  We blow-painted trees next to them to represent winter.  It was extremely fun!   

We have also been doing a couple of projects in the past few months.  One of the projects was for Science.  The project was about the different biomes.  We also had a project for English.  We either had to do a model, a timeline, or a writing assignment about the book Because of Winn-Dixie.  Fifth grade has been busy and fun lately!

Terry from the Museum of Science

(see picture) 

When this happened, Terry explained about the Andromeda constellation, the goddess queen, explaining to her daughter that they were the most beautiful people around.  The sea nymphs knew that they were more beautiful than anyone.  They told the sea god and he ordered a giant sea monster to attack the village.  Someone had said that the king should chain his daughter to a rock and sacrifice her to the monster.  So he chained her to a rock as he was told.  Then, the murderer of Meduca came on his flying Pegasus.  He saw her on the rock, saw the monster, and took out Meduca's head.  When the monster was near, he showed the head to it, and it turned into stone. Keep your eyes open at night you may see the sea monster in the night sky.                                                                                                  

  "The Magic of Saving Power" was a spellbinding showcase on the benefits of conserving energy hosted by Joules, the official NSTAR Energy Wizard. Joules dazzled Mrs. McColgan's and Ms. Dabrieo's first grade classes with fun facts and taught them magic tricks to use at home to conserve energy.

The YMCA provides an extensive after school program (Altavesta, Malcolm White and Goodyear/Clapp). Many students who receive special education services during the school day, attend the YMCA after school program. The "Y" has worked hard to partner with the special education department to maximize student participation in the after school program. 

We had a full house with over 45 participants. It was a great night with the added bonus of pizza and chocolate chip cookies! We were pleased to offer this training to the staff of the North Suburban YMCA.

The month of March for Sophomore students means one thing and one thing only for students wishing to make the most out of their year: having to balance their studies with the impending and haunting MCAS testing, which takes place towards the end of the year. Though most students have gone through this routine numerous times before, they have never before experienced the MCAS preparation to such a caliber, as the components of this

Not quite ready for the test...

test will ultimately determine part of their upper schooling outcome. Most students will obviously pass the test with ease, but for them, it isn't about simply passing it, as it is acing it. Students wishing to finish the MCAS system in a glorified manner have been laboriously preparing themselves mentally to insure their chances at getting an Advanced Score, a feat that benefits those seeking some Scholarship funding. But alas, part of the difficulty stemming from this test is in fact the preparation. Students still have to juggle school work, as well as the overwhelming hatred of sitting in a room for three hours taking a test. Yet, this desire to avoid the test has, for the Sophomore Class, been ultimately overshadowed by the desire to simply get it over with. No longer will we have to read a uniformed set of stories, fill in a standardized set of bubbles, and write a long composition. It has been a good run, but many students are pleased to say that they will never have to take another Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test.

On February 3rd in the Shamrock Elementary School, a bullying program was held hosted by the PTO Enrichment Program. Kindergarten through 5 ^th grade attended. The name of the bullying program was called The Power of One. The Power of One is a series of skits presented by actors who use boxes, colors, and masks to vividly portray what bullying is, what can be done about it, and how every child has the power of one; the power to report bullying when they see it.

The show explains the role of bullying, the bully, the target, and the passing bystanders.  It shows vivid examples of different types of bullying, physical, verbal, exclusion, and cyber bullying.  They put masks on to show each person. The green mask is the bully, the purple mask is the target, and the yellow mask are the bystanders. This leads to the audience taking the Power of One anti-bullying oath and the conclusion of the performance. This performance is very popular. Over 8000 performances are booked to perform with over a 1.5 million children positively impacted. The Power of One message... "Report bullying when you see it, don't be a bystander (the bystanders are as guilty as bullies) and YOU can make a difference.  Thank you to the PTO for the privilege of having this show.

On March 4^th and 5^th the Grade 2 teachers from the Malcolm White attended a Professional Development Workshop called The Key Comprehension Routine.  This inspirational workshop supported our efforts to successfully teach reading comprehension skills. The teachers reviewed research findings and developed appropriate grade level materials.

          On Wednesday, March 16^th the Malcolm White Grade 2 teachers hosted a district wide grade level meeting.  Teachers from each elementary school shared their ideas about how they have utilized Top Down Webs and Two Column Notes from the Key Comprehension Routine. Great ideas were discussed, covering all areas of the curriculum.

          Using the stories from our Reading Series, we then worked collaboratively to generate questions at different levels using Bloom's Taxonomy. There is significant evidence that learning how to generate and answer questions during reading improves comprehension.  

On Saint Patrick's Day, March 17^th, 2011), the Reeves Elementary School had a bake sale for the 5^th grade.  This fundraiser was to raise money to put a picnic table on the playground for all students to use.  Across from the bake sale was a table to make donations to help Japan from the recent natural disasters of the earthquakes and tsunami.   

Kohtaro Shimada, of Mr. Moore's 3^rd grade class, thought of this idea.  With every donation, you got an origami crane that Kohtaro had made himself.  We raised about $664 for the 5^th grade picnic table.  Mrs. Willa thought the peanut butter cookies with M&Ms in it were very tasty.  We made $506.73 for Japan.  Kohtaro brought the money to his Japanese School and they then sent the money to Japan.  Kohtaro said, "he has a lot of family members in Japan, they were unaffected, but he wanted to help."  Mr. Moore, his teacher, said," I am very impressed with this young student's compassion and giving attitude as well as that of the Reeves community."

At the Clapp-Goodyear School we just finished our Celebration of Respect. The school walls were covered with stars that shared the names and actions of classmates acting respectful towards adults, and students at the school.  This was a fun way of showing how we can be respectful of each other. We are now working on responsibility. We look forward to our morning announcements that share who has been seen being responsible. Our Responsibility wall is growing and shows how many ways students can be responsible. We will keep showing respectful and responsible actions towards each other.  

For St. Patrick's Day this year, the first grade made leprechaun traps! The traps they made were built out of marshmallows, gumdrops, and toothpicks. All the traps were very impressive and creative! They were all so different! We're sure those first graders are going to catch some leprechauns and gold this year!

The Kennedy Middle School had a breakfast for all 8^th grade students who made honors or high honors for the second marking term.  They were treated to bagels, muffins, juice etc. for all of their hard work.  There was also a raffle for the students and 5 students won a $20.00 gift card.  Keep up the good work.