Earls Tenders Resignation From SMHS

Melissa Earls has submitted her resignation from Southbridge Middle/High School effective June 30^th, according to The Worcester Telegram.

Mrs. Earls said she has been hired as head of schools for Academy Hill School in Springfield, a pre-kindergarten to Grade 8 independent school for gifted and talented students. Its enrollment is approximately 107 students. Mrs. Earls said the head of schools there is leaving for a post at a similar but larger school in Virginia. "This place came after me. I didn’t send an application out," said Mrs. Earls, whose daughter, Emma, will graduate from Academy Hill School this year. 

Southbridge Middle/High In Lockdown

UPDATE: SMHS students have been cleared for dismissal. Parents may pick up their student(s) at any point and students who take the bus home will be dismissed as the buses arrive back from the elementary routes.

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The Southbridge Middle/High School was locked down Wednesday afternoon.

Police said all students and staff were safe and there is no immediate danger. They did not say why the shelter-in-place order was issued.

The school said dismissal and buses would be delayed until police give the OK.

Parents and guardians will be notified by a phone call and email when students can be picked up, the school said.

A photo from a student that was sent to WBZ showed armed police officers walking through a 

hallway.

Superintendent Releases Restructure Proposal

Ken O’Brien

 

The Southbridge Superintendent of Schools, Sheryl Stanton, today released a report on the planned restructuring of the Southbridge Middle/High School. 

The report runs 88 pages.

It can be found by clicking on this link: Southbridge Middle/High School Restructure Proposal

School Committee Schedules Hearing On Restructure Proposal

Public Hearing on the proposed restructure of Southbridge Middle/High School

Location: Auditorium - 25 Cole Ave

Date: May 26, 2015

Time: 7 PM

Rumors, Speculation and Fact

Ken O’Brien

In writing this blog I have been careful to distinguish between rumor, speculation and fact.

One of my blog colleagues is now accusing me of perpetuating a rumor.

As it was put,

“If we have enough credible evidence to put people on leave, let's get it over with, tell the people what happened (and treat us all like grown-ups and tell us the truth), and move on. That would put one conspiracy theory in the local blogosphere to rest...that being, that the principal was put on leave for a pocket knife incident. Nothing could be further from the full truth (although, I'm sure that didn't help). Apparently I'm guilty of being a psychic.” 

Which Came First…?

Ken O’Brien

Tammy Perreault

On Friday , December 21^st, we learned that Southbridge Middle/High School Principal Tammy Perreault had been put on administrative leave.

This fulfilled a prediction made by Dennis Martinek on his blog Speak Out Southbridge. On December 13^th he wrote in an article titled “As if things in Southbridge couldn’t get any worse”, “Tomorrow, or early next week, you will hear some rather shocking news that few people I’ve spoken with saw coming.”

In a follow up article published in the same blog today, “Another one bites the dust in Southbridge”, he confirmed that it was Ms. Perreault’s suspension to which he was referring. In response to one commenter on the article he wrote, “This is half of the big news that I was telling you was coming.” To another he wrote, “…I have to say, I knew, but decided to hold-off until something could be verified,..” 

This chronology of events raises a troubling issue.

Where’s The Outrage Southbridge?

Ken O’Brien

Parody post from Photo-'Toons 1.25

Last Friday the Southbridge Evening News carried an article titled, “Council planning to fix radio issues at school”.

It opened with the following three paragraphs:

“Almost as soon as the new Torrey Road school opened last month, staff discovered the building gets no cell phone service.

It didn’t take much longer to find that police radios didn’t work there either.

According to Chief Daniel Charette, that was actually known earlier. Back in November 2011, he started talking with the contractors about fixing the issue, but the individual involved left the company and it fell by the wayside.” 

Where Was Southbridge High?

Tammy Perreault

Ken O’Brien

Today's Southbridge Evening News carries a "Sound Off" addressing an issue that was brought to my attention prior to its publication in that forum.

Where was Southbridge High?

SOUND OFF:

On Wednesday evening, Oct. 3, the annual “High School Night” for current grade 8 students was held at Trinity Catholic Academy in Southbridge.

Breaking News: Southbridge High MCAS Scores “Evolving”

Ken O’Brien

Forget those charts and links I gave you for Southbridge High School’s Assessment and Accountability results on the spring MCAS tests. They’ve vanished!

Now there is a combined report for Southbridge Middle/High School.

If you go to the assessment page, this is what you get:

Southbridge School Bus Overcrowding - Fox News, Boston

Ken O’Brien

Tammy Perreault

Fox News Channel 25 in Boston has carried a report on claims of overcrowding on buses carrying students to the new Southbridge Middle/High School.

The report was prompted by a local parent, Willimaris Vega, contacting the station alleging that students were having to stand, sit three to a seat or sit on the floor while travelling to and from the school.

In a telephone interview, school Principal Tammy Perreault responded that officials had reacted quickly to the complaint, getting on the buses themselves to assess the situation.

Stop The Madness!

Ken O’Brien

Source

I have refrained from expressing an opinion on the recent developments on the Southbridge school committee.

To date I have attempted to play the part of an impartial referee reporting the developments as fairly as I could. 

A Message From The New Principal of Southbridge Middle/High School

Ms. Tammy Perreault, Principal

Southbridge Middle/High School

Welcome to Southbridge Middle/High School

Dear Students and Parents/Guardians,

It is with great anticipation that the administration, faculty and staff welcome Southbridge families to a well-deserved and long-awaited, new middle/high school. Our new building is incomparable and exceeds expectations in design, technology and safety. I cannot wait to see the smiles on our students faces the first time they see it!

Our new configuration unifies two separate schools and brings them together as one unified facility.  As the year passes, new relationships will be formed and preceding relationships will be strengthened.  Collaboration amongst administration, faculty, staff, parents and students is essential to our success.