schools

Learning the write stuff: Mount Holyoke works with South Hadley High to develop chops

Daily Hampshire Gazette — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:00 -0500

SOUTH HADLEY - Inspired by their experience learning to be better writers at Mount Holyoke College, Ariel Lantz and Julia Herman, both juniors, had a great idea. Why not adapt the college's Speaking, Arguing and Writing program into a writing center at nearby South Hadley High School?

City among first to roll out teacher evaluations based on student performance

Daily Hampshire Gazette — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:00 -0500

NORTHAMPTON - Adopt, adapt or revise. Those are the choices facing the city's school leaders as they begin using a new statewide teacher evaluation system that for the first time links teacher performance ratings to student test scores. Northampton is among the federal "Race to the Top" districts that are required to have the system - which also applies to administrators - up and running by next fall. All of the state's public schools must implement the evaluation standards by the fall of 2013.

A teacher's voice: Alicia Lopez

Daily Hampshire Gazette — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:00 -0500

Editor's Note: Chalk Talk is a regular column on the monthly Classrooms page featuring essays by local educators. To submit an essay, email lloisel@gazettenet.com.

I find it hard to believe that I am halfway through my 17th year as a language teacher. I have taught grades five to 12, and am now in my eighth year of teaching middle school in Amherst. Having come from a family of supremely dedicated and hard-working teachers, I resisted the profession for a long time. I saw the exhaustion and frustration on my parents' faces after a long day of teaching and dealing with students. Eventually, though, the other side of that story is what has kept me teaching: the simple rewards of reaching a student, of making a connection, of, in the long run, changing a life.

Local scholarship opportunities for high school seniors

Daily Hampshire Gazette — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:00 -0500

SOJOURNER TRUTH AWARDS: The Sojourner Truth Memorial Statue Committee will award two $500 scholarships to graduating seniors of Hampshire County public high schools.

Student podcasts 'coming to you from Lab 106' at JFK Middle School

Daily Hampshire Gazette — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:00 -0500

NORTHAMPTON - On a recent wintry morning, the first round of student podcasting from the technology lab at JFK Middle School appeared to be going flawlessly. Announcers Nellie Sanders and Sophia Renauld, both seventh-graders, ran through the script without error, beginning with the cheerful tag line "Coming to you from Lab 106!" But the students soon realized that sounds from a nearby classroom had leaked into their audio recording about upcoming events and activities at the middle school.

• JFK Middle School podcast

Workshop planned in Northampton for families with special needs children

Daily Hampshire Gazette — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:00 -0500

FREE WORKSHOP: The Northampton Special Education Parent Advisory Council and Family TIES have teamed up to present the session "Let's Get Organized - A Skill-Building Workshop for Families of Children with Special Needs" Feb. 15 at JFK Middle School from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

UMass School of Education offers fellowships

Daily Hampshire Gazette — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:00 -0500

FELLOWSHIPS AVAILABLE: The University of Massachusetts Amherst School of Education is offering four-year fellowships to qualified professionals holding a bachelor's degree or the equivalent in a science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) discipline who would like to be teachers.