Winchendon School Committee Votes to Eliminate April Break, End School Year Four Days Earlier

by Inanna Arthen
At their meeting on April 16, the Winchendon School Committee reviewed the results of a parents' poll and agreed that it made no sense to hold spring break this year. Break was scheduled for the week of April 20-24, with April 20 being the state holiday of Patriot's Day. With the break eliminated from the calendar, the end of the school year will be adjusted from June 19 to June 15.

Winchendon Superintendant Joan Landers reported that 75.2 percent of nearly 700 members of the school community surveyed voted to continue online learning through the week of April 20 and end the school year on June 15. 24.8 percent voted to observe April break and end the school year on June 19. Meals would continue to be distributed to students through the break week in either case.

School Committee Chair Greg Vine said "when you first set this up, my first reaction, and I've stayed with it since then, is to basically continue through April vacation, because we're not doing, really, full days of learning now as it is, and I just think it would be better for continuity's sake, to keep the momentum going through April vacation."

"I would concur with that," School Committee member Lawrence Murphy said. "It's pretty overwhelming, I think people are...the kids are home with nothing to do anyway, and to disrupt their learning by giving them the week off, where they're sitting at home doing nothing, I think the whole point of remote learning, even if it's only three hours a day, the whole purpose of it is to keep students engaged and to keep the learning process moving forward. So I wouldn't want to lose that momentum."

The School Committee voted unanimously to continue remote learning through next week.

Superintendant Landers explained that instead of giving students three extra days of meals on Friday, April 17, staff would be at school on Monday to distribute fresh meals as usual, this being a change from what was previously announced.

The School Committee also approved the proposed academic calendar for the 2020-2021 school year as presented by Superintendant Landers, and the allotted spaces for school choice students from outside the system for each grade for the 2020-2021 school year.

Winchendon Public Schools Delivering Meals to Students During School Closings

by Inanna Arthen
The Winchendon food services department and the district administration are collaborating with First Student Transportation to deliver meals to Winchendon Public Schools students at designated pick-up times and places around the town.

Monday through Thursday, students receive a bagged breakfast and lunch. On Fridays, students are given three breakfasts and three lunches to cover meals on Saturday and Sunday. Families are asked to bring a bag or box from home to carry the multiple meal packages.

As of March 25, the updated pick-up times and locations are as follows:

10:00-10:15 Waterville Plaza
10:20-10:30 Toy Town Condos/ 250-260 Spring Circle
10:35-10:50 Rite Aid ( now Walgreens parking lot)
10:55-11:05 Goodrich Drive
11:10-11:20 Reedy Drive
11:25-11:35 Pearl Drive

If you have any questions related to this process, please contact Superintendant Joan Landers at 978-616-1451 or by email at jlanders@winchendonk12.org.

Schools will be closed until May 4 by order of Governor Baker.

Monty Tech SkillsUSA Students Win Medals at District Competition

FITCHBURG---Monty Tech students competing in the SkillsUSA-Massachusetts District 5 competition brought home a total of 29 medals---three gold, 12 silver and 14 bronze.

The event was held in Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical High School, Charlton, prior to school closing due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The district-level competition consists of written tests focusing on employment skills, trade knowledge and safety.

Anne Marie Cataldo, Monty Tech SkillsUSA advisor, announces that, due to the health crisis, the organization’s state and national competitions have been cancelled for the year.

Medal winners include: