Danvers Schools Ready to Offer Counseling, Answer Questions as Students Return Monday

After a very difficult week for all, Superintendent Dana says administrators, counseling staff, teachers and support staff are prepared to support students and families who are having difficulty coping in the aftermath.

As students return to school on Monday, school administrators and staff are prepared to offer counseling and answer questions about this past week's terror-filled and tragic chain of events. In many instances, parents say they've tried to shield their young children from the graphic and violent images that started Monday with the Boston Marathon bombing and abated slightly Friday night when police finally caught the second suspect. In the days between, victims have lost their limbs, five people have died, there have been wild gun battles, explosions and armored vehicles and officers patrolling the Boston area. And there have also been waves of celebration -- Friday night after 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was taken alive -- and praise for…

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Mscisz Named PE Teacher of the Year

Thorpe School physical education teacher Jennifer Mscisz was recently named the Elementary PE Teacher of the Year.

Danvers' own Jennifer Mscisz is receiving special recognition as a top-notch educator this year -- Mscisz has been named the Mass. Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year by her peers. Mscisz has taught PE at the Thorpe School for seven years and before that was a health teacher for 14 years in both the high school and middle school. This year's award comes from the Mass. Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, a professional group of her peers from across the state. "I am honored to be named the Massachusetts Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year," Mscisz said. "I have the greatest job and enjoy working with the students at Thorpe Elementary School." "I try to be creative and bring a …

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Former Celtic Chris Herren to Speak at DA's School Safety Conference

Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett will host his annual school safety conference at the DoubleTree Hotel in Danvers April 11.

People's United Provides Interactive Financial Education to Danvers High Students

People’s United Bank conducted its annual Reality Check Fair at North Shore Community College on March 18.

O'Connell Chosen as Superintendent of Megavoke

Dan O'Connell will move on from leading North Shore Tech to the new regional vocational high school that will replace it in Danvers.

School board members for the new regional vocational school under construction in Danvers have chosen to keep Dan O'Connell along for the ride as the new superintendent-director for the school. The Salem News reports that committee members from the 17 member cities and towns voted unanimously Thursday night to hire O'Connell after interviewing him and one other finalist for the job earlier that evening. O'Connell is currently the superintendent-director at North Shore Technical High School in Middleton, which is one of the schools that merged with Essex Agricultural & Technical High School and Peabody High's vocational program to form the new school district for what is now called Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical High School. O…

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Champion Middle School Spellers at the Big Bee

The fourth annual spelling bee for Danvers middle school students went down at the Liberty Tree Mall earlier this month.

The winners of the 4th Annual Holten-Richmond Middle School Spelling Bee are as follows: The Bee was held on March 14 at the Liberty Tree Mall. Danvers Community Access TV still has the video uploaded of the entire contest, which we've included here in this article. The Bee sponsored by the Danvers Educational Enrichment Partnership, People's United Bank, Buffalo Wild Wings, Pet Express, ReginaPizzeria, AMC Liberty Tree Mall 20, Maui Wowi Hawaiian, Scoops Ice Cream, and Sports Authority.

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Honors Awarded to Local Students at Colleges, Universities

Many local students have earned honors at colleges and universities.

The following is a roundup of honors recently awarded to Danvers students at colleges and universities. Local Residents Named to UMass Lowell Dean's List LOWELL - Local residents were recently recognized for achieving academic distinction during the University of Massachusetts Lowell's Fall 2012 semester. To qualify for the Dean's List, students must have completed at least 12 graded credits for the semester, have at least a 3.25 grade point average with no grade lower than C and may not have any incompletes. Local students named to the Dean's List are: Sarah Atherton of Danvers, majoring in sound recording technology Rebecca Bonny of Danvers, majoring in philosophy Nicholas d'Hemecourt of Danvers, majoring in nursing Brian Dorfman of …

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Should Stand-Alone Honors Nights Be Scrapped?

One nearby school district thinks so.

  Ipswich school officials have decided to fold the district's Middle School Honors Night into a wider school assembly this year, saying it made students who weren't honored feel left out, the Salem News reported this week. The Ipswich Middle School principal reportedly sent parents a letter explaining the decision, saying having an exclusive honors night can be emotionally damaging and can impact a student's academic growth. "The honors night, which can be a great sense of pride for the recipients’ families, can also be devastating to a child who has worked extremely hard in a difficult class but who, despite growth, has not been able to maintain a high grade point average,” the principal's letter read, according to the Salem News. …

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Schools Closed on Tuesday

An overnight snowstorm has closed public and parochial schools in Danvers on Tuesday.

Danvers Public Schools, St. John's Prep and Essex Agricultural and Technical High School in Danvers are all closed on Tuesday. That's according to a list of closures compiled by WHDH-TV's Stormforce. The closure comes because of the overnight snowstorm that dropped several inches of snow and it continues to snow at daybreak. North Shore Community College said that all of its offices are closed on Tuesday and all classes are cancelled, according to a post on the college's Facebook page.

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Threat of Winter Storm Postpones Tuesday's MCAS Tests

Due to the expected winter storm on Tuesday, the state announced that the MCAS English Language Arts Composition test for students in grades 4, 7 and 10 has been postponed until Monday, March 25.

The MCAS English Language Arts Composition test for students in grades 4, 7 and 10 originally planned for Tuesday has been postponed until Monday, March 25, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced Monday on its website. The decision was made because much of Massachusetts - including Danvers - is expecting a winter storm on Tuesday, and with it the possibility that the Danvers Public Schools could be closed or have a delayed opening. In an effort to make sure all schools administer the test on the same day, "all schools must administer the ELA Composition test to students in grades 4, 7, and 10 on Monday, March 25, including schools that are not affected by the weather," according to a memo from …

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