Patch Facts

5 Things To Know Today in Danvers: Sept. 14

A great way to start the day with a quick look at the events and happenings in town.

Welcome to “5 Things,” your daily resource for community events, happenings in town and other little tidbits of information. Here are five things you need to know on Friday, Sept. 14.  1. Repeat: Friday will shape up looking much like Thursday weatherwise. There will be sunny skies and temperatures close to 80. 2. Habitat for Humanity: Saturday is the deadline to submit an application for a Habitat for Humanity home that will be built on Mill Street. One unit in the new home that is going up at 10 Mill St. will be available to a Danvers resident through a lottery. The application is attached to this story. 3. Gronk: Do you want to have lunch with Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski? Dunkin Donuts is giving you a chance. Upload a picture of …

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Patch Facts

5 Things To Know Today in Danvers: Sept. 4

A great way to start the day with a quick look at the events and happenings in town.

Welcome to “5 Things,” your daily resource for community events, happenings in town and other little tidbits of information. Here are five things you need to know on Tuesday, Sept. 4.  1. Rain: A rain storm – the remnants of Hurricane Isaac – will move into the area on Tuesday night and last into Wednesday. It will be the first rainstorm in quite a while and is expected to drop more than an inch of rain. 2. Teachers: Tuesday is the first day for Danvers public schools teachers, in advance of the first day for students on Wednesday. 3. Gas: We’ve just come off a Labor Day weekend with the highest average gas prices in history for the end of summer weekend. So where is the least expensive gas around? Costco, High Street Service, Phillips 66 …

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Ramp Up for Back-to-School with Bedtime Math

With the new school year upon us, help get your kids’ brains working again with this fun, free daily email newsletter.

Danvers students go back to school next week, which means it’s time for an abundance of expensive school supplies, backpacks full of complicated text books and dreaded questions about math homework. With back-to-school stresses piling up, Laura Overdeck wants to let children and parents in on a little secret: math can be fun. Really.  Overdeck is on a mission to change the way Americans think about math — especially given that math anxiety has been tracked in kids as young as age 5. This is what inspired her to create Bedtime Math, a nonprofit that sends out a daily email with a math problem tailored to “wee ones,” little and big kids.  Overdeck is a Westfield native who now lives in Short Hills, NJ. She is an astrophysics graduate and MBA…

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Five State School Bus Laws You Might Not Have Known

School's almost back in session, but were you aware of these state laws on school buses?

Here are a few Massachusetts state laws about school buses you might not have known. #1. Everyone knows to stop when a school bus is loading and unloading passengers, but what you may not know is that if you don’t stop, you could get a ticket of up to $250. That fine can go up to $2,000 and a suspended license of up to a year for subsequent offenses (MGL 90-14) #2. Oh, speaking of stopping behind a stopped bus, even fire trucks, police cars and ambulances with their sirens on have to stop until the passengers have been loaded or unloaded. (MGL 89-7B) #3.  Tell your kids to sit down, because bus drivers can be fined up to $500 if they drive the bus when the kids aren’t sitting down, or if they have more school children than seats. (MGL 90-…

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Is it Better for School to Start Before or After Labor Day?

What's the best timing for the first day of school?

Danvers Public Schools students are still more than a week away from the start of school, with teachers scheduled to return on Tuesday, Sept. 4 and all students head back on Wednesday, Sept. 5. But many local schools head back in the coming week - before Labor Day. Which way is better? Would you prefer students head back before Labor Day? Why? Or does the current Danvers school calendar make sense? Why? Let us know below in the comments section. Currently, the last day of school will be June 20, with no snow days. If five snow days are used, the last day with be June 27.

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Tips for Staying Safe on Campus This Fall

College campuses aren't immune from crime. Here are some tips to pass along to co-eds for staying safe on campus.

More than 200 seniors graduated from Danvers High School in June and another 200-plus from St. John's Prep. That means that over 400 students could be leaving Danvers soon, if they haven't already, to join thousands of other students on college campuses across the country. Freshman will be eager to prove they are ready for their first opportunity to live away from home and upperclassmen will be returning to something familiar and comfortable. In either case, personal safety should still be at the top of the priority list. The report of an alleged rape on the campus of Harvard University last week was a shocking reminder that terrible crimes are possible anywhere -- even on the campus of one of the most renowned universities in the world. “…

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Get Out

Lizards and Links Both Part of the Local Weekend Calendar

Here's a quick look at some of the events coming up this weekend in Danvers.

Nature takes center stage with this weekend’s event calendar, with a meteor shower and exotic animals part of the lineup. Below, get the when and where for those events and other happenings in Danvers this weekend. Remember, each Friday Danvers Patch’s “Get Out” weekend planner brings you a quick guide to local events and activities. If you have great ideas of your own that you want to share, please feel free to add them in the comments section at the bottom. 1. PERSEID METEOR SHOWER Where/When: Night sky; Peaking at 2 a.m. on Sunday Why Go: It’s a traditional late-summer show in the sky – the Perseid Meteor Shower. The shooting stars are best seen from a dark spot with a wide view of the sky, especially to the northeast. The shower has …

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Back To School 2011

IMAGE GALLEY: Danvers Schools Open Under Rainy Skies

Principal Violetta Powers greeted her students and their parents with a big smile, despite a soaking rain at Riverside Elementary School.

The schools in Danvers opened their doors for the first day of the academic school year, Wednesday September 7.  Contributor Bob Roche went over to Riverside Elementary School to catch the kids and their parents as they made their way to school.  Check here for complete back-to-school coverage.  If you have a first day of school photo you'd like to include, add it to our image gallery, or e-mail molly.buccini@patch.com

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Photo of the Day

Photo: Back To School Cookies

Photo of the Day, Sept. 7

Welcome to Photo of the Day, a column devoted to an image from town that caught our attention. Have a great photo you'd like to send our way? Submissions can be e-mailed to editormolly.buccini@patch.com Gone are the days of a boring brown-bagged lunch! Today's photo features "Cookie Notes" made by Cakes for Occasions, in honor of the first day of school in Danvers, Sept. 7. 

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