Good Afternoon,
I hope you and yours had a wonderful break, were able to enjoy the holidays and spend time with family and friends. And as we begin the new year, I hope this Superintendent Update for January 2024 finds you and yours well.
Enrollment: Our enrollment as a regional school district has gone up since our last update by more than fourteen students so far, and the number only seems to continue to climb! As of this morning, we have 1433 students enrolled within our district. David Prouty High School has 322 students enrolled; Knox Trail Middle School has 388 students; Wire Village School has 447 students; and East Brookfield Elementary School has 254 students including 113 students enrolled for the "Cubs Corner" Preschool!
Personnel: We continue to post for paraprofessionals and substitute teachers to join our district. If you are interested in becoming a part of our family, please apply at: https://www.schoolspring.com
Inclement Weather Notifications: As noted in our 2023-2024 school calendar, we will have traditional snow days this year. Safety considerations, uniform access to electricity/internet during the school day, and COVID fatigue, make snow days an important part of successfully navigating the school year. Calling snow days in New England is a difficult task. As the Superintendent of Schools, I have a unique opportunity to evaluate conditions in real time, as well as consult with the National Weather Service, Department of Public Works, local Emergency Management officials, and neighboring towns. My decision regarding delaying, closing, or releasing schools early always has been and always will be based upon “safety first” for everyone within our learning community. If you have not already done so please put a plan in place for the safe care and/or receipt of your child in the event that a weather-related delay, closing, or release is necessary.
Notification Process: Our district has now transitioned over to the latest version of our App and website. Our latest App and website services are our primary means for delivering the most up-to-date information to your cell phones with our notification feature. To get the App, you can go to the Apple Store or Google Play Store and search for “SEBRSD” then download the App to your phone.
MSBA Update: As many of you now know, thanks to a supplemental grant from the Massachusetts School Building Authority to address inflationary costs, our David Prouty High School has been presented with an amazing opportunity by the Commonwealth. When the School Building Committee first came to you, we told you again and again we would not exceed the budget. We’ve kept to our word. As a result, we’ve had to remove or change things within budget to keep our word. To anyone who may think you are going back to what you told us – this is not true.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has recognized through this grant the extraordinary inflation pressures and other unforeseen issues that additional funding was needed not just by this district but by 29 other towns/district projects. Bringing the “Add/Alternates” and "Value Engineered” items back that we are recommending or suggesting - in essence will result in the facility that the borrowers originally thought that they were to get; and at the same time, will reduce your taxes.
This is a “once in a lifetime opportunity” that reduces maintenance by increasing longevity. For example, a forty-year roof versus a twenty-year roof, thus adding value to educational opportunities. In brief, certain things don’t make sense to sacrifice when they are relatively small items but have long lives.
With these things said, let’s get to the detail and how we did this… At the January 4th, 2024, the David Prouty High School Building Finance Subcommittee meeting came together to review the “add/alternates” and “value engineered” items to see what overall budget needs would be eligible to restore for our future. We then presented these budgeted items to the School Building Committee and earned their support on a reasonable budget number, which is an estimate of what we need to bring our project back to what we said we needed. From here, the School Building Committee will be coming forward to request a Special Town Meeting in each community.
- On Monday, January 8th, 2024, the School Building Committee will be meeting with the Town of Spencer Board of Selectmen to review how we got here and next steps needed.
- On Wednesday, January 10th, 2024, the School Building Committee will be meeting with the Town of East Brookfield Board of Selectmen to review how we got here and next steps needed.
On Thursday, January 18th,2024 at 6:00pm, the School Building Committee will hold its annual meeting in-person, also at the Wire Village School.
As you can see, these are busy times for the David Prouty High School Building Project and our team; and thanks to your continued support and partnership, we as a project team remain on track with the construction process and timeline. More to come soon.
"Inside SEBRSD" Podcast Continues! Ever since the outstanding response to the “Inside SEBRSD” TV Show, which has had our student body involved at the outset… Our students within our Career Technical Education (CTE) programs, especially in the marketing program, decided to take matters into their own hands and began to coordinate a podcast with the help and support of Spencer Cable Access and their team of professionals. The focus of the “Inside SEBRSD” podcast will be to continue to highlight and focus upon the great things happening within our regional school district. More to come soon - from our students.
Class of 2024 College Acceptances are arriving daily! The Spencer-East Brookfield Regional School District is a community committed to teaching and learning with purpose. To these ends, we wanted to provide everyone with an update on college acceptances received - so far - by our David Prouty High School Seniors. And as we begin the 2024, please join us in celebrating their achievements...
- Iseas Acevedo - Quinsigamond Community College
- Eliana Barnett - Hartwick College, Ithaca College
- Aden Baez - Quinsigamond Community College
- Ava Bergeron - Assumption University, Worcester State University, Drexel University, UMASS Dartmouth, Wentworth Institute of Technology, University of New Hampshire
- Trinitie Bulak - Quinsigamond Community College
- Timothy Charette - Nichols College
- Isabella Costello - Suffolk University, Emerson College
- Rachel Dorsey - Worcester State University, Assumption University, Suffolk University, UMASS Boston
- Tyler Downes - Worcester State University
- Kailey Dutter - Carroll University, Assumption University, Quinnipiac University, Colby-Sawyer College, Worcester State University, Ohio State University, Simmons University, Marquette University, Endicott College
- Kasey Dutter - Carroll University, University of Rhode Island, State University of New York- College of Environmental Science & Forestry
- Madison Ethier - Assumption University, University of Central Florida, Fordham University, University of New Hampshire
- John Ford - Quinsigamond Community College
- Cameron Goodrich - Western New England University, Westfield State University, Springfield College, Worcester State University, Assumption University, New England College
- Olivia Goyette - Quinsigamond Community College, Anna Maria College- School of Nursing
- Brandon Grenier - Assumption University, Worcester State University, Endicott College
- David Holup - Quinsigamond Community College
- Logan Josti - Assumption University, New England College, Westfield State University, UMASS Boston
- Eva LaPorte - Assumption University, Merrimack College, Framingham State University, Wentworth Institute of Technology
- Angie Latour - Quinsigamond Community College
- Ian Mahan - Quinsigamond Community College
- Jomar Matos - Quinsigamond Community College
- James McNicol - Western New England University
- Shyra McWhorter - Quinsigamond Community College
- Jessica Melancon - Quinsigamond Community College
- Ayla Messier - Assumption University, Worcester State University, Nichols College, Westfield State University, Merrimack College, Fordham University, Emmanuel College
- Stephanie Njenga - Assumption University, University of Southern Maine, Worcester State University, University of Hartford, Emmanuel College, Nichols College, Endicott College
- Jenna Oberg - Franklin Pierce University, Hollins University, Siena College, Assumption University, Worcester State University, St. Joseph’s University, St. Joseph of Maine, Western Michigan University, Hofstra University
- Rianna Ortiz - Nova Southeastern University, Saint Anselm College, Assumption University, Pace University, Emmanuel College, Worcester State University
- Kai Panori - Assumption University, Salem State University, Western New England University, UMASS Dartmouth, Emmanuel College, Framingham State University, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Plymouth State University, UMaine Farmington, UMASS Lowell, Worcester State University, Quinsigamond Community College
- Genesis Paz Barerra - Quinsigamond Community College
- Layne Perchak - Western New England University, Worcester State University
- Alex Pinkowski - Siena College, Assumption University, State University of New York- College of Environmental Science & Forestry
- Mel Reil - Suffok University, Emmanuel College
- Jett Reilly - Nichols College, Assumption University, Western New England University
- Lilly Roberts - Salem State University
- Julianna Rondeau - Husson University, Eastern Nazarene College, Worcester State University, Salve Regina University, Plymouth State, University of Vermont, Roanoke College, Eastern Connecticut State University, UMASS Boston, Old Dominion College, Central Connecticut State University, Stonehill College
- Kaelyn Wall - Western New England University, New England College, Roger Williams University, Arcadia University, Clarkson University, Merrimack College, Misericordia University, Assumption University, Eastern Nazarene University, Norwich University, Washington College
- Greenly Waugh - Assumption University, Worcester State University, Pace University Westfield University, Molloy University, Suffolk University
- Ethan Woodbury - Western New England University
As we receive more "college, career and life-readiness" news from our seniors, we will continue to keep you updated. More news to follow in the coming months ahead for this exceptional group of young people. In the meanwhile, many kudos on a job well done to our David Prouty High School Seniors!
Winter Athletics Begins! As we open the winter athletics season, our teams are facing the winter season with great resolve. Our Indoor Track Teams (Boys and Girls) are 2-2 on the young season in the Southern Worcester County League; while our Girls Varsity Basketball remains competitive in many close games with an early season record of 3-4; while the Boys Varsity Basketball team record at this point in the season is 6-1. Our cheerleading squad continues to improve and the middle school teams in basketball are showing massive improvement this season. Please take a moment to come out and support our high school and middle school teams this season; and cheer on our Panthers in what is sure to be a fantastic winter season of competition. #GoPanthers
Upcoming Events in January!
Finally, we have many exciting activities taking place throughout our learning community to begin the new year in the month of January!
- Event: School Building Committee Finance Subcommittee Meeting via Zoom (Thurs, Jan 4, 6:00PM)
- Event: SEPAC Meeting - BSEA Workshop via Zoom (Mon, January 8, 6:30PM)
- Event: DPHS School Building Committee Meeting w/ Spencer Board of Selectmen (Mon, Jan 8, 6:00PM)
- Event: School Committee Meeting (Tue, January 9, 6:00PM)
- Event: DPHS School Building Committee Meeting with East Brookfield Board of Selectmen (Wed, Jan 10, 7:00PM)
- Event: School Closed – Holiday: Martin Luther King Jr Day (Mon, January 15)
- Event: School Building Committee Meeting (Thurs, January 18, 6:00PM)
- Event: Half Day of School - Professional Development Day for Grades K-12 (Fri, January 19) NOTE: Preschool Morning Session will not take place due to all day professional development workshop.
Finally, from our family to yours, have a safe and healthy holiday season and a happy new year! And as always, thank you for your partnership and support of the Spencer-East Brookfield Regional School District! #Innovate #Inspire #Achieve
Sincerely Yours,
Paul S. Haughey, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools