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Friday, May 4, 2018
Peabody Thrift open for business on Main Street District principals announce School Improvement Plans By Christopher Roberson
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s the school year begins to wind down, Eric Buckley, principal of Peabody Veterans Memorial High School, and Todd Bucey, principal of Higgins Middle School, delivered their School Improvement Plans for next year. During his presentation to the School Committee on April 24, Buckley described the steps he and his colleagues have taken to pull the high school out of its Level 3 accountability status. Those measures included offering a freshman Algebra I honors class, hiring a fourth teacher for English Language Learning and joining the District and Shown, from left to right, are Mayor Edward Bettencourt, Frank Perullo, owner of Peabody Thrift and School Assistance Centers. Another initiative involved restrucPerullo’s girlfriend Tabby Nicholson during the store’s ribbon cutting on April 25. (Advocate Photos by Christopher Roberson) turing the MCAS testing schedule to keep the students taking After considering other loca- the test in an isolated environthe idea for a thrift shop, being By Christopher Roberson avid viewers of the A&E reality tions, Perullo said, he is pleased ment where they would not be fter working in both web television series Storage Wars. with his choice to open at 86B disturbed. “It was quite an undesign and investing, Frank “We dreamt it up together,” he Main St. “The location was fan- dertaking,” said Buckley, adding Perullo, a business major at the said during the store’s April 25 tastic, everything’s been posi- that the school’s bell system was turned off. University of New Hampshire, ribbon-cutting event, adding tive so far,” he said. The results from the 2017 made the decision to open his that the thrift industry is suitIn addition, Perullo said he was test showed that 91 percent of own business. Perullo said he ed to withstand economic flucSEE PAGE 2 the 10th grade students scored and his father came up with tuations. in the Advanced or Proficient categories in the English Language Arts (ELA) section. This is a two percent increase over the ing was one of the reasons why Charest said the council could percentage of students who By Christopher Roberson the proposal was defeated in a either vote on the zoning pro- scored in the top two categoposal or Keilty could withdraw ries in 2014. he City Council voted unan- 5-0 vote. In Math, 75 percent of stuWard 3 Councillor James his petition. Keilty preferred that imously during its April 26 meeting to deny the request Moutsoulas said he would not the council take a vote. “I could dents scored in the Advanced for zoning amendments for go against the committee’s vote. withdraw, but I don’t think that or Proficient categories in 2017, uses and applicability. During “If you shot it down in commit- makes a whole lot of sense,” he a slight decrease from the 78 percent in 2014. However, Buckthe meeting, Attorney John tee, I’m certainly not going to said. Digital Reader Board at North- ley said he was particularly conKeilty said his proposal was to pass it here,”he said.“I’m not willcerned about the six percent shore Mall change the zoning use to allow ing to do that.” In other news, the council vot- of students who did not pass Councillor-at-Large Anne retail establishments at 58 Pulaski St., which is a light industri- Manning-Martin also said she ed unanimously to grant a spe- the Math section last year. “The al district. “We want to encour- would not disregard the com- cial permit to allow changes six-percent failure, unfortunateage some kind of limited retail mittee’s vote. “These items are on the digital reader board at ly, has been too consistent,” he said. essentially dead; they’ve al- Northshore Mall. users,” he said. In Biology, 67 percent of stuGrant Michael, program direcKeilty said the purpose of the ready been killed in committor of Walton Signage, said the dents scored in the Advanced second zoning amendment tee,” she said. Therefore, Moutsoulas sug- mall’s owner, Simon Property or Proficient categories in 2017, would be to identify when inclusionary zoning applies to a gested that the matter be re- Group, is in the process of updat- a three percent decrease from single-family home subdivision. ferred back to the committee. ing its signage. Michael said the 2014. Overall, Buckley said, he is “reKeilty said members of the coun- However, Councillor-at-Large bottom of the sign will be paintcil’s Industrial and Community David Gravel felt differently. ed gray and the top will have a ally excited about the way MCAS Development Committee be- “That seems odd to me,” he said, “cleaner and crisper” font. “We went this year,” adding that the lieved that his proposal need- adding that a matter should not won’t be adding anything else,” high school is moving in the ed additional “massaging and be sent back to a committee af- he said, adding that it will not be right direction. “We’re closer to ter it has been voted down, and a distraction for drivers. Michael a [Level] 2 than we are a 4 or a 5.” revision.” In addition, Buckley outlined Councillor-at-Large Thomas “The better way is to clear the also assured the council that the modifications will not violate the four of his goals going into the Gould, the committee’s chair- book on this one.” 2018-2019 school year. He said City Council President Edward original sign permit. man, said the risk of spot zon-
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City Council votes down proposed zoning changes
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his first goal is to “revise and implement viable 21st-century curriculum”; the second goal is to “analyze instructional practices”; the third goal is to “build a data-driven system that assesses and supports all learners”; and the final goal is to “establish a tiered intervention support system.” Speaking about the fourth goal, Buckley said the high school will have a semester-long class designed to ease the transition from middle school to high school. Buckley’s budget requests included Edgenuity for $20,000, Advanced Placement/Mass Insight Education & Research for $15,000, Naviance Licensure for $6,000 and PSATs for 10th-grade students for $4,000. Higgins Middle School Improvement Plan Todd Bucey, principal of Higgins Middle School, said 12.2 percent of his students speak English as a second language, which is up from 8.7 percent last year. In addition, he said, 19 percent of his students receive Special Education services. Although 28.7 percent of the middle school students are considered to be “economically disadvantaged,”Bucey said that figure is still lower than the district’s percentage of 31.1 percent and the 32 percent on the state level. Regarding the results of the new Next Generation MCAS, 61 percent of sixth-grade students earned Advanced or Proficient scores on the ELA section in 2014. However, that number dipped to 53 percent in 2017. In addition, the number of students in the Needs Improvement category increased by 10 percent during the three-year period from 30 percent to 40 percent. In Math, 49 percent of sixthgrade students scored in the Advanced or Proficient categories in 2014. In 2017, that number dropped slightly to 47 percent. The number of students who fell into the Needs Improvement category went up from 33 percent to 44 percent. For seventh grade ELA, 69 percent of those students scored in
SCHOOL | SEE PAGE 5