Seventeen Educators Receive Professional Teaching Status

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Photo: Theresa Burke, a School Social Worker, being congratulated by Superintendent Dr. Jill Geiser for obtaining professional teaching status

Seventeen educators and staff members in the Belmont Public Schools can add “professional status” to their resume.

“Tonight we will recognize educators who have worked diligently over the last three years to earn this distinction,” said Mike McAllister, director of Human Capital who hosted the ceremony during a recent School Committee meeting.

Professional status is bestowed on teachers and other professional employees – including social workers, school librarians, nurses, counselors, and school psychologists – who have served in the School District for three consecutive years and have successfully completed the teacher induction and mentor-mentee programs, and pass the evaluation under a Developing Educator Plan. It provides added job security, allow them to pursue specialized training, and a path to move into school or district administration.

“It required not only that these educators teach successfully and work with their students, but also meet the high expectations of the community and the leadership of the Belmont schools,” said McAllister, who noted that this group faced challenges post-COVID – they were hired in 2021 – and excelled in their roles, often taking on tasks their predecessors didn’t expect.

“As we know, the journey from year one to three is an important time in a career,” said School Committee Chair Meg Moriarty. “Our work is to ensure that our early career teachers develop those skills that are needed to really meet our high standards.”

“The teachers who have earned these professional status have proven that they can consistently deliver on the district’s expectations around these practices,” Moriarty said.

Rebecca Burger Nurse
Nicole Budreau Grade 5 ELA/SS
Theresa Burke School Social Worker
Erin Collins Math Specialist
Jacqueline Duane Reading Specialist
Megan Gallo School Psychologist
Kathleen Harris School Nurse
Devon Kelleher Grade 4
Colleen Leary School Psychologist
Jeffrey Molk Chemisty & Biology
Meghan Newcombe English Language Arts
Ashley Peterson School Social Worker
Samantha Resnick School Social Worker/Adjustment Counselor
Sydney Skiba, Grade 4
Krista Urquhart Guidance Counselor
Oliver Ward Grade 5 (Math/Science)
Jason Zomick School Psychologist

Performing Arts Company’s Modern Production Of ‘Star-Cross’d Lovers’: Romeo & Juliet Wrapped In A Punk Shroud

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Photo: Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet is being presented by the Belmont High School Performing Arts Company.

The Belmont High School Performing Arts Company’s Fall Play is William Shakespeare’s ROMEO & JULIET.

The Bard’s great love story of “a pair of star-cross’d lovers” and the family feud that drives them to a tragic end gets a contemporary update by the PAC. Inspired by punk rock and grunge of the 1970s-1990s, the production produced and directed by Belmont High Theater Arts teacher Ezra Flam highlights the wild, violent, humorous and impulsive passions of youth.

CONTENT WARNING: The PAC Production contains depictions of violence, suicide and domestic abuse. It may not be appropriate for young children.

Performances are Thursday, Friday & Saturday. ​Nov. 7, 8 and 9
The curtain rises at 7 p.m. in the BHS Black Box Theater

TICKET INFO:
ADULTS: $12, CHILDREN: $7
​BHS STUDENTS/STAFF: $5 all performances

Tickets are on sale online. Advance purchase recommended.
BHS Students/Staff can get tickets in school during lunch the week of the show

Poster by Wynn Tenhor ’25

Belmont High Girls Volleyball Host ‘Marauders Dig Pink’ Match On Thursday, Oct. 10 [VIDEO]

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Photo: Funds raised by Side-Out go toward a clinical trial specifically for patients with stage 4 breast cancer,

Belmont High Girls Volleyball is hosting a “Dig Pink” match on Thursday, Oct. 10 against Reading with the junior varsity/first year game starting at 4:15 p.m. with the varsity to follow at 5:30 p.m. The team is raising funds for the Side-Out Foundation, a metastatic breast cancer research organization. There will be a concession stand and link/QR code for fans to donate to the cause. 

Belmont High Head Coach Jen Couture said the team is “excited to be part of The Side-Out Foundation and its Dig Pink initiative, and we need our fan’s help to make our campaign successful.”

Funds raised for Side-Out go toward a clinical trial specifically for patients with stage 4 breast cancer, the most advanced form of the disease and the least funded area of research.

Fourth Graders Appeal Rescues STEM Night At The Burbank; Thursday, April 11 At 6 PM

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Photo: The Burbank School

A few months back, it didn’t look like the annual STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math – Night would occur at the Mary Lee Burbank Elementary School this year, according to Kathy Posey, STEM Committee member of the Burbank PTA. There didn’t appear to be enough time to plan the event, and finding volunteers is difficult.

But don’t underestimate the will of Burbank students.

About six weeks ago, the Burbank PTA received a petition from the fourth-grade students requesting that STEM Night be planned for this year. The good news is that thanks to parent volunteers, local community organizations, and businesses, STEM Night is happening. On Thursday, April 11, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., the Burbank students will learn about the excitement that STEM bring to everyday life.

Given the short time the event could be planned, the STEM Committee aimed to have 15 to 20 interactive exhibits. This past week, more than 30 interactive exhibits will encourage students to engage in STEM activities! The exhibitors include:

  • Belmont High School Science Club Air Trajectory: Students will try their hand at a catapult that shoots ping-pong and golf balls.
  • Belmont Police Department Drones and Fingerprints: Students will learn how the police drone works.  They will also learn how fingerprints are lifted from a crime scene and try it themselves.
  • Eversource Pedal Power: Students will pedal a bike to learn whether an incandescent or LED light bulb requires more power.
  • Record Robotics Robot Fun: Students will drive a robot as it shoots soft donut-shaped pieces at different heights, and students will catch them.
  • Matt Taylor, the newly elected Belmont Select Board member, and a Burbank parent, will present Everyday Things Up Close: Students will look at items we use all the time but at 60x to 120x magnification. What will they see?

Burbank owes a special thanks to Belmont Orthodontics and Belmont Pediatric Dentistry for their generous support has that helped defray event costs and allowed the PTA to raise funds for continued classroom enrichments, teacher support and community building events, such as STEM Night.

Foundation For Belmont Education Name Outstanding Teachers, Farrell Award Winner

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Photo: Greg Bruce, (middle) the 2024 S. Warren Farrell Award for Educational Excellence honoree

The Foundation for Belmont Education has announced the recipients of the 2024 Outstanding Teacher Awards and the S. Warren Farrell Award for Educational Excellence. Sponsored by the Belmont Savings Bank Foundation, the recipients – selected among nominations submitted by students, parents, colleagues, and the community – will be honored at a public ceremony at the Chenery Upper Elementary School on Monday, April 29.

Greg Bruce, a Special Education teacher at Belmont High School and head coach of the current state champion Boy’s Rugby squad, is this year’s Farrell Excellence Award honoree, recognizes his long standing dedication and leadership both in the classroom and in the larger community. 

The Outstanding Teachers honorees are recognized for their excellence in the classroom and for consistently making a difference in the lives of Belmont’s students. 

 2024 Outstanding Teacher Award recipients are:

  • Joshua Streit, Belmont High School, Social Studies
  • Brenton Lussier, Belmont Middle School, Math
  • Sara Carson, Chenery Upper Elementary School, Music
  • Kendra Nnyanzi, Wellington Elementary School, Grade 1
  • Catherine Monnin, Winn Brook Elementary School, Grade 2
  • Molly Quinn, Butler Elementary School, Social Worker
  • Wendy Hurwitz, Burbank Elementary School, Grade K

The ceremony for this year’s recipients will be held on Monday, April 29, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Chenery Upper Elementary School auditorium where cookies and light refreshments will be served. The award celebration, sponsored by Belmont Savings Bank Foundation, is open to everyone.

The BHS Performing Arts Company Will Be Staging ‘Something Rotten’ This Week

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Photo: The poster of this year’s musical “Something Rotten”

The tale of how the world’s very first musical was staged, the Belmont High School Performing Arts Company presents its Spring Musical “Something Rotten” this week in the Belmont Middle and High School Main Theater.

Showtimes are:

  • Thursday, March 14 at 7 p.m.
  • Friday, March 15 at 7 p.m.
  • Saturday, March 16 at 2 p.m. (matinee) and 7 p.m. 

Ticketing for the shows is online, and advance purchase of tickets is strongly encouraged, as the Main Theater has limited seating capacity. Tickets can be purchased at bhs-pac.org

It’s 1595, and brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom are desperate to write a hit play but find themselves stuck in the shadow of William Shakespeare, the Renaissance rock star known as “The Bard.” When a soothsayer foretells that the future of theater involves singing, dancing, and acting – all at the same time – Nick and Nigel set out to write the world’s very first musical. Amidst the scandalous excitement of opening night, the Bottom brothers realize that reaching the top means being true to their own self.

The book is by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell. Music and lyrics by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick, who also conceived the work.

TICKETS:
ADULTS: $15 in advance / $18 at the door
STUDENTS/CHILDREN: $10
BHS STUDENTS: $5 Thursday and Saturday Matinee, $10 Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m.

Filling Spaces: Belmont Announces ‘New’ Asst. Super, A First CUE Leader, Extended Elementary Principals Search

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Photo: The Belmont School District is filling leadership positions

The Belmont School District has taken the “interim” from assistant superintendent Lucia Sullivan’s title as the in-house candidate was hired to fill the post recently held by Janice Darias.

Sullivan’s appointment to the full-time post was one of two selections by Superintendent Jill Geiser in filling major leadership positions in the district over the past month. Sullivan’s promotion was hardly a surprise as she and Geiser have created an effective team after the superintendent arrived in Belmont this past July.

The second announcement was the appointment of Belmont educator Laura Smith as the first permanent principal of the Chenery Upper Elementary School – dubbed by the district as the “CUE” – which will take place July 1. Until then, Smith will continue serving as the CUE’s Elementary Curriculum Coordinator, a position she has held since September.

“I’m excited to step into the role of principal at the Chenery Upper Elementary School, the first leader of the school in its grades four, five and six configuration,” said Smith to the school committee on Feb. 28.

“One message came through really strongly to me is that Belmont really cares about education. And it was affirming to me to have the support of all of those community stakeholders,” Smith said. “I believe in open communication and collaboration; so, with that in mind, please, I encourage you to share your insights and concerns openly as we work together to build this new fourth to sixth [grade] school.”

Prior to coming to Belmont, Smith worked for two years as the district’s Literacy Coach in the Cambridge Public Schools. She brings previous experience as a Cultural Proficiency Facilitator (2015-2021, Cambridge Street Upper School), an Assistant Principal (2009-2015, Kennedy Middle School), and nearly a decade as a classroom teacher of English at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School.

She has a BA in English Literature from the University of Massachusetts at Boston, a MEd degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education where she was honored as a James Bryant Conant Fellow, And she will soon be “Dr. Smith” as she anticipates earning a doctorate in Curricular Studies and Educational Leadership from the University of South Carolina sometime this year.

Still up in the air remains hiring principals at the Winn Brook and Burbank elementary schools in which the job postings remain open with interviews coming in the spring. Geiser told the committee the district is “still within the window” from January to the spring in which a larger candidate pool is emerging.

“There’s a lot of movement” among educators seeking new positions which places Belmont in “a good situation.”

Finally the hiring of an assistant principal at the Belmont Middle School (grades 7-8) is being led by BMS’s Principal Russ Kupperstein.

The 2024-25 Belmont School Year Starts After Labor Day As Committee Approves Calendar

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Photo: The 2024-5 school year calendar has been approved

Keeping with recent tradition, Belmont schools will open for the 2024-25 school year after Labor Day as the Belmont School Committee voted unanimously to start classes for first to 12th grade on Wednesday, Sept. 4, two days after the holiday.

There will be four recesses in 2024-2025:

  • Thanksgiving: Nov. 28-29.
  • Winter: Dec. 23 – Jan. 1.
  • February: Feb. 17-21.
  • April: Apr. 21-25.

As 2024 is a presidential year, schools will be closed on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5.

Graduation for the class of 2025 will be held on Saturday, June 7.

The final day of the school year for K-11 will be Tuesday, June 24 which includes five “snow” days added. If schools are not postponed during the year due to the weather, the final day will be pushed up to Tuesday, June 17.

‘It Could Be Yesterday; It Might Be Tomorrow’: BHS Performing Arts Company’s ‘Inherit The Wind’ [VIDEO]

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Photo: Henry Barnes (sitting) and Gavin Tieken-Zidel (standing right) were the leads in Belmont High School Performing Arts Company’s production of “Inherit The Wind.”

Belmont High School Performing Arts Company Presented “INHERIT THE WIND” by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee at Belmont Middle and High School Black Box.

​The Performing Arts Company Fall Play was the classic drama, “Inherit the Wind,” based on the real-life story of the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, when a high school science teacher was arrested for teaching evolution and violating a new state law. The play tells the tale of a small town gripped in the ensuing debate about science, religion, free speech, the law, and the two legal heavyweights coming to town to battle for their causes.

The show features a cast of 18 actors and the tech crew includes more than 40 students working on lighting, scenery, costumes, props, sound, and stage management.

NOTES ABOUT THE SHOW FROM PRODUCTION DRAMATURG LUCAS HOLMAN:

A dramaturg serves as a literary expert for a theatrical production, providing historical research, analysis and interpretation of a play to the cast, crew, and audience. For Inherit the Wind, Junior Lucas Holman conducted research about the history of the play, which was presented to the cast/crew throughout the rehearsal process, and participated with the cast in conversations about the present-day relevance of the show. He also wrote an essay for the program, part of which is excerpted here:

“Inherit the Wind” is a timeless work of historical fiction based on the “Scopes Monkey Trial” of 1925, in which a high school biology teacher was prosecuted for teaching evolution, which had been banned months prior. The play was written in the 1950s as a response to the McCarthy trials and a critique to the kangaroo courts of the Red Scare.

“Inherit the Wind” takes the historical figures and blends them into a dramatization of the courtroom. On one hand, “Inherit the Wind” is a time capsule, not just of the Scopes Trial from which it borrows its story, but from the McCarthy era which it aimed to critique. Similar to Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” “Inherit the Wind” utilizes the American past to touch on its American present by interweaving the themes and conflicts of the past with what they needed to hear then. However, the play is both timely as well as timeless, as many of the critiques it directs towards the unchecked dogma of Bryanism still ring true today in the climate of a divided America.

NOTES ABOUT THE SHOW FROM PRODUCER/DIRECTOR EZRA FLAM

“Inherit the Wind” is a Modern American drama, which is a style of play we have not done in the PAC in recent years. Students have had the opportunity to explore character development, naturalistic acting and play dramatic scenes, which has been a fun challenge for rehearsal and a great learning experience for them.

In March of 1925, the Tennessee legislature prohibited the teaching of evolution. The strike against Darwin sparked outrage across scientific America. Local authority figures in Dayton, Tennessee, quickly agreed: they wanted to use the new law to bring money and fame to their unknown town. They convinced John T. Scopes, on whom the character of Bert Cates is based, to stand trial. The ACLU put together a defense team led by Clarence Darrow, the most famed defense attorney in the nation in his time. Darrow is fictionalized in the play as Henry Drummond, facing off against prosecuting attorney Matthew Harrison Brady, a disgruntled thrice-failed presidential candidate who sees the defense of God as his last mission. Matthew Harrison Brady is modeled after William Jennings Bryan, the 19th and early 20th-century presidential candidate and novel politician, whose influence derived from his populist ideals. 

In addition, the tech crew has been hard at work creating the world of the show. Under the guidance of Scenic Designer Anna Moss, Costume Designer Lila West and Technical Director Ian O’Malley, students are creating the world of the play. Although the show takes place in the 1920s, we felt it was important to show that the story is not a historical artifact. As the author’s say in their preface to the script, “it could be yesterday; it might be tomorrow.” We have represented that on stage with a “Wall of Americana” spanning the last 100 years of culture and invention, a decade spanning soundtrack of American music and costumes that evoke the 1920s, but don’t lock the characters into that time period.

Performing Arts Company’s 2023-4 Season Gets Underway With ‘Broadway Night,’ Oct. 13, 14

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Photo: Nicole Thoma singing “History of Wrong Guys” on Broadway Night, 2015

BROADWAY NIGHT 2023, the Performing Arts Company’s annual evening of musical theater cabaret, will take place Oct. 13 and 14, at 7 p.m. in the Belmont Middle and High School Main Theater.

TICKETS: $5 Students, $12 Adults BUY TICKETS FOR BROADWAY NIGHT

Advance Ticket Purchase online recommended. Some tickets will be available at the theater 30 minutes before each performance.

Broadway Night kicks off the theater season at Belmont High. Students perform classic show tunes and contemporary work from new musical theater composers in an evening of song, dance and storytelling. ​This year, the show features more than 40 solo, duet and group performers, with a mix of humor, heart, romance and high-energy fun, plus a dance number

Broadway Night represents the core mission of the PAC, with an emphasis on showcasing student work. The performers have selected, staged and rehearsed the songs almost entirely on their own, In addition, the lighting design is done entirely by students, and the show ends with a finale song featuring the entire company