Belmont High Mini-Forest Dedication Set For Saturday, Oct. 3

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Photo: The Belmont High School Mini-Forest

A year after being planted, the official dedication of Belmont High School Mini-Forest will take place on Saturday, Oct. 3 from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The afternoon will include tours, arts and crafts, poetry contest winners, science stories and games about the forest.

The celebration comes a year after volunteers spent two day planting approximately 1,145 trees and scrubs between two walking paths in the front of the Belmont High School campus. The forest is a dense planting of native trees and scrubs to recreate old growth forests. By planting the saplings close together in a compact area – the size of a small swimming pool – the area grows in a third of the usual time.

The mini-forest is seen as being used by educators as a living laboratory on the impact of Climate challenges on the community, while enhancing urban biodiversity, improve air quality, and providing a green space for residents.

The forest was inspired by the work of Japanese botanist Dr. Akira Miyawaki, known for his work in the restoration of natural forests.

The Cambridge Department of Public Works planted the first min-forest in the northeastern US in Danehy Park near Fresh Pond in Sept. 2021.

‘This Future Is Yours, And This Future Is Now’ Belmont High Class Of ’26 Graduate 340-ish

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Photo: What’s more traditional at a graduation than plenty of caps sent upwards? 

The final act of the Belmont High School Class of 2026 occurred on the stage of Harris Field on Saturday, June 6, before an audience of parents, siblings, relatives, friends, teachers, and a gaggle of photographers that would not seem out of place at a Hollywood premiere.

The class gathered under partly cloudy skies with temperatures a bit in the uncomfortable range. But any hint of rain was pushed back to that night, allowing students and guests to enjoy the pageantry of graduation. The High School’s Wind Symphony under Alley Lacasse and Combined Chorus conducted by Kaitlin Donovan served as artistic accompaniment. 

The school committee and members of the school administration, led by Superintendent Dr. Jill Geiser and Committee Chair Meghan Moriarty, marched in front of the students before taking their places on the dais. 

Belmont High School Principal Issac Taylor

In his welcoming remarks, Belmont High School Principal Isaac Taylor recalled that in the late 1960s, the technically-based race to the moon and the environmental movement ran in parallel only to see each sidelined for decades. Today, while interplanetary space exploration “is back on the table” as the idea “supporting life in barren environments charges the imagination … and spurs us to think big, shared dreams for humanity.” Yet there is no similar effort to “re-engineer our planet, turn the solar system green.

“Can it be that we can take on the technical and logistic challenges of planting life in air and dusty worlds, yet fall into a nihilistic stupor when it comes to repairing our own beautiful home, even where we have the knowledge and the means to do so?” asked Taylor. 

And while today magical thinking dominates our collective consciousness, a “techno-authoritarian view of the future, devoid of community and empathy, is settling over humanity like obnoxious gas as tensions rise and hope fades,” he said.

“It is darkly fascinating that the same wealthy elite can be so optimistic about our prospect of multi-planetary species with complex space-centered heavy industry, while at the same time denying agency for solving our climate crisis, inequality, and biodiversity dilemma,” he said. 

“But this is not the only future,” said Taylor. In the past four years, the Belmont High Class of 2026 had demonstrated the possibilities of humanity, having stamped their mark upon the new high school campus by inventing and cementing traditions, such as hosting the largest prom in the state, establishing the first mini forest in Belmont, and creating such viral Instagram reels on the class account with two million views.

“Class of 2026, you are graduating at a time when you will see big changes in the world, no matter what. There is no possibility of things staying the same. In an era of grievances of people and defeatism, our greatest resource and our greatest hope are all of you. I know that you have the skills to be engaged citizens, empathetic people, and creative and imaginative thinkers—everything you need to effect change.”

Class President Ignacio ‘Iggy’ Matorras

From a student who was “too scared” to run for student government as a first year to addressing the approximately 370 members of the Class of 2026 as its student government president, Ignacio ‘Iggy’ Matorras remains surprised that someone who was so nervous during his first campaign speech that he read a paragraph twice would be speaking for his classmates.

“Somehow I still won the election, and this role had a tremendous impact on my life,” said Matorras, forcing him to speak and working with others and finding solutions to problems on the fly. 

“Most importantly, it showed me that some of the best opportunities in life come to you when you’re willing to do something that scares you.”

Michelle Chow, School Committee Award for Outstanding Achievement in Scholarship

Recognized for her integrity and outstanding academic activities, Michelle Chow will matriculate this fall at Cornell, studying engineering. 

“A wise man taught me what it means to be part of a thriving community,” Chow told the graduating class. “He brought people together by being present in ordinary ways, showing up with a smile, greeting people, asking how they were doing, laughing with them, talking to them. His seemingly simple actions had a large impact, making everyone feel like they belonged, and so I realized that community is born through the unremarkable moments that become the thread weaving us together.”

The change of the members of the Class of 2026, from being “average freshmen” to graduating seniors, was not simply because “we became more mature, more experienced, and more accustomed to the rhythm of high school.” Rather, it’s because through our day-to-day interactions, we’ve created an extraordinary sense of unity,” Chow said, from shared classes, clubs, field trips, and senior year activities which “weren’t just a source of entertainment, they were also a reminder of having gone through high school as a class rather than simply as individuals.”

“While today marks the end of our journey at BHS, the legacy of our time here will live on through the memory of the distinct and special community we’ve built,” said Chow. “We each have our own stories, our own backgrounds, our own lives, like diverse patches of fabric, but through the time we spent together, we’ve managed to stitch together a beautiful quilt.”

Fiona Rodriguez-Clark, School Committee Award for Outstanding Achievement in Scholarship

Early in the lacrosse season, in which she was a co-captain and senior leader of a very young defensive backline, Fiona Rodriguez-Clark rushed off the pitch just before halftime and sprinted to the high school. It wasn’t any sort of emergency. It was a concert. Rodriguez-Clark was scheduled to play with the school’s orchestra. The question about Rodriguez is what she hasn’t accomplished in her four years at BHS: a perfect 4.33 GPA, National Merit Scholar Letter of Commendation, AP Scholar with Distinction, co-founder and president of the mental health initiative Morgan’s Message, playing cello with the Boston Philharmonic and a three-time All-State musician, a volunteer with her church in serving the unhoused community. She will take her boundless energy to Penn in the fall, studying mathematics.

With so much done on her resume, Rodriguez-Clark said she wished to talk about what the future held for her and her classmates. It’s a question that everyone has been asked for much of their lives—Rodriguez-Clark was four when she saw a future as a dentist – and which has changed up until the current vision of yourself, where the future is “concrete to vague.”

In a clever moment, Rodriguez-Clark asked her classmates to reach under their chairs where she placed slips of paper with occupations and accomplishments such as two-time BAA Marathon wheelchair champ, NASA astronaut, population ecologist for the National Zoo, a nanny, a US Marine major, and Empress of Japan.

Rodriguez-Clark told the assembled that she wasn’t the class Cassandra, rather that each of the 340 slips were people who are Belmont High School graduates.

“The important thing is that at one point in all of these people’s lives, the dream written on that piece of paper before you was only that, a dream. Conjure up that image of your own future again. Like all of us graduating today, these people started with only an idea of what they wanted their futures to look like, but as soon as they walked across this stage, it was time to start making those futures a reality.”

“At this point, you can either accept the futures that other people choose for you, or you can strive to create your own. No one lives your life but you, and only you know what it’s like to be in your shoes at this moment.”

“This future is yours, and this future is now.”

Belmont High Girls’ Rugby Remains Undefeated Overpowering Weymouth, 43-21, In Meeting Of Unbeatens

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Photo: Belmont High Girls’ Mia Salazar scores the Marauders’ fourth try in Belmont’s 43-21 victory over undefeated Weymouth High on May 14, 2026.

It’s just the contest fans of all sports wish for: a late season encounter between the year’s leading teams to determine who’s the top dog entering the playoffs.

This past Thursday, rugby fans were not disappointed when the Weymouth High girl ruggers took on the Belmont High XV in the clash of the final undefeated squads in Massachusetts. At the end of the 70 minutes, the game followed a familiar script as the six-time state champion Marauders pulled away from the visiting Wildcats in the second half, winning 43-21.

Leading Belmont’s offense was its talisman, junior Lock Becca Christensen punched over the try line three times, while the Marauders’ centers and halfbacks shut down the majority of Weymouth’s attacks, with senior fullback Farrah Harris making five solo tackles that waylaid the Wildcats from scoring on the break.

Weymouth came to play, and on its first two passes, Wildcat senior Nikki Moraes found a lane down the left sideline and offloaded to Weymouth’s player of the match, Delaney Barhight, who scored within the first two minutes. 

“I think you have to be appreciative of the fact that [Weymouth} came ready to take it to us, and it forced us to immediately buckle down and get ourselves together and play the kind of rugby we want to be playing,” said Belmont’s Head Coach McCabe.

Belmont would soon be on the front foot, benefiting from the first of several receiving miscues Weymouth committed on the kicks after scores, scoring its first try in the fifth minute from sophomore Eden Hill, followed four minutes later by Christensen who crashed in from 12 meters out to give Belmont an early 12-7 lead.

“Becca Christensen is a powerhouse,” said McCabe. “But she’s more than that. She does the footwork, and that picks up the pace. All those things are making her incredibly hard to take down, and she has the ball handling skills to also offload [the ball], so it’s awesome.”

After taking the ball after the try, Belmont was soon within striking distance at the 22 when senior “8” “Cappy” Detheux grabbed a loose ball from the scrum and scampered down the left sideline to dive into the try zone, upping Belmont’s lead to 19-7 within 16 minutes. 

But the game was far from over. For the remaining 20 minutes in the first half, the Wildcats would hold most of the possession as they took their time grinding out the meters towards the try zone. Weymouth came close at the 24 minute mark only to be pushed over the sideline, and at 29 minutes, Harris took down Weymouth’s Barhight in the open field. 

“Weymouth was playing beautiful possession rugby: no mistakes made in the handling, were immediately over those rucks, and that is exhausting for a defensive side, the same thing we’re always trying to do,” said McCabe. 

Weymouth came close twice before its scrum-half would “tap and go” after a penalty to try to slice Belmont’s advantage to five points, 19-14, four minutes from half-time. Between the halves, McCabe made some substitutions to provide a needed change of pace.

“We saw that we have to elevate our play to hang with good teams for the full 70 [minutes]. And [Belmont] demonstrated the kind of discipline that we want to have as a side, and we appreciate that from the girls. They really rose to the occasion.”

One of the key subs was junior Prop Timikha Mukwazhi who immediately made an impression on her first touch, running for 35 meters deep into Wildcat territory and then anchoring the front of the defense. 

“I always get a pep talk from my coach before I get in, and I just said to myself, ‘I’m going to dominate this game, and I’m going to hit girls today.'” So that’s my mindset, always switched on,” she said.

Belmont would score its fourth try 10 minutes into the half when senior Mia Salazar swept around Weymouth’s end for the try. A few minutes later, Barhight was sent off for 10 minutes for a potentially dangerous tackle, which Belmont took full advantage of. Two minutes later, sophomore right wing CeCe Held finished off an impressive Belmont phase to increase Belmont’s advantage to 31-14. After Weymouth scored shorthanded, Christensen broke through the Weymouth line and barreled 40 meters to set herself up for her third try of the afternoon and seal the victory.

McCabe acknowledged junior scrum-half Serena Field for her presence on the pitch. “She poached the ball; she made tackles when people got through the line. She worked her butt off all day and just kept people moving and anticipated where the ball was going.”

But McCabe said the win was truly a team effort.

“That’s the joy of recognizing that rugby is a game where everyone plays. Everybody is appreciated. We need a ton of different skills, and getting the ball to Tamikha means something different from getting the ball to Farrah. They’re each doing work that gets us down the field; there was a lot of great work to see today.”

School Committee OKs Three Year Superintendent Contract; ‘Interim’ Dropped From Student Services Director’s Title

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Photo: Belmont Schools Superinterndent Dr. Jill Geiser

It was smooth sailing for Schools Superintendent Dr. Jill Geiser as the Belmont School Committee voted unanimously to support a second employment agreement with Geiser to continue as the district’s leader for an additional three-year term.

“I want to acknowledge Dr. Geiser leadership and the work underway across the district that she has been spearheading,” said School Committee Chair Meg Moriarty, who noted the contract will run from July 1 through June 30, 2030, with a possible one-year extension. 

“The agreement that we’ve come to reflects that the school committee wishes to support the continuation of that work and your very strong district leadership. I think the contract provides important continuity for the Belmont public schools through June 2030, with a standard one-year extension,” said Moriarty.

Details of Gieser’s contract, including her salary and compensation which is being adjusted in year one, allowing her to be compensated at an equivilent level found in other districts, were not provided by Moriarty. Those changes are based on a third-year superintendent with a doctorate in education, followed by modest, predictable increases that reflect both other contract conditions in the district and the fiscal responsibility expected of the school committee.

After the vote, Geiser called out the committee’s “confidence in my work as a superintendent. I also convey that to the leadership team. It is the people on our team that really make things happen, and I want to extend appreciation in that direction as well.”

Geiser pointed out the experience of being a superintendent in a community where she lives “is really pretty incredible.”

“I get comments like, ‘Is that hard [working in Belmont]?’ I was like, ‘Actually, it’s good.’ It’s because I feel that I have much more investment in it, and it’s not hard to get out to certain events and things like that and see what’s going on,” she said.

“I appreciate very much the opportunity to do that here in Belmont, and I am looking forward to continuing on with the work,” said Geiser.

Libby Given the Full Time Job

The transitional title ‘interim’ was a prefix to Jonathan Libby’s title up until Tuesday, when the School Committee approved Libby’s appointment to be the district’s next full-time Director of Student Services through the coming three years.

The Department of Student Services encompasses guidance, nursing, and special education services from preschool through high school.

“I think that the school committee feels that the agreement supports the continuity and leadership in the Student Services Department, which is critical for many of our students and families,” said Moriarty.

Belmont School Committee OKs $88.3M Budget For FY ’27, A 9.3 Percent Annual Increase

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Photo: FY ’27 School Committee budget

The Belmont School Committee unanimously approved an $88.3 million fiscal year 2027 budget at its March 10 meeting.

The committee will ask the annual Town Meeting to approve the $74.0 million allocated to the schools from the town’s general fund. The remaining $14.3 million is made up of grants, revolving funds, and other accounts.

The all-in budget (the general fund and the other fund sources) is 9.3 percent above last fiscal year’s amount, while the town’s general funds allocation to the schools rose 4.8 percent, or $3.38 million.

There are two big-ticket items: educator and staff salaries making up three-quarters of the budget, followed by salaries, tuition, and transportation supporting special education at 18 percent.

“You’d see the vast majority of our funds are for staff salaries, which is typical for a [school] district in general,” said Tony DiCologero, director of Finance, Business and Operations.

“So after you look at those two categories together, that’s 93 percent of the school budget coming from the general fund. It doesn’t leave us a lot to do much beyond that,” said Amy Zuccarello, who chairs the finance subcommittee. “I do applaud that we’ve been able to do so much with so little, and I think it is due to where our focus has been.” 

The number of Belmont’s Full-Time Equivalent (FTEs) teaching and staff positions will exceed 600 in FY ’27, with the addition of 19 FTE’s from all sources, as the figure reaches 613.6.

Unlike pre-pandemic budgets, which were inherently completed late in the fiscal year as the town administration and school district sweated out final state-based local aid amounts, there is no surprise of what the school’s allocation will be after the town adopted a revenue-first budget process three years ago. 

There will be two one-time appropriations in the fiscal ’27 budget: $46,000 for the implementation of a Student Information System and funding for the continued adoption of the elementary-level curriculum plan, noted DiCologero.

Revolving funds – individual accounts for specific activities such as athletics, food services, and bus fees – will come in at $4.6 million, an increase of $700,000 from fiscal year ’26, reflecting greater
reliance on the fees for student activities and visual and performing arts, and so reducing the general
fund to this area.

The ’27 fiscal year will see the return of the federal and state grants line item account. During the COVID pandemic era, the district received a significant amount of one-time federal funds along with state recurring grants. That line item has been a considerable jump from $6.3 million to $9.5 million, which is largely due to the anticipated reimbursement and the district’s reliance on state “circuit breaker” funds based on Belmont’s special education tuition and transportation expenses, said DiCologero. 

“Ultimately, I think that this is a very good budget in light of what our available resources are,” said Zuccarello. “We can never predict exactly what the future is going to look like, but this is an educated, informed budget that I feel very happy to support.”

‘Don’t Be The Bunny’ That Misses ‘Urinetown,’ BHS Performing Arts Company’s Spring Musical

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Photo: Caldwell B. Caldwell (Bennett Sprague) singing about the dilemmas of being a rabbit in a modern world in “Don’t be the Bunny” from BHS PAC’s Spring Musical Urinetown.

URINETOWN
MUSIC AND LYRICS BY MARK HOLLMANN, 
TONY AWARD-WINNING BOOK AND LYRICS BY GREG KOTIS​

PERFORMANCES
Thursday, March 12 at 7 p.m.
Friday, March 13 at 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 14 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m​.

TICKET INFO
ADULTS: $15; STUDENTS/CHILDREN: $10; BHS Students: $5; Thursday and Sat Matinee, $10

BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE

In a drought-stricken future, all private toilets have been banned and citizens must pay to use public restrooms controlled by a powerful corporation. When an ordinary young man named Bobby Strong decides he’s had enough, he sparks a rebellion that turns his world upside down. 

The Tony Award-winning Urinetown the Musical is a hilarious and smart satire that pokes fun at musical theater while telling a surprisingly heartfelt story about love, power and standing up for what you believe in. Featuring a wide range of musical styles, big ensemble numbers [especially the end of Act 1] and a cast of bold, eccentric characters, the show is both wildly entertaining and unexpectedly thought-provoking.

This production features a large cast of Belmont High School student actors, a student-run technical crew, and a live pit band. From designing and building the world of the play to bringing its many unforgettable characters to life, the show highlights the incredible range of talent and dedication within the Belmont High School PAC.

Ezra Flam, Urinetown producer and director, said “[p]icking a show is always about looking at the overall sense of who our current students are, especially our 11th and 12th graders and what they bring into the show. And we have a lot of kids, especially in the senior class this year, who are improvisers and comedians, really funny kids. So we were looking for a show that had characters that had some of that silliness and fun that they can bring to it.”

Bringing back the musical first staged by BHS-PAC a decade ago, Flam said it’s nice looking at this production and see how the show has changed.

“Its got some things to say now that are different from when we did it 10 years ago, or when the show was written in 2001. The script reads a little differently than it did in the past. I don’t know ‘fun’ is the right word, more rewarding and interesting.”

This production carries a punch with “lots of kids” on stage, going through some complex dance numbers for how many actors are involved.

“The Act One finale is such a fantastic example of that movement. The character Officer Lockstock [William Sattler] says the act one finale is a big song and dance number for the entire cast, and it really is,” said Flam. “It’s that moment in the show where you have one group of kids singing and doing a set of choreography, while a different group is performing different lyrics and different choreography, and finally a different group is doing different lyrics and a completely different choreography. All this is happening when two leads are up on a piece of scenery that’s spinning and doing different lyrics and different moves, all at the same time. It nods to One Day More, the act one finale of Les Mis.”

This production has the advantage of it being performed in a space that everyone is quite use to.

“All of these kids have been doing shows in this theater for their entire high school career. And so I think last year was the year when really hit our stride on we’ve all been in this building. We’ve all been working here for four years, five years now, and we know what we can do, how to make the tech do all the things we wanted to do. This is a maturity of the theater space and of the program.”

Production Team

DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Ezra Flam
THEATER & MEDIA PRODUCTION FACILITATOR: John Parker
BPS DIRECTOR OF VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS: Arto Asadoorian

CAST

OFFICER LOCKSTOCK ………………………..…………William Sattler
LITTLE SALLY …………………………………………………….Trudie Innis
BOBBY STRONG…………………………………………….Calvin Barnes
HOPE CLADWELL………………………………………..Rayna Thomas
MS. PENNYWISE …………………………………………Caroline Lafkas
MR. CLADWELL…………………………….………….Bennett Sprague
OFFICER BARREL ………………………………………Quincy Crockett
SENATOR FIPP………………………………………………….Talia Siebert
MR. McQUEEN……………………………………………….Ben Guglietta
OLD MAN STRONG………………………………………..Joseph Barry
JOSEPHINE STRONG…………………….……… Teagan Imberman
HOT BLADES HARRY…………………….…………….. Malachi Smith
BECKY TWO-SHOES…………………….… Lou Aubanel-Battilana
SOUPY SUE……………………………………………………Grace Sullivan
TINY TOM………………………………………………..Quinton Hashemi
ROBBY THE STOCKFISH………………………… Sebastian Beattie

Unbeaten In ’26, Belmont High Girls’ Hoops Prepare To Avenge Early Losses By Clipping Red Hawks

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Photo: Belmont High’s Sarah Geller scored her career high with 20 points in Belmont’s win over Melrose, 53-42, on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026.

With her most prominent athlete, senior co-captain Sophia McClendon, on the bench due to an injury, Belmont High’s varsity girls basketball head coach, Antonia Macklin would need to rely on a whole lot of underclass players against visiting Melrose at Wenner Fieldhouse on Wednesday, Jan. 28.

And the youngsters came through as Belmont continued its undefeated run in 2026 with a dominant 53-42 victory over the Red Hawks, as the Marauders clinched a post-season berth in the MIAA Division 1 playoffs.

Belmont will require the same aggressive approach on both sides of the court as they next take on the two teams above them in the Middlesex Liberty standings (and which beat the Marauders early in the season) at Arlington on Friday night before welcoming undefeated Woburn – ranked 5th in the Boston Globe’s poll – at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 3, at the Wenner Fieldhouse. 

In her inaugural season leading the Marauders, Macklin said she “always prepare the girls for a ‘what if’ moment, and today was a ‘what if,’ and they have been stepping up tremendously even before Sophia got hurt.” 

“I’m constantly challenging them. And they stepped up to meet the challenge. They did everything that we needed them to do. Everybody understands their role on this team, and it does take a team effort,” said Macklin.

Leading Belmont Wednesday was sophomore guard Sarah Geller who scored a career-high 20 points and dished out 10 assists. Geller’s point total was limited as she sat on the bench for half of the second half as Macklin liberally used her bench during the game.

“I usually play point guard,” said Geller, “but with Sophia out, we all kind of have to step up, so I moved into her spot” in the 4-Out Offense, where four players play on the perimeter, while one operates in the high or low post. “I think that was different, but that was also great because I was able to contribute in a lot of different ways.” 

“We wanted to make the playoffs, so I just tried my best to step up,” said Geller.

Geller started the game on a hot streak, scoring eight of Belmont’s 15 points in the first quarter as the Marauders took off to a 15-4 lead, with her last basket coming off a fast break layup after a block by senior co-captain Erin Attridge. But it was Belmont’s defensive set-up that proved decisive as the Red Hawks produced a limited number of open opportunities at the basket. In the second quarter, Geller would put up seven points with junior Becca Christensen and first-year forward Gwen Cornett each contributing a bucket to extend the Marauders lead to 26-10 at the half. At one point in the half, Macklin had two first-years, a pair of sophomores, and a senior on the court, providing game time to her bench players. 

While Melrose did cut the lead to 10 (35-25) with a minute and a half remaining in the third quarter, the return of the starters restored a 15-point advantage at the start of the final eight minutes. Nine Marauders hit the scoresheet with sophomore Eva Berlis with three buckets and a three (9 points), Christensen at six and numerous rebounds, while junior Caroline Scanlan hit a critical three to stop Melrose mini-run in the third.

Belmont now prepares for Arlington and Woburn; each will be a good measure of how competitive the Marauders will be against playoff-like teams.

“I think we’ve really grown as a team as the season has gone on,” said Geller. “We kind of had a rough start – coming out of the blocks at 1-4, but we’re a much closer team, and our chemistry has built up, so I think we just need to stick to how we play. We have to control the pace and not get rattled by them.” 

“Against both Woburn and Arlington, we have to be prepared, as we are for every game,” said Macklin. “Whenever we play any opponent, it doesn’t matter who the upcoming opponents are. We are always prepared to play whoever we’re scheduled to play. So it’s going to be a battle, and I’m looking forward to it. The girls are looking forward, and at the end of the day, they’re having fun. So that’s all that matters.” 

A French ‘Turkey’ On Stage: Performing Arts Company’s Fall Play A Farce In 3 Acts

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Photo: BHS PAC poster for its fall play, “An Absolute Turkey”

The Performing Arts Company’s annual Fall play is “An Absolute Turkey” (Le Dindon), a French bedroom farce written by Belle Époque-era playwright Georges Feydeau in 1896. This fast-paced, humorous show skewers the morals of upper class society as a group of aristocrats attempt to have extramarital affairs, or catch their spouses having an affair. When everyone accidentally ends up in the same hotel room on the same night, mistaken identities, interference from hotel guests and staff, and wacky hi-jinks lead to disaster for some and a happy ending for others. 

 Le Dindon literally is a “turkey” but in French usage denotes a dupe or fall guy.

CONTENT WARNING: The PAC Production depicts sexual situations played for laughs, but with some “adult humor” in the mix.

Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Nov. 13, 14 and 15 at 7 p.m. in the Belmont High School’s Black Box Theater

TICKET INFO:
ADULTS: $12,  CHILDREN: $7
​BHS STUDENTS/STAFF: $5 all performances
​Advance purchase recommended.
BHS Students/Staff can get tickets in school during lunch the week of the show

BUY TICKETS

The poster for the first performance of “Le Dindon” in 1896

Belmont High Bands Gets Halloween Started Early With Annual Masquerade Concert Oct. 30

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Photo: This year’s poster of the annual Masquerade Concert, this year on Thursday, Oct. 30.

Get a head start on Halloween by trying out your costume and heading over to Belmont High School on Halloween-eve to attend the annual Masquerade Concert in the school’s auditorium on Thursday, Oct. 30.

And best yet, the concert by the Belmont High School bands is free and open to the public with costumes encouraged.

While the concert begins at 6:30 p.m., the audience is asked to come early so everyone can view your neighbors horrorific outfits, include those worn by the band members!

As Negotiations Reach Inflection Point, School Committee Chair Calls To ‘Keep Our Schools Open’

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Photo: School Committee Chair Meg Moriarty at the Butler Elementary School

Days before an Oct. 9 public forum hosted by Belmont’s educators union to discuss the stalled salary negotiations on a new teachers contract, the leader of the town’s School Committee came before the Select Board to provide its prospective on where the talks stand, and asking the town’s administrative body to provide “additional guidance” to resolve the current impasse.

School Committee Chair Meg Moriarty said the committee’s “goal is a contract that values our educators and sustains strong schools while staying within reoccurring, predictable revenues.”

But with a significant pay gap separating the two groups, Moriarty also directed her comments to the Belmont Education Association as the prospect of a labor action grows by the day.

“Many of our students lived through the years of disruption during COVID. They need stability and consistency in their learning, and we owe it to them to keep them in our schools, keep our schools open, and keep learning uninterrupted while the adults work through this process,” she said.

Moriarty said the committee “has been very transparent and honest with the school community” by providing regular factual updates, recapping sessions, sharing proposals and data. The committee has presented “multiple salary offers” made with “the knowledge of the financial constraints” facing the town.

In the past two years, the town’s budget has provided the schools a shrinking level of revenue increase.

“Compensation remains a major issue,” said Moriarty, revealing the committee has proposed Fiscal Year ’26 [pay] raises across all units that are competitive with neighboring and peer school districts, that keep Belmont’s top salaries “among the highest in our comparative districts and beyond.”

While the committee’s raises are “sustainable” within future schools budgets, “by contrast, the BEA’s latest proposals call for about $1.2 million more in Fiscal Year ’26 and more than $5 million more over the three years of the contract.” To meet the association’s demands would “almost certainly require cuts to staffing levels and programs, increasing workloads to those who remain and at the heart of all of this are our students,” she said.

Moriarty acknowledged that Belmont’s nationally recognized schools are due to the community’s commitment to its educators and students. And “we need to get back to the important work, the work of teaching and learning, and keeping our focus on our students.”

“These negotiations are taking far too much time and energy away from that shared mission,” she said.

Moriarty then turned to the Select Board to ask for guidance in the negotiations, specifically “whether you expect the School Committee to stay within the [budget] allocation provided to us, or whether you see any other paths forward.”

“The School Committee remains committed to good faith negotiation and to a contract that values our educators, is good for our students, and sustains Belmont schools for the long term. Verbal or written guidance, once you have time to discuss on an agenda, is appreciated by the School Committee,” said Moriarty.

While the Select Board’s counsel will likely be forthcoming at its next meeting in late October, one board member made her opinion known on Monday.

Board Member Elizabeth Dionne said the board has received “a number of e-mails from parents asking the town to acquiesce to the educator’s contact demands. She said that “often times parents are not aware” that “approximately 70 percent of the budget goes to support schools and 30 percent of the budget goes to support town services.”

“We have consistently been cutting positions on the town side while adding positions to the schools which we acknowledge the need for,” said Dionne. “I’m not saying they’re unnecessary, but … the town and its residents have been very, very generous about supporting schools. We value our schools. I don’t see that the town can afford anymore.”