2011 John and Abigail Adams Scholarship Winners at Mahar

Sent to All Local Papers: October 20, 2010

At 10:00 AM on October 20, 2010 thirty-six students in grade twelve at Ralph C. Mahar Regional High School were called to a meeting in the Charlotte Ryan Theater. There, they were met by Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District Superintendent, Michael Baldassarre; Principal, Scott Hemlin; and Guidance Counselor Caitlin McKenna. These students were informed that they had been named recipients of the John and Abigail Adams Scholarships for their performance on their Grade 10 MCAS Examinations during the 2008 – 2009 School Year.

There are a number of criteria that a student must meet to be eligible for this honor. First, a student must score in the Advanced category in either the Mathematics or the English language arts section of the grade 10 MCAS test and score in the Proficient or Advanced category on the second subject (Mathematics or English language arts); and must have a combined MCAS score on these assessments that ranks in the top 25% in their school district. Superintendent Baldassarre informed the students named below telling them, “I hope that you see how cooperation, hard work, and preparation bring about circumstances such as these. When you are willing to put in the effort as you have, your success is as predictable as sun in the summer and snow in the winter. ”

Students who are named recipients of the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship are entitled to four years of free tuition upon their acceptance to participating Massachusetts public institutions of higher education, such as a University of Massachusetts campus or a community college beginning with the fall 2011 semester. Sadly, this scholarship does not cover the cost of college fees, which can be up to four times more costly than tuition, room and board, textbooks, and other expenses.

Ralph C. Mahar Regional High School 2011 John and Abigail Adams Scholarship Winners:

Tamieka Adams
Richard Anderson
Christine Annable
Dylan Barnes
Adam Bergantino
Michael Bergman
Jaimee Briggs
Abigail Coffin
Kristina Daly
Krista Frank
Laura Garrity
Heather Hunt
Isaiah Jones
Karissa Kilhart
Kendra Kilian
Andrea Kolodziej
Nathan LeBlanc
Amanda Marion
Tyler McGrath
Ryan Mongeau
Stephanie Murcell
Colin O’Brien
Andrew O’Loughlin
Breanna Poirier
Hanah Pultorak
Christine Richardson
Matthew Robinson
Steven Rooney
Parker Russell
Victoria Simmington
Kayleigh Soucie
Melissa St. Laurent
Dana Stowell
Kasey Rorchia
David Valiquette-LaLonde
John Waters Jr.

K-9 Search at Mahar Today

Sent to All Local News Agencies, October 6, 2010

At 9:40 AM on October 6, 2010 the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School’s Administration in conjunction with the Orange Police Department conducted a K-9 search of the Regional School. K-9 Handlers from the Towns of Belchertown and Montague assisted Orange Police Officer, Clay Rushford in the search of the Mahar facility. Mahar Superintendent, Michael Baldassarre indicated that K-9 searches are done routinely in at Mahar Regional to ensure that students are discouraged from bringing substances to school. “We do all that we can to discourage substance abuse. Substance use is counterproductive to all that we do in school, and we take measures to communicate this to our students” said Baldassarre.

The students and staff are accustomed to K-9 searches of lockers and other public areas of the building. Searches such as these can take place several times during a school year. Today’s search was slightly different from those in the past, however. On April 6, 2010 the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School Committee approved a policy that allows canines to enter and search classrooms once they are cleared of students and staff. Since the K-9 is trained to sniff the air in common areas, searches such as these have been ruled by the United States Supreme Court to be a non-intrusive way to search public facilities for drugs and illegal contraband.

“Today’s search included four randomly selected classrooms. I am happy to report that no drugs or contraband were discovered and there was no need to question a single student” said Mahar Principal Scott Hemlin. Should the K-9 have been alerted by the smell around any locker or personal belonging, the Mahar administration would then follow a protocol that was also approved by the school committee in April, 2010. Today though, there was no need to continue with any further investigation. School Resource Officer, Chad Softic would not comment on when the next search of the facility will take place.

Congressman John Olver Visits Mahar

On Friday, September 24, 2010 Congressman John Olver paid a visit to the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School. While there, he watched the Mahar Senators win their fifteenth consecutive game (dating back to 2009) by a score of 52 – 0 over Palmer High Schools’ Panthers. Congressman Olver was treated to a special surprise in between the first and second quarters of the game when he was called out to the 50 yard line to receive an award. The Ralph C. Mahar School Community honored him for his assistance in procuring more than $200,000.00 in federal funding to pay for the fully handicapped accessible seating that was installed a little more than one year ago.

Congressman Olver was met on the field by Mahar School Committee Chair, Maureen Donelan (left), Superintendent, Michael Baldassarre (presenting award), and Mahar Principal, Scott Hemlin (left). Fittingly, Olver’s friend and colleague, State Representative Christopher Donelan offered kind remarks about Olver and ended my naming the Congressman “An Honorary Mahar Senator.” Donelan worked closely with Congressman Olver to procure the funding necessary to complement the 2005 multi-million dollar Mahar renovation with the handicapped accessible bleachers. Donelan was also honored by Mahar for his works in a September 2009 ceremony.

Indicators of School Success

Published in The Gardner News: September 24, 2010


A little more than a week ago the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education publicly released MCAS scores from the Spring 2010 for the Commonwealth’s public schools. Increasingly since the passing of the No Child Left Behind Act, these scores have been used by the media, parents, and school officials as an indicator of how effective each school is at teaching students how to read, write, and do arithmetic. Score summaries and other data pertinent to school effectiveness such as drop out rates and suspension rates are available for any public school. You can view these “School and District Profiles” by visiting: http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/

For the faculty and staff in the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School the release of MCAS data provided a feeling that the school is on the right path with regard to curriculum and instruction. At the beginning of the 2009 – 2010 academic year, programmatic changes at the middle school to add direct instructional time in the areas of mathematics and language arts paid off. In grade seven in particular, there were a total of 69 scores of “proficient” and “advanced” on the 2009 combined Mathematics and Language Arts MCAS examinations. In 2010 the number of grade seven “proficient” and “advanced” rose to 105. So, the number of students scoring “proficient” and “advanced” in grade 7 went up by more than 50% in one school year!

Sadly though, many schools use MCAS data as the sole source for measuring their effectiveness. At Mahar however, this is not the case. In a recent school committee report, I was proud to point out that in the 2006 – 2007 school year our administrative offices handled nearly 2,000 disciplinary referrals. In the 2009 – 2010 school year the administrative offices processed only slightly more than 900 disciplinary referrals. A reduction of more than 1,000 referrals per year over a three year period equates to more time in class for our students. Also, our faculty and staff have noted how our student body increasingly displays behaviors associated with respecting themselves, their school, and their peers.

Last week our varsity football season opened in Holyoke, MA. While we are proud that our team won its first game of the season and fourteenth straight, we are more proud of the correspondence that our Athletic Director and Head Football Coach, Jim Woodward received from the Athletic Director at Holyoke. He wrote, “Your players also showed a great deal of sportsmanship on and off the field.” An unsolicited comment such as this from a colleague who is miles and miles away is yet another indicator of the school success that is characterized in the Mahar Regional School District.

While test scores are a fine indicator of school success, I have always believed that the success of a school community is not only displayed with numbers on a website. The success of a school community is felt in the hearts and minds of the students, parents, faculty, administrators, and staff. We take school climate and school culture very seriously at Mahar. It is our constant hope that the successes we continue to have in our classrooms become conversations in our families’ living rooms.

To learn more about the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School, please visit www.rcmahar.org. The Ralph C. Mahar Regional School accepts students from towns outside of our member towns of Orange, Wendell, New Salem, and Petersham under the Commonwealth’s School Choice Law. If you are interested in choosing Mahar, please feel free to contact me in my office at 978-544-2920 or E-mail me at mbaldassarre@rcmahar.org.

Invitation to Complete the Core Values Survey

Since April 2010 a committee established by the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District has been meeting to update and revise the district’s strategic plan. As a part of this process, The 2010 Strategic Plan Core Value Survey has been developed by the “Strategic Planning Steering Committee” to gather input from members of the whole school community. Information from completed surveys will assist the committee in identifying and prioritizing the communities’ beliefs and ensuring that they are incorporated into the new strategic plan.

Your opinions and suggestions are critical to the preparation of what will become the next five-year strategic plan for the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District. This plan is being designed to improve the overall educational experience for the students of the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School and it will serve as the foundation upon which decisions are made. The ultimate goal of the strategic plan is to ensure that the R.C. Mahar Regional School continues to move in a direction congruent with the school’s vision and mission and to ensure that the school’s efforts and actions are reflective of the plan’s core values and beliefs.

Copies of the core value survey can be picked up and dropped off at the Town Halls, Schools, Libraries, and Senior Centers in Orange, Wendell, Petersham, and New Salem. The survey may also be completed online by visiting the school’s website at www.rcmahar.org and clicking on the Core Value Survey link. This survey will be available between Monday, September 13, 2010 and Wednesday, October 13, 2010.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to complete the survey.

In this photo:

Ralph C. Mahar Regional School Superintendent Michael Baldassarre (left) talks about the Pathways Early College Innovation School with Governor Deval Patrick, State Representative Christopher Donelan, Orange Teachers Assocation President, Kelli Gervais and District Attorney Candidate, Dave Sullivan.

To learn about the Pathways Early College Innovation School and the Innovation Schools Initiative in Massachusetts the link below will take you to the July 23, 2010 feature that appeared on WFCR (NPR).

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wfcr/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1679351/WFCR.Local.Features/Flexibility.and.%27Charter.Like%27.Options.for.Districts.with.MA.Innovation.Schools

Displays of Leadership: Dr. Edward McCaul

I recall some time ago when Southwest Airlines CEO, Gary Kelly was videoed working at a Southwest baggage drop off counter at an airport. His actions were caught on camera and used in Southwest Airline commercials, and seemed to be a hit among customers and Southwest employees alike. Earlier this year CBS began airing a show called “Undercover Boss”, a program in which the head of an organization shows up to work with a disguise on and learns of employee behaviors that are often untoward in the world of business.

Early last year, former Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District Superintendent surprised staff members in the Westbrook Public Schools when he took a rake and went outside of the Central Office Building in Westbrook, ME to do his part to clean up leaves and debris that were in front of the building. In doing so, Dr. Namin expressed to the faculty and staff in his district how important that he felt a neat and orderly presentation was for parents and students. I have learned and continued to learn that small actions such as these can make a huge difference in the attitudes and beliefs of those who work in every facet of a school or any other organization for that matter.

Tremendous research on the topic of Leadership now exists along with publications and websites that were created and maintained by successful leaders in all facets of business and education. The Institute of Leader Arts has a website that provides 30 pieces of advice to would be leaders. I have posted the website at the bottom of this post. Some of the highlights are:

Make others feel important. People will follow you when you make them feel important, not when you make yourself feel important.

Promote your vision. No one will follow you simply because you decide you want to lead. You must have a clear idea where you want to take the group you lead - then you must promote it and convince those you lead that the goal is worthwhile.

See and be seen. You've got to get around to really know what's going on, to fix what's wrong, and to capitalize on what's right. It's also the only way those you lead can be sure you're for real.

Recently I was told about a school district in which the budget was so tight that it was not possible for the teachers and staff to enjoy a cup of coffee or juice prior to their welcome back assembly as they have for dozens of years. Rather than go out and purchase a few pounds of coffee, a couple of gallons of juice and some pastries, the leader of the district informed all of the staff in writing that the organization would not be able to supply the usual accompaniment of juice, coffee, and cookies before their opening day assembly. A more equipped leader might have spent a small portion of his/her $150,000.00 + salary on a small token of appreciation for those who do the bulk of the work and just said, “Thank you for all that you do.”

So why do I point all of this out today?

On Friday I noticed my friend and colleague, CAPS Educational Collaborative Executive Director, Dr. Edward McCaul in and around our school several times. At one point he was wearing polo shirt, and then later in the day he was wearing his sports coat, a dress shirt and a tie. Then at the end of the day he was outside with his polo shirt on again, only this time over his dress shirt and tie. I went out to ask him what he was doing. I discovered that in the absence of one of the bus drivers he decided that he would drive the wheelchair van to pick students up and drop them off at home. Many people might find this surprising, but I did not.

Actions such as this define Dr. McCaul as the type of leader that we all have the potential to be. Our actions do not always have to be as profound as an Executive Director who decides to also drive the busses. It could be in a Superintendent who believes that his or her staff deserves a cup of coffee. It can be in a seventh grader who stops in the hall to pick up debris on the floor that he or she did not put there. It is in a Director of Food Services who also does the dishes and in a counselor who drives to the home of a student for a signature on a form. This leadership is in all of us, and each and every time it is displayed our school becomes an even better place to be.

http://www.stuffofheroes.com/30_vital_leadership_actions.htm