By Y3K
“I really just wanted to thank you for the wonderful work you are doing with him this year….you have such a great rapport with him, and are so sensitive in the way you approach things that are difficult for him. I’m very appreciative.”
-C. J.
Parent of student attending F. A. Day Middle School, Newton MA
By Y3K
High school AP courses are not the classes that make a student stand out like they did in the past to colleges. Whether it is the most accurate measure or not, magazines factor in AP classes all the time in determining their list of top public high schools. In fact Boston Magazine rated Weston High School in Weston, MA first in its list of the state’s top public high schools.
By Y3K
On average 10.5% of incoming college freshman are rejected each year for Division 1 sports because their high school courses they graduated with do not meet academic standards set by the NCAA. To be eligible to play Division 1 or Division 2 sports, incoming freshman must complete 14 to 16 NCAA approved core courses in high school, score a certain level in the SAT or ACT, and have kept up their grade point average. The NCAA approves most high school classes but does deem some ineligible. Their decision for each town varies.
Data from some local Massachusetts Y3K Tutor In Your Home towns is absolutely shocking. For example Wellesley High School in offers 26 classes, Newton North High School offers 28, Concord-Carlisle High School offers 30, and Newton South High School offers 30 classes that do not meet the association’s requirements for a core course. Lexington High School in Lexington MA is in a category all to itself with a whopping 78 ineligible courses. This data is especially surprising as all of the schools on this list are traditionally top ranked schools year after year.
By Y3K
In Newton MA, they will be voting on three property tax overrides to increase taxes by $11,400,000 to mostly pay for school projects. While Newton Public Schools cries how they need new buildings and program funding, they never tell the public about some of their spending. Every time there is a local override vote, cities and towns always whine about how if you don’t vote to raise your taxes, they will cut teachers, police, and firefighters and everyone will suffer. They never seem to threaten to cut or reduce the salaries of the unessential hacks that serve little function in the day-to-day education of our children. In the city of Newton for example, Newton Public Schools hired in 2012 a Communications and Community Engagement Coordinator at a salary of $60,000. Here are some other non-essential Newton Public School officials with outrageous taxpayer funded salaries for fiscal year 2011 that are hidden from the public:
Superintendent of Schools – $254,573.53
Deputy Superintendent: Chief Administrative Officer – $150,540.83
Deputy Superintendent For Teaching and Learning – $72,259.32
Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education & Special Programs – $141,484.24
Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education - $140,908.50
Assistant Superintendent for Student Services – $132,750.08
Director of Human Resources – $117,750.08
Chief of Operations – $128,346.19
Director of METCO – $103,190.00
Assistant Budget Director – $89,683.10
Assistant Human Resources Director – $85,149.84
Assistant to Superintendent – $81,259.76
Co-Director of Elementary Student Services – $104,212.40
Director of Language Acquisition – $118,436.54
Budget Analyst/Administrative Assistant – $75,345.08
Data Management Specialist – $88,276.44
Coordinator of Grants – $106,361.52
Can you think of a better use of over $2,000,000 used to fund your child’s education?
By Y3K
Newton South High School in Newton, MA graduates have run into a major problem in their freshman year of college. Some students have been deemed ineligible to play college Division 1 or Division 2 sports based on courses already taken at Newton South High School. The NCAA, the governing body of collegiate athletics determined that incoming college freshman who had taken certain Curriculum 2 classes from Newton South High School were ineligible to play college sports. Curriculum 2 classes are taught at a slower pace than Curriculum 1 and Honors level classes.
The NCAA decision is part of their effort to ensure that incoming athletes are academically ready for college. What is even more shocking is that many other high schools throughout America also offer Curriculum 2 classes that the NCAA have approved. In fact even Newton North High School’s Curriculum 2 classes are NCAA approved.
The problem with Newton South’s curriculum came to light last summer when the NCAA deemed a graduate who wanted to play baseball at he the University of Massachusetts Amherst ineligible. He had taken some Curriculum 2 classes. Newton South High School is currently appealing the NCAA decision. Since last summer, Newton South has been able to persuade the NCAA to accept Curriculum 2 classes in math and Spanish. English, science and history classes taught at that level are still ineligible and under appeal.
By Y3K
The Greene’s Field Fundraising Committee and its partner, the Needham Sports Council have a very special event planned for Saturday March 16, 2013. The Go Green St. Patrick’s Day Party and Auction will be located at Needham Town Hall. The Needham Sports Council will include our auction donation for Y3K Tutor In Your Home’s Needham tutoring and test prep services in support of the Greene’s Field revitalization project.
Your bid at the auction will go a long way in helping to rebuild and revitalize Greene’s Field in downtown Needham. With our auction donation and your bid, we will be closer to reaching the goal of recreating Greene’s Field as a destination park. We will make it a place to meet other families at the playground, a place for a quiet stroll, a place to shoot some basketball, watch a Needham Little League game, or a place to meet a coworker for lunch.
Our auction donation is also a good investment in our Needham community. An active park will help to keep downtown Needham vibrant and strong. We hope that your family will soon be able to enjoy this special place. Your bid on our auction donation will make a big difference for the families of Needham.
For more information on Needham’s Y3K Tutor In Your Home, click the link below.
http://www.NeedhamTutor.com
By Y3K
A full slate of Advanced Placement (AP) courses in high school does not necessarily save incoming college freshman time or money. Some colleges now cap the number of AP credits they will accept for placing out of classes. Some no longer accept any at all! In the past students could take high school AP courses, take a standardized test, and get college credit without having to take the class in college. Yet at the same time a school like Weston High School places 5th in Massachusetts with 66% of underclassmen enrolled in AP courses.
By Y3K
Sudbury Public Schools in Sudbury, MA now have more stringent visitor sign-in policies. They are also working to obtain enhanced security devices at each school.
By Y3K
Needham Public Schools in Needham, MA has upgraded their security with buzzers, surveillance system, and locked front doors.
By Y3K
Natick Public Schools in Natick, MA has started to lock the front doors of all of their schools. Before the Newtown CT shootings, only 1 out of 8 of Natick’s schools had a camera and buzzer system. Since January, locks and buzzers were installed at all 8 of their schools.
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