Category Archives: Schools

Teens at risk data

Posted on March 10, 2016 | Comments Off on Teens at risk data

MetroWest Health Foundation2

The MetroWest Healthcare Foundation anonomously surveys 40,000+ teens every two years about a range of risky behaviors and provides the results to the participating school systems.  Last night about 50 parents and school administrators heard a two and a half hour presentation from Susan Cowell and a psychiatric RN at MHS about their analysis of the 2014 Medfield data, which showed:

  • high levels of stress
  • high levels of mental health issues (i.e. – depression, suicidal thoughts)
  • high levels of drinking – 45% of MHS seniors binge drinking (5+ drinks) in last 30 days
  • almost half the 10th graders had attended parties where alcohol and marijuana were available
  • bullying occurring, even at school

The full Medfield data is to be released on-line by the schools now that this presentation has taken place.  In the past, Medfield has unfortunately opted to not release the data, so kudos to the schools for this new openness.

The following is from the MetroWest Healthcare Foundation website about the data for the MetroWest area as a whole.

 

Adolescent Mental Health

Issue

Adolescent HealthAs any parent can attest, adolescence is a tumultuous time in a child’s life. The threats to the health of adolescents are not generally diseases or chronic conditions, but rather accidental injury from risky behaviors. It is also a time of high stress as youth confront the pressures of adolescence and seek to fit in.

Access to appropriate mental health services remains a major concern in the region. The 2014 MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey (MWAHS) found that 4.5 percent of MetroWest high school students reported attempting suicide and 22 percent reported experiencing depressive symptoms in the past 12 months.

We also know that teens today are suffering real and serious consequences because of bullying. Bullying and cyberbullying victims report more mental health problems than those who are not bullied, according to the 2012 MWAHS.

Adolescent health has long been a priority of the foundation. The foundation will continue to invest in adolescent health, placing a priority on mental health prevention, intervention and access to treatment.

Strategy

  • Reduce the incidence of bullying and cyberbullying by supporting school policy change and community awareness and education efforts.
  • Decrease the percent of adolescents in grantee communities reporting self-injury, suicide attempts, thoughts of suicide and depressive symptoms by funding purchase of evidence-based universal mental health curricula and programs as well as school-based intervention strategies designed for at-risk students.

Progress

  • Lower Rates of Bullying
    In 2010 the foundation launched a three-year bullying prevention initiative in five middle school districts, investing approximately $60,000 per community. As a result of their work, these five communities showed decreases in bullying exceeding the MetroWest average from 2010 to 2012.
  • Stronger School Mental Health Programs
    The foundation funded four school districts to conduct a Mental Health Capacity Assessment, which enabled schools to identify and prioritize which services and schools in their districts require support or modifications. The foundation has also funded several school districts to offer programs that support students returning from psychiatric hospitalization, modeled on the Brookline Resilient Youth Team program.
  • Data on Adolescent Risky Behaviors
    The foundation continues to fund the MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey which includes data about mental health, bullying and other risky behaviors from every public middle and high schooler in the region.

View the Adolescent Health Outcomes Dashboard

Download PDF

 

http://www.mwhealth.org/Who-We-Are/Foundation-News/View-Article/ArticleId/14/2014-metrowest-adolescent-health-survey-results

 

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Posted in Schools, Teens, Uncategorized

Read Across America

Posted on March 4, 2016 | Comments Off on Read Across America

Marie Pendergast shared with me the photos she took of her class and I reading the Dr.  Seuss book on Wednesday, Wacky Wednesday.  I brought along about five hats and the jester hat was the “reading hat” the class voted for me to wear.

reading across americaReading Across America-2Reading Across America.JPG-3

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Posted in Children, Schools, Uncategorized

Spelling bee

Posted on March 2, 2016 | 1 comment

spelling bee

11th Annual Spelling Bee – Registration NOW OPEN

This much loved, low-key, low stress, FUN, spelling event will take place on April 5th at the MHS auditorium. This year’s theme is “Release Your Spelling Bee-st”. The online registration is now open (from March 1st – March 18th). The cost is $60 per team of three. Each registrant gets a cool Spelling “Bee-st” T-shirt. Concessions will be available for sale.

 

Click here for more information and Bee registration: http://www.medfieldcoalition.org/events-programs/spelling-bee/

 

 

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Posted in Children, Events, MCPE - Medfield Coalition for Public Education, Schools, Teens, Uncategorized

Read Across America

Posted on March 2, 2016 | Comments Off on Read Across America

Dr. SEuss

Each year Memorial School invites people in to read to the children on the birthday of Dr. Seuss (111th) as part of Read Across America, and today I got to read Dr. Seuss’ Wacky Wednesday.  The children found all of Dr. Seuss’ multitude of wacky things in the story, as the wacky items per page climbed from one to twelve.  The kids voted my jester hat as the one I should wear while reading, and corrected me about my tie really showing Goofy and Donald, not Bert and Ernie, not the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote.  A fun morning, and a great tradition.

Memorial School

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Posted in Children, Schools, Uncategorized

$1.4m. for MHS field replacement

Posted on February 26, 2016 | Comments Off on $1.4m. for MHS field replacement

 

MHS sigh

Attached and below are the analysis of the $1.4m. cost of the replacement MHS field the schools are asking for at the annual town meeting.  I suggest viewing the PDF so the columns of figures line up correctly.

medfield main field costs (1)

FIELD A:
HIGH SCHOOL MULTI-USE SYNTHETIC FIELD AND TRACKMEDFIELD ATHLETIC FIELDS MASTER PLAN

Due to the high level of use of fields in the Town of Medfield and the current condition of the existing field at the High School it is recommended that the existing synthetic turf field with upgraded drainage system and synthetic track be replaced. The synthetic turf fibers are starting to deteriorate, a condition common found in a field with this amount of use and age of the product. The ability of the field to maintain in fill in a stable condition will continue to be reduced in turn reducing the overall safety of the field to the athletes. Concerns over rising Gmax will continue to be an issue in the field. Currently there are multiple areas that flood on the field. This is an indication of a failing base/drainage system. It is recommended that a new drainage system replace the existing to alleviate flooding, additionally it is recommended
that a trench and slot drain are added to the perimeter of the track to assist with drainage.

The synthetic track has clear base issues at the long-jump triple-jump areas. It is highly recommended that the “D-Zone Areas” are built to include synthetic track surfacing which will also assist in the function of the areas when running track meets. The track has been over-sprayed once to date. The track has reached an age in which it should be sprayed again. This should occur during this process. It should be noted that a track can only be sprayed a minimum of three times which should make the track functional for an additional five to six years.

This page lists a summary of the “Order of Magnitude” costs for upgrading the existing synthetic turf field and track at the high school. Provided are three alternates which the town should consider in making its decision in replacing the field.

• Alternate #1: A higher grade of synthetic turf which is a mixture of a monofilament fiber and a slit film fiber reducing the splash of infill during play. This turf will have a face weight and more fiber which will provide a product which will perform well and stand up to the rigers of use. Additionally, it is recommended that a coated sand infill would be used. The coated sand provides an infill system that creates a firm, fast playing surface. The use of coated sand and the current warranties allow for an infill that can be reused for up to two cycles. Lastly, the alternate includes a shock pad. The shock pad provides absorbency within the field structure. This will reduce the overall Gmax in the field. Current warranties include a maximum Gmax for the life of the warranty which ranges between 20-25 years.

• Alternate #2: A standard 2” turf with SBR Rubber and Sand Infill. Included in this alternate is a shock pad.

• Alternate #3: Includes 5 storage units with concrete pads. An allowance for upgraded athletic field equipment.

TOTAL COSTS FOR MULTI-USE FIELD/TRACK
REPLACEMENT

Opinion of Probable Cost – Medfield High School Multi-Use Synthetic Field and Track

Item Quantity Unit Unit Price Total

Base Bid
Site Preparation
Trailer and Temporary Utilities 1 LS $ 8,000.00 $ 8 ,000.00
Construction Entrances 1 LS $ 12,000.00 $ 1 2,000.00
Remove & Dispose Synthetic Turf 75000 SF $ 0.75 $ 5 6,300.00
Silt Sock 1,159 LF $ 3 .00 $ 3 ,500.00
Inlet Protection 2 EA $ 3 00.00 $ 6 00.00
Subtotal $ 8 0,400.00
Multi‐Use Field
Concrete Curb 1150 LF $ 25.00 $ 28,750.00
Trench Drain 1150 LF $ 50.00 $ 57,500.00
F&I Field Drainage 75000 SF $ 1.75 $ 131,250.00
F&I Flat Drain 75000 SF $ 1.20 $ 90,000.00
F&I 8″ Base Stone 75000 SF $ 1.00 $ 75,000.00
F&I 2″ Finishing Stone 75000 SF $ 0.60 $ 45,000.00
Turf Material 75000 SF $ 3.50 $ 262,500.00
Rubber 75000 SF $ 0.56 $ 42,000.00
Sand (E+L) 75000 SF $ 0.17 $ 12,750.00
Football Uprights 1 PR $ 15,000.00 $ 15,000.00
12′ Ball Stopper Netting 400 LF $ 90.00 $ 36,000.00
Subtotal $ 7 95,750.00
Synthetic Track Surfacing
Gravel Base D-Zone 22000 SF $ 1.50 $ 33,000.00
Bituminous Concrete Paving D-Zone 22000 SF $ 2.75 $ 60,500.00
Track Surfacing 22000 SF $ 5.00 $ 110,000.00
Track Re-Surfacing 32000 SF $ 1.50 $ 48,000.00
Line Striping 1 LS $ 4,000.00 $ 4,000.00
Subtotal $ 2 55,500.00
SUBTOTAL OF SITE CONSTRUCTION ITEMS TOTAL $ 1 ,131,650.00
GENERAL CONDITIONS, BOND, CONTRACTOR OH&P $ 1 13,165.00
CONTINGENCY $ 5 6,582.50
SOFT COSTS $ 8 4,873.75
TOTAL $ 1,387,000.00

Opinion of Probable Cost – Medfield High School Multi-Use Synthetic Field and Track
Item Quantity Unit Unit Price Total

 

TOTAL COSTS SAVINGS FOR PHASE I COMBINATION
OF MULTI-USE FIELD/TRACK AND PRACTICE FIELD

Alternate #1: Option A
Base Bid $ 1,387,000.00
Deduct SBR Rubber and Sand $ ( 336,285.00)
Upgraded Turf,Coated Sand Infill, and Shock Pad $ 583,912.50
Alternate #1 Total $ 1,635,000.00

Alternate #2: Option B
Base Bid $ 1,387,000.00
Deduct SBR Rubber and Sand $ ( 336,285.00)
SBR Rubber, Sand, and Shock Pad $ 472,650.00
Alternate #2 Total $ 1,524,000.00

Alternate #3
Equipment & Closeout 1 LS $ 30,000.00 $ 30,000.00
Storage Units with Pads 5 EA $ 12,000.00 $ 60,000.00
Alternate #3 Total $ 90,000.00

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Posted in Schools, Uncategorized

New sidewalk rankings

Posted on February 16, 2016 | Comments Off on New sidewalk rankings

sidewalk

Tonight the BoS will discuss the input from DPW, the schools, and Police on what the town order of priorities should be for new sidewalk construction in town.  These are the recommendations from those three:

The Superintendent of Public Works recommendations, in order of preference,
for new sidewalks is as follows:

1. Metacomet from South Street to Pleasant Street.
2. Adams Street from Dale Street to West Street.
3. Adams Street from West Street to West Mill Street.
4. West Mill Street from Adams Street to Ice House Road.
5. Dale Street near Charlesdale.
6. Ice House road to Copperwood.

school department would request sidewalks at the following streets:

Metacomet St- This would be our first priority
Adams St.- Important for Dale St. students
Green St. to Summer St.- This would finish the area that began last year
Friary St.- This will help with planned adjustments to bus routes

From Police Chief Meaney
Recommended sidewalk construction:

Metacomet Street; Dale street; East Main Street

 

Let the selectmen know today if you have an opinion.

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Posted in Downtown, DPW, Police Department, Schools, Uncategorized

MCPE – blue ribbon for the holidays

Posted on November 23, 2015 | Comments Off on MCPE – blue ribbon for the holidays

MCPE

Blue Ribbon for the Holidays

Are you looking for a way to let your child’s teacher, a school staff member, a coach, a bus driver or an administrator know just how much you and your child appreciate them?

Consider MCPE’s Blue Ribbon Program. It is an easy and thoughtful way to recognize the efforts of a member of our school community during the holiday season. Each person recognized with a donation will receive a card, customized with a thank you note from you, indicating that a donation was made in his or her honor. To thank a school member with this Blue Ribbon recognition, please go to the MCPE website: medfieldcoalition.org.

Blue Ribbon requests submitted by Friday, December 18th will be delivered by December 23rd for the 2015-2016 holiday period.

Thank you for making the success of our schools a community effort!

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Posted in MCPE - Medfield Coalition for Public Education, Schools

BoS on 11/24 – all lacrosse!

Posted on November 20, 2015 | Comments Off on BoS on 11/24 – all lacrosse!

cropped-medfield-town-house1.jpg

Tuesday November 24, 2015@ 7:00 PM

AGENDA (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

7:00 PM Medfield High School State Championship Boys Lacrosse Team
Presentation of citations

lacrosse LAX

NEW BUSINESS

Vote to sign contract with Waste Water Services, Bridgewater, MA

Other business that may arise

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Posted in Medfield High School, Schools, Select Board matters, Sports

Concussions in Elementary School

Posted on September 16, 2015 | 1 comment

This came from HVMA today, and was information I would like to have had when I was coaching girls soccer and basketball, so I am passing it along –

Concussions in Elementary School: What you need to know

Posted on August 18, 2015 by Harvard Vanguard

boy with soccer ball.concussionImagine you’re seated at work when you receive a call from the school nurse who tells you your son hit his head during recess. Thankfully, he didn’t lose consciousness, so no concussion, right?

Not necessarily.

Elementary-aged students do not lose consciousness as easily as teens or adults do. They also may not yet have the language skills necessary to convey the pain or symptoms they are experiencing. They might simply say they don’t feel “good.” With children participating in contact sports at younger ages it is crucial for parents, coaches, teachers and school nurses to be aware of the signs of a concussion and diligent about any changes in behavior that could signal the need for treatment.

Changes in behavior in children with concussion may include:

  • Appearing dazed or stunned
  • Being unsure of game, score or opponent
  • Moving clumsily
  • Showing behavior or personality changes
  • Having difficulty organizing tasks or shifting between tasks
  • Displaying inappropriate or impulsive behavior
  • Exhibiting greater irritability
  • Behaving more emotional than usual
  • Experiencing fatigue
  • Having difficulty handling a stimulating school environment (lights, noise, etc.)
  • Experiencing other physical symptoms (headache, nausea, dizziness)

If you observe any of the above symptoms you should contact a healthcare professional immediately. They can help you set up a plan for treatment and recovery. It is important to work with your healthcare provider as concussions affect people differently. Younger children can experience symptoms lasting anywhere from a few days up to a week. While children often appear to bounce back from everyday injuries, they actually take longer to recover from concussions than adults.

The best treatment for concussions – regardless of age—is rest, both physically as well as mentally, as this helps the brain heal. Restricting strenuous physical activity and getting plenty of sleep are very important for a steady recovery, but rest also involves cognitive rest, which means limiting mental tasks that require concentration or focused thinking. This includes no or limited screen time (phone, TV, computer) as the screen can worsen symptoms. Lighter mental activities, such as listening to audio books or drawing, are usually acceptable. However, it is important to continue monitoring for increased pain or behavioral changes. School work and reading are to be reintroduced gradually, stopping if symptoms reappear. Regardless of a child’s seeming recovery, students need to be evaluated and cleared by a doctor before returning to school or sports.

Because children who play sports are at greater risk for concussion, Harvard Vanguard offers ImPACT testing, a computerized concussion evaluation tool. We perform baseline testing – done before a child has a concussion – for kids 10-19, which can then be used as a point of comparison for tracking recovery if a child experiences a head injury in the future.

– See more at: http://blog.harvardvanguard.org/2015/08/concussions-in-elementary-school-what-you-need-to-know/#sthash.Uwk17zWQ.dpuf

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Posted in health, Recreation, Safety, Schools

Schools ranked high

Posted on September 16, 2015 | Comments Off on Schools ranked high

WelcomeMed.Allison.300

Jeff Marsden shared this email today –

Hi All,

This is just a follow up to my May email that explained the US News Rankings. Two other sets of rankings come out in the past couple of weeks that I thought I would share with you. It is great to see the hard work of our students and staff paying off.

Newsweek released their HS national rankings and by state. In 2015 Medfield High School was ranked 52nd in the country and #2 in Massachusetts. To put this ranking in perspective, Medfield HS was not ranked in 2012, was ranked #262 in 2013, and was ranked #106 in 2014.

Also, Boston Magazine released their 2015 rankings. Boston Magazine will either rank the district or just the HS. In 2015 they ranked the district 12th out of the top 50. In 2013 they ranked the district 37th out of the top 50. In 2014 they ranked the HS 11th up from 18th in 2012.

I never get too excited about the rankings, but its nice to know we are trending in the right direction.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Jeff

 

On Tue, May 12, 2015 at 5:30 PM, Jeffrey Marsden <jmarsden@email.medfield.net> wrote:

Hi All,

Just an FYI…The US News HS rankings came out today and it has caused issues statewide. They changed the methodology for this year and it has changed the rankings for many districts.

Medfield is ranked 6th in the State for college readiness. This is essentially the metric used for ranking High Schools and is one of the highest rankings ever in Medfield. Only Boston Latin (an exam school) and Hopkinton (also not given an overall ranking) are ahead of us. The others are charter schools. This is great news for our students and teachers.

Medfield is ranked 14th in the State for Math

Medfield is ranked 27th in the State for English

However, the change in methodology looks at the students deemed ” economically disadvantaged” by US News. That is 2% of our students or 4 kids in the grade level. The scores for our kids in this range did not make the threshold established by US News. Because of this they wont give us an overall ranking. This is frustrating knowing that last year we were a gold medal school and last June officials from AP contacted us because Medfield High School had the highest percentage of students in MA taking Advanced Placement Courses AND the highest average scores in MA on the exams.

Other districts that were not given overall rankings include:

Weston

Lincoln-Sudbury

Hopkinton

Holliston

Lynnfield

Natick

Hamilton -Wenham

Medway

Burlington

Pentucket

Algonquin

and many others typically ranked.

I just wanted you to have the info in case you are asked by residents. We let US News know to expect push back as many high performing districts in MA were not given overall rankings this year.

Thanks,

Jeff

—

Jeffrey J. Marsden, Ed.D

Superintendent

Medfield Public Schools

 

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Posted in Schools