As Lanphier High School faces the end of a major federal grant, the school’s leadership is working to prolong the improvement there even after the money dries up. Long stereotyped as Springfield’s worst high school, Lanphier has worked to transform itself over the past three years, enabled by a federal School Improvement Grant that expires […]
Springfield Public Schools
Posted inOpinion
Health insurance deadline approaches
James Hayes, Harvard Park Elementary principal, and Peggy Cormeny, family and community engagement coordinator for Springfield Public Schools, appear outside the school, which recently hosted an event helping families enroll in health insurance. Photo BY PATRICK YEAGLE A national deadline to enroll in health insurance looms at the end of March, and Springfield Public Schools […]
Posted inOpinion
Group pushing for school funding vote
A group of parents, teachers and volunteers is pushing the Springfield Public Schools board to place a school funding referendum on the Nov. 4 ballot. The group, Invest in 186, has proposed a plan that would raise between $8 million and $10 million. The money would begin to replace millions of dollars which were cut […]
Posted inOpinion
Meet Jennifer Gill
Jennifer Gill, who was voted in as superintendent of Springfield Public Schools this week, was educated in the same schools she’ll be overseeing in her new post. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE For Jennifer Gill, this is a sort of homecoming. Gill was born and raised in Springfield, was educated in Springfield’s public schools and went […]
Posted inOpinion
School district seeks to rebound from years of cuts
Outgoing interim superintendent Bob Leming received a gift from the Springfield school board at his final meeting on Jan. 7. Dr. Robert Hill has now replaced Leming as interim superintendent while the board negotiates with Jennifer Gill to take over the post full time. Springfield Public Schools could ask taxpayers for a boost soon, but […]
Posted inOpinion
Extreme school makeover
What would cause parents to be excited about sending their children to a 102-year-old school building where 82 percent of the students come from low-income homes? The answer is an outpouring of generosity from a community intent on seeing the school succeed. Ever since the summer of 2011, Springfield’s Harvard Park Elementary School has seen […]
Posted inOpinion
School district seeks to rebuild trust
The Springfield School Board took the first steps on Monday night toward rebuilding parents’ trust in the district, following the leak of test data from a besieged middle school. The board unanimously voted to accept the resignation of two district employees involved in the test score leak, providing a measure of closure for parents who […]
Posted inOpinion
Group pressing school board candidates on CCPA closure
A group of Springfield parents and educators is hoping to prevent the closure of a popular middle school, despite two unfavorable votes by the Springfield School Board. Their main tactic? Elect a different school board. Shelley Tulipana of Springfield spearheads the effort to keep Capital College Preparatory Academy open. Tulipana leads a group of about […]
Posted inOpinion
Closing the school that closes the gap
A popular Springfield middle school slated for closure may get a second chance at an upcoming school board meeting, based on public outcry and disputed cost-savings estimates. At the Feb. 18 meeting of the Springfield Public Schools Board of Education, board member Bill Looby disputed the $1.7 million savings estimate associated with closing the Capital […]
Posted inOpinion
School closure questioned
Scroll to the bottom to see what the School Board cut and what it kept. In the wake of a controversial decision to close a popular and successful middle school in Springfield, the divided school board continues to field questions about the reasoning for the closure and its estimated savings. About 200 “scholars” at the […]
Posted inOpinion
Teaming up on truancy
If education is a path to success, getting students to show up is a step in the right direction. That’s why Springfield Public Schools and the Faith Coalition for the Common Good are rolling out separate but related programs aimed at improving school attendance. Sharon Kherat, transformation officer for Lanphier High School in Springfield, says […]
