Wednesday, April 24, 2013
If a new town meeting warrant article is approved, the Yelle Gym will be getting more repairs.
The Norton School Committee has requested a town meeting warrant article designed to allow them to fund repairs needed in the Henri A. Yelle gym floor. According to committee members, a pipe underneath the gym floor burst and water damaged the wood in the floor. “Steam and water does significant damage to wood,” school director of finance and operations Barry Nectow said. “We tried to dry it out, but it didn’t work.” This is the second time Norton has needed to repair the gym floor in two years. “It was a very similar problem, the pipe that runs from the gym floor underneath the stage,” Nectow said. Nectow said like last time, the school’s insurance company is paying for the damages. Last time, it was $98,430, and this time he said it …
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
After six years, school committee member Beth McManus said she is leaving the Norton School Committee.
Norton School Committee member Beth McManus announced on Monday she is leaving the committee after six years. “The past six years have flown by and they’re some of the most rewarding in my life,” she said. “I have served with people I hold in the utmost respect.” McManus also worked in the schools as a school department employee. “It allowed her to bring perspective to the school committee,” said committee chair Andrew Mackie. “When she was in the school committee, she didn’t just limit her work to the school committee. She reached out and was involved in a lot of other things in the town.” School committee members gave McManus a heartfelt goodbye from the committee and wished her the best. “We’ve served together for five years, an amazing…
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
The New England League of Middle Schools has put Norton Middle School in the spotlight.
Norton Middle School has been awarded the New England League of Middle Schools Spotlight designation. Interim superintendent of schools Dr. Christopher Martes said Norton Middle School principal Michael O’Rourke received a letter from New England League of Middle Schools recently regarding the designation. Martes said the school will maintain the designation for three years. The letter stated Norton Middle School had consistently worked to improve the school and teacher-student interactions. Martes said NMS was one of 12 other schools to be put in the spotlight in Massachusetts, out of hundreds of other districts. “It is very, very well deserved,” he said. "This school district has a lot of good stories to tell. This is quite a noteworthy …
Monday, March 4, 2013
Lunch and breakfast menus.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Sequestration cuts could effect Title I, Title IIa and Federal Special Education grants.
The Norton Public Schools could take a hit in March due to the sequestration currently being debated in Washington D.C. and the country at large. Interim superintendent of schools Christopher Martes said on Monday that, if the sequester goes through, Norton would lose $120,000 in federal grant money. “Sequestration cuts may effect three grants,” Martes said. He said that the grants were the federal Title I grant, also known as the Education for the Disadvantaged grant, Title IIa grant, also known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and the Federal Special Education grant. The state of Massachusetts would itself see $91 million in cuts if congress fails to avoid the sequester, according to a report released by the President …
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Joseph Baeta is now the permanent Norton district school superintendent.
The Norton School Committee and Joseph Baeta signed Baeta’s contract to be the new permanent schools superintendent. “He was the best candidate of the choices,” school committee chair Andrew Mackie said. “We’re very happy we found the right person.” The school committee chose Baeta unanimously over several other candidates earlier in January. The results were still up in the air because in November, the committee had chosen a candidate but contract negotiations had fallen through. Now, Baeta is the permanent superintendent for Norton’s district. During the search, Baeta said he wanted to start improving Norton’s academic standing as a district, and he said he wanted to start at the beginning by trying to implement a full-day kindergarten …
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Norton School Committee votes unanimously for Baeta on Thursday, pending contract negotiations.
The Norton School Committee voted unanimously to hire Joseph Baeta as the new superintendent of schools Thursday night. Baeta, who started out at the Southeastern Regional Technical School, moved to Sharon and then became the superintendent of schools in Holbrook after working nine months as the high school principal and later as the interim superintendent. He said he never really wanted an administrative position, but it just kind of fell into his lap. “I knew I didn’t want to do one thing in administration,” he said. “I never sent kids to the office, I never wanted that part of the job.” Baeta was chosen after a lengthy search process that started in November after the previous search failed to reach a favorable conclusion in contract …
Norton School Committee votes unanimously for Baeta on Thursday, pending contract negotiations.
The Norton School Committee voted unanimously to hire Joseph Baeta as the new superintendent of schools Thursday night. Baeta, who started out at the Southeastern Regional Technical School, moved to Sharon and then became the superintendent of schools in Holbrook after working nine months as the high school principal and later as the interim superintendent. He said he never really wanted an administrative position, but it just kind of fell into his lap. “I knew I didn’t want to do one thing in administration,” he said. “I never sent kids to the office, I never wanted that part of the job.” Baeta was chosen after a lengthy search process that started in November after the previous search failed to reach a favorable conclusion in contract …
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
The Norton students went back to school today after finishing winter vacation.
Welcome back to school Norton students from winter vacation today. The next day off will be Martin Luther King Day Jan. 21, while February vacation is the week of Feb. 18-22. Schools are planning to close June 19 this year for summer vacation. Check out the rest of the calendar here.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Officials say schools have a plan for such incidents.
Norton school and police officials are confident that if a school shooting were ever attempted, like the one in Newton, Conn. that occurred Friday, they are prepared to react quickly and efficiently. In fact, lockdown practice drills were conducted at the elementary schools earlier this week with Norton Police Department. Superintendent Dr. Martes observed the drill at Henri A. Yelle Elementary with principal Lisa Farrell and Detective James Franco. “Detective Franco was very impressed by our procedures,” Martes said. “He told me that the other drills went well. Having said that, we will continue to review our procedures with the police department.” Let Patch save you time. Get great local stories like this delivered right to your inbox…
Snyder's Stoughton
10:21 am on Sunday, January 13, 2013
After knowing Mr. Baeta for two decades, I can tell you that you are getting a first class, stand-up guy who knows education, and will do Norton proud. more ›