Few changes greet Amesbury students tomorrow

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August 28, 2006

By Katie Farrell The Daily News of Newburyport Mon Aug 28, 2006, 11:59 AM EDT

AMESBURY - High school students should be entering the doors of a brand-new building tomorrow.

Instead, the first day of school will begin at the same place that classes ended in June - the old side of the high school on Highland Avenue. Construction on the first part of a two-phase renovation and expansion project is still incomplete.

The project, already one year behind schedule, will face more delays ahead as the town deals with the aftermath of its decision to terminate Alexandra Construction of Newton.

Instead of beginning the school year in new classrooms and science labs or using a new library, ninth-graders will continue to have classes at the middle school. Students will still share lockers. Classes will still meet in the auditorium at both the middle school for ninth-graders and high school.

"We're in the same situation," high school principal Les Murray said yesterday.

In addition to the same building, students can also expect to see the same amount in user fees for activities and transportation - something school officials worked hard to ensure would stay at the same price despite budget cuts. Class sizes at the high school will be "slightly up from last year," Murray said - estimating they will range between 25-27 students on average.

"We continue to make the classes as small as we can," Murray said. Some student electives were also the victim of budget cuts - including physical education and industrial arts programs. Murray said the school has also lost the flexibility to split a larger class into two smaller ones.

Enrollment numbers throughout the district are expected to stay "pretty stable" with last year's figures, Superintendent of Schools Charles Chaurette said yesterday. The district is expecting an enrollment total between 2,450 and 2,500 students, he said. Last year's enrollment in October was 2,505.

At the high school, Murray said, he has seen his highest number of "school choice" students attending Amesbury High this year - 14. He also has about seven students returning to the high school from a private school and four students choosing to attend the high school rather than a charter school.

Murray attributes the increase in student returns to the fact that the school was able to keep a strong academic program despite budget losses and student's academic performance and MCAS scores.

"We're having more students return to Amesbury than we've ever had before," Murray said. "We've had a tremendous response to school choice."

At the middle school, students will encounter one "major change," principal Mike Curry said. The late after-school bus, which used to pick up students around 3:30 p.m., who stayed to attend club meeting or for extra help, has been eliminated, he said, due to budget cuts. "We had quite a few students use that," he said. "We'll see how that affects activities we offer after school."

But the morning student drop-off will have one positive difference, Curry said. Public works crews recently installed a sidewalk on Childs Avenue, which will allow students to get dropped off farther down the street and alleviate some of the traffic.

Middle school class sizes will average between 22-25 students, Curry said.

Faculty and students at all schools will also have to reach a little deeper into their wallets for breakfast and lunch costs this year. The School Committee voted to increase the prices by 25 cents. At the elementary schools, lunch will cost $2; at the middle and high schools, lunch will cost $2.25. Breakfast will now cost $1.25 Teachers will pay $3 and students looking for a "premium lunch" or an alternative meal to the standard menu, will pay $3.25.

"This is the first increase in costs since Chartwell's (catering company) has come on-board," Chaurette said. "Like everything else, our costs have gone up."

There will be some new faces in the five school buildings this year, as well. The school system's new hires include: Kristen Collins, teacher, AES; Joanna Dodier, teacher, CES; Terri Donovan, teacher, CES; Kathleen Glennon, secretary to the SPED coordinator; Robert Kelley, English teacher, AHS; Phyllis Lauria, counselor, AES: Diane Milley, SPED teacher at the Academy; Mary Mitchell, teacher, AMS: Jill Provencher, tutor, AES.

Walter Helliesen, of Exeter, N.H., was also hired as the new principal at Amesbury Elementary, replacing Gayle Korpusik.

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