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New Staff Appointments

Harry Lee Cole School welcomed the new (and in some cases, returning in new roles)
staff members Katie Barber, School Nurse; Joanne Parcellin, Education Support
Personnel; Kym Nugent, Education Support Personnel; Hayley Hill, Education Support
Personnel; Taryn Figmic, Education Support Personnel; Lee McCann, Education Support
Personnel; Debbie Moore, Library Media Specialist; Kristen Miele, Special Education
Teacher; Shawnette Lancaster, Behavior Specialist; Jen Cann, Behavior Specialist; and
Shannon Estella, Grade Two Teacher.

Spofford Pond Elementary School welcomed new staff Haley Osowski, Special
Education Teacher; Lidia Matthews, Music Teacher; Nicole George, Speech/Language
Pathologist; Denise O’Connell, Education Support Personnel; Paula Sordillo, Education
Support Personnel; Ruth Amigo, Education Support Personnel; and Rachel Eramo,
Education Support Personnel.
In July 2016, the Central Office welcomed Steven Guditus as Director of Educational
Technology. Mr. Guditus previously served as Principal of Manchester-Essex Regional
Middle School.

Achievements of Note in 2016

STEM/STEAM Initiative: STEM/STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and
Math), was successfully incorporated into the curriculum in 2014-2015, as a specialist
program at both Cole (STEM) and Spofford (STEAM). In its third year, the
STEM/STEAM program aims to expose children to these fields early in their education,
in order to lay the groundwork for understanding and appreciation for the scientific
approach and to ensure that the next generation remain and produce leaders in these
fields. The program, which is largely project-based, teaches the Engineering Design
iterative method for developing and optimizing design and engineering solutions to real
world problems. The STEM/STEAM program is customized to specific grades, and
offered to all Kindergarten through sixth graders. Dr. Rains’ STEM/STEAM Blog at
Spofford Pond can be accessed at https://spoffordstem.wordpress.com/. Ms.
Wainwright’s Blog at the Harry Lee Cole School can be accessed at
http://hlcole.blogspot.com/.

DESE Level 1 Status: For the fifth consecutive year based on The Partnership for
Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) and MCAS testing results, the
Boxford School District achieved Level 1 status with the Massachusetts Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education. Level 1 status indicates that Boxford is a top-
performing district, resulting in the lowest level of state intervention with regard to
operational oversight and planning. This classification will continue to provide our
teachers and leadership team with the opportunity to focus more on student achievement
and less on bureaucracy.

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