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Superintendent Update 🍀
March 15, 2024
Cliff's Notes
Dear Bedford Public Schools Community,
Winter sports concluded on Tuesday with a valiant effort by the BHS boys basketball team in the state semifinal; congrats to all of our winter athletes for a great season. Spring sports begin on Monday! As we transition from winter to spring, I am pleased to share my Report of Entry Plan findings, which kicks off the final phase of my entry process of collaborative strategic planning. I will share more details in the coming weeks about how to engage in the process, but for now, I am sharing the initial Strategic Planning Survey #1 one more time. Also, as has been my habit, I am sharing a musical message that I hope will serve as call to action for the open-minded discourse and both/and-disposition that I am hoping for as we work together to determine strategic priorities for the next three years. Please enjoy Both Sides Now (featuring two BHS students, Yoana Dimitrova and Hayden McAllister--who are also performing in the BHS Addams Family musical this weekend).
Onward,
Cliff Chuang 莊 宏 毅
Superintendent, Bedford Public Schools
Upcoming Events
- March: Women's History Month
- March 2-17: 2024 Annual Regional High School Exhibit (lexart.org)
- March 1-29: Minute Madness - A Reading Competition Between Libraries
- March 10-April 9: Ramadan
- March 13-16: BHS Presents: The Addams Family musical, Bedford High School, Bedford High School
- March 15: No School - Staff Professional Day
- March 17: St. Patrick's Day
- March 19: First Day of Spring (Vernal Equinox)
- March 23: 22nd Annual Women of Science Scholarship Competition @JGMS
- March 23: Purim
- March 25: Holi
- March 31: Easter Sunday
- March 31: Transgender Day of Visibility
The School Committee meeting on March 12th was postponed to March 13th to allow our Bedford community to support the BHS Boys Basketball team. A brief virtual-only meeting was held on March 13th at which Sarah Scoville was appointed to Chair the committee for the remainder of the current year and the Special Education Stabilization Fund policy was approved. The next School Committee meeting is Tuesday, March 26th at 7:00pm at the Select Board Room at Town Hall and via Zoom Webinar, which will include a formal presentation of Superintendent Chuang's Report of Entry Plan findings. Full supporting materials can be found here: School Committee - Meeting Schedule & Supporting Documents. Feel free to reach out with any questions.
By Erin Crowley, Executive Assistant to the Superintendent
St. Patrick's Day has always been considered a major holiday for my family as my father is a citizen of both America and Ireland. My grandfather hailed from Bantry in County Cork and emigrated to America with his parents as a boy. My grandmother lived on a farm in the village of Shankill, County Galway and traveled alone to America in her early 20s. Fun fact, her first job here was as a waitress in the Schrafft's Candy Factory in Somerville, MA.
I was raised with a heavy emphasis on learning about and appreciating the Irish origins of my family. For our family, St. Patrick's Day wasn't just a one-day celebration. Our celebrations started in early March, usually signaled by the addition of Irish Soda Bread at every meal, the melodies of Irish music, and the house being decorated almost entirely in green, inside and out.
Every year, we have gathered together at a local venue with live Irish music and a boiled dinner to celebrate the day, along with the local Irish-American community. My family would take the day off from work and school. When I was young, my father would gift of us a green carnation as a way of identifying us as family while out. My son, Seamus, (currently a per diem Sub at JGMS), is part of the new generation of our family keeping this tradition alive. Instead of a green carnation, Seamus had the luck of the Irish and would be visited by a Leprechaun or two who would leave a trail of gold coins and shamrocks around the house to a present. He is pictured above as a wee lad enjoying some great live Irish music. Our family tradition to this day is that we always spend the day together, even though we may miss other holidays.
“May you live as long as you want, And never want as long as you live”
Happy St. Patrick's Day! Slainté!
*Slainté [SLAHN-chə] means "health"
By Justine Flora, BHS Business Teacher and DECA Advisor
On March 7-9, Ms. Flora took 16 students to the DECA State competition at the Hynes Convention Center & Marriott Copley. There were 3900 students and advisors in attendance. Students who attended this trip won their regional event in December. DECA is an international competitive business club that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe. DECA has 254,194 High School Members, 3,917 High School Chapters. Massachusetts has 8,325 members, one of the top chapters in the country. DECA’s competitive events can be grouped into three broad categories: role-plays and case studies, prepared events and online simulations. Within each category and type of event, DECA offers a variety of options in each of the four career clusters: marketing, finance, hospitality and management, as well as entrepreneurship and personal financial literacy.
BHS represented with class and professionalism all around. Students worked extra hard to get to this conference and while not everyone could advance, Bedford did have two students win the Quiz bowl competition for Bedford, they beat 66 other teams in this intense event! A first time win for Bedford in this event! BHS DECA would like to thank all of our supporters: BHS admin, Mr. Chuang, Bedford School Committee, Bedford Rotary and Pepe's of Burlington, as well as those who supported our fundraisers!
Picture Above: The 2024 BHS State Competitors
Parade of Chartered Associations at the opening ceremony.
Quiz bowl winners BHS students Maya & Diya S.
Spirit Night at the opening ceremony
Danae Bucci, Class of 2015
Note: This is part of an ongoing series of pieces highlighting the stories of BPS alums, taking us into and out of Black History Month in February, highlighted on this BPS Black Excellence Site put together by Lisa Morrison, JGMS STEM teacher.
Hello! My name is Danae and I graduated from Bedford High School in 2015. Growing up a military brat, I moved every three years. I was lucky enough to land at Hanscom AFB during my sophomore year of high school. While moving to Bedford was an adjustment and I sometimes felt out of place, I am so grateful for my teachers who were able to guide me and bring me up to speed academically. My coaches at BHS were also able to bring me up to speed on the track, where I was ranked the third-best high jumper in the country my senior year. My skills landed me admission and a scholarship at Northeastern University where I majored in journalism.
While at Northeastern, I was able to take advantage of the co-op program and worked full-time at several news organizations prior to graduating. Most notably, NBC’s Meet the Press, The Colorado Springs Gazette, and local Boston station WHDH. After graduating from Northeastern in 2020, I immediately started my on-air career as a TV News Reporter in Savannah, Georgia. While I was there, I covered some of the nation's biggest stories including the 2020 election, which Georgia was instrumental in choosing, and the trial of Ahmaud Arbery’s murderers. That coverage led me to an opportunity back in Boston at the local ABC affiliate, WCVB, which is where I currently work.
Getting to report in a city I now consider my hometown is something I never thought I’d be afforded so early in my career. I can say I don’t think I would have been able to make it to this point without my amazing teachers from BHS. I was a very average student in high school but that never stopped my teachers from investing in me academically and personally and helping me navigate my aspirations. Dreams can seem daunting or overwhelming coming from a small place like Bedford. But people there really do want you to succeed. Find people who believe in you and will be honest with you to help lead you in the right direction!
March 23: Women of Science Competition Volunteers & Lane Kids Sharing Science
Bedford Public Schools is proud to host the 22nd Annual Women of Science Scholarship Competition on Saturday, March 23, 2024, at John Glenn Middle School. This year’s theme is Women Moving Mountains. Each year we try to provide a positive input to committing more women to engage in STEM fields. This scholarship competition is brought to you with the help of our sponsors: the University of Massachusetts Lowell, MilliporeSigma, Sanofi, the Bedford Education Association, and the Bedford Public School. The day consists of 4 events: a pre-build engineering event, a mystery event requiring students to problem solve as a team in the moment, a trivia contest where questions range from various interpretations of “Women Moving Mountains”, and an Anything Goes event consisting of ten stations that challenge students to apply their skills in science. The day celebrates Women of Science and helps spawn interest in the STEM fields. Over a casual lunch, teams meet with women currently working in STEM fields who share their personal experiences with the students. Scholarships are awarded to the overall winning teams. Last year, the top four teams earned scholarships.
We encourage you to visit our website for more information or to register as a volunteer: BPS Women of Science Competition.
We are also continuing to share Every Rock Has a Story, a YouTube series by Ethan Baxter, a geology professor at Boston College, who came to visit the fourth grade at Lane to teach about the stories of rocks. This third video features Tate (pictured above) at 0:27 and 9:47 in the video.
School Newsletter Links
In an effort to support communication, here are the links the most recent newsletters from each school and our special education department.
- Lt. Eleazer Davis Elementary School - Scribbles - March 13, 2024
- Lt. Job Lane Elementary School - Lane Notes - Week of March 11, 2024
- John Glenn Middle School - Buccaneer News Vol. #27 - March 11, 2024
- Bedford High School - The Bedford Buccaneer - March 11, 2024
- Special Education Director's Update - March 2024
- JGMS Student Newspaper: The John Glenn Journal - Winter Edition 2024
- BHS Student Newspaper: The Lookout Student Newspaper - February 2024