Highlander Times

Welcome to the June 5 2024 edition of the Highlander Times. You can access past editions on our website. This will be our final issue of the 2024-2025 school year!

As we head into the last seven days of school, I want to tell you how grateful I am to have had the opportunity to get to spend time with such amazing students. It is truly a pleasure to be able to laugh and learn with them as they develop into wonderful young adults. It is a whirlwind time of year! We thank you for your patience as we dealt with our technology issues during the science MCAS yesterday. Also, we are relieved to report that there were no serious injuries from the equipment incident in the Metal Fab classroom. I want to reiterate that safety is our utmost priority and we are working with the city to make sure all classroom spaces are thoroughly inspected and any issues are addressed before we re-open them.

I hope your summer break is a time of rest and rejuvenation. We look forward to seeing families and students again in the fall.

Somerville High School encourages students to participate in our Summer Reading Challenge! For more information, click here!

Summer Reading Challenge - English

Summer Reading Challenge - Spanish

Summer Reading Challenge - Portuguese

Summer Reading Challenge - Haitian Creole

• June 11: Academic Awards ceremony Tuesday, June 11. Students will be notified this week if they will be receiving an award

• June 11-14: Final Exams/Projects. If students have completed all their work, they will be dismissed at 11:50 June 11, 10:30 on June 12 and 13. Students who still need to make up work will have full days of school. All students will be dismissed at 11 am on June 14 the last day of school (lunch is available after school each day) . See schedule below

• 2024 GREATER BOSTON LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Girls Lacrosse; Baseball; Boys’ Outdoor Track and Field

• Baseball (16-4): League MVP: Ian Born; All-Stars: Tucker Cali, Colin Born, Preston Ardolino, Robby Larkin. The baseball team had an outstanding season, winning the GBL championship for the first time since 1987. Ian Born was named GBL MVP, and Coach Matthew O’Donnell earned Coach of the Year honors. The team also qualified for the MIAA state tournament for a second consecutive year, capping off a remarkable year.

• Softball (8-12): All Star: Nora Donovan; The softball team wrapped up their season with an 8-12 record, showcasing the promising talent of many underclassmen. The team's strong effort and growth set a positive tone for the future. With a solid foundation and the potential of our young athletes, the future looks bright for the program.

• Girls Lacrosse (13-7): League MVP: Holly Schmidt; All-Stars: Adwoa Ampene, Violet Stickgold, Adriana DeGooyer, Rowan Buckley. For the second-straight season the girls’ lacrosse team went undefeated in the league and won the GBL Championship and qualified for the MIAA state tournament. Senior Holly Schmidt was named GBL MVP. Holly is also the only player in program history to record not only 100 but also 200 career goals.

• Boys Lacrosse (10-8): All-Stars: Austin Pereira, Owen Rosas, Ryan Willard. The boys’ lacrosse team had a very successful and strong season. The team qualified for the MIAA state tournament for the first time in the program’s history.

• Girls Tennis (11-5): All-Stars: Ava Posiko, Xinyi Zhu, Eden Gwynn. The girls’ tennis team had a great season, making the MIAA state tournament for the second consecutive year.

• Boys Tennis (12-1): League MVP: Damian Mangino; All-Stars: Damian Mangino, Ethan Cross, Emmett Easton. The boys' tennis team had an outstanding season, establishing themselves as strong contenders in the GBL. They made the MIAA state tournament once again and had the privilege of hosting this year. This achievement reflects their hard work and dedication throughout the season.

• Boys Volleyball (7-13): All-Stars: Ozzy Marks, Juelz Johnson. The Boys Volleyball team made tremendous strides this year with a strong group of underclassmen. The team just missed making the MIAA state tournament and with most players returning next year, the future is very bright.

• Boys’ Outdoor Track and Field (8-0): All Stars: Attikos Kaye, Ben Francois, Donju Felix, Ford Christie, Henry Omura, Henry Parkes, Imani Mixon, Jackson Love, Jake Barczi, Kerby Luxama, Lobsang Nyima, Marcus Odilon, Robert Leoni, Robert Leoni, Will Parkes. . The Boys Outdoor Track and Field team finished the season undefeated and were crowned GBL Champions for the second straight year! Attikos Kaye, Ford Christie, Marcus Odilon and William Parkes qualified for the Outdoor Track National Championships in Portland, Oregon. Attikos Kaye also qualified for the 2K Steeple Chase at the New Balance Nationals in Philadelphia.

• Girls’ Outdoor Track and Field (2-6): All Stars: Greta O'Sullivan, Marissa Luxama. The girls’ outdoor track and field team finished the season strong. With the return of a lot of underclassman, the team will continue to have a strong presence in the GBL

• Girls/NB Ultimate Frisbee (10-12): The SHS Girls/Non-Binary Ultimate Frisbee team had a great 2024 season, running 4-6-0 in regular season games. Hard work and perseverance by the players at the 2-day Pioneer Valley Invitational ended with the team placing 4th in their division! The Villens also took part in a one-day tournament hosted by Northfield Mount Hermon and are headed to the MA state tournament on June 1st. The team also went 3-0 to win Division 2 State Tournament beating Sharon, MA in the finals.

• Boys Ultimate Frisbee (17-9): Boys Varsity started out by winning the St Johns Prep Invitational handily, with a point differential so high they were briefly ranked #1 in the nation. Boys JV followed suit attending the St Johns JV Invitational with an impressive second place finish. Varsity then participated in the A division of PVI with a tough tournament going 1-5. Varsity rebounded strong the next weekend, finishing 4th place in the Division 1 state tournament with a 4-2 record, the highest ever finish for the school at states. Boys JV finished 8th in the Division 3 State Tournament capping off a great season as well. During the regular season the boys’ varsity team was quite strong, winning all but 2 of their games with a 7-2 record, while JV went 3-4 on the season.

• Crew: The Boys and Girls Crew Team had a great season. The team won silver medals at the annual Mayors Cup in Medford as well as winning the Mayors Cup. The team also went to the Northeast Regionals and the State Championships and several of the boats placed in the semi-finals or finals of each race, with our boys and girls teams winning bronze, silver and gold medals.

As a member of the Somerville High School (SHS) community, you are being asked to complete this survey about transportation to and from the school. This survey will help us understand your opinions on the current state of transportation options within our city for you and your family. Your responses will be kept confidential, and only used to improve our current transportation situation. You can take this survey in English, Haitian Creole, Portuguese or Spanish. Please only fill out the survey one time.

• Transportation survey in English
• Transportation Survey in Spanish
• Transportation Survey in Portuguese
• Transportation Survey in Haitian Creole

Somerville High School's Summer School offers credit recovery options for students who have failed a class. Summer School runs from July 8-August 2. Registration closes June 28. To register on line, click here: https://forms.gle/6CA74UHJbT693Xe7A Students can also register in person on Wednesday, June 26th from 1-3 pm in the high school cafeteria. For detailed information (dates, times, attendance policy etc) please read the summer school brochures: English Spanish Portuguese Haitian Creole

• June 5: School Improvement Council 6:30pm
• June 11: Academic Awards Ceremony 1pm
• June 11-14: Special Schedule. Early release for students who have completed all their work.
• June 14: Last day of school for grades 9-11
• June 26: Optional in person Summer School Registration
• June 28: Last day to register for Summer School

We had a wonderful Class Day and Graduation for the Class of 2024. The Somerville Education Channel has posted their videos of the events! click below to watch.

Class Day May 2024

Graduation June 2024

Congratulations to the 147 Somerville students who were awarded a scholarship last Wednesday night. The statistics say it all:

• While historically just over 100 students applied for scholarships each year, this year we had 198 applicants, which is about ⅔ of our graduating class

• A total of 147 students received a scholarship --74% of applicants

• 251 scholarships were awarded

• This year the total amount awarded to our students was $397,460

On Tuesday, the following students were recognized at the first annual Senior Art Awards: Nestor Amaya Cortez, Cecelia Crounse, Katarina Dvornik, May Ferry, Cam Grosser, Ana Gruesz, Jayden Haley, Christopher Hopkin, Yasmin Nazhar, Marlene Portillo Ramirez, Ray Switkes, Lily Thompson, and Madeline Zarecor. Students were chosen based on their exceptional creativity and talent, their contributions to the SHS art program, and their overall dedication to the arts. Congratulations to all members of the SHS Art Department Class of 2024!