In its September, 2009 issue, "Boston" magazine named Commonwealth as the best private high school in eastern Massachusetts. Academically, the school is one of the nation's elite. A significant portion of the senior class is recognized each year by the National Merit Scholarship Program. From 2012 to 2016, 16% of students were recognized as Finalists, 20% as Semifinalists, and 43% as Commended Students. In that same period 28 students were named as AP National Scholars, 111 as Scholars with Distinction, 42 as Scholars with Honor, and 53 as Scholars by the College Board. Mean SAT scores for the classes of 2015 and 2016 were 738 in critical reading, 718 in writing, and 714 in math.
Performance
Commonwealth School
Commonwealth School | Performance
Academically, the school is one of the nation's elite. From 2012 to 2016, 16% of students were recognized as Finalists, 20% as Semifinalists, and 43% as Commended Students. In that same period 28 students were named as AP National Scholars, 111 as Scholars with Distinction, 42 as Scholars with Honor, and 53 as Scholars by the College Board. Mean SAT scores for the classes of 2015 and 2016 were 738 in critical reading, 718 in writing, and 714 in math. In its September, 2009 issue, "Boston" magazine named Commonwealth as the best private high school in eastern Massachusetts. In its September, 2009 issue, "Boston" magazine named Commonwealth as the best private high school in eastern Massachusetts.
yo la tengo i can hear the heart beating as one full album
user
True, its their eighth studio album.
assistant
when was it released?
user
April 22, 1997.
assistant
what was the name of the record label that released it?
user
Matador Records.
assistant
how was this album received by public?
user
It received considerable acclaim from music critics.
assistant
can you mention a few songs from the album?
user
"Autumn Sweater", "Sugarcube", and "Little Honda".
assistant
who owns the above mentioned record company?
user
Patrick Amory is Matador's label manager.
assistant
when was this company launched?
user
1989.
assistant
can you name some others artists they have launched?
user
M. Ward, Sleater-Kinney, Modest Mouse, and Superchunk to name a few.
assistant
what can you tell me about the above mentioned manager?
user
He is a historian and an executive in the recorded music industry.
assistant
where is he from?
user
New York City.
assistant
where did he complete his graduation from?
user
Commonwealth School.
assistant
who established this school?
user
Charles E. Merrill Jr. founded the school.
assistant
did the school face any conflict with regards to its brand name?
user
Yes, in June 2016, the Boston Globe reported that Commonwealth School sued Commonwealth Academy, a high school in Springfield, Massachusetts, over the use of the name "Commonwealth"
assistant
how has the school performed till date, did it make a mark in the education industry?
user
Commonwealth had a semifinalist in the Intel Science Talent Search in 2011, 2012, and 2013, the only Massachusetts school to do so.
Commonwealth School | Performance
In June 2016, the Boston Globe reported that Commonwealth School sued Commonwealth Academy, a high school in Springfield, Massachusetts, over the use of the name "Commonwealth". It had trademarked "Commonwealth School" in 2012. The Springfield school is now known as Springfield Commonwealth Academy.
Commonwealth School | Trademark dispute
In June 2016, the Boston Globe reported that Commonwealth School sued Commonwealth Academy, a high school in Springfield, Massachusetts, over the use of the name "Commonwealth". Founded in 1957, the Boston school had trademarked "Commonwealth School" in 2012. The Springfield school is now known as Springfield Commonwealth Academy.
Springfield Commonwealth Academy | Trademark dispute
In 2001 the school's Massachusetts state achievement test scores were under the statewide average. In the following year, about 73% of the students passed the state English test and 31% of the students passed the state mathematics test. In 2007 the State of Massachusetts placed the school on academic probation; it asked the school to move to a new campus and to, by 2009, reduce the number of students to 880; at the time it had 1,240 students. In 2009 61% of the students were classified as proficient or higher in the English portion of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) test, and 54% were classified as proficient or higher in MCAS mathematics test.
Boston Renaissance Charter Public School | Academic performance
In September 2017, the Wakefield City Academies Trust announced it was ceasing operation and preparing to dissolve as it did not have the capacity to manage its 21 schools, and asked the government to make an alternative arrangement. In January 2018, a league table was produced to "name and shame" the worst performers using the Progress 8 benchmark, which measures GCSE results after compensating for each pupil's performance at the end of Key Stage 2. MATs fail in staff remuneration, being exempt from all Teacher Pay and Conditions agreements. In March 2018, the Guardian revealed that they fail in gender equality.
Academy (English school) | Effectiveness
In its September, 2009 issue, "Boston" magazine named Commonwealth as the best private high school in eastern Massachusetts. Academically, the school is one of the nation's elite. A significant portion of the senior class is recognized each year by the National Merit Scholarship Program. From 2012 to 2016, 16% of students were recognized as Finalists, 20% as Semifinalists, and 43% as Commended Students. In that same period 28 students were named as AP National Scholars, 111 as Scholars with Distinction, 42 as Scholars with Honor, and 53 as Scholars by the College Board. Mean SAT scores for the classes of 2015 and 2016 were 738 in critical reading, 718 in writing, and 714 in math.
Commonwealth School | Performance
The Drama team performed for the SYF at the Hwa Chong Institute Drama Theatre on 22 July 2005. In March 2006, the performing arts group held its first public performance 'Leaving a Legacy' at the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay. 2009 was a record-breaking year for the school, with three aesthetic groups attaining the highest accolade, Gold with Honours.
Commonwealth Secondary School | Co-curricular activities (CCAs)
Students produce drama, musicals, talent shows, and summer productions. Recent shows include "Godspell", "A Christmas Carol", "Guys and Dolls", and "Hello, Dolly!". Visits are made to shows at Boston theatres; the Drama Club saw the production of "War Horse" at the Boston Opera House. In the fall of 2016, students performed a timely rendition "The Election."
Pope John XXIII High School (Everett, Massachusetts) | Performing arts
The probation ended in December 2010. In the Spring of 2012, 53% of the school's students scored proficient of higher in the MCAS English test, and 36% scored proficient or higher in the MCAS mathematics test. In 2013 the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted 7 to 1 to place the school on academic probation, meaning that the school must improve in a two-year period.
Boston Renaissance Charter Public School | Academic performance
In the 2005–06 school year, PVPA made a deal with the Academy of Music to hold their musical production of the year at their facilities. From 2009–11, PVPA relocated their musicals to University of Massachusetts Amherst's Bowker Auditorium. In 2012, PVPA's musical productions relocated back to the Academy of Music, and many of the school's other productions are now held there as well.
Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School | Overview
The decline of manufacturing as the region's economic engine since World War II—and in particular, since the controversial closing of the Springfield Armory—was counterbalanced in Western Massachusetts by growth in post-secondary education and healthcare. This created new jobs, land development, and had gentrifying effects in many college towns. State and community-funded schools (e.g., University of Massachusetts Amherst and Westfield State University) were conspicuous in their growth, as were the region's highly regarded liberal arts colleges, including Williams founded 1793, Amherst founded 1821, Mount Holyoke founded 1837, Smith founded 1871, and American International founded 1885. Despite the gains in higher ed, the region has sought to obtain equitable share of the state's education budget to place into local primary education as well.
Western Massachusetts | Education
The school converted the school pond into a Constructed Treatment Wetland to recycle used water to water the plants in the school compound. Commonwealth Secondary School became the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Education in 2008. On 28 March 2014, the school celebrated Earth Hour with the Amazing Spider man II cast, Andrew Garfield and Jamie Foxx. It was a significant milestone for the school because it is the first time Hollywood came to Commonwealth. The two superstars not only interacted with the 1400-strong audience, they also did their part for the environment by planting a sugar apple and giant lemon bush in the school's Gift of Life Garden.
Commonwealth Secondary School | Environmental education
A campaign was launched that, over the following 13 years, raised funds and made plans for the new facility. England abruptly retired in 1997 and was replaced by Jeff Brokamp, who had been principal of the Crest Hills Year-Round School, which had won awards for its all-year curriculum. Brokamp, with no previous arts experience, began to turn the school around. A new emphasis on academics, more Advanced Placement courses and more stringent audition standards that admitted only the most dedicated students led to better test scores and a higher level of artistic talent; Brokamp pushed to expand the school's vocational training programs in photography, stage management, and costume design by 50 percent.
School for Creative and Performing Arts | Controversy and comeback (1991–2009)
There had been achievements in sports, music and drama.
Heathfield School, Wolverley | Performance
In September 2006 the school became a performing arts school. This means the school gets extra money to spend on Dance, Drama and Music. The school gained an Artsmark award in 2001. In 2004 Ofsted said the school had 'a very strong provision for the performing arts'. From September 2009, the Higher Creative Media Diploma has been available. In 2017 Ofsted judged the school to be Inadequate. After re-inspection in 2018, this judgement was overturned and the school was judged as ‘Requires Improvement’ with leadership aspects judged as ‘Good’.
Chamberlayne College for the Arts | Performing arts
METG began in 1931 with the establishment of “Massachusetts Drama Day.” Four schools participated in the original competition, which was held at the old Huntington Chambers building in Copley Square in Boston. In the 1940s, the Massachusetts Secondary School Administrators Association became the educational sponsor of the state event. 1954 marked the beginning of two important corporate partnerships with the Guild: The Boston Globe became the lead patron, and John Hancock Hall became one of the Festival’s sponsors. It was also in this year that the Festival was relocated to John Hancock Hall in the Back Bay Events Center, where it has remained ever since.
Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild | History
Although it has shown small improvements over the years, Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical Academy is currently designated as a Level 3 school by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education as of March 2016. In 2010, no demographic achieved the goals set Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for English Language Arts, as measured by attendance, standardized test scores, and other factors. In mathematics, only white students made (AYP) (except "Meets or exceeds state requirements"), with all other demographics (save African American) posting a loss of progress. From 2003 onward, the years 2004 and 2008 were the most recent years in which the school met AYP.
Roger L Putnam Vocational-Technical High School | Performance
In 2007, Commonwealth Secondary School received the Singapore Quality Class status. In March of the same year, Pandan Reservoir and Sungei Pandan were adopted by the school. In 2008, Commonwealth Secondary School was designated as a Centre of Excellence for Environmental Education. Commonwealth Secondary School was accorded the School Distinction Award by the Ministry of Education in 2010 in recognition for its all round excellence in education.
Commonwealth Secondary School | Present
Following a long legal fight with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts over licensing, allegations of child abuse, a Commonwealth-imposed enrollment freeze, and accusations of failing to create a safe environment for its students, the DeSisto at Stockbridge School chose to voluntarily close in June 2004. A month previously, officials from the state Office of Child Care Services ordered DeSisto administrators to suspend their admissions process. In a letter, Commonwealth officials charged the school had "an environment that endangers the life, health, and safety of children enrolled." Frank McNear, DeSisto's executive director, told the Boston Globe at the time, that the school could not run properly without its customary admissions process.
DeSisto School | Demise
Commonwealth Connections Academy Charter School achieved 54.6 out of 100. Reflects on grade level reading, mathematics, writing and science achievement on the state PSSAs and Keystone Exams. In reading/literature - 56.5% were on grade level. The third grade has just 61% reading on grade level. In Algebra 1/mathematics - 46.98% showed on grade level mathematics skills. In Biology/science, just 47% showed on grade level science understanding. In 5th and 8th grade writing, 30.7% of pupils showed on grade level writing skills. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2,181 public schools (less than 73 percent of Pennsylvania public schools), achieved an academic score of 70 or higher.
Commonwealth Charter Academy | 2013 School Performance Profile
In 1989 the Guild’s horizons expanded with incorporation as a nonprofit organization. During the 1998-1999 school year, the Massachusetts Middle School Drama Festival, Inc. and the Massachusetts High School Drama Guild, Inc. merged. Since then the Guild has increased its membership to over 160 schools across the Commonwealth. In 2010 the name was changed to Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild. In 2012, through the generous support of Broadway In Boston, the METG announced a new education project which offers both middle and high school members an opportunity to bring experienced adjudicators into their theaters where they will receive professional feedback on their hard work creating musical theater productions.
Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild | History
In the data for the year 2016/2017, the school had a Progress 8 score of -0.14, indicating that pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 had made less progress, on average, than pupils across England who got similar results at the end of Key Stage 2. The same data shows 57% of pupils achieving a GCSE grade 5 or above in English & Maths.
Brookfield Community School, Chesterfield | Academic performance
Commonwealth Secondary has been an autonomous school since 1995, a status given to the school because of its academic success and achievement in co-curricular programmes. Commonwealth Secondary is also a Higher Chinese Centre since 1995, catering to students who have the passion to pursue Higher Chinese Language (HCL) in the West District. On the academic front, in addition to being a Higher Chinese Centre, Commonwealth has also been offering Higher Malay and Higher Tamil to its pupils since 2006. From 2006, a humanities subject, Economics, was offered to Secondary 3 students. Dance and Drama has been Commonwealth's niche areas since 2000.
Commonwealth Secondary School | Tanglin Secondary School
The song is still sung at official school occasions such as Prizegiving, Charter Day and Beastmart. In the 1960s when under Holland County Council Education Committee, it was a voluntary controlled school with around 500 boys, 550 by the 1970s, and 600 by the 1990s. The school had a CCF. Girls are now admitted to the sixth form. There were 597 pupils on the roll as at April 2008, including 170 in the sixth form. The school has been awarded Technology College and Sports specialist status. In December 2012, Boston Grammar School shut its doors for the final time as a selective school, run by the local authority.
Boston Grammar School | History
The "Walk in Art Gallery" has been open since the school itself opened in 1993. In 2004, Commonwealth received its 1st Ministry of Education's Sustained Achievement Award for both uniformed groups and the performing arts.
Commonwealth Secondary School | Tanglin Secondary School
In 1999, 75% of its students failed Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) mathematics examinations and 44% failed MCAS English examinations. Around that period, about 1/3 of students of each Brockton class dropped out. By 2001, student performance improved. Between 2000 and 2001, more students went from failing to passing at Brockton High than at any other school in Massachusetts. In 2005, 98% of the senior class (850 students) graduated. In 2008 78% of the graduating senior class planned to pursue a college degree. In 2006, Brockton High School was a recipient of the National School Change Award. Brockton High School was one of 7 schools in the United States to receive this award.
Brockton High School | Academics
The April 19, 2007 performance of "Invincible Summer" at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was disrupted when 87 audience members from Norco High School left the production mid-performance, with one school chaperone approaching the stage and pouring water over the performer's outline notes.
Norco High School | Controversy
In June 1984, the last graduating class from the "old building" departed; in September of that year, current and incoming students moved to the Lincoln Center site. The two schools were finally united in one building, publicly identified as the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. Performing Arts High School had at last vacated its old building, joining students from Music & Art High School to become one single entity. In winter 1988, the vacant PA building at 120 West 46th Street caught fire during renovation. Its facade and several exterior walls survived; the interior needed complete reconstruction.
High School of Performing Arts | End of individual School for the Performing Arts
Charles E. Merrill Jr., son of the founder of Merrill Lynch, and brother of the prominent American poet James Merrill, founded the school in 1957, locating it in Boston's Back Bay to "restore good secondary schooling to the city." He encouraged Commonwealth students to be "decent, socially responsible, generous people," actively engaged in public affairs. For some decades after his retirement, Merrill returned to the school once a year to give a speech on a topic of his choice, and his books are on display in the school library alongside those of Commonwealth alumni. Merrill insisted that the school has only one rule: "No rollerskating in the halls,"—an exhortation that students should not "...act like a damn fool, but think about your actions and how they affect others." Merrill retired in 1981, and his memoir of the first 23 years of the school's history and his experience as headmaster, "The Walled Garden", was published the following year.
Commonwealth School | History
Performing Arts High School and Music & Art High School had become two distinctly different schools: One was a performing arts school preparing students to become professional stage performers, while the other was a fine arts school, preparing students to become professional gallery or concert artists. In 1978, alumni Nick Gordon and Carol (Rubin) Gordon, members of the parents association, began the school's first Alumni Association with the goal of lobbying for the continued separate existence of PA. They feared a school which had 450–500 students in the 1950s at the original site, and which had grown to just 600–800 students at 46th Street, would lose its quirky identity in a massive educational complex three times its size.
High School of Performing Arts | Opposition to merger with the High School for Music & Art
The school closed in 1948, after Howard University Law School graduate Oliver Hill secured a decision of the Virginia Supreme Court requiring free transportation to high schools for students of all races. Essex High School in Tappahannock, Virginia acquired the Academy's records. In 1992, graduates raised funds to erect a granite historical marker surrounded by a ring of boxwood by the remaining two gateposts. The alumni association also funds one scholarship each year for a student from each of the three original counties, to honor their alma mater. Notable alumni of the school include civic activist Pauline C. Morton.
Rappahannock Industrial Academy | Today
The auditorium abutted the main building and was the largest high school auditorium in the area. On a lower grade than the rest of the school, were the gymnasium, a parking lot, and playing fields which included a full size football field that doubled as a soccer and lacrosse field.
Cathedral High School (Springfield, Massachusetts) | Campus
When the school was in operation the state government charged the school a rent rate that was below the area market value. In 1996 the school used around twelve floors in the building. It did not have an auditorium, a cafeteria, nor a gymnasium.
Boston Renaissance Charter Public School | Campus
Susq-Cyber Charter School achieved 46.4 out of 100. Reflects on grade level reading, mathematics and science achievement on the state PSSAs and Keystone Exams. In reading/literature - 66% were on grade level. In Algebra 1, just 33% showed on grade level algebra skills. In Biology, just 26% showed on grade level science understanding. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2,181 public schools (less than 73 percent of Pennsylvania public schools), achieved an academic score of 70 or higher. In 2013, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania changed its high school assessments to the Keystone Exams in Algebra 1, Reading/literature and Biology1.
SusQ Cyber Charter School | 2013 School Performance Profile
All schools came under the administration of Dr. Stanley Abeysinghe, Dr. Lionel Edirisinghe and Dr. S. Panibharatha respectively.
University of the Visual and Performing Arts | Colonial
Kingstone achieved consistently good GCSE results for the area, with 60% of the class of 2000–2007 achieving GCSE grades A*–C. The school was awarded Performing Arts status by Ofsted.
The Kingstone School | Academic performance
The school was a specialist 'performing arts college' from 2005, until the specialist schools programme was ended in 2010. The school retains an emphasis on its performing arts credentials. Dr Tetlow in turn retired in 2011, being replaced by Eddie Wilkes. Due to retirement, Peter Cole & Ben Riggott became headteachers in 2016. They were then succeeded by Andrew Marsh in 2018.
Highfields School, Matlock | History
The school also offers classes in Art, Art History, Ceramics, Music Theory, Studio Art, and Theater. Maynard has put on numerous shows over its existence through its performing arts program. From shows such as "The Little Mermaid" to "Beauty and the Beast" to "Grease" , the high school keeps theater as one of its cornerstones. The high school continues to do shows every spring.
Maynard High School (Massachusetts) | Fine and Performing Arts
On April 11, 2011, The Herald News, a Fall River-based newspaper, reported that all 74 test scores were voided. They were invalidated after a state investigation which showed a high rate of wrong answers changed to correct ones. The investigation found a decidedly higher number of erasures than the state average on answer booklets, with a “vast majority” of answers changed from incorrect responses to correct ones. The state also found a disturbing pattern of answers to open-response questions in which students’ original responses were erased and replaced with correct answers that were not supported by the students’ original computations and logic.
Wilbur Elementary School | MCAS controversy
It was a befitting way for the school to kick start her 50th Birthday celebrations.
Commonwealth Secondary School | Environmental education
The calculation and interpretation of "improvement scores" on standardized educational tests in Massachusetts probably provides another example of the regression fallacy. In 1999, schools were given improvement goals. For each school, the Department of Education tabulated the difference in the average score achieved by students in 1999 and in 2000. It was quickly noted that most of the worst-performing schools had met their goals, which the Department of Education took as confirmation of the soundness of their policies. However, it was also noted that many of the supposedly best schools in the Commonwealth, such as Brookline High School (with 18 National Merit Scholarship finalists) were declared to have failed.
Regression toward the mean | Regression fallacies
The company's school program expanded with the addition of a high school program in December 1923. Conducted in cooperation with the local high school, Community High School, authorities of Granite City, Illinois and State educational authorities, the graduates of Commonwealth School's High School program received diplomas with the regular graduates of Community High School. By the end of 1927, the Commonwealth School was offering the following programs with almost 200 employees enrolled: Apprentice School, Night School Drawing, Eighth Grade School, High School, University Extension Courses, Special Engineering Class, Trade Knowledge Courses, Scholarships, and School Dinners.
Commonwealth Steel Company | Company promotion of citizenship
The school was awarded the Artsmark Silver award in 2004. It previously had performing arts specialist status from 2005.
Testbourne Community School | Notable achievements
Even players who could barely speak English would drawl the broad Harvard "a" as in the Boston accent is non-rhotic, typically pronounced "pahk the cah in Hahvad Yahd". Carlisle students labeled any excellent performance, whether on the field or in the classroom, as "Harvard style". On November 9, 1912, Carlisle was to meet the U.S. Military Academy in a game at West Point, New York, between two of the top teams in the country. Pop Warner spoke to his team: "Your fathers and your grandfathers," Warner began, "are the ones who fought their fathers. These men playing against you today are soldiers.
Carlisle Indian Industrial School | The "Carlisle Indians" (sports teams)
In 1993, the landmark Massachusetts Education Reform Act (MERA) created the framework for unprecedented improvements in students' learning, teachers' professionalism, school management, and equity of funding. As a result of MERA, 54 distinct activities were initiated by the then Department of Education to implement the Act In 1995, the First Annual Implementation Report was released, which separated the 54 activities into five goals and evaluated their impact on education throughout the Commonwealth. In the analysis of the first goal—to establish new standards and programs for students that ensure high achievement—the report concluded, "If schools are to meet the enormous demands of assisting students in meeting these new standards, it may become necessary to increase the amount of time that students spend directly involved in education." The legislature then charged the Board of Education to form the Massachusetts Commission on Time and Learning with a mandate to develop "a plan to extend the time during which students attend school to reflect prevailing norms in advanced industrial countries and to address the educational needs of children in the Commonwealth." Following the report, the state took steps forward to advance the potential for schools to break from the traditional school calendar.
Expanded learning time | Massachusetts
The school has undergone many name changes since its establishment in July 1923. As a technical school As a general high school
Hunter School of the Performing Arts | History
In the late 1990s, Framingham High School was labeled underperforming. Through multiple school reforms in the early and mid 2000s, Framingham High dramatically increased their MCAS (Massachusetts state graduation assessment) scores and the number of students taking Advanced Placement courses increased. In recent years, Framingham High has been labeled an "over-performing" school on standardized assessments, compared to other districts of similar student populations. In 2008, Framingham High was ranked by Newsweek in the top 500 high schools in the United States. Framingham High School has received press for its success with students in the English as a Second Language Program.
Framingham High School | Academics
In 2009, they achieved this perfect score for the second year in a row with a repertoire of Frank Ticheli's "Blue Shades", Ron Nelson's "Rocky Point Holiday", and the popular circus march "Thunder and Blazes", arranged by Louis-Phillipe Laurendeau. Ever since, they have continued this winning tradition, continuously getting 1's.
Albemarle High School (Virginia) | Performing arts
In 2011, the class performed the play "Sticks and Stones". In addition to its drama classes, the school has a long tradition of excellence at the prestigious Sears Drama Festival. In 2010, the school's production of "The Insanity of Mary Girard" was one of three plays from the district festival at the Lighthouse Theatre to go on to the regional festival in Hamilton. In 2011 the school's play "The Chronicles of Jane, Book Seven" was also selected to represent the district at the regional festival, again held in Hamilton. Port Dover Composite School was originally given the option of remaining open until September 2013; although it has been officially declared that this school will be closed by January 31, 2013.
Norfolk Board of Education | Port Dover Composite School
Over the past 20–30 years, Massachusetts has cemented its place in the country as a center of education (especially higher education) and high-tech industry, including the biotechnology and information technology sectors. With better-than-average schools overall and many elite universities, the area was well placed to take advantage of the technology-based economy of the 1990s. The rebound from the decay of manufacturing into the high-technology sector is often referred to as the Massachusetts Miracle. The Commonwealth had several notable citizens in federal government in the 1980s, including presidential hopeful Senator Ted Kennedy and House Speaker Tip O'Neill. This legislative influence allowed the Commonwealth to receive federal highway funding for the $14.6 billion Boston Central Artery/Tunnel Project.
History of Massachusetts | Modern economy and society: 1985–present
The Office for Standards in Education rated the school Grade 2 (Good) in November 2012. This grade was due to the numerous successes and achievements by the staff and former head teacher Ken Hall, who after implementing numerous innovations, left the school in July 2012 and officially September 2012. The school has received the Investors in People award and the Inclusion Chartermark, which it maintained from previous years. Office for Standards in Education later in January 2017 rated the school as Requires Improvement. This grade was due to the effectiveness of leadership & management, quality of teaching/learning and outcomes for pupils.
Priesthorpe School | Performance
Often the band would record an average mark of 99 percent overall. (Music performance, drumming, bugle and trumpet ensemble, along with drill, dress and discipline). The school boasted a very large and active music centre for a number of years, which grew largely due to the work of the late George Burgess. The various jazz and concert bands that were the product of the music centre recorded various long playing records, won awards in various Eisteddfods and national competitions and appeared on television. Sadly, due to education department budget restructuring, the music centre was closed. The school still enjoys the singing of an excellent choir.
Germiston | Education
The school's symbol is a mermaid with a sword and shield, derived from the coat of arms of Warsaw, Poland. This symbol appears on the school flag, publications, and the outside of the building. There is no official school song, but "The Spacious Firmament On High" (Joseph Addison, Joseph Haydn) is sung each year at the opening of school and at the graduation ceremony.
Commonwealth School | Symbols
Burlington High School's Performing Arts are a culmination of efforts from the Burlington Public Schools' Music Department, various performance clubs, and the high school English Department. John E. Fogelberg Performing Arts Center is the primary performance space at Burlington High School. It boasts a technical booth with lighting and sound systems, a lighting catwalk, a projection screen and projector, a double-purchase fly system with 3 electrics, cycs and scrims, travelers, shop and storage space as well as dressing rooms. The auditorium is designed as a proscenium theatre and is fully air conditioned. The stage is a wood floor. In May, 2014 The Burlington High School Select Singers sang at the famous NYC Carnegie Hall as part of a festival with three other choruses from around the United States.
Burlington High School (Massachusetts) | Performing arts
Protesting the lack of current textbooks, cuts in the music and theater programs, the band, and the Student Council, they walked out of class and spent the day in the gymnasium. Having not been satisfied with having their voices heard at the School Committee meeting the night before, they were targeting the superintendent, Tracey Crowe, whom the district's teachers had also given a vote of no confidence in.
Spencer, Massachusetts | Education
Bicester Community College students achieved their best-ever results in 2010.
The Bicester School | Performance
In March 2013 it was announced that the school had been put into special measures due to poor performance. The Estyn (the equivalent of Ofsted in England)January 2013 report, said that the school was 'Unsatisfactory' in several areas, the worst of the four judgement grades that could be used By March 2015 the school was removed from special measures following significant improvements in exam results and the quality of teaching. The school achieved record exam results in 2014 and 2015. It was chosen as one of the 40 'Pathway to Success' participants in the Schools Challenge Cymru; a programme designed for schools anticipated to have the best potential to deliver swift and positive improvements for learners.
Ysgol Clywedog | Performance
Among the improvements to the school was a full renovation of the theater, which included removal of the structurally unsafe balcony, installation of acoustical panels, and construction of a light and sound booth in the rear of the auditorium. In addition, the renovations included a new foyer for the theater, a new fire alarm and sprinkler system, new aluminum windows, a new art studio on the building roof, a library expansion, and updates to science laboratories. After the renovations were completed, Central VPA students returned for the 1989–1990 school year. Upon the reopening of the Garrison Avenue building, the Anheuser-Busch company donated an aluminum statue of William Shakespeare to the school.
Central Visual and Performing Arts High School | Recent history and moves: 1984–present
On 1 January 2013, Boston Grammar School became a converter academy, under the leadership of the then headteacher, Mr Paul Marsh. No changes were made to the school uniform and the school retained its existing name. This ended the federation between Boston Grammar School and Boston High School, with both schools now having an independent governing body, budget and establishment number.
Boston Grammar School | Academy status
GCSE figure for 2007 rose from 26 per cent of pupils gaining 5 A* to C the previous year, to 52 per cent in 2007. The school's contextual value added now stands at 999; the national average is 1,000. The school underwent an OFSTED inspection in October 2007 which described the school as satisfactory overall with elements of good. It got very low GCSE results in 2008, under the government's minimum for comprehensive schools.
Buile Hill Visual Arts College | Academic performance
Plays, musicals, and other performances occur throughout the school year, often in conjunction with the school orchestra. In 2015, Mark Keppel High theatre students were invited to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland where they performed in a rendition of Peter Pan. Various UC "A-G" certified programs such as AP Art History are offered.
Mark Keppel High School | Visual and performing arts
Staging and sets are constructed jointly by staff and students, often both current and former. These productions alternate between musicals and plays. Notable productions in recent history have included Tim Winton's "Cloudstreet", Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzance", Lerner and Loewe's "My Fair Lady", Oscar Wilde's "An Ideal Husband", and Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story. In 2014, Melbourne Grammar School performed Peter Shaffer's Amadeus and "One Man, Two Guvnors" was presented in 2019. The final performance for the year is the Spring Production, which is open to students in Years 9 and 10. These plays take place in late Term Four, off-campus to leave the Memorial Hall free for VCE exams.
Melbourne Grammar School | Theatre
. . indescribably foul . . . the plague spot of the nation." Nevertheless, several schools received praise for excellent performance, including Western Reserve (now "Case" Western Reserve), Michigan, Wake Forest, McGill, Toronto, and particularly Johns Hopkins, which was described as the 'model for medical education'.
Flexner Report | Background
The school has been known for its great musical and theatrical ability and has staged many productions, musicals and musical, from "Hobson's Choice", "My Fair Lady", "West Side Story" and most recently in 2006 one of the first, if not the first, comprehensive school to perform the musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie". The school has also been known to create its own musicals and stage them themselves, for example in the year 2001 the school staged a production (musical) called "Sold Out" which was written by the performing arts staff of the school. In 2017 Little Shop of Horrors was performed by the pupils of Castlebrook High School, with a sell out 2 of the 3 nights the show was performed.
Castlebrook High School | Talent of the school
The Ryken Center is also home to the Black Box Theatre, the performance center used by the theatre art classes and clubs and host to various performances throughout the year, including productions by the Improv Society. Remillard Hall serves as a meeting and assembly space in the Ryken Center, used as both lecture hall and musical performance stage by students. Flavian Hall, which was refurbished in 2006, houses the foreign language departments of Spanish and French (Chinese courses are held in Conal Hall) and several social studies classes.
Saint John's High School (Massachusetts) | Academic buildings
Two public school buildings that were mothballed due to financial issues or population drops have been leased to the Metrowest Jewish Day School (at the former Juniper Hill Elementary) and Mass Bay Community College (at the former Farley Middle school). Several schools that were no longer being used were sold off, including Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Washington.
Framingham, Massachusetts | Education
The stocks had been invested in the Chicago Rock Island Railway. When the stocks had earned $250,000, the school was constructed. The original school burned on January 14, 1941, and the current school is its replacement. The school's team name is The Bullets. It competes as a Division III school. School colors are maroon and white.
Fairfax, Vermont | Education
In the 2015–16 School Improvement fund (state budget), $10 million was allocated to the school by the Victorian Government. The budget allocated $500,000 for the delivery of the school's Centenary Theatre project. Along with the fund from the (labor) government the school has been raising funds through community donations and fund-raising since 2012. It is estimated the school community to have raised $500,000 since August 2012. In 2013 and 2014 all new year 7 students received a reusable money donation box to collect loose change to help build the theatre. These red and blue boxes resulted in a competition for students with the chance to win a prize for the heaviest box.
Williamstown High School (Victoria) | Centenary Theatre
The school fell to be in the lowest quintile amongst similar schools nationally, with, in 2012, only 40% of pupils attaining at least five GCSEs grade A* to C including English and mathematics. This was a decrease of 10 percentage points since 2011. Work to improve the grades and reputation of the school began, and by 2018, GCSE results were the best ever. Following an Ofsted inspection in December 2012, the school was placed in "Special Measures" under the Education Act 2005 because it was failing to provide an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing and governing the school were not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvements in the inadequate achievements of pupils, quality of teaching, standards of behaviour, and managerial leadership.
The Grangefield Academy | Academic performance
For more than a decade Boston's school system was degraded by violence, hatred, and a breakdown of education. The results of this struggle for equality were not lasting. As of late 1989 Boston's School Committee continued to circumvent racial balance regulations. At a meeting in December of that year the Committee discussed racial statistics. One member made a telling inquiry about the Committee's policy: "We are excluding the Latin Schools because the numbers of students are predominantly white, is that it?" Another member provided the official response, to wit, that Latin schools were not incorporated because their admissions were different.
Morgan v. Hennigan | Results
For those years, the student ACT opt out rate has been below 5% and average ACT scores have been equal to or slightly better than state averages.
Paradigm High School | Academic Performance
The school's musical and drama contributions also flourished under Gilkes, and indeed the House Drama Competition, which still runs today, was inaugurated in 1948 under Gilkes. The school's various societies also began to proliferate.
Christopher H. Gilkes | Other areas
From 1837 until 1848, Horace Mann led the reform on education in Massachusetts as a lawyer, Massachusetts State senator, and the first secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Education. Mann struggled to create a universal standard for state education because schools were characterized by their regional and communal differences. State congressman James G. Carter (1795–1849) explained that the state shifted responsibility for the preservation classroom standards of the schools to the towns; the towns shifted responsibility to districts; and the districts had shifted it to individuals. In order to influence and educate the public, he published annual reports and founded the "Common School Journal" to report on Massachusetts' schools.
Common school | Horace Mann
The theater program, "Stage One," was founded in 1970 by Father Frank Toste, a Catholic priest and member of the Congregation of Holy Cross. Stage One has placed in the top three at the Massachusetts High School Theater Festival, run annually by the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild five times: "Equus" in 1983, "La Bête" in 1997, "Alchemy of Desire / Dead Man's Blues" in 2012, "Eurydice" in 2015, and "The Long Christmas Ride Home" in 2016. The company puts on three shows a year: a fall show, a Festival home show which competes at the High School Theater Festival, and a spring musical.
Peabody Veterans Memorial High School | Theater program
Prior to its closing, Julia Richman High School had developed a reputation for academic failure with a graduation rate of 35%. Within a decade the new smaller schools claimed a low staff turnover and an average high school graduation rate in excess of 85%, more than 5% greater than the city-wide graduation rate. The school has been visited by educators and school designers from around the world to see what the then education director of the Gates Foundation has called the JREC "the best example in the United States of a multiplex of a group of very effective schools that share a common facility.
Julia Richman Education Complex | Performance
The school suffered particularly badly from the underfunding of English state education in the 1980s and early 1990s under the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher. Some of the Foreign Language Department and some parts of the English and Science Departments were based in temporary Portakabin classrooms on the east of the site. The largest of these, "the battleship" erected in the late 1980s was only replaced by a permanent building almost a decade later. Starting in the late 1980s, new language, mathematics and sixth form blocks were built to complement the existing science, music, library/cafeteria buildings and sports hall. O'Hagan was replaced by Ed McConnell who resigned in 2005 to reorganise Kent Education.
Marlborough School, Woodstock | 1970s to 1990s
Until the early 2000s, it suffered from a poor reputation and occasional bad press, mainly in the local papers. During the 2000s, some parents went to the main local paper, The Evening Telegraph', angry that their children had been suspended because of extreme haircuts. The school was unapologetic for its actions. It was seen, by many, as an underachieving school with troublesome students but the school worked hard to shake off this image and although pupil behaviour and exam results did dramatically improve the reputation never completely went away. It achieved excellent 'Value Added'results and received recognition as an improved school three years running.
John Mansfield School | Introduction
Sir William Romney's was awarded Performing Arts status in 2005.
Sir William Romney's School, Tetbury | Performing Arts status
The Theater Company at Wachusett performed in the MHSDG One Act Play festival under the direction of Doug Ingalls for over 10 years, before Ingalls' passing in 2009, after which the school's Black Box Theater was renamed the Doug Ingalls Black Box Theater in honor of its long standing director. In 2003 Wachusett had its first ticket to the final round in Boston with "Beyond Tolerance". This was followed in 2004 with "Tom Jones", in 2005 with "Medea", in 2007 with "For Whom The Southern Belle Tolls," and in 2008 with "The Magdalene Laundries," an original play written by Mr.
Wachusett Regional High School | Theater Arts
The Alumni Association met opposition, however, from the Board of Education's Chancellor Frank J. Macchiarola and other school administrators. Macchiarola had overseen the "marriage into one single Fiorello La Guardia house" of sister schools PA and M&A in the first place. Mr. Gordon's next attempt to preserve PA was to enlist the help of an architect, Sheldon Licht (who was also a member of the parent's association), in beginning the process to declare the school building a New York City Landmark. In 1982 the building was ultimately declared a NYC Landmark but it was too late to preserve PA as a separate institution, as construction on the new building had begun again in earnest.
High School of Performing Arts | Opposition to merger with the High School for Music & Art
The program improved achievement in early grades, but not in upper grades. Early education programs including free preschool helped close part of the gaps for Fourth graders whose performance gap "narrowed from 31 points in 1999 to 19 points in 2007, and on state reading tests from 22 points in 2001 to 15 points in 2007." However, as students advanced in grade, their relative performance gains were lost, such that high school students showed no improvement at all and one expert, the Assistant Commissioner at the New Jersey Department of Education from 2002 to 2007 said that the program had not eliminated the effects of poverty.
Abbott district | Performance
The Massachusetts Department of Education School and District Accountability program to assess overall performance rated the school as "among lowest performing 20% of schools" in 2017.
Peabody Veterans Memorial High School | Ratings
Commonwealth School is a private high school of about 140 students and 35 faculty members located in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.
Commonwealth School | Introduction
The vocal practice eradicated all nasal, shrill, and guttural tones, while the Delsarte method of exercising every muscle of the frame was beneficial to the body. As a preliminary to graduation from the Training School of Elocution, each pupil was required to give a public reading, the audience consisting of invited friends. These entertainments, in Association Hall, afforded a literary treat to the audience, and were an index of the accomplishments to be achieved by a course of study in such a school and under a teacher whose refining influence left an indelible impression on the pupil. At the close of the second year of the school, three pupils were graduated with honor.
Elizabeth Marney Conner | Buffalo School of Elocution and Literature
The last class to graduate from Williams High School was in June 1967. The graduation ceremony was held at Tanglewood, as had many of the school's graduation ceremonies over the years. The last student to receive a Williams High School diploma was John Gennari, president of the Class of 1967. The school did not actually close until April 1968, when the senior and junior classes moved to the newly completed Monument Mountain Regional High School in Great Barrington. Helping to manage the closure and transition was Henry L. O'Connor, the last principal to lead Williams High School. Pressure from the state, economies of scale for rural districts and fluctuating student populations had forced the closure of its high school, an outcome Stockbridge resisted for over a decade.
Williams High School (Stockbridge, Massachusetts) | School closure
It was at this time, which CAPA opened to students aged 16–18 and became renowned across the UK as one of the leading schools for Performing Arts. Once again, on 1 January 2012, the school was renamed as Cathedral Academy under the leadership of then Principal, Tay Warren.
Cathedral Academy, Wakefield | History
Such stage luminaries as Maude Adams, Ethel Barrymore, Lilian Gish, and Ruth Gordon had trod the boards here. Students took classes in acting, stagecraft, makeup, and voice, and if they were talented enough, they might be asked to appear in plays with the resident acting company." Additionally, many notable performers spent their summers on the circuit. Plays and musicals that had closed on Broadway would play the circuit. By 1950, there were 152 Equity companies, including the Ogunquit Playhouse and Skowhegan Playhouse in Maine; the Woodstock Playhouse and the Forestburgh Playhouse in upstate New York; Falmouth Playhouse in Massachusetts (burned down in 1994); Priscilla Beach Theatre in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope (suburban Philadelphia), Pennsylvania (established in 1939).
Summer stock theatre | History
Pennsylvania 11th grade students no longer take the PSSAs. Instead, they now take the Keystone Exams at the end of the associated course.
Commonwealth Charter Academy | 2013 School Performance Profile
In 2008 the rate of students attending tertiary education was 67% and the dropout rate was almost 9%. As of 2014, 80% of the school's graduates go to universities and colleges, and the school had a 3% dropout rate. In 2009, the school had a graduation rate of 71.5%, which rose to 87.9% by 2017.
Revere High School (Massachusetts) | Student performance
Several states changed their education policies to make their applications more competitive. For instance, Illinois increased the cap on the number of charter schools it allows from 60 to 120; Massachusetts passed legislation to "aggressively intervene in [its] lowest-performing schools", and West Virginia proposed, but did not establish, a performance-based salary system that would have included student achievement in its compensation calculations. In order to be eligible, states couldn't have laws prohibiting the use of measures of student achievement growth in teacher evaluations. Some states had banned the use of value-added modeling in evaluations, but changed their laws to be eligible.
Race to the Top | Effects
More commonly known as the "school hall", the J.C. Hoskin Auditorium, named after the school's founding principal (see history above), is used as a multi-purpose facility. Along with holding important school assemblies, concerts and the school musical, the hall is also used for examinations (primarily government and senior exams) and it was used for PE classes in the past—this function was largely removed with the construction of the school's new gymnasium in 2017. Ceremonies which celebrate the school's highest achievers are also held annually in the Auditorium.
James Ruse Agricultural High School | J.C. Hoskin Auditorium
In 2019, Theatre East went to the Finals level of competition with their production of Donald Margulies' Shipwrecked! An Entertainment.
Lynnfield High School | Arts and Activities
The Schoolhouse existed during a particularly fruitful period in the independent, do-it-yourself music and art scene in Western Massachusetts. In addition to the Schoolhouse, underground and left-of-center shows were also regularly booked at the Flywheel Arts Collective (a non-profit performing arts space) in Easthampton, MA, The Shed (a “punkspot” literally housed in a backyard toolshed) in Palmer, MA, as well as the formation of the Autonomous Battleship Collective (a psych/folk collective) operating mainly out of the Montague Bookmill in Montague, MA. In addition to these collectives, Byron Coley and Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Yod record and bookstore in Florence, MA also hosted a number performances by different national and international acts.
The Schoolhouse | Western Mass
His and other attempts to gain access to schools were also denied. The Beacon Hill home of Hall's son, Primus Hall, was used as a school starting in 1798. Ten years later the school was moved to the African Meeting House. In the 1820s, the city government provided two primary schools for black children. School conditions and teacher quality was not maintained by the Boston School Committee, and children of color were excluded from Boston's high school and Latin school. The efforts to create a separate but equal school system in Boston failed.
Robert Morris (lawyer) | School integration
In 2014, the school received an Ofsted score of "Requires Improvement".
Westfield School, Sheffield | Academic performance
At the time of his retirement from the post the school had $55 million worth of capital projects in the works, including a new library, and a film school animation building. For the first time in the school's history, the faculty agreed to having a ranking system, Kiplinger's ranked the school for the first time in its history as one of the "100 top Values in Public Education," and Mauceri raised the monies to support a television series of student performances which he also produced. These included "The Nutcracker", a complete restoration of the original 1943 production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Oklahoma!" (winner of a National Educational Television Award), and the American premiere of Erich Wolfgang Korngold's score in a fully staged production of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" (regional Emmy for Best Arts Program, 2013).
John Mauceri | Work in academia
Initially scoring in the lowest one-percentile in both fields, third and fourth graders respectively rose to the ninth and 16th percentile in reading, and to the 18th and 30th percentile in math. By the end of the school year, the school proved to be among the fastest growing performance-wise nationwide.
I Promise School | Student body
In 2011, it received Tommy Awards for its musical production of "Hairspray": Outstanding Lead, Outstanding Supporting, Outstanding Ensemble, Community Engagement Award, and Outstanding Stage Manager. In 2012, the theatre group received Tommy Awards for its musical production of "Urinetown": Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Lead, and two Outstanding Supporting Roles.
Beloit Memorial High School | Theatre
Commonwealth Secondary School began as Tanglin Integrated Vocational Secondary School in 1964 and became an academic institution named Tanglin Secondary in 1969. In 1972, the name was changed again to Commonwealth Secondary School since it was situated near Commonwealth Drive. The school relocated to Jurong East in 1989 and functioned as a neighbourhood school in the Hong Kah constituency for seven years before moving to Jurong East Street 24 of the Yuhua Constituency at the end of 1995. The school moved to its new campus on West Coast Road in November 2006. The official opening ceremony of the new campus was held on 11 July 2008.
Commonwealth Secondary School | Tanglin Secondary School
Heritage High School is also home to Pioneer Theatre. A student run program with Theatre Director Larry Hart and Associate Director Michelle Velastegui as of Fall 2008. In 2010, the Virginia Theatre Association named Director Larry Hart theatre educator of the year. All sets are built by Applied Technical Theater I & II. The theatre produces around six shows a year. The six plays usually consist of an Acting II Competition Piece, a Theater in the round, a Mainstage Straight Play, a Mainstage Musical, an Acting II Musical or "Straight Play" Dinner Theatre, and the Acting II Original One Acts.
Heritage High School (Lynchburg, Virginia) | Theater