Lanesborough Elementary Top Level School in MCAS

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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Secretary of Education Matt Malone points to Lanesborough's certificate during a recent visit.
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Elementary School is again one of the top schools in the state.
 
The school recently received its standardize testing scores and has ranked as a Level 1 — the highest designation — for the second year in a row.
 
"We are Level 1 for the second year in a row and that is not easy to accomplish," said Principal Ellen Boshe. "It is the support of the community that allows us to have the services we provide."
 
Based on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System testing, the state sets target scores that measure both the grow of students throughout their educational career and the school's ability to narrow proficiency gaps. For Lanesborough, a score of 75 meets the state's target and Lanesborough Elementary scored 95 for all students and a 98 for students with high needs.
 
"We were certainly right at the top of the list," Boshe said.
 
The principal added that reaching the Level 1 designation two years in a row is significant. The state sets progressively higher goals to close the proficiency gap, making it more difficult for school's to repeat good performances.
 
"Every year it becomes harder and harder because you've made improvements and need to make more," Boshe said.
 
School Committee member James Moriarty said, "at some point, you can only improve so much." 
 
The sixth-graders exceeded state averages in both subjects tested — math and English. A total of 84 percent of the students were proficient or higher in English compared to the state average of 68 percent. Only 13 percent of the sixth graders needed improvement and only 3 percent were failing.
 
In math, 78 percent of the students were proficient or higher compared to the state average of 60 percent. Only 16 percent of the students needed improvement and 6 percent was failing.
 
In the fifth grade, where science is tested, 68 percent of the students were proficient or higher in science compared to the state average of 53 percent.
 
The third-graders also showed impressive numbers with 74 percent of the students scoring proficient or higher in both reading and math. That is compared to state averages of 57 percent for reading and 68 percent for math.
 
The scores earned the school a certificate from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Lanesborough MCAS Scores 2014


Tags: academics,   MCAS,   standardized testing,   

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Lanesborough Administrator Gives Update on Snow Plowing

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

LANESBOROUGH, Mass.— Five staff members plow about 50 miles of town roads during the winter.

On Monday, Town Administrator Gina Dario updated the Select Board on snow plowing.  The county began to see snow around Thanksgiving and had a significant storm last week.

"I just think it's good for transparency for people to understand sort of some of the process of how they approach plowing of roads," she said.

Fifty miles of roadway is covered by five staff members, often starting at 8 p.m. with staggered shifts until the morning.

"They always start on the main roads, including Route 7, Route 8, the Connector Road, Bull Hill Road, Balance Rock (Road,) and Narragansett (Avenue.) There is cascading, kind of— as you imagine, the arms of the town that go out there isn't a set routine. Sometimes it depends on which person is starting on which shift and where they're going to cover first," Dario explained.

"There are some ensuring that the school is appropriately covered and obviously they do Town Hall and they give Town Hall notice to make sure that we're clear to the public so that we can avoid people slipping and falling."

She added that dirt roads are harder to plow earlier in the season before they freeze 'Or sometimes they can't plow at all because that will damage the mud that is on the dirt roads at that point."

During a light snowstorm, plowers will try to get blacktop roads salted first so they can be maintained quickly.

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