Town of Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA |

Southbridge School System

QUICK REFERENCE: Interim Superintendent of Schools: Eugene Thayer - (508) 764-5414 School Population (yr. 2000): 2,675 Click >here for the School Administrators & School Committee Page. SCHOOL WEBSITES: PLEASE NOTE: The websites of the schools will open in a new browser window, and are not part of the Southbridge Web Site. They are maintained by individuals associated with the respective schools, and comments or requests regarding these sites should be directed to the individuals listed as webmaster for that school's site.
	Grades Kindergarten and First Eastford Road Elementary School 120 Eastford Rd. Southbridge, MA 01550
	Grades Second and Third Charlton Street School 220 Charlton St. Southbridge, MA 01550
	Grades Fourth and Fifth West Elementary School 156 West Street Southbridge, MA 01550
	Grades Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Mary E. Wells Middle School 82 Marcy Street Southbridge, MA 01550
	Grades Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Southbridge High School 25 Cole Avenue Southbridge, MA 01550
	Grades Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical High School Charlton, MA

Dear Parents, Staff, Students, Members of the Southbridge Community and Friends of the Southbridge Public Schools,

Welcome to the Southbridge Public Schools Website. Through this website we will work to provide current information so that you may stay in touch with what is happening in the school system. Each school site has its own website and you may want to find more specific information on the schools at those sites.

My name is Gene Thayer and I am currently the Interim Superintendent of Schools for Southbridge. This will be my role during the current search for the new Superintendent. The new Superintendent is expected to be hired in June and begin in July.

The Executive Summary of the Educational Quality Assessment (EQA), the report that was the basis for the declaration by the Massachusetts Board of Education that the Southbridge Public Schools be declared "Underperforming", is on this site. The entire report is available in each school's Principal's Office, at the Southbridge Public Library and also at the Office of the Superintendent of Schools.

I would encourage you to read at least the Executive Summary so that you may understand why we were declared underperforming.

This underperforming status has legal implications for the future of the Southbridge Public Schools. One of the first steps in addressing the underperforming designation is that each school and the District itself must develop a School Improvement Plan while the District develops a District Improvement Plan. The District Improvement Plan must be submitted to the Board of Education and approved by them as part of an overall plan in the process.

The staff, and members of the Southbridge Community representing a cross section of the Community will meet as a District Wide Planning Committee to develop the District Improvement Plan. The Department of Education will provide a facilitator to enable the Committee to develop the District Plan.

I am most interested in having Community volunteers join us in this process. If you are interested in joining the District Planning Committee I would ask you to call the Superintendent's Office (508-764-5414). While all of you who volunteer may not be selected to participate on the District Planning Committee there will be some role in the process for everyone interested.

While all of this is going on I pledge to be as helpful as possible so that the staff may fulfill its professional responsibilities to Southbridge's children. In my first week here I met and observed good teaching taking place in each school. At the same time I have encountered enthusiastic staff members willing to participate in the planning process in the best interests of our students.

Also on this site is a letter from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) granting accreditation to Southbridge High School. They have, however, asked us to show cause why we should not be put on probation. The letter puts forth commendations and reasons for possibly placing Southbridge High School on probation.

I look forward to working with you for the benefit of the Southbridge students.

Sincerely,

Gene Thayer,
Interim Superintendent