School Notes

By Owen Boss Staff Writer

At Easthampton High School, more students choose AP courses

At an open house earlier this week, parents of Easthampton High School students were presented with statistics showing an increase in the number of students signing up for advanced placement classes - a trend administrators have attributed to the school's participation in the Mass Math and Science Initiative.

At a School Committee meeting last week, Superintendent of Schools Nancy Follansbee was pleased to report that thanks to the initiative, Easthampton High School posted the highest one-year increase in passing AP scores statewide; with six students passing in 2009 compared to 41 in 2010.

Also, Follansbee said that prior to becoming an MMSI school two years ago, Easthampton High School had only 12 students enrolled in AP classes. The school now has 99 students signed up for college-preparatory classes.

"That initiative has been great for us," Follansbee said. "We are proud to report that we have seen a larger increase in students signing up for AP classes than any other school in the state."

MMSI is the state's largest high school math and science program and is aimed at underserved students. Through MMSI, 46 state high schools have expanded access to AP courses for their students and since 2008 it has led to more than 4,500 new enrollments in AP courses.

For more information about MMSI, residents are encouraged to visit the program's website: www.massingsight.org/mmsi.

Writer's Workshop Series

Williston Northampton School's 13th Writers' Workship Series kicks off Wednesday night as the school welcomes local author Suzanne Strempek Shea, winner of the 2000 New England Book Award, to speak with aspiring writers from across the Valley.

The presentation, which begins at 7 p.m. in the Dodge Room in the Reed Campus Center, will allow Shea, of Bondsville, to speak about her transition into writing fiction and how she began her career as an author while writing for the Providence Journal.

Shea is the author of five novels: "Selling the Lite of Heaven," "Hoopi Shoopi Donna," "Lily of the Valley," "Around Again," and "Becoming Finola." She has also written three memoirs, "Songs From a Lead-lined Room: Notes - High and Low - From My Journey Through Breast Cancer and Radiation"; "Shelf Life: Romance, Mystery, Drama and Other Page-Turning Adventures From a Year in a Bookstore," and "Sundays in America: A Yearlong Road Trip in Search of Christian Faith." In Wednesday's event, she'll discuss "Sundays in America," for which she traveled to 52 different Christian churches to gain a better perspective on religion in the area.

The Writers' Workshop Series began in 1998 as an advanced class for aspiring student writers. This event is free and open to the public. For more information about the series, visit the school's website: www.williston.com/writersworkshop.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.