Schools

School fundraiser culminates in ‘Devoll on the Wall’

MATTAPOISETT — A spin on “Elf on the Shelf” closed out school in 2024 at Old Rochester Regional High School. As the day wrapped up before holiday vacation Friday, Dec. 20, Principal Mike Devoll stood on a chair as students applied tape across him...

New science curriculum paying off according to ORR educators

MATTAPOISETT — Old Rochester Regional School District students tested comfortably above the state average in 2024 MCAS exams in all subjects, but student learning in one field is shining brightest. In science MCAS exams, fifth grade, eighth grade...
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Global event has Rochester students coding

ROCHESTER — Millions of students across the world are spending an hour a day this week learning how to read and write code. About five hundred of them are at Rochester Memorial School, where the “Hour of Code,” a global computer science education...

Through rain, Rochester students sing ‘Let It Snow,’ light Christmas tree

ROCHESTER — As the kids sang “Let It Snow,” it rained. Dozens of Rochester Memorial School students caroled to a throng collected at town hall for the community’s annual Christmas tree lighting Monday, Dec. 9. A tent shielded the singers from the...

High school students drop pencils to take part in day of community service

MATTAPOISETT — Old Rochester Regional High School students left the classroom and participated in community service activities on Wednesday, Nov. 27 during a half-day of school. It was the school district’s inaugural Community Service Learning Day,...

Old Rochester handily wins powderpuff game

WAREHAM — Old Rochester Regional High School ran to victory Wednesday, Nov. 27 in the annual powderpuff game against Wareham High School. The Bulldogs won 36-8 in the girls flag football game traditionally played before Thanksgiving. Old Rochester...

Hundreds of senior citizens fed at junior high school Thanksgiving banquet

MATTAPOISETT — Nearly 250 Tri-Town senior citizens enjoyed an early Thanksgiving dinner at Old Rochester Regional Junior High School on Sunday, Nov. 24 with the help of over 50 student volunteers. It was the 31st rendition of the annual event, and...

Sixteen Marion students named to Upper Cape Tech fall 2024 honor roll

BOURNE — Sixteen Marion students were named to Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School’s honor roll for the fall 2024 term. In ninth grade, Charles Bonney, Holden Campbell, Cameron Estebrooks, Samuel Fischer and Caleb Huffman received high honors...

Sippican students learn about similarities between orchestras and ecosystems

MARION — Sippican School students learned a little about two topics at once during an assembly on Wednesday, Nov. 20. Members of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra presented “The Orchestra as an Ecosystem” to second through sixth grade students. The...

Center School students explore artifacts at Mattapoisett Museum

MATTAPOISETT — First graders from Center School visited Mattapoisett Museum on Thursday, Nov. 7 to learn about the town’s past. “The rafters of the Mattapoisett Museum rang with excitement” during the visit paid by the “curious and eager” students,...

Tri-Town students visit Beacon Hill for summit

About a month ago, Emerson Gonet saw firsthand the shortage of doctors and nurses in the healthcare industry. A senior at Old Rochester Regional High School, Gonet was in the hospital and could see there was one nurse for the entire floor. On...

With their former teachers retiring, Old Colony grads return to instruct

ROCHESTER — The smell of the room hasn’t changed at all to Colby Robertson. The machine shop at Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School, where Robertson in the late 2000s learned the trade of making parts out of raw material, had a...

Three Tri-Town students named to Simmons University dean’s list

BOSTON — Three Tri-Town students have been named to the dean’s list for the 2024 spring semester at Simmons University. The students are Daniela Gil Veras of Marion, Allison Paim of Marion and Lilah Gendreau of Mattapoisett. To qualify for the dean’...

Donations to bring laser cutter to Old Rochester

Editor’s note: This story was updated Nov. 4 to reflect that one of the donors wished to remain anonymous. MATTAPOISETT — A donation of $6,000 from three community members is set to bring an impressive piece of machinery...

Banner hung in gym to celebrate Unified Bulldogs’ undefeated 2023 season

MATTAPOISETT — Old Rochester Regional High School honored its 2023 unified basketball team’s undefeated season by hanging a banner on the school’s gymnasium. A schoolwide pep rally was held on Friday, Oct. 18 to unveil the banner. The Unified Sports...

PHOTOS: Rochester Memorial School Spooktacular

ROCHESTER — Most Saturdays, Rochester Memorial School’s parking lot is an empty ghost town. On Saturday, Oct. 26, it was a ghost town due to kids donning creepy Halloween costumes. The school’s parent teacher organization hosted its annual...

Gaining confidence with dyslexia

DARTMOUTH — When Mattapoisett’s Charlie Hall started the third grade, many of his peers had entered the phase of learning through reading while he was still just grasping learning to read, according to his mom, Megan Hall. Born early, Charlie spent...

Drama club decks out for trunk-or-treat Halloween event

MATTAPOISETT — Members of the drama club at Old Rochester Regional High School were dressed up in costume Saturday, Oct. 19, but it wasn’t for one of the shows the group will put on this year. The club held a ‘trunk-or-treat’ in the parking lot in...

Old Rochester appoints interim high school assistant principal

MATTAPOISETT — Lauren Millette has served as the Director of Guidance at Old Rochester Regional High School and Junior High School for three years. On Monday, Oct. 28, she will step into a new role: interim assistant principal of the high school...

Old Rochester students take part in Project 351 workshop

MATTAPOISETT — Old Rochester Regional School District students participated in a Project 351 workshop on Wednesday, Oct. 16. Project 351 is a nonprofit organization that promotes youth-led service. Over 170 student leaders attended a Project 351...

Old Rochester explores advertising to raise funds

MATTAPOISETT — The Old Rochester Regional School District’s athletic department is exploring on-campus and digital advertising as an additional source of revenue to make facility improvements affordable. In an effort to increase the budget for the...

Old Rochester outperforms state in every 2024 MCAS test, Old Colony outperforms in science

Tri-Town students outperformed the state in a majority of grades and subjects in the 2024 Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests, according to Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education data. The data, released...

Students dance to the beat of $12,141 fundraiser

MATTAPOISETT — Old Rochester Regional Junior High School students stepped away from desks onto the dance floor on Tuesday, Sept. 24 for the school’s annual Booster Bash. The event, hosted by school fundraising company Booster, allowed students to...

Sippican School to participate in ecological literacy program with local non-profit for second year

MARION — Old Rochester Regional School District announced Thursday, Sept. 19 that Sippican Elementary School partnered for the second year in a row with the non-profit organization Marion Institute for an ecological literacy program. The Marion...

Plans underway for Old Rochester 40-year class of ‘85 reunion

Plans are in the works for a Tri-Town 40-year reunion later next summer. A reunion for the class of 1985 at Old Rochester Regional High School is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. A reunion committee is working on location details and “excited”...

Junior high opens on eve of first day of school to get ‘jitters out’

MATTAPOISETT — The first day of school can be nerve-inducing. Especially so, when that first day is at a new school, in a new building and, for some in the Old Rochester Regional school district, in a new town. An open house on the eve of the...

Students drop beach balls and pick up pencils

Tri-Town students packed up their backpacks on the morning of Wednesday, Aug. 28, bidding summer farewell as they caught the bus for the dawn of a new school year. In Rochester, Heidi Letendre was the first staff member of Rochester Memorial School...

From hallways to hall of fame: Old Colony superintendent to be honored for wrestling career

ROCHESTER — In addition to serving as the superintendent-director of Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School, Aaron Polansky works as a keynote speaker. But Polansky couldn’t find the words during a particular conversation, the one in...

Old Rochester Regional ‘excited’ to greet students as new school year comes

As August turns to September, summer turns to school in the Tri-Town. Students in first through twelfth grade returned to schools in the Old Rochester Regional School District on Wednesday, Aug. 28. “We’re excited about greeting them,”...

Students’ return to ‘bring life’ to Old Colony after busy summer

ROCHESTER — Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School stayed busy during the summer. The school held the seventh annual “Summer Discovery Experience” program for fifth through eighth graders, according to Superintendent-Director Aaron...

Applications open for Rochester Cultural Council grants

The Rochester Cultural Council is attempting to bring culturally enriching programming to the Tri-Town area. The RCC is now accepting online applications from organizations, schools and individuals for grants to support community-oriented arts,...

Old Rochester hosts summer ‘Acceleration Academy’ for students

MATTAPOISETT— The Old Rochester Regional School District recently hosted the Summer Acceleration Academy opportunity supported by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). The program, which ran from Aug. 12 to 16 at Old Rochester...

New Old Hammondtown principal meets community with popsicles

MATTAPOISETT — The new principal of Old Hammondtown School hosted an event Wednesday, Aug. 14 that served an opportunity for the community to meet her — while enjoying a popsicle too. Principal Stephanie Wells met Old Hammondtown families at the...

Old Colony superintendent to be inducted into Massachusetts chapter of National Wrestling Hall of Fame

The superintendent of Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School is heading to the hall of fame. Aaron Polansky, superintendent-director of Old Colony in Rochester, was announced Tuesday, Aug. 20 as one of seven to be inducted next year...

Old Rochester alumni association announces homecoming weekend programming

MATTAPOISETT — The ORR Bulldog Pride Alumni Association has announced the schedule for 2024’s alumni weekend. The program from Friday, Oct. 25 through Sunday, Oct. 27 is organized around the annual homecoming game and is open to all Old Rochester...

Mattapoisett Woman’s Club announces 2024 scholarship winners

MATTAPOISETT — The Mattapoisett Woman’s Club has announced the winners of 2024 scholarships. Rylie Coughlin and Jaymison Gunschel won scholarships awarded to graduating high school seniors. Coughlin is a 2024 graduate from Old Rochester Regional...

Old Rochester Regional School District offers summer program for 17th year

MATTAPOISETT — Students from the Tri-Town and beyond attended a summer program offered by the Old Rochester Regional School District. They also got a visit from a furry, friendly community member along the way. Students in the Summer Adventures in...

Old Rochester students present with administration at superintendents conference

MASHPEE — A pair of Old Rochester Regional High School students presented with school administrators at a state superintendents conference. Molly Wronski, a rising junior, and Jaymison Gunschel, a 2024 graduate, spoke with Superintendent Michael S...

Old Rochester camping program to celebrate 50 years

MATTAPOISETT — A groundbreaking program at Old Rochester Regional Junior High School will be celebrating 50 years later this summer. The 50th reunion of Survival, a weeklong camping trip for seventh graders, will be Saturday, Aug. 17, 4 p.m. at Ned’...

Old Rochester hires new assistant superintendent

MATTAPOISETT — The Old Rochester Regional School District has hired a new administrator to lead the student services office. Members of Old Rochester’s joint school committee appointed Dr. Jaime Curley as assistant superintendent of student services...

Tri-Town students get a boost to medical education

Summer may be in full swing but some recent Tri-Town graduates are already planning ahead for the start of college in the fall – securing $1,500 scholarships on behalf of three Southcoast Health Hospitals. Out of 141 applicants, six Tri-Town...

Old Rochester subcommittee violates Open Meeting Law

MATTAPOISETT — On a Tuesday in March 2021, the Old Rochester Regional School District Equity Subcommittee held a two-hour long public meeting. The meeting minutes – the formal record of the committee’s activities – spanned 63 words. The...