Schools

Tri-Town turns out for Black History Month conversation on identity

Thinking about race and identity is like brushing your teeth, according to educator Christina Brown. “People don’t say ‘I brushed my teeth this month, so I’m good,’” she said during an Old Rochester Regional school district community conversation on...

School choice defended by ORR school committee

As enrollment declines in the Old Rochester Regional School District, space has opened up for 27 school choice students. With over 20 school choice students graduating this year, the 27 students would bring the district up to its 103-student limit...
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School district proposes budget increase

The Old Rochester Regional School District’s 2022 preliminary budget contains an increase of over $500,000 from last year, and some School Committee members blame the state for not helping to close the gap as costs increase. “Education has been a...

Three approaches to the return to school

After months of debate and planning, Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester have each found a way to send their youngest learners back to school full time. Elementary schools in the Tri-Town began the academic year in a hybrid learning model, which...

Friends, teachers, coworkers hold drive-by celebration for graduate

MARION — For Matt Dube, turning 22 marked an important milestone — one that his friends, teachers, coworkers and family members were all too happy to celebrate by throwing a covid-safe drive-by parade on Feb. 12. Dube was a student in Old Rochester...

Friends of Jack honors ORR cafeteria workers

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Old Rochester Regional School District’s cafeteria workers have been working to make sure Tri-Town students don’t go hungry. Now, they’re being recognized for their efforts. The Friends of Jack honored the...

Sippican School K-2 students to return to the classroom full time on Feb. 22

MARION — After Mattapoisett and Rochester sent their kindergarten, first and second grade students back to the classroom full time, Marion will follow suit. The Marion School Committee voted on Feb. 8 to pivot to a full in-person learning model for...

Photos: Rochester Memorial School students socially distance on first day of K-2 full in-person learning

ROCHESTER — Rochester Memorial was the second school in the Old Rochester Regional School District to have its kindergarten, first and second grade students return to the classroom full time. The school’s youngest learners were greeted on their...

Applications open for Marion scholarship

MARION — The Marion Scholarship Committee has opened applications for graduating seniors planning to attend college in the fall to apply for the Marion Scholarship Fund. The scholarship — which is funded directly by Marion residents — will give out...

Parents applaud Mattapoisett K-2 return

MATTAPOISETT — Old Hammondtown and Center Schools’ youngest elementary students returned to full in-person school on Jan. 19, and according to officials and parents alike, things are going well. “The plan is in motion according to how we thought,”...

Bulldogs to play in ‘Fall II’ sports season

Old Rochester Regional High School athletes will get to play fall sports after all — in the winter. After the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association voted to approve the Fall II season on Jan. 29, ORR Athletic Director Bill Tilden...

ORR DECA club celebrates after regional competition

After spending much of their season in remote meetings, the Old Rochester Regional High School DECA club was able to hold an awards ceremony following its regional competition in person and on campus. At the ceremony, the business-focused club gave...

Sign up for project GROW

Signups have begun for the Old Rochester Regional School District’s preschool program: Project GROW. Enrollment is open to all children who live in Marion, Mattapoisett, or Rochester and turned 3 years of age before September 1, 2020. In an effort...

Kindergarten orientation on Feb. 3.

The Old Rochester Regional School District’s kindergarten orientation will happen virtually this year, from 6 to 7 p.m. on Feb. 3 via video conference. The orientation is for families with students beginning kindergarten in the Fall of 2021. Visit...

Portuguese is coming back to ORRHS

Old Rochester Regional high schoolers will be able to learn Portuguese again, after the School Committee approved a plan to reinstate classes in the language at a Jan. 20 meeting. At first, classes would only be available for ninth and 10th grade...

Hang out virtually with the cast of Spoon River Anthology

Everyone is invited to a virtual party hosted by the cast of the Spoon River Anthology, a virtual play recently staged by the Old Rochester Regional Drama Club. The play was first performed in early December, and that recording has been edited into...

ORRHS students chosen for UMass exhibit

From the struggles of the Black community to the difficulties of mental illness, Tri-Town students are tackling tough topics in their artwork — and it’s not going unrecognized. Three pieces of artwork by Old Rochester Regional High School Students...

Seven new cases reported in school district

Seven new covid cases were reported in the Old Rochester Regional School District on Jan. 14 and 15, bringing the district total up to 139 since its Sept. 16 reopening. The 139-case total is a reflection of all the cases that have been contracted by...

Five new cases reported in OR District

Five new covid cases were reported between the Old Rochester Regional High School and Junior High in a district press release on Jan. 12. Four of the new cases were reported at ORRHS, with the other at the Junior High. The individuals who teated...

Full steam ahead for Mattapoisett K-2 full in-person plan

MATTAPOISETT — Despite comments from parents concerned about a return to in-person school , the Mattapoisett School Committee unanimously decided at a Jan. 11 meeting to move ahead with a plan to bring kindergarten, first and second grade students...

Eight new cases found in OR district

Seven new covid cases were reported at between Sippican School, Rochester Memorial School and the Old Rochester Regional School High School on Jan. 8, bringing the district total to 112 since its reopening in mid-September. Five of the reported...

Tabor Academy plans to tear down library for new student center

Tabor Academy plans to tear down its Hayden Library on Spring Street and replace it with a new 22,750 square foot campus center that will include student life, the office of diversity and inclusion, and a library and academic support services on the...

Five new covid cases reported in Old Rochester district

Five new covid cases between Rochester Memorial School and Old Rochester Regional High School were reported by the Old Rochester Regional School District on Jan. 4, bringing the district’s total to 90. Four of the new cases were found in ORRHS, with...

Nine new covid cases announced in Old Rochester district

The Old Rochester Regional School District reported nine covid cases on Jan. 3, the most reported at one time since the beginning of the pandemic. Of the cases, four are from Rochester Memorial School, three are from Old Hammondtown School and two...

Rochester Memorial reports new covid case

ROCHESTER — The Old Rochester Regional School District reported a new covid case at Rochester Memorial School on Dec. 31, bringing the district total to 76. The positive individual was last in Rochester Memorial on Dec. 23. Contact tracing for the...

Marion 2021 college scholarship application now open

The Marion Scholarship and Education Committee is offering a scholarship to high school students who will graduate in 2021. Applicants must live in Marion, be in good academic standing, and accepted at a recognized college for the fall of 2021...

Mattapoisett 6th graders recreate “Eye of the Tiger,” hybrid school style

MATTAPOISETT — 2020 might end in a whimper, but here’s a bit of good news to leave this horrific year on a high note. Ms. Mirabito's Grade 6 homeroom class at Old Hammondtown School may not be preparing for a fight, but they have their sights set on...

New covid case reported at Center School

MATTAPOISETT — The Old Rochester Regional School District announced a new covid case at Center School on Dec. 27. Contact tracing for the cases is ongoing. Close contacts will be notified by their respective Boards of Health and are expected to...

Over 60 covid cases now reported in schools since opening

MATTAPOISETT — There have now been 62 covid-19 cases in the Old Rochester Regional School District since classes started on Sept. 16, as two new cases in the high school and one new case in the junior high were announced on Dec. 21. In a press...

Old Colony to switch to remote learning on Dec. 22 and 23

ROCHESTER— All classes at Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School will be remote on Dec. 22 and 23 as a coronavirus precaution. In a press release, the school said the move will minimize risk for close contact with any potentially...

Applications open for Mattapoisett Lions Club scholarships

MATTAPOISETT — The Mattapoisett Lions Club is giving two $ 2,500 scholarships to this year to a graduating high school senior or home-schooled student in the Tri-Town. To qualify for the Peter Hodges Memorial Scholarship, a graduating student or...

Two school covid cases reported at high school, Rochester Memorial

There have now been 59 covid-19 cases in the Old Rochester Regional School District since opening on Sept. 16, as one person each from the high school and Rochester Memorial have come down with the virus. The district said in Dec. 18 press releases...

New Covid Case reported at ORR district building

MATTAPOISETT — A new covid case was reported by the Old Rochester Regional School District on Dec. 19, the 59th since schools reopened on Sept. 16. The case is affiliated with The Old Rochester Regional School District High School building, but it’s...

School district announces four new covid cases

The Old Rochester Regional School District announced four new covid cases at ORRHS and Rochester Memorial School on Dec. 17. Three of the cases came from ORRHS, and one from Rochester Memorial. Contact tracing for the cases is ongoing. Close...

Reopening plan proposed at Rochester School Committee meeting

ROCHESTER — Families will have to wait a little longer to find out if and when their students will return to full in-person school. Talks on a new plan to return Rochester Memorial School’s youngest students to full in-person learning were postponed...

The show goes on with ORRHS Drama Club’s Spoon River Anthology

The show must go on. The Old Rochester Regional High School Drama club spent months of long, cold nights rehearsing Spoon River Anthology for an outdoor rendition of the play, which is a collection of monologues given from beyond the grave. And then...

New covid cases reported at ORRHS, Sippican School

Two new cases of covid-19 at the Old Rochester Regional High School and one at Sippican School have been reported, the Old Rochester Regional School District said in a Dec. 15 press release. In its press releases, the district didn’t say whether the...

High school to honor life of Nolan Gibbons with plaque

The Old Rochester Regional School District will honor student Nolan Gibbons, who died in August, with a plaque to be displayed in the ORRHS music hallway. The decision was made at a Dec. 9 ORR School Committee Meeting, where students Gabriella Berg...

ORR school committee votes away foreign language requirement

Foreign language requirements at the Old Rochester Regional High School will be no more after a Dec. 9 decision by the ORR School Committee. The high school was supposed to implement a foreign language requirement starting with this year’s Freshman...

Students secure dual enrollment course inclusion in GPAs

Old Rochester Regional High School students were able to convince the ORR School Committee to let their dual enrollment classes count toward grade point averages at a Dec. 9 meeting. Dual enrollment classes count toward a student’s transcript, but...

Covid case count surpasses 50 in OR district

With three new cases at Sippican School, Rochester Memorial and the Old Rochester Regional High School, the Old Rochester Regional School District has reached 51 cases of covid since its reopening on Sept. 16. The cases were reported by the district...

ORRHS club does business training pandemic style

MATTAPOISETT — The world has changed rapidly since lockdowns began in March, and business has changed along with it. But the Old Rochester Regional High School DECA club is up for the challenge. The club teaches students how to be adaptive and...

Tons of Toys for Tots gathered at ORRHS Stuff-A-Cruiser drive

MATTAPOISETT — ‘Tis the season of giving, and the Community Service Learning Club at Old Rochester Regional High School gave back by stuffing a police cruiser — or two or three — with toys from the community for those in need. Every year, the club...

Donate old clothes, support ORR’s DECA club

As a way to help the environment and raise money, the Old Rochester Regional High School’s DECA club is accepting clothing and textile donations year-round. Donation bins are located outside of Center School, Old Hammondtown, Rochester Memorial,...

Three new covid cases reported in school district

MATTAPOISETT — Two new covid-19 cases were reported at Old Hammondtown School and one new case was reported at the Old Rochester Regional Junior High School on Dec. 11, according to the Old Rochester Regional School District. In a press release, the...

Covid cases announced at Sippican School, Rochester Memorial

The 44th and 45th covid cases in the Old Rochester Regional School District were announced in press releases on Dec. 10 and 11. The 44th case was found at Rochester Memorial, and the 45th at Sippican School. All schools will continue using their...

ORR district sports to return for winter season

Winter sports will happen for Old Rochester Regional High School and Junior High students, as long as they and their families remain diligent about covid regulations. The ORR School Committee approved guidelines for winter sports as well as a...

ORR district administration responds to racist instagram account

Old Rochester Regional School District administration addressed racist posts from the now-defunct Instagram account @republicanatorr at a Dec. 9 ORR School Committee meeting. Writing in the posts from the account included racist overtones and...

ORRHS, Junior High parents favor return to in-person learning

The data is in, and parents across the Old Rochester Regional School district favor an in-person return for their children. Though, some are wary of the possible caveats involved in an in-person return. Poll data released by the district at a Dec. 9...

School district transparency called into question by Mattapoisett parent

MATTAPOISETT — While it appears that Mattapoisett’s kindergarten through second graders will return to full in-person school in January, parents are not through criticizing the district’s behavior leading up to the decision. Mattapoisett Concerned...

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