Letter to the Editor

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: McCarthy Parent Says Thanks for Making Right Choice

Parent thanks Dr. Herb Levine for listening to McCarthy community on its disappointment with decision to switch principals and allowing parents and students to have a voice in that process.

[The following was submitted to Peabody Patch.] Dr. Levine, As one of the parents who sent you a note last week expressing my disappointment with your original decision to move Mr. Smoyer, I felt compelled to do the same to express how elated and excited we are with your decision to keep him. I believe that this decision, while obviously a very tough one, was the right choice for the kids of our school. From the very beginning, the McCarthy parents were not trying to disgrace Mrs. McNiff, however, we were merely trying to showcase how our kids have benefited from the leadership of Mr. Smoyer. I would like to also take this opportunity to personally thank you for teaching our kids a life lesson on Monday night. Your comments to them …

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Levine: Final Decision Today Whether to Swap Principals

School Superintendent Herb Levine told parents, teachers and students Monday night he would make his final decision Tuesday on whether to go through with the plan to swap principals at the McCarthy and Burke schools.

Interim Superintendent Herb Levine got right to the point Monday night. He told the crowd of parents, children and teachers at the McCarthy School he was there to hear their last pleas on his plan to swap Ray Smoyer with Burke School Principal Judy McNiff, not to repeat themselves in their arguments, he would not go into specific detail on his thinking behind the plan and that he would just leave if they started talking about McNiff. "I've been impressed with your arguments on how effective [Smoyer] has been with this demographic and population...it's still all about the kids," he said, assuring them he has listened very carefully over the past couple weeks. Levine added that his "ears perk up" when parents focus on children. "What's going…

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Letter to the Editor

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Parent Revisits School History From Kiley to McCarthy

McCarthy parent says school community has finally gelled and making great progress since Kiley School was closed eight years ago and students and staff dispersed.

[The following letter was submitted to Peabody Patch.] Dear Mayor Bettencourt, Interim Superintendent Dr. Levine and School Committee Members, I am a parent of three children; two presently attending the McCarthy School. I am writing to express my sadness and my concerns regarding the recent news that Ray Smoyer, the Principal of the McCarthy School, is to be transferred to the Burke School and the Burke School Principal, Judith McNiff, is to become the Principal of the McCarthy. In the midst of the last several years of uncertainty regarding the McCarthy’s future; I’m asking myself how this could be possible! We, the McCarthy families, wrote letters, made phone calls, and attending meetings with the children holding signs to keep the …

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Letter to the Editor

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Burke Staff Decries 'Character Assassination' of McNiff

Faculty and staff at the Burke School rally behind their principal, saying she is being unfairly and inaccurately criticized as parents fight proposed swap of principals.

[The following was submitted to Peabody Patch.] To the Editor: We are writing in response to what can only be described as the character assassination of our principal, Judy McNiff. The comments made publicly about her at a recent School Committee meeting were unfair, inaccurate and damaging to her reputation. We have remained quiet in an attempt to respect the process, but this process has become a public circus that has resulted in attacks on a wonderful person who has given much to this city. Is this how we show gratitude to our leaders? Is this the message we want to send to our children? Mrs. McNiff has been our principal for the past four years. She is a tireless worker who consistently does what she perceives to be the best for the …

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Officials Break Ground on $133.7M Regional Vocational School

The groundbreaking ceremony was held Wednesday at the Essex Aggie campus in Danvers where the new school is being built.

State and town officials, school administrators, trustees and stakeholders joined together to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new $133.7 million Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical High School on the campus of Essex Aggie Wednesday afternoon.  Called a "powerful champion" for the project since its inception, which dates back to the mid-1990s, Senate Majority Leader Fred Berry (D-Peabody) said waking up this morning he was "very, very happy." Berry was specially recognized for his contributions with a plaque presented by freshmen at North Shore Tech and Essex Aggie. "I am tremendously grateful that with the guidance of the Mass. School Building Authority, the Patrick-Murray Administration saw a way to a better future for …

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