Making Higher Education More Affordable

Yesterday, President Obama signed a historic piece of legislation aimed at reforming higher education and the student loan system. According to President Obama, these reforms will make college more affordable and enable more Americans to earn a college degree.

The White House Blog has posted a great video featuring Dr. Jill Biden, a life-long educator, that answers many questions families may have on this legislation.

To read more, and view the video, click here.

Superintendent's Corner: Professional Learning Communities in the Lowell Public Schools

The following is an excerpt from Dr. Chris Scott's Superintendent's Corner:



The work that we have done in the district to establish professional learning communities which focuses on collaboration at every grade level in order to improve student achievement is the key to our school reform efforts. Educators are given the opportunity to collectively pool their professional skills in order to analyze the data and determine the most appropriate instructional strategies for their students.


We are establishing the “cycle of inquiry” at every grade level so that educators have the opportunity to have professional conversations about teaching and learning. We believe that we will be able to continue to move our district forward because our focus has been and will continue to be on building internal capacity through the on-going promotion of healthy professional learning communities.

This work has received both national and state recognition by the American Federation of Teachers [AFT]. Please refer to our district’s blog: lowellpublic.blogspot.com where this story is posted, as it appears on the front page of the AFT Massachusetts journal The Advocate March 2010.

As many have heard me say “Lowell Public Schools is the coolest Urban School District” and we have many reasons to be proud – this successful initiative is just another example.

To see the full issue of the Superintendent's Corner as well as previous copies, please visit our website at www.lowell.k12.ma.us

If you are linking to this blog through our website, the actual address is:
lowellpublic.blogspot.com

Informing and Engaging Our Parents and Families

Today's eSchool News features an article about the new ways schools are using technology and social media sites to reach out to and inform parents.

According to the study from the Pew Internet and American Life project, while 99 percent of American adults access news daily, only 7 percent use just one media platform to do so. The majority—six in ten Americans—use a combination of online and offline sources.

How can we capture parents attention to inform them about important school news?

The gist of the article is that schools should use a variety of platforms to meet and engage today's stakeholders.


Read the article here.

Open Lowell Pools This Summer

Would you like to see the city's pools open again this summer for Lowell's children?


Eastern Bank and the City of Lowell are teaming up to raise $50,000 to open the swimming pools in Lowell for the summer. For every dollar you donate, the Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation will match it, until the goal of $50,000 is met. Your donation will give families and children a safe place to go during the hot days of summer, and help create jobs for local lifeguards.

Head to the Eastern Bank website for more information or to make a donation.

The Great Debate

The Lowell Public Schools was again mentioned in a major publication last week when Newsweek published an article about the "Great Debate," entitled, Are Teacher's Unions the Problem or the Solution? The debate featured Kate McLaughlin, Bailey School Teacher and Executive Vice President of the United Teachers of Lowell.

Check out the article.

A Reading Streak

Everyone knows about the importance of reading to and with your children. But how committed are we to reading each and every night? One father and his daughter had a long streak of reading together. Read the incredible story in today's New York Times by clicking here.

Our Literacy and Instructional Specialists continuously review and revise summer reading programs when necessary. How much will your child read this summer? Have you made it a family goal to read together?