Finalist Candidates - Assistant Director of Special Education

We are pleased to announce that we have two finalist candidates for the position of Assistant Director of Special Education. Public interviews of each finalist will be conducted this coming Wednesday, July 26, in Room 210 at Billerica Town Hall. 

The two finalists are:

4:30 pm: Jeffrey Lappin

Mr. Lappin is the former Supervisor of Therapeutic and Clinical Services for the Medford Public Schools.

5:30pm: Philippa Young

Ms. Young is the Director of Student Services for the Hull Public Schools.

Members of the public are invited to attend and provide feedback upon the conclusion of the interviews.

Director of Athletics Screening Committee

The Billerica Public Schools is currently seeking highly qualified candidates to apply for the position of Director of Athletics, which has become available for the 2017-18 school year. We are assembling a Screening Committee to assist in the search process. The Screening Committee will be led by Tom Murphy, Principal of BMHS, and will review applications, interview candidates, and recommend several candidates to the Superintendent as finalists for the position.

The Billerica Public Schools invites one (1) assistant principal, four (4) coaches, (3) parents/community members, and one (1) student to join Mr. Murphy on the Director of Athletics Screening Committee. People who serve on the Screening Committee should be able to attend several meetings including the candidate interview sessions. The first meeting of the Screening Committee will be held on Monday, July 17, 2017 at 1:00 in the Collins Room, located in the Billerica Town Hall. During this meeting, the screening committee will discuss the interview process, begin to review applications, and develop potential interview questions. Many tasks must be accomplished during this meeting so members should plan to be available for approximately two hours. A subsequent meeting will be held on Thursday, July 20 at 1:00 P.M., with screening committee interviews scheduled on July 25 and July 26.

Selecting a new Director of Athletics is an important activity for the community, and it requires a commitment of time and energy. If you are interested in serving on the Director of Athletics Screening Committee, please forward a letter of interest to Tom Murphy, BMHS Principal, at tmurphy@billericak12.com, no later than Thursday, July 13, 2017.

Weekly Construction Update - June 27, 2017

Yesterday marked another big milestone in the BMHS project as the first steel was erected on site!  It was amazing to see how much work was done in just one day - and it will be even more amazing for students and teachers to see what will be done when they come back from summer vacation!

The first beam being lowered into place at 9:00am

A view of the site at 2:45pm the same day

Here is this week's update on site activity:

• New gas and electrical service coordination is ongoing with National Grid and is nearing completion.
• Alumni Field's water service has been restored and the field is accessible.
• All temporary stormwater facilities are in place and functioning and have performed as expected through recent rainfall.
• Waterproofing and insulation of the foundation, then backfilling, compacting, and grading is underway in the academic wing of the building (sectors C, D, and E).
• Foundation in sectors A and B are ongoing and are nearing completion.  Similar to the Academic wing, as these areas become complete, waterproofing, insulation, and backfilling will be underway.
• Setting in structural steel base and leveling plates is underway throughout the Academic wing.
• Setting of steel columns and structure began on June 26 and will continue through winter.  Approximately six truck deliveries per day will feed onsite steel progress 5-6 days per week through summer.
• Completion of foundations in July will turn attention to pouring of the first concrete slabs both on grade and on completed elevated decks, starting in area A.

Hajjar Assistant Principal Finalists/Interviews

I am pleased to announce that there are two finalist candidates to be the next Assistant Principal at the Hajjar School, and that I will be conducting their public interviews on this coming Monday evening, June 26, in the Town Hall auditorium.  The finalists, with their times of their interviews are:

6:00  Ms. Kristen Pratt

Ms. Pratt is currently the Assistant Principal at the Center Woods Elementary School in Weare, NH.

7:15  Ms. Brittney Taylor

Ms. Taylor is currently the Principal of the K-8 Essex Academy at CREST Collaborative.

For those that would like to come to the public interviews, I encourage you to do so and would welcome your feedback afterwards.

Yesterday marked the end of the 2016-17 school year, and I want to thank everyone involved in making it another great year for the Billerica Public Schools!  Thank you to our parents, to our staff, and particularly to our students - you make Billerica a great place to learn!

Yesterday also marked the final school day for eighteen of our friends and colleagues who have given 373 collective years to the Billerica Schools.  Our school system is better for all of them having been here, and we wish them all a long, happy, and healthy retirement:

Lisa Bejian, Grade 3 Teacher, Ditson
Denise Blanchet, Exec. Administrative Assistant, Central Services
Diane Cappella, House Secretary, BMHS
Debra Dagle, Reading Teacher, Ditson
Mary Durante, Paraprofessional, Parker
Karen Falzone, Paraprofessional, Parker
Christine Fanning, Special Education Teacher, Ditson
Cynthia Gladd-Walsh, Occupational Therapist, District
Rebecca Graham, Social Studies Teacher, Marshall
Ghalia Khelfaoui, Speech/Language Pathologist, Ditson
Judith Mason, Art Teacher, Ditson
Joan Mitza, Library/Athletics Secretary, BMHS
Linda Moody, Paraprofessional, Hajjar
Charlene Mullen, Grade 1 Teacher, Ditson
Donna O'Neil, Paraprofessional, Marshall
Annette Pelligrini, Special Education Secretary, Special Education
Deborah Robbins, Cafeteria Worker, Kennedy
Patricia Schneider, Paraprofessional, Parker

Thank you again to everyone for a great school year, and I hope that everyone has a restful and relaxing summer!

Weekly Construction Update - June 20, 2017

As we reach the end of the 2016-17 school year, it's amazing to see how much work has happened at the high school site over the past few months.  Check out below to see our most recent time lapse video, and subscribe to the New BMHS channel on YouTube to see all of our latest videos!




Here's this week's update:

• A new water service main is installed off of River Street, and new gas and electrical services are nearing completion.
• Access to Alumni Field has been limited since June 6 for completion of water service tie-in and temporary stormwater system.  Access will be restored on approximately June 21.
• All temporary stormwater facilities are in place and functioning.
• Concrete foundations are complete in the academic wing of the building (sectors C, D, and E).  Waterproofing, insulation, and backfilling is underway throughout this area.
• The high foundation wall along the south facade of the Civic wing (sectors A and B) is complete, and foundations along the remainder of this area are nearing completion.  Similar to the Academic wing, as these areas become complete, waterproofing, insulation, and backfilling will be underway.
• Setting in structural steel base plates is underway throughout areas with complete foundations and footings.
• Earthwork remains underway to support foundation and first floor slab on grade installations and to process excess topsoil and rock for export and re-use on site.  Exporting of all soils not able to be re-used is underway and the stockpile is expected to be completely removed by the end of June.
• Both structural steel and laminated wood structures are in the fabrication process in Canada.  The first steel deliveries are on trucks and on route to the site.
• Structural steel erection will begin on June 26, and continue with multiple steel deliveries six days per week through summer.

New YouTube Video: BMHS Site Spring 2017