By Monica Pettengill Jerkins PARIS — Lacrosse may soon be coming to Oxford Hills Middle School thanks to an active group of parent volunteers who received consent to proceed with a lacrosse club from the SAD 17 Board of Directors at Monday night’s regularly scheduled board meeting. “The hockey club started very similar,” said Oxford Hills […]
Schools & Education
News and information about schools and education from the Sun Journal.
Oxford Hills freshmen get by with a little help from new friends
By Leslie H. Dixon PARIS — Anthony Russell, a junior, remembered his first day as a freshman at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School. He sat with other freshmen, listening to Principal Ted Moccia tell them how the next four years would “fly by.” That’s about all he remembers. In an effort to make the first day […]
Helping the world teaches Harrison resident Tucker Johnson about helping Mainers
HARRISON — It took Harrison resident Tucker Johnson at least three trips around the world to realize that he can effect change right here in Maine. Come September, he will embark on his fourth humanitarian trip — this time to India — before he eventually returns to and settles in his home state. Johnson was recently named a […]
Hartford, Sumner and Buckfield students enjoy a doggone good read
SUMNER — It’s hard to tell that 9-year-old Gabrielle —who’s reading “Pony Pals: Pony to the Rescue” out loud with ease —has selective mutism and sometimes can’t speak at school or in other social settings because of a childhood anxiety disorder. It’s late Friday morning and Gabrielle sits cross-legged on top of a blanket on the […]
Buckfield students get musical with ‘Beauty and the Beast’ this weekend
BUCKFIELD — Roughly 40 students crowd around elongated clothing racks, searching for their outfits, as one high schooler walks by, carrying his shirt and proclaiming in a British accent, “I need pantaloons.” It’s a normal Friday afternoon in the Buckfield High School cafeteria, where the cast ranging from first through 12th grade is gathered for a […]
Open house highlights higher education for everyone
By Ann Wood PARIS—Yellow buses carry kids to school, but a certain yellow building can carry teenagers and adults to college and beyond—right here in Western Maine. The Oxford Hills School District has moved its administrative offices into the building that the University of Maine System and the Central Maine Community College share, which has […]
Engineers OK use of Paris Elementary School oil tank
PARIS— Engineers told district officials Wednesday that a 10,000 gallon oil tank at the elementary school does not pose an immediate risk and can continue to be used. Following an interior and exterior inspection, Gary Perry of Hermon-based Sullivan & Merritt told officials that the tank has interior surface corrosion, but no deep scour […]
Superintendent presents $37.65 million budget
HARRISON — The SAD 17 Board of Directors got a first glimpse of Superintendent Rick Colpitt’s proposed $37.65 million budget for 2015, which includes measures to reduce class size at district elementary schools. The budget for fiscal years 2014-15 is 4.75 percent greater than 2013-14 and represents an overall 4.5 percent increase in what town’s […]
Students flock for funds
By Christopher Crosby OXFORD HILLS — It happens with disturbing ease. With just a phone call or an email, money exchanges hands and unexpectedly they appear. Their cold, blank eyes gaze remorselessly about, and the only explanation that something larger, and more devious is afoot is a brief note encouraging victims to help them […]
Report finds SAD 17 student scores need improvement
District elementary and middle schools have six years to reduce double digit gaps in math and reading scores, as the district considers changes which will guide future of classroom instruction. A recent presentation from Kathy Elkins, the SAD 17 curriculum director, show district-wide test scores from students grades 3-8 have not met school improvement provisions […]