LYNN — The school bell rings in a new academic year Wednesday with improvements and innovations on hand to greet returning students and staff.
More than 6,000 students will have new backpacks waiting for them thanks to the Ready for School initiative sponsored by Cradles to Crayons. The organization provided 6,250 new backpacks, filled with school supplies, to 14 Lynn elementary schools as well as the Early Childhood Center.
Schools received anywhere from 60 to 650 backpacks, depending on the number of students, and administrators are grateful for the donation.
“This makes a big impact at our school,” said Ford Principal Joanne Larivee, whose school received 550 backpacks. “It adds to the excitement of the beginning of the school year and helps students get in the routine of taking their work home and back to school. It really gives a boost to what we do. I know the parents appreciate it as well.”
Founded in Boston in 2002, Cradles to Crayons provides children ages 12 and under with the essential items they need to thrive — at home, at school and at play. The organization will distribute more than 40,000 backpacks in the Boston area this year, the 11th year of the program, to students living in low-income households.
A new start
New faces and new programs will greet students as they head for the classrooms and break out the books.
Anthony Frye has moved from acting principal at Ingalls Elementary to permanent principal at Washington STEM Elementary. Irene Cowdell, who had filled in as acting principal at Washington, is back at Ingalls.
At Aborn and Callahan elementary schools, there will be a pilot program introducing school uniforms. Every student at those schools will be given, free of charge, a long-sleeve polo shirt with the school logo. Those are being provided through a $15,000 grant from the Gerondelis Foundation, according to Thomas Iarrobino, secretary to the school committee.
Parents have the option of purchasing short-sleeve polos for approximately $13 through Champions Choice, a Wilmington-based company that got the contract through a competitive bidding process. Students will be encouraged to wear Khaki pants.
The one-year program is optional. Iarrobino said the district is hoping for high participation levels at both schools.
Lynn Tech, which received a $333,293 Workforce Skills Capital Grant from the state last spring, will use part of that funding for a new Information Technology program that will include a new technology center and an additional teacher. Courses taught as part of the CISCO curriculum, which was introduced at Tech last year, are now available at all three high schools.
The state grant will also allow Tech to modernize its Advanced Manufacturing-Machine Technology program.
Other back-to-school developments
*Wednesday will be the first day of school for all students in grades 1-5, 6 and 9. Lynn English Life Skills students also report Wednesday, as do Fecteau-Leary students in grades 7-9.
*Thursday is the first day for students in grades 7-8 and 10-12, except for Lynn Tech, where 10th-graders report Thursday and juniors and seniors on Friday.
*Fresh Start, COACH and Life Skills students start on Monday, Sept. 11.
*Dr. Sabrina Quintana is the new assistant director of curriculum and music instruction. She brings an extensive background in music education, having worked as director of music in Winchester Public Schools, and director of performing arts in Wellesley Public Schools.
Quintana, who earned her doctorate in musical arts from Boston University, also spent five years in Texas as director of music education and director of the performing arts center in the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District.
In that role, she oversaw more than 65 music teachers at 25 different campuses serving more than 20,000 students.
