Lexington Public Schools (Massachusetts)

Lexington Public Schools is a public school district in Lexington, Massachusetts, U.S.A. The district consists of six elementary schools, two middle schools, and a high school. Each of the elementary and middle schools are named after important figures in Lexington's history.

Elementary schools

The six elementary schools in Lexington serve students in Kindergarten through 5th grade.

Joseph Estabrook Elementary School

The school garnered nationwide attention from the David Parker controversy, when parents sued the Lexington school system, arguing that their children were being coerced by public school teachers "to affirm the correctness and the normalcy of homosexuality" and same-sex marriage. The bulk of the legality of the controversy revolved around whether parents have a right to receive parental notification and opt their elementary school children out of such content. Federal courts ruled against the Parkers.^[1]

The school is named after Joseph Estabrook (1669–1733), the first schoolteacher in Lexington. The current principal at Estabrook is Sandy Trach.

Fiske Elementary School

This school is named for the Fiske family, which was the first family to settle on East Street, circa 1678. The current principal at Fiske is Tom Martellone. The current facility was constructed between 2005-2007. Fiske students go to Diamond Middle School after elementary school.

Maria Hastings Elementary School

The school is named after Maria Hastings Cary, a local philanthropist and the founder of the town's main public library, Cary Library. The current principal at Hastings is Louise Lipsitz.

Bridge Elementary School

There is a mural on the front side of the school building, which represents working together.

This school is named for the descendants of Matthew Bridge, as the farmland which once surrounded the school site was primarily Bridge land. The current principal at Bridge is Ms. Colella. The school goes from kindergarten to 5th grade, and students from Bridge Elementary proceed to Jonas Clarke Middle School for 6th grade.

Bowman Elementary School

This school is named for the descendants of Nathaniel Bowman, the progenitor of an important family in Lexington's history.^[2] The current principal at Bowman is Mary Anton-Oldenburg.

Harrington Elementary School

This school is named for the Harrington family, which produced many notable town citizens, such as Jonathan Harrington who was killed in the Battle of Lexington, and another of the same name who was the battle's last survivor. The current principal at Harrington is Elaine Mead.

Middle schools

The two middle schools in Lexington serve students between 6th and 8th grade.

Lexington has two public middle schools, William Diamond MS and Jonas Clarke MS, commonly referred to as "Diamond" and "Clarke," respectively. Students at Diamond are generally fed in through Fiske, Estabrook, and Hastings, and students at Clarke are generally fed in through Harrington, Bowman, and Bridge.

Both Diamond and Clarke have been among the top schools in MCAS testing.^[3]

William Diamond Middle School

The school is named after William Diamond, the 16-year-old drummer for the Lexington Minutemen during the Battle of Lexington and Concord. The current principal at Diamond is Anne Carothers, and the assistant principals are Bayard Klimasmith and Jonathan Wettstone.

Like most middle schools, each grade at Diamond is divided into three "teams," and in each grade the teams are named Omega, Delta, and Sigma (To differentiate between grades, one might denote the teams as Ω6 or Δ8 and Σ7.) Starting in the 2010-2011 school year, the team names will be changed to Athena, Apollo, and Pegasus for the sixth graders, Denali, Everest, and K2 for the seventh graders, and Liberty, Freedom, and Independence for 8th graders.

In addition to team-specific courses, Diamond Middle School has a foreign language program in French, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. Many of the Advanced French and Spanish classes compete in the National French Exam and National Spanish Exam, respectively.^{[citation needed]}

Jonas Clarke Middle School

The school is named after Jonas Clarke, a local pastor who was present at the standoff at Lexington Green shortly before the shots that started the Revolutionary War. The current principal at Clarke is Dr. Steven Flynn, and the assistant principals are Anna Monaco and Jennifer Turner. Each grade at Clarke is divided into three "teams". The teams are named with the theme of exploration. The 6th grade teams are named Voyager, Atlantis, Quest, and "Columbia". The 7th grade teams are named Adventurer, Endeavor, and Explorer. The 8th grade teams are named Apollo, Challenge, and Discovery.

Along with many other extra-curricular activities, Clarke has a student-run newspaper, "Clarkies Newspaper", which is run by the students and a 6th grade teacher. Clarke's extra-curricular activities range from academic to artistic to athletic and beyond. New activities are created each year by the request of the students, if there is a faculty or parent coordinator.

Diamond-Clarke Rivalry

Over the years, Diamond and Clarke have shared a cross-town rivalry in many subjects and sports.

Lexington's middle school math teams are renowned for their successes and mutual rivalry in competitions such as Mathcounts and the NEML, and in the Intermediate Math League of Eastern Massachusetts. For more on these math teams, see Math Teams in Lexington Public Schools (Massachusetts).

High school

Main articles: Lexington High School (Massachusetts) and Minuteman Regional High School

Most students that go through the Lexington Public Schools system end up at Lexington High School. Alternatively, students are given the opportunity to attend the regional vocational school, Minuteman Regional High School, and a few each year decide to take the opportunity.

The current principal at Lexington High School is Ms. Natalie K. Cohen, and the assistant principal is Ms. Laura Lasa. There are four deans: Mr. Charles Caliri, Ms. Joanna Kilpatrick, Ms. Nancy DeFeudis and Mr. David Lautman.

Notes and references

1. ^ Ian B. Murphy (2008-10-07). "Public school lawsuit runs out of federal appeals". The MetroWest Daily News (MetroWest Daily News). http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/archive/x282364097/Public-school-lawsuit-runs-out-of-federal-appeals. Retrieved 2009-04-18 
2. ^ "Bowman School Handbook". http://bowman.lexingtonma.org/handbook.htm#Anchor-HISTORY-3800. 
3. ^ "MCAS Scores". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/special/education/mcas/scores07/results/lexington.htm. 

External links

• Lexington Public Schools
• Diamond Math Team website (outdated)
• LPS redistricting proposal
• Redistricting map