A LOOK BACK: Revisiting A-B Science and Academic Teams' Success

Acknowledging past accomplishments from Acton students.

For both the Science and Academic Decathlon teams at Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, success in competition isn’t anything new—but that doesn’t make it any less sweet. Both teams (will soon travel) to national competitions, having bested all other competing Massachusetts high school teams in recent statewide contests. The 20-member Science Team, coached by ABRHS biology teacher Brian Dempsey, will travel to Orlando at the end of May while the Academic Decathlon Team, coached by English teacher Andrew Crick, prepares for its big trip to Albuquerque, N.M., at the end of the month. Dempsey said the 70-plus members of the Science Team, which he’s coached since 1998, prepare for competition through weekly team meetings and monthly …

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When is the Last Day of School in Acton?

Because of all of the snow days used, Acton Public Schools and Acton-Boxborough are ending later than originally planned.

Acton residents won't forget this winter season anytime soon. Between the Blizzard of 2013 in February, a stretch of three consecutive weekends with plowable snow, and a surprise snowstorm on March, this winter has taken its toll on the town. And that includes Acton Public Schools and Acton-Boxborough, both of which have had to use multiple snow days. Parents recently reached out and asked, because of all the snow days used (five), when will Acton students be let out for summer break? As of Tuesday, March 12, both Acton Public Schools and Acton-Boxborough are scheduled to end the school year on Friday, June 21.

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UPDATED: Spring-Like Temperatures to Follow Late-Season Snowstorm

Acton residents can expect ip to a foot of snow before the latest snowstorm moves out.

UPDATED: 12:05 P.M. The stormy pattern that has pummeled Acton and neighboring towns continues today as residents have woken to enough snow to cancel school. Acton Public Schools and Acton-Boxborough Regional High School both gave students a long weekend by cancelling school earlier today. The Acton Police Department Police Department reported no accidents as of 8 a.m. National Grid reported less than five power outages in North Acton as of 8 a.m. According to WHDH meteorologist Jeremy Reiner, travel will be treacherous throughout the morning. "It's not a good morning for travel across New England with bands of moderate to heavy snow marching inland (much like ocean swells approaching a beach)," he said on his blog. "The last of these snow…

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All Acton Schools Closed Today

Acton Public Schools and Acton-Boxborough Regional High School are closed Tuesday for storm clean-up.

There will be no classes held today in Acton schools.  "Acton Public & AB Regional Schools are Closed on Tuesday, October 30 because of poor travel conditions - storm clean-up" is the short statement on the Acton Pubic Schools and Acton-Boxborough Regional High School website. Acton Patch will keep you updated on storm cleanup day today.  

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Abby Jordan

8:32 am on Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Hi Debra, as you can imagine, yesterday was a hectic day for us at Patch. We had many editors without power and Internet and we were all working hard to get the news out to our readers. We looked into the school closing last night, and as early as possible this morning. Glad you got the alert from the district.   more ›

How Big Of A Problem Are Drugs/Alcohol At Acton-Boxborough Regional High School?

New national study indicates that drug and alcohol use during the school day is a bigger problem than previously thought.

According to a new study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, roughly 17 percent of American high school students engage in smoking, drinking or doing drugs during the school day. The study also indicated that approximately 86 percent of students indicated that they knew of classmates who abused drugs or alcohol during the school day. This was the 17th such study conducted by the NCASA. The group interviewed more than 1,000 studentsm ages 12-17, according to an article appearing on Huffington Post. Perhaps more disturbing aspects to the survey included roughly 50 percent of the students indicating there was a place on there campus where students reguarly went to do drugs or drink alcohol. And about 44 percent said they …

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VIDEO: Turf Lower Fields Project Well Underway

Two new turf fields and one grass field at the Acton-Boxborough campus should be completed by the end of August.

After passing the Acton and the Boxborough Town Meeting in spring, the Lower Fields Project has started it's first phase of construction. The project is due to be completed by the end of August, 2012.  Note: The T.J. O’Grady Skate Park is currently closed during the construction process.

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VIDEO: A Crash Course in Distracted Teen Driving

Acton-Boxborough Regional High School has partnered with the UMass Memorial Medical Center Teen D.R.I.V.E. program and is offering students a 'distracted driving' simulation in an effort to make teens aware of the consequences of driving distracted.

Acton-Boxborough's physical Education teacher Tony Ammendolia wants his students and the greater teen population to fully understand the dangers of being distracted behind the wheel. Driving under the influence, texting and even hanging out with your friends in the car have caused many severe car accidents. Ammendolia teamed up with the UMass Memorial Medical Center, designers of the Teen D.R.I.V.E. program and brought the simulation to the high school. For the next week, students will have the opportunity to experience the consequences of driving while texting and driving under the influence. The program is designed to make teens aware of their responsibility behind the wheel and to educate them on the criminal, legal and medical …

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Satisfied with #15?

U.S. News & World Report has released a new list of high school rankings.

Acton-Boxborough Regional High School was recently ranked 15 out of 62 on the U.S. News & World Report's Best High School rankings for Massachusetts. The schools that slipped in front of ABRHS in order from 14 to 1: According to the magazine, ABRHS ranked 'above average' for all four categories: 1). Student/Teacher Ratio 2). College Readiness 3). Math 4). English Overall, a specific methodology was used to formulate the list, which often generates controversy. The magazine partnered with the American Institutes for Research, a Washington D.C.–based social science research group to rank 22,000 public high schools. Specifically, the state rankings are based on their nationwide rankings. Schools that received a gold or silver medal for the …

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Charlie Kadlec

9:29 pm on Thursday, May 10, 2012

Charlie Kadlec 10 minutes ago These rankings are published to sell the magazine. They rely on simplistic, easy to obtain information such as student-teacher ratios, although I wonder what "college readiness" means. However, if people feel that AB is really "slipping" in the rankings, we'll have to take a look at what has changed from previous years. One obvious difference is that the per-pupil …   more ›

What's Happening

Five Things You Need to Know Today: March 29

Meetings, jazz, swing and karaoke.

Meetings: 1). The Acton Housing Authority will meet from 4 to 7 p.m. at 50 Audubon Drive. 2). The Acton-Boxborough Regional School Committee's Regional School District Study Committee (RSDSC) Subcommittee will meet at 7 p.m. at the Boxborough Town Hall. Jazz: 3). The Gwenn Vivian Predicament will perform at the Acton Jazz Cafe at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $5.00. Free Swing Lessons: 4). Free swing lessons are being offered from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Acton-Boxborough Regional High School. Karaoke: 5). Tailgaters Grille is hosting Karaoke Night starting at 9 p.m.

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VIDEO: Acton-Boxborough Students Green their Cafe

The student organization, Green Council put ABRHS's green foot forward by changing the cafeteria waste system (dubbed, the Cafe Project).

Back in November of 2011, the Acton-Boxborough student organization, Green Council dumpster dived into their cafeteria waste to audit the school's consumption of waste. That day, students, school staff and local volunteers found that ABRHS was wastefully throwing away their cafe trash. Green Council set out to completely revamp the ABRHS cafeteria trash system by setting up individual bins for trash, compost and recyclables - which is as new as last week.

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