A-B Principal Accepts Post at Seattle School

Alixe Callen selected as upper school director for Lakeside.

Alixe Callen, the Acton-Boxborough Regional High School principal, has been selected as the next Upper School director for Lakeside in Seattle, according to a press release on the school's website. According to the release, a search committee recognized Callen as being “outstandingly qualified.” “Alixe will bring to Lakeside exceptional leadership experience in both public and private education as well as a vision of schools as places where the intellectual and emotional growth of individual students is the foremost goal,” Head of School Bernie Noe wrote in the release. “From the moment I walked onto campus, I felt such a connection to the school," Callen said in the release. "Lakeside's deliberate attention to the changing nature of …

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School Administrators Present Plan to Curb Students' At-Risk Behavior

In response to this past summer’s fatal drug overdose of one local teenager and a serious accident involving two others, a good portion of last week’s school committee meeting was dedicated to understanding the resources available for stuggling students.

Anyone who pays attention to the news realizes that high school students are at an elevated risk of suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, and injuries due to car accidents. For four years, ABRHS Principal Dr. Alixe Callen’s fervent wish that her students would stay safe was, for the most part, granted. But Callen, who has worked in other school systems where tragedies have occurred and who witnessed former students act as pall bearers for a classmate, was saddened once again when Acton lost a member of the Class of 2011 and two local students were hospitalized after a serious car accident. Last week, Callen joined Superintendent of Schools Dr. Steve Mills, Director of Pupil Services Liza Huber, and local Youth Officer Keith Campbell as the …

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Your Schools

ABRHS Principal Alixe Callen Introduces New Initiatives

At the PTSO’s latest forum, “Things in the Works,” principal Alixe Callen outlined planned and proposed changes designed to improve Acton and Boxborough students’ experience of high school.

Like most principals, Dr. Alixe Callen keeps her finger on the pulse of just about everything that goes on inside the walls of her school. She strives to be aware of the staff’s concerns and students’ struggles. She’s the first to hear about accolades that are conferred upon both groups, be it with awards or high placement in rankings. In addition, Callen spends time learning about challenges facing the high schools in surrounding towns as well as those schools’ successes. Comparisons often influence her opinions about what actions she should take. A recent example: abolishing the publication of the honor roll. In a meeting held at the ABRHS library on January 11, 2012, Callen enthusiastically presented a long list of improvements she …

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Your Schools

Continuing Efforts to Reduce Teen Stress

Principal, ABRHS staff provide new committees, weekend activities at school; students' views mixed.

The subject of teen stress has been one of much discussion and debate in recent years, as the pressures and expectations on teenagers mount with no quick fix in sight. Last year’s controversial film Race to Nowhere, shown at Acton-Boxborough Regional High School and many other schools around the country, explored the effects of such stress: a culture where teen sleep deprivation is the norm, cheating is increasingly common, and stress has become a form of status. And while the root causes of such stress continue to plague many students, ABRHS Principal Alixe Callen said she intends to keep the issue at the forefront of her and other administrators’ agendas, with a number of new committees and initiatives under way to help teens cope with …

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