Superintendent Update 12-7-15
EHS Musical “Grease”
The Easthampton High School Parents Council will again sponsor the high school musical this year. This
is the 18th annual production. The show dates and times for the musical “Grease”, performed in the EHS
auditorium, are:
Thursday, January 28 at 6:30 p.m.
Friday, January 29, at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, January 30 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, January 31 at 2:00 p.m.
This year to promote this popular musical, the EHS Parent Council and EHS Drama Club will be hosting
several events including a Sock Hop on January 8.
Did you know?
The EHS Parent Council offers two scholarships to graduating seniors each year.
The EHS Parent Council hosts Graduation Night, an alternative, safe, all night graduation party for
seniors the night of graduation.
If you would like more information about the high school play or any of the other EHS Parents Council
events, or would like to join the Council or volunteer for an event, contact Bonnie Katusich at
[email protected] or (413) 563-5099.
Enrichment
Easthampton’s students are offered a number of enrichment activities throughout the year. Here are a
few and others will be added in future updates.
 Several classes of students at Center and Pepin will be attending the Nutcracker in Northampton
on Friday, December 11.
 On Tuesday, December 15, Professor Siman Wong from UMass will give a talk on Number
Theory, Cryptography and his work as a consultant in the security field. The target audience for
his talk will be math and science students at EHS.
 8th grade students will be taking a trip to Washington D.C. in May. This trip has been a tradition
at White Brook Middle School for many years.
The Easthampton Early Learning Foundation (ELF)
Chuck McCullough and Tom Brown, board members of the Easthampton Learning Foundation,
presented an update on ELF and its contributions to the Easthampton schools. This year the foundation
gave out grants totaling $23,811. Enrichment projects funded by ELF include:
 Center, Pepin, Maple, and White Brook school gardens and garden projects.
 Center/Pepin Student Leadership Club to promote positive action that will better the school,
city, and world.
 We the People: Becoming Informed Citizens (EHS) to enable students to participate in a senate
immersion model at the Edward Kennedy Institute in Boston.

Easthampton French Exchange Hosting of French students, including visits to local sites of
interest (EHS).
 The History Exchange to increase history knowledge of teachers at EHS, allowing for students to
be engaged in college level historical inquiry.
 3rd and 4th grade chorus productions at Center/Pepin.
 Model United Nations (EHS)
 Read 10 Project (WBMS) to fund a classroom library students will use for independent reading;
publish work on the Read 10 website; and learn how to interact with peers online.
 ELF Band (WBMS) to fund the band and a trip to Berklee College of Music.
For more information on the Easthampton Learning Foundation visit www.elfhelps.org.
PARCC
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has asked each district in
Massachusetts to register by December 18 for the PARC or MCAS assessment. Schools who took PARCC
in 2015, are required to take PARCC in the spring of 2016. Center, Pepin, Maple, and White Brook
schools will take PARCC again this spring. Schools who are taking PARCC have been asked to register by
December 18 to take either the paper-based or computer-based test. We are considering having one of
our elementary schools take the computer-based test. This will give us an opportunity, while our
schools are “held harmless” for our accountability levels, to see how well our technology works and
what, if any, are the technology challenges we may have. Please see the Superintendent Update for 1123-15 for more information on accountability levels.
2015 accountability levels for schools and districts will be released to the public on Wednesday,
December 9.
Warmest regards,
Nancy Follansbee
If you have questions, comments, or concerns, please email me at [email protected].
Superintendent Updates are also available on the Easthampton Public Schools Facebook page and at
www.epsd.us.
Upcoming Events
 December 9 – Navigating Preschool for Parents of children with Special Needs 6:30 at EHS
 December 9 – Gingerbread House Party for elementary at Pepin 6:30-7:30
 December 10 – Winter Music Concert at EHS 7:00
 December 10 – Grandparents luncheon at White Brook Middle School
 January 28, 29, 30, 31 – Easthampton High School musical “Grease”
 December 17 – Band Concert at White Brook Middle School: 5th grade band at 5:30 and 6th - 8th
grade band at 7:15