http://www.bostonmagazine.com/best-schools-boston-2016-chart-public-high-schools/

For a town with an increasingly wealthy and educated demographic, Melrose High School ranks beneath virtually all our neighboring high schools with similar a similar population. Below Wakefield, Stoneham, Lynnfield, Reading, North Reading, Wilmington, Andover, North Andover, Swampscott, Georgetown, Burlington, etc.

We are 67 out of 155, which includes all of the low income urban communities.

The reputation of Melrose High School in the community is as low as ever. What would it take to make Melrose High School the school we all know it should be? We have committed and involved parents, and a majority of students who come to school ready and willing to learn and succeed. So what's the problem?

Thoughts? Opinions? Solutions? I'm interested to hear.

Move to Wakefield

There are 407 public school districts in MA, and 396 secondary schools.
http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/profiles/general.aspx?topNavId=1&orgcode=00000000&orgtypecode=0&

"For a town with an increasingly wealthy and educated demographic, Melrose High School ranks beneath virtually all our neighboring high schools with similar populations."


Similar does not mean equal. While I agree we are on the up and up, we are not yet ready to be taxed like those other communities. There is still a heavy working class presence in Melrose that may not be able to keep up. I for one am not on board with chasing people out of the city they grew up in just because they don't make "east side" money.

If you think those other cities have better school systems then why not move to those cities? I'm not saying that with an attitude, I'm serious. I think Melrose is a great city because it has a mix of socioeconomic backgrounds. You have your "upper east side", you have the areas just outside of that, then you have your middle class, followed by basically everything along the Malden border. Things are good in our city right now, lets not mess with what isn't broken.

Also, I understand I swayed from the point, but MY point is nothing, including education, gets fixed overnight. Be patient.

Patience is a virtue not a requirement of life! If we all wait for something to change in our education system - you, me and every else will be dead by then! Wake up and realize that patience is NOT a virtue in the education of our children. Their primary and secondary school education is just to short a time to afford that virtue.

We will get what we demand from our school officials - and demanding very little - will get you very little - as we are experiencing.

I've seen what demanding has gotten you.....very little. Because you can't fix a problem with the wrong people at the helm. Until you have the correct pieces to the puzzle, nothing will fit.

"For a town with an increasingly wealthy and educated demographic, Melrose High School ranks beneath virtually all our neighboring high schools with similar a similar population."


Melrose is not a town, it is a city.

30 - 40 years ago Melrose High was average. Not terrible. Not great. This is true today. Same nepotism, same acceptance of mediocrity shielded behind double speak. Some kids do well. Some don't. Most do ok. Deviating from the norm will cause you problems. It's the same as it ever was.

The so-called new money here? Professionals moved here then too. Nothing has changed and unfortunately I don't it will.
Other communities have progressed but Melrose stays the same.

Fifteen years ago, when my kids were in preschool, I used to hear all the negative stories about MHS, and I used to think to myself, " These problems will all be fixed by the time MY kids get there." Boy, was I wrong.

Back then, I looked around and saw all of my new neighbors....affluent, college educated professionals. I met the parents at pre school and kindergarten; doctors, lawyers, business owners, college professors......and thought, no way will these people allow the high school to stay the way it is.

What happened? Some of those parents left for private school, once they saw the handwriting on the wall. A few moved to communities with better schools. Many consider the fact that their kids can get into Merrimack or Salem State with no trouble as proof that the high school is succeeding. A few pour a lot of money into private tutors, to mitigate the damage done to high school transcripts by lousy teachers. Some can leverage their ability to pay the full sticker price at a pricey, selective, private college to help their child gain admission through Early Decision.

But the reality is, MHS is as mediocre as it was 15, 20, 25 years ago, when the demographic was much less educated and much more blue collar. While other towns have moved past us in the quality of education their high schools provide, we stagnate. The parents of young children, like those involved in MEF, think they are going to change things, but they are already too late.

MHS maybe average or mediocre, but a large percentage of the students and their families definitely are. In any place other than this website the success of MHS graduates as they attend great colleges after graduation is undeniable. What's also undeniable is the large number of kids who show up at Melrose Public Schools unprepared, disrespectful, and don't put the effort in. Too many of you parents suck, and don't do your jobs, and then want to blame the school system for everything from drugs and alcohol, to racist issues and bullying. Those are homegrown problems. MHS produced a stellar crop of graduates the last three years and this years senior class may be the most academically accomplished in the past two decades.

PUT YOUR HOUSE UP FOR SALE MELROSE IS A JOKE. GOOGLE THE BEST SCHOOLS IN MASS. MELROSE IS NOT EVEN IN THE TOP FIFTY! SO YOU BETTER RUN AND DON'T LOOK BACK!

Dolan needs to go what is wrong with the melrose residents. And yes melrose is a city that needs to stop hiring just melrose residents. This is the year 2016 almost 2017 wake up!

And I know the parents of several of those stellar graduates, why don't you ask them their opinion of Melrose High School?

Funny, but almost all the parents I know whose kids are successful....got into selective schools or programs, got merit aid, did or are doing well in college, graduated, or will graduate on time....don't have a very high opinion of the high school. Not sure who you are spending time with, that you believe all these families are singing the praises of the high school.

And by the way, many of those unprepared, lazy students you are referring to are now being shoved into honors and AP classes essentially ruining the experience for the kids who work hard, are prepared, and deserve to be there. Ask some of those top students what their experience was like in those classes with peers who were a distraction, who didn't do the work, or couldn't do the work.

Which is it?

Unbelievably, they are still doing it.

The constant mistake the MPS critics on this site make is that they live in their little bubble with the whiners and complainers. I know dozens of Melrose High School graduates who went to great colleges and had great experiences at MHS and that's the way its been for 30 years right through last year. Kids, nieces, nephews, friends, neighbors. Right along side of them are underachievers, malcontents and discipline problems, and everything in between. That's what you get in Melrose. Its there if a kid wants it. Success starts and ends at home and when you folks get that you and your kids will be better off.

Reading has a BIG override on the table. Much bigger than Melrose (financial impact to residents). Let's see if it passes. When it does it will be because of two things: because Reading residents are a) confident in the leadership of the town B) confident in the leadership of the schools.

Seems to me in Melrose there are a lot of residents who believe the schools are just fine. Happy to be #67! Happy to have standardized test scores going up! This is what the administration and the leadership of Melrose want you to be happy about. Does this inspire confidence?

In a school system our size - there will always be exceptional students who get into Ivy league schools and other great schools. But that is is only one issue we are discussing on this board. The management of the schools is of concern as a result of all these OCR fillings and particularly the most recent OCR finding. It is clear you have not read this final report otherwise - you would be concerned about how our school system is being run. Also, our graduation rates have gone down along with stagnant SAT scores. In the past 4 years, we have an exodus of good teachers as well as musical chairs among our elementary school principals which lead to chaos and changing priorities.

The cohort adjusted graduation rates are the following so why would you say they are on the decline? (link here: http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/grad/grad_report.aspx?orgcode=01780505&orgtypecode=6&):
2015: 99.1%
2014: 98.1%
2013: 97.1%
2012: 97.8%
2011: 97.5%

Also, Melrose schools test scores are most improved over that past 5 years - did you see the article here?

https://bostonagentmagazine.com/2016/08/26/10-greater-boston-school-districts-rise-2016/

It says:

The Melrose district in is the most improved school district in Greater Boston, according to a new analysis from Trulia.

In a partnership with SchoolDigger.com, Trulia analyzed test scores from the past five years to find which local school districts vaulted the most in regional rankings (the study focused on districts with three or more schools and more than 1,000 students).

By those measurements, Melrose came out on top. From 2011 to 2015, the district rose 17 spots in Greater Boston district rankings, climbing from 34 to 17. Tewksbury came in at second, rising 12 spots all the way to No. 12.


Why don't you ask actual Elementary School parents if they believe their schools are in "chaos"? Most of the parent I know are really happy with their schools. As for SAT scores, nationwide they have been stagnant-see this article (http://dailycaller.com/2014/10/08/american-sat-scores-stagnant-for-6th-straight-year/). On the other hand, unmentioned is that AP scores for Melrose High are on the upswing. While there is always room for improvement, I don't think there is really any data that would suggest that Melrose is on the decline - especially the doom and gloom level from this board.

"musical chairs among our elementary school principals"

Our "flagship school," MHS, is the most chaotic of all.
Since 2007:

--Dr. Burke, restored accreditation and stability, vastly improved academics, brought in MHS finest teaching staff, including Dr. Groden, Dr. Peterson, Dr. Kepple, Ms. Hiti Stearns; forced retirement engineered by Dolan & Casatelli, Clark et al as quid pro quo for hiring of Casey

--Mr. Brow, 6 mos interim while also principal of MVMMS; popped up behind building posts to scare/remove hats

--Joe D, state ethics complaints and failed accreditation, promoted many poor quality staff to positions of authority, esp in Guidance

--Richards, less than 1 year, "cleaned house" as Dolan's puppet & left in disgust once he fully understood how he was being used

--M F, interim, hides in 2nd floor closet when there's a problem

--M F, "permanent," aka "Carmen San Diego," CT's puppet, now onto "greener pastures", placeholder Biz MisManager while Driscoll works a short stint at MASBO to earn a stripe or two before taking over; drove away Dr. P and many others; drove down SAT scores below state level and kept them there

--Merrill, interim, local gym teacher elevated to administrator... now what do you suppose?

Melrose School Committee wears the badge of dishonor for this long, obvious, predictable decline, along with the full complicity of the foolish, suck-up parent population and ludicrous community & political patronage system that's kept this dysfunction functioning at peak "performance" for many years now, and may continue in this vein. Sometimes being provincial works fairly well to keep a community isolated and protected from outside negatives while at least maintaining a somewhat positive status quo. Here the provincial, closed mindset of so many has kept the negatives protected and is increasingly driving away the positives.

Okay, lets look at that and see who really is living in a bubble and drinking way too much Koolaid. You know "dozens of kids" - how many? Ten dozen? Five dozen? Let's just say over ten years you've know 6 dozen - 72 kids. In ten years how many kids have gone thru MHS - 4000? So you've known 1.8% of the total number that have done well. That actually tracks with that idiot Clown Patrol's assertion that 4 kids going to Ivies out of this year's class is noteworthy and something to be proud of. It's not. It's pathetic.

Your assertion therefore means that those numbers would indicate on their face that 98.2% of Melrose kids are underachievers, malcontents, and discipline problems. I would concede that a certain percentage of each class fits that description, but 98.2%? That's pure bull$***. There is a principle called "the rule of nines", which asserts that in any organization, 9% of the people will be "problem" members. I have found that generally to be true, so what happened to the other 89.2%?

Let's summarize: 1.8% are self motivated self-starters, capable of excellence without any assistance, and who have a great support system at home. 9% are "problems". It follows then that the schools are doing a pi$$poor job with the other 89.2%, because otherwise at least some - say half - would do better if the schools were doing even a mediocre job.

College admissions is pretty straight forward. Success in high school is also a pretty clear path. A leading indicator used by all colleges is the education of the parents. The high performing students at MHS, and over the past 3 years there have been a landslide of them, all have a few things in common. They broke 600 on each part of their SAT's, the made the honor roll each quarter in honors classes or above. They took AP classes and scored 4 or better and they finished in the top 20% of their class. That's high achievement in high school. Melrose has as many high achievers as anywhere, and out performs Melrose kids going to parochial schools year in and year out. After that its a 2nd level of kid going to a second level of college. Nothing wrong with it and it exists at every high school. After that the parenting and individual responsibility are major factors. These are kids with no clear path or direction and they struggle in school. Plain and simple there are more families in Reading that make education a priority than there are in Melrose. That's not the schools fault. There is too large a percentage of families and kids in Melrose that don't care...and it brings the averages down and makes it tough to learn in standard classes at MHS. Look in the mirror and look at your own kid. Was education a priority for you in high school? Did you go to college and work hard? Is your kid scoring on standardized tests, are they on the honor roll each quarter, do they take AP classes? Too many parents in Melrose expect the schools to teach their kids manners, discipline and desire. Schools don't do that, parents do. The families that get it do well in Melrose.

If you are contending that the "problem" students diminish the ability of the rest who do not fit into the "high achiever" category to succeed, I probably wouldn't argue with that. So what to do? Remove them from the equation. Isolate them so they cannot contaminate the process as it applies to those who really do try but are held back. You seem to hold the schools blameless. That's completely crazy. The never-ending revolving door of new, inexperienced, and sub-standard hires, the obvious problems within the administration, i.e. OCR complaints, false police reports, etc etc ad infinitum - these affect that percentage of students that would do much better given the opportunity to attend a quality school, whatever that percentage may be. Those are the kids this system is failing, and there are an awful lot of them.

I get around a lot, and I know a lot of teachers and administrators. Any time the subject of Melrose schools comes up, all I see is a lot of eye rolling, and all I hear is a lot of comments like "No self-respecting qualified educator would even think of taking a job there.". We didn't get here in a vacuum. What we've had is ten to fifteen years of poor hiring, poor administration, and more effort being expended in CYA stuff than in education.

This is an informed and quite accurate summation. As for those apologists like "mirror" there simply is no whitewash that can effectively cover the grotesque state of education in Melrose today. It's comprehensive and it's dangerous. The implosions have been occurring for years now, and still the community yawns while the apologists get more frenetic and silly in their defensiveness over the indefensible. At some point there will be no way to continue because there is only so long that families will pay bloated mortgages, taxes, and fees (many of them blatantly illegal) while their childrens' education system is in the shambles that define Melrose Public Schools. With a volatile economy many of these families will not be able to move. But they will not be able to turn a blind eye to the many unfolding disasters oozing out of the hidden veils that the administration and school committee keep over the true state of affairs. There is a new demographic that rightfully expects things to be done in a competent manner, and at some point there will be consequences for those who are causing the harm, one way or another.

Trulia - really? A San Francisco based real estate listing service? You're kidding, right?

Not a bad idea, actually.

That site is just doing the math on the standardized test scores - MCAS and PARCC. You can do the math yourself and see how improved the scores have been over the past few years. But if you want to mock the website, because it goes against your failing schools philosophy, feel free. It doesn't change the facts.

Winthrop was ranked 6th in the state (out of 875 elementary schools) on the PARCC test last year. Melrose as a district ranked 42 out of 311 districts - right behind Newton).

http://www.schooldigger.com/go/MA/schools/0762001198/school.aspx

http://www.schooldigger.com/go/MA/districtrank.aspx?finddistrict=07620

And that's exactly what people do. Move. Or send to Private or Parochial.

It seems quite odd that people would express dissatisfaction with the schools if there wasn't some merit to it.

Maybe most of the people who say the schools are fabulous on some level just need to feel better about their decision to send (or have sent) send their kids there.

Most of the people who express dissatisfaction with the schools on this website do not have kids in the system - and have not had school aged children for many, many years.

So, if my kids are exactly in the high achieving category you describe, don't they deserve a minimum of support and respect? If they are working hard, doing their best, focusing on school work, getting good grades and taking challenging courses, all AP and honors, why are they shoved into " honors" classes where half their classmates won't do the required reading? Why does it take two months to get a math quiz back? Why are they told they have to proofread their work and use correct spelling and grammar , when half the staff, including administrators, send out syllabuses and notices riddled with grammar mistakes?

Are those your standards? Really? Is t unreasonable to expect that teachers do the minimum? Do you think it's ok that teachers are constantly complaining about their jobs to the kids? Don't you think that is unprofessional and demoralizing for students? One of my kids used to want to become a teacher. After a few years at MHS, he's not interested. The number of great teachers is dwindling , the kids are still talking about the loss of Dr. P.

The biggest shock about MHS is the fact that so many parents have such low standards, that they defend it as a great school. Like another poster mentioned, maybe it's the false pride of wanting to justify your decision to send your kids there. My kids go there, for a variety of reasons, but I would never make an ass of myself by claiming it's a great environment for serious students. My kids have had a few outstanding teachers up there, but most were average to horrible. The administration has been a train wreck. Go right ahead and tell everyone who will listen how great the high school is, you are free to make a fool of yourself. The high school could be fantastic, we have great kids, support from the community, SOME excellent teachers, the only thing standing in the way are the apologists like you, who want to keep it stagnant.

How would you possibly know that?

Agree with the prior poster. There is no possible way you could know that. But just for the sake of discussion, perhaps you could tell me why you think that's a bad thing. Seems to me those people would be in the best position to compare the end product (student outcomes in the SC's jargon) of today with that from years ago.

Everyone is going to Wakefield. They need principals that know what they are doing. They should of taught for ten years and not art, gym, health, or a vice principal that's Melrose fault.

Wakefield pays more for subs. like all other cities do. CT went up 5 dollars so Melrose gets 60 dollars a day!

This site is full of whining parents of kids that aren’t nearly as smart or high achieving as they think they are. There are some places you can go if your kid is really gifted. Take a look at The Commonwealth School or The Winsor school for girls. Both give tremendous financial aid. If your kid is a smart as you think they are they will virtually go there for free and will be a lock for an ivy acceptance.
Short of that, if your kid is a top-level student and public schools are the right fit; Melrose is a great place. The MHS grads presently in the Ivy League schools have been discussed at length already. However, beyond that we have a recent MHS grad serve as valedictorian at Holy Cross; a freshman heading to Temple on a full academic scholarship, multiple graduates in honors programs at Umass and other Universities and also there are also are multiple MHS grads presently enrolled in Medical Schools as well as pursuing other advanced degrees. If your kid is not on board with what is happening at MHS; I think that says more about your kid’s academic potential or ambition.
If you or your spouse went to a great school and your kid has not been accepted to a great school you should speak up. You may have an argument. However, if neither parent went to college or, like most of us, went to one of the great local public colleges or a second-tier private school; what makes you think your kid is on track to an ivy league school? Get a grip, your kid isn’t that special.
(Oh, and it you are one of those turd-ball private school parents that come on here just to throw stones…get a life, nobody cares that your kid left).

Why does no one look into how well MHS grads actually perform in college? I know about the Holy Cross valedictorian, the kids who graduate at the top of their MHS class, get accepted to the ivies and other elite institutions, and perform well there.

But I also hear quite a bit of anecdotal evidence of kids who graduate in the middle of their MHS class, get accepted to a state university, and perform quite poorly in college. Has anyone ever investigated how many MHS grads flunk out of college, or drop out of college? How many actually achieve a degree within five or six years of high school graduation? I do not know the answer, but I have been hearing many stories of recent grads who are unable to perform at the college level. If this is a systemic problem, it is a serious indictment of the quality of education at MHS, and much more probative of the quality of an MHS education than SAT scores or matriculation rates.

Excellent question. The state dept of ed appears to be looking at this somewhat, at least for few communities. I would be interested in this data for all school systems.

There have been so many changes to education in the name of reform, I wonder if colleges and high schools are now out of sync.

All the emphasis on the MCAS and PARCC, the ever changing math programs, the teaching method du jour, etc. may be having negative effects on the average student's preparation for college. The strong student will figure it out, the poor student will always have trouble but the average student may be suffering.

a lot of smart students came from Melrose. it's everywhere in all schools.

So Boston Magazine ranks Melrose 67, close to last in the Middlesex League with only Watertown (76) slightly below and Woburn (100) more significantly below. In addition, virtually all other nearby communities with similar demographics are ranked significantly higher than Melrose: Arlington 28, Lynnfield 27, N. Reading 55, Wilmington 56, Andover 43, North Andover 59, Swampscott 39.

Within days, Rob Dolan and Superintendent CT used your tax dollars deploying their personal $10,000 per year Spin Master, John Guilfoil PR Agency, with great news about how some rinky-dink trade magazine has dubiously rated Melrose as one of the most improved of the greater Boston schools. Granted, Melrose had fallen so far in the last several years that making a so called "improvement" was easier to obtain. What exactly are Dolan and CT celebrating here? That CT's is making some headway cleaning up the mess she has created here? I liken this to a roofing contractor who completely goofed up my roof job, causing water damage to my home. One, I would make the contractor correct his mistakes. Two, I would go after his insurance company for the residual damage to my home and contents. Three, I would never use this contractor again. Why is the school committee not employing the same common sense in dealing with CT?

The administration has been a train wreck. The same go for Public Relations.

It's now all about saving face for Dolan and the school committee - they made a mistake in hiring this incompetent superintendent - who has erred in so many ways - even a professional, high-priced PR consulting firm won't eventually save her! Switching Farrell from HS principal to business manager was the last straw for me! I just hope we can change the make-up of the school committee before the dreaded and angel hearing Driscoll applies for the business manager's position - if that occurs - all accountability will be doomed.She is corrupt as you can get - she works much better in a totalitarian regime - like the one we have!

This is spot on. CT and the SC in fact are absolutely responsible for the current mess, and it is outrageous that they are being allowed to publicize (for a $9,000 fee, of course) any "improvement" wrought by the same geniuses who continue to create more mess in the same breath they brag about how greatly improved it all is. The SC and CT need to be forced out of their positions. There is plentiful evidence of "cause," regardless of how the legal and PR teams have tried to hide and white-wash it. They have failed in epic ways, and every day they are allowed to continue their dangerous charade, they cause more damage. Just ask around to see how many veteran quality teachers are left, and with those few, just try to find out even an inkling of how bad it is. If you have half a brain and aren't one of the suck-ups, you won't have to look or listen far to observe the rank incompetence and tyrannical awfulness of those in charge (unless of course you are impressed by the expensive manicures and taxpayer-bought window treatments). Look at who has been promoted and try to find a single paragraph written by any of these Peter-Principle pinheads that is in 5th-grade reasonably constructed English. What you will find is a lot of DESE reconstructed (kind of like re-chewed) jargon, and very little (if any) worthy content justifying the six-figure salaries and lofty positions of these power-mongering airheads who would have been rejected at any initial interview in even a mediocre system, and certainly in any professional setting.

These administrative puppets strut around showing us all how well-dressed and manicured they are, meanwhile they can't put together a simple sentence, let alone address the myriad of complex issues worsening by the day for the students, teachers, and families. Rest assured, though, Patti Cyndy, Margaret, Jenny, Brent, John, MaryBeth and gang have all been to the salon and tailor, part of their "professional development," doncha know.

The administrative "retreats" have taken place, and soon the School Committee Pretenders will play-act through their officious exercise since this is an activity of which Driscoll is immensely fond. The last one a few years ago cost the taxpayers lots o' $$$$$$ to pay a couple of geezer consultants (aka retired hack cronies of CT who understood nothing about the Melrose problems) to "lead" their Parks & Rec silliness. This time they are bringing back the MASC genius gal Dorothy (very well manicured) who helped them craft their "Big Bones/Little Bones" Strategic Silliness. Dot also postured a year ago during the SC McCarthy tribunal with the 3 hack attorneys (who crafted the OCR mess) to tell the public how great and justified the new School Committee "Norms" are (engineered solely and unsuccessfully to intimidate CKK).

What exactly will it take for the Melrose public to demand appropriate action? How many more epic harms and scandals will it take? Does their need to be a body count? Does it need to descend into the evil experienced here during 14 years of raped children at the YMCA and circles of denial hell by officials that forever marks the soul of Melrose? (FYI Many of those same guilty officials and community "leaders" who worked vigorously to protect and defend the administration that allowed this monster free reign for 14 years of savaging children, including in MPS facilities under JC, here are still in power.) For anyone who cares enough to look closely there is already a huge human cost with all that has been damaged, some of it irreparably, to say nothing of the taxpayer expense of holding up this corrupt house of cards.

CT made a big mistake in hiring the four principals. The staff are not happy and it show's in the schools. Or look how many are leaving.

Why is anyone surprised about this - Taymore has demonstrated over the past 4 years that she is incompetent, arrogant, and demeaning to staff and this is very acceptable to our school committee and chair.

What CT has done isn't in a mere mistake category. It's rank incompetence across the board that has led to the highest ranks of federal investigators condemning administrative practices here. No matter how many spurious awards these hacks engineer or are given by equally questionable hacks at the state level, the most important areas of management have been trampled egregiously and illegally, as the OCR cases have proven unequivocally. Not only has CT demonstrated appalling hiring practices, she has promoted those who should have been summarily fired, starting with BC and MF. She has zero skill or concern in retaining qualified staff, with the driving away of Dr. Peterson and so many others as prime examples. CT actually prefers to bring in the bottom-rung minimally qualified candidates who wouldn't get a position elsewhere because they are then indebted to her and bolster her cadre of "yes-men/women" and keep dissension in the ranks to a minimum. Poorly qualified (but well-coiffed) administrators like JC have been advanced into exalted status because not only do they suck up continuously, they dress the part (meaning not that they are class acts, since they have no notion of what class means, but they devote significant time and money to everything external, starting with themselves). Only those more qualified to recognize the troubles who are also willing to stick their necks out are likely to squawk about the issues. The rest just stay mum, do their time here and get a master's degree on Melrose's nickel, get some glowing recommendations (that would never be issued elsewhere from competent supervisors), and then move on to higher-paying jobs in another district, particularly one that isn't terribly discriminating (as is the case with Melrose now).

No, mistake is too kind a term for what these ugly, self-serving charlatans, starting with the SC, have done.

Melrose high school does not have any system in place to make sure students who enroll in higher level courses have completed the pre requisite courses. It is true that students who do not belong in higher level courses are crammed into them. It means that students who do the work are stuck in class where the teacher caters to the lower level student.

Melrose is ranked where it should be. They pass out diplomas and awards to students who technically did not complete high school. How this effects where Melrose "ranks" is that students also take the MCAST without having completed the grade level proficiently.

If an outside agency monitored MHS to make sure students were taking pre requisite courses, a lot of parents will complain the schools are bad because their kid will be held back, but our district rank will improve, our test scores will improve.



They also need to bring back class rank and recognize the Valedictorian.

Staff not happy at the Roosevelt. MM is not nice to the secretary and she has not been back. We can't work without BC she did a great job. Hope she is not sick over how bad MM treated her. Parents you can get her back I know you can do it. PTO you can get her back I know you can do it. CT I know you can get her back I know you can do it. Mayor I know you can get her back I know you can do it. SC I know you can get her back I know you can do it. Melrose residents you can get her back I know you can do it. This is the worst day of our life. Not happy at the Roosevelt its a sad day without BC!

That last post is just pathetic. "STAFF" needs to get a life, stop drinking, or whatever the hell is wrong. Roos principal was bound to be terrible, having been hired by the worst superintendent this community has ever experienced, after all. The rest of them are awful, also. Flighty Lincoln one can barely figure out what's happening. Hoover is CT's darling and a total fashion-plate douche, just like her boss (they bank on their wardrobe getting them through). This is not some star-studded team. This is a trainwreck of an administration, top to bottom.

This is absolutely true. Basically, there is no recognition that students may be missing critical parts of the curriculum, and may be hopelessly behind, if there are no prerequisite requirements before taking upper level courses. Then, when kids start failing, the lucky ones transfer out, if they can; but some are told by guidance they cannot transfer out, and end up ruining their transcript. This was something started by MF.

Also, there are no longer actual Honors courses anymore, since everyone is shoved into Honors courses, whether they belong in them or not. If everyone is an honors student, regardless of their ability, then NO ONE is an honors student. The Honors courses are now a dumping ground for any student the staff can convince to "challenge themselves" , regardless of ability, work ethic, or motivation.

Again, another principal, MF, was allowed to come in and turn the school upside down, then leave. Every new principal seems to do a little more damage for a few years, then they take off before the repercussions hit.

And the article cited by CT and RD was in the Boston Agent Magazine (Not Boston Magazine) based in Chicago. They have a circulation of like 19,000 nationwide. In metro Boston, much much less. Even RE industry people don't know much about this "magazine". One thing I can tell you: Their own info indicates they rely primarily on industry people to submit their own stories pumping up their own agency and market area. This article has all the makings of a collaboration between Remax and CT's PR firm, Guilfoil. Why else would they carve out/ gerrymander such a strange comparables (Cambridge, Framingham Boston submarket ?? What's that??) in order to get some statistics showing Melrose as most improved of 56 local town and cities. First, the localities were not identified, nor does this market area reflect comparable communities to Melrose. Why not compare us with comparable north shore and Middlesex county districts? Another thing. the top third of performers in this 56 random districts won't show up as "most improved" because they are already on top compared to Melrose year in and year out.

Thanks to "C'Mon" for some grounding truth to counter the BS, outright lies, and even criminality from the SC and CT via our taxpayer-paid PR whitewash agency, Guiltyfools.

These con artists will sink to anything in order to hide the truth.