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Southbridge reports stronger summer hiring, lays out 21st Century summer programs and supports
Summary
At its June 17 meeting, the Southbridge School Committee heard that summer hiring is ahead of last year and reviewed 2025 summer programs funded largely through the DESE 21st Century grant, including thematic elementary activities, a middle-school book-club model, internships and federally funded summer meals.
Superintendent Bill Metzger and Human Resources head Joe LaBarbera told the Southbridge School Committee on June 17 that the district is in a stronger staffing position heading into summer and outlined a slate of summer learning programs funded mainly by a Department of Elementary and Secondary Education grant.
"We have fewer openings at this time of the year than we did last year," Human Resources head Joe LaBarbera said, adding that the district has been more aggressive on recruitment this spring and has scheduled final interviews for several certified positions. He said the district still has "probably 3 to 5 current special education openings," and that when necessary the district will partner with outside agencies to provide coverage.
Why it matters: stronger retention and targeted summer programming are the district's principal strategies to limit learning loss and keep students on track for graduation, officials said.
LaBarbera described several recruitment tactics: attending career fairs (he said the district collected about 40 resumes at a recent Merck recruitment fair), posting on multiple platforms, cold outreach to prospective candidates and strengthening relationships with local universities. He said UMass Dartmouth has offered to host an in-district master's cohort and that mentoring and a new teacher institute scheduled for August are parts of the district's strategy to retain new hires.
Superintendent Bill Metzger called the district's 21st Century program "the crown jewel of our summer programming" and described a program built around weekly themes and project-based literacy work. Elementary activities will include hands-on science and engineering projects, book talks, original writing (poems and comics/graphic novels) and vendor-provided events by Mobile Ed Productions and Simon Says Productions.
Program specifics announced by district staff: - Elementary sites (Eastford Road, Charlton Street, West Street) will run five-week thematic cycles (examples given: plants; dinosaurs/paleontology; ocean habitat; animal adaptations; integration of science, technology, arts and math.) - Middle school programming will use a book-club model focused on literacy and student-created projects (original fiction, poetry, games tied to texts) - High school students can participate as paid interns in the summer program to learn mentoring and education pathways - Extended School Year (ESY) services will remain a specialized, closed program available only to students with ESY written in their Individualized Education Program (IEP) - Summer credit-recovery will run at the middle and high school to help students keep pace with graduation cohorts - Early College Explorer (June 23–27) will offer two pathways: health sciences (including CPR certification in partnership with the Southbridge Fire Department) and information technology (coding/robotics and a visit with the police department drone officer)
Food service and enrollment: Ellen Finelli, director of food services, coordinates the federal summer meals program; the district will offer meals at sites including the public library, Cops and Kids, town recreation programs and Messiah Church summer camp. The district confirmed the program is funded through federal grants.
Seats, selection and funding limits: 21st Century site coordinator Donna Zanelli (introduced by the superintendent) explained the program limits enrollment to about 40 students per elementary site to maintain approximately a 1:10 adult-to-student ratio and to match available bus capacity. "We limit it at 40," she said, describing an electronic registration window followed by a school-run lottery to fill seats. The middle-school program can serve many more students; district staff said the middle-school site registered about 120 students this year. District staff said they applied for an expansion grant to add 10 more seats at the Eastford Road site.
On funding stability, a district presenter said the DESE representative told the district funding for the 21st Century program is secure through the end of next school year, noting continued federal and state discussions but no immediate change for summer 2025.
Reading materials: the district said 21st Century funding purchased books distributed to students; staff later named two titles for the middle-school book-club: For Lam by Lisa Klein Ransom and Promise Boys by Nick Brooks.
How students are identified for credit recovery and ESY: staff said school-based teams (administrators, counselors) notify families in the fourth quarter when students are at risk of losing credit because of grades or attendance, and counselors follow up individually with families about summer credit-recovery opportunities.
Ending: District leaders asked families and community partners to watch the schools' registration portals for program sign-ups and said further details and schedules will be posted before program start dates.
