North Reading Elementary School Students Named Winner of National Science Award

Four third-grade students from the Batchelder School won a national science award in a Toshiba contest.

Four third-graders from the Batchelder School in North Reading have been selected as a national winner for the 2012 Toshiba/National Science Teachers Association ExploraVision program, according to the Boston Globe. Megan Carey, Sarah Hatton, Brian Heffernan and Blake Miller make up the The SMARTdesk team and their entry in the contest was chosen from 4,807. The students stay after school at least once per week to work on their project, and have been since October. They are trying to build the desk of the future. For several months, they have been working on every detail. They have built a prototype, a web site and a rap song that describes their project. According to the Globe, their SMARTdesk will help teachers with attendance, …

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POLL: Which School Causes the Worst Traffic?

Which school in North Reading has the worst traffic situation? Let us know what you think.

Traffic can be a nightmare when students are going to school, or being released. School traffic can cause a headache whether you are a parent trying to pick up or drop your kid off, or just trying to get through town. Today, we are asking Patch readers to let us know which school creates the most traffic. Is it the high school, middle school, Batchelder School, Hood School or Little School? Take our poll and let us know what you think. Have something else to say about traffic? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Photo of the Day: September 2

Little School teachers enjoy the Town Common.

Little School teachers ate lunch on the Town Common after taking a class at the Batchelder School.

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Then and Now

And the Answer to This Week's Then and Now is...

Did you guess that it was the Batchelder School?

Did you guess that the building in Wednesday's photo was the L.D. Batchelder School? The Batchelder Elementary School was originally built in 1917.   In 2003, a restoration plan was approved. The school was enlarged and renovated. The interior and exterior were restored and a new slate roof was installed.  The school reopened in 2006, and won the Massachusetts Historical Commission Preservation Award in 2007 for the renovation.

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Children With Allergies on the Rise

A growing number of students are affected by allergies and schools are doing their part to help.

Parents with children who have life threatening allergies are always on the alert. Communication between schools and parents as to the types of allergies their child has can help to save a life.  Allergies are on the rise according to a recent study in the Journal Pediatrics. It found that 8 percent of children under the age of 18 or six million in total suffer from food allergies. Theories abound on why this increase in allergy sufferers is taking place. David Pritchard, an immunologist, developed The Hygiene Hypothesis which points to our cleaner and higher standard of living styles as being the possible culprit. Our bodies haven’t adapted to the change of living conditions so different from what primitive man experienced and are still …

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IMAGE GALLERY: School's Out!

North Reading students are ready for a great summer break.

Yesterday was the last day of school for students at the Batchelder and Little Schools. Students were excited to begin their summer break.

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