Wicked Local
Only in her mid-20s, Billerica native and Billerica Memorial High School class of 2014 alumni Amy Comeau has become a local space expert. An engineer and member of the Satellite Systems Rotation Program, Comeau recently reflected on what the Mars 2020 Perseverence Rover means for the world at this moment in time, and for the future of humanity.
As the Rover moves across the surface of the red planet with the guidance of Comeau s colleagues, she said she was absolutely elated, to see the craft land and the success the crew had at all stages of the project.
Comeau said she was lucky enough to be at Cape Canaveral to watch the launch of the Mars 2020 Perserverance last summer.
An 8-3 vote by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on Friday afternoon cleared the way for the stateâs education commissioner to eventually take remote and hybrid learning models off the table for local school districts.
The board approved emergency regulations giving Commissioner Jeff Riley the authority to decide when full and partial remote schooling will no longer count toward student learning time requirements, taking a step towards the next phase of pandemic-era schooling in Massachusetts.
âWe are at an interesting time. We have seen our numbers go way down,â Riley said. âWeâve seen the vaccines and the promise of the vaccines go way up, and we think now is the time to begin to move our children back to school more robustly. The medical community believes that, and I think now is the time to make that call.â
Wicked Local
Now missing for the last 24 days, Billerica police have released a call out via social media to help bring 17-year old resident Jordyn DaRosa home.
According to Deputy Police Chief Roy Frost, police have been working with DaRosa s family for the last four weeks on locating the teen who has been in contact with relatives on and off. We have been working closely with the family, and we have been in contact with her, said Frost on Wednesday, Feb. 24, the day the department in conjunction with the Center for Missing and Exploited Children released DaRosa s information to the public via Twitter.
Data points to a second year of college enrollment decline
Katie Lannan
BOSTON Concerned about the potential for another year of declines in college enrollment, especially among groups including students of color and those from low-income families, officials at state schools are exploring ways to encourage high school seniors to complete financial aid applications.
Discussion at a Board of Elementary and Secondary Education meeting on Tuesday keyed in on completion rates for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, a key indicator of interest in attending college.
Matt Deninger, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education s acting chief strategy and research officer, said that 90 percent of students who fill out the FAFSA by March 15 end up enrolling in college, compared to 70 percent for those who wait until after March 15 and 30 percent for those who do not complete it.
Concerned about the potential for another year of declines in college enrollment, especially among groups including students of color and those from low-income families, officials at state schools are exploring ways to encourage high school seniors to complete financial aid applications.
Discussion at a Board of Elementary and Secondary Education meeting on Tuesday keyed in on completion rates for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, a key indicator of interest in attending college.
Matt Deninger, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education s acting chief strategy and research officer, said that 90 percent of students who fill out the FAFSA by March 15 end up enrolling in college, compared to 70 percent for those who wait until after March 15 and 30 percent for those who do not complete it.