Since it separated from Haverhill High School in 2022, the alternative school Gateway Academy has moved to the former St. James School and instructs around 130 students, though Principal Brian Edmunds said he expects the number to continue growing. The School Committee moved the Haverhill Alternative School and Therapeutic Education Assessment Center out of the building in 2019. With the district overcrowded, Superintendent Margaret Marotta called the school underused, serving 80 students in two special education programs when it could house up to 350 mostly middle-school age children.
The state House and Senate last week advanced two Haverhill home rule petitions which will allow two residents to take civil service examinations for Haverhill police and fire respectively. Each branch of the legislature enacted petitions to enable Brian Dacey to take the civil service examination for police officer and Derek Clark to take the civil service examination for the firefighter regardless of the usual maximum age requirements.
Immigrant advocates, including Haverhill Rep. Andy X. Vargas, last Thursday lobbied for expanded eligibility of a tax credit that’s seen as a key tool to prevent poverty and improve education outcomes among low-income households. About 21,000 to 26,000 households that are not currently eligible for the state Earned Income Tax Credit due to their immigration status stand to benefit from the expansion, according to the Healthy Families Tax Credits Coalition. At a briefing co-hosted by the legislative Black and Latino Caucus, supporters said the provision should be incorporated into the fiscal 2025 budget.
Rock band practice, video game development and strength and agility training are among the summer program classes available to students both living in and outside of the Pentucket Regional School District. Pentucket schools have opened registration for “High Performance Training,” focusing on both traditional sports and athletics, as well as digital technologies such as video production and computer programming. Classes start as early as June 11.