News and Events

Spring Sports Meeting

All students who are interested in playing spring sports and their parents should attend an informational meeting on Tuesday, March 23rd at 6:30 at the high school. This spring Mystic Valley teams will play baseball (boys), crew (boys & girls), lacrosse (boys), softball (girls) and track & field (boys & girls).  The meeting will be conducted by Athletic Director, Peter Connolly, who will discuss the coming season as well as payment of fees and the need for up to date physicals.

PTO Meeting 

On Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 7:00 in the MPR in the Annex Building there will be a general meeting of the Mystic Valley PTO. All Mystic Valley parents are invited and encouraged to attend and participate.

Mystic Valley’s Win Streak Snapped

Andover defeated the Mystic Valley 5th & 6th Grade Girls Basketball team by the score of 20-17 in a tremendous defensive struggle, The score went back and forth the whole game with neither team ever leading by more than four points. Meaghan Foley led Mystic Valley with fourteen points, Eliana Destin had two points and Sarina Charles had a free throw.
Coach Owen Hartnett was extremely proud of how the girls played and the progress they made throughout the year. He said that “the team played well and we tried out best but Andover is a talented team that plays year round and is hard to beat.” Mystic Valley had won eight games in a row and made much progress throughout the year.

Mystic Valley Student Wins Globe Art Award

Ryan Oppedisano, a senior at the Mystic Valley Regional Charter School, won an honorable mention in the Boston Globe Scholastics Art Awards this year.  The Globe Art Awards is a highly competitive art competition that looks at the artwork of thousands of art students from across Massachusetts.
 Ryan is a second year art student in Mystic Valley’s highly acclaimed International Baccalaureate Programme who intends on studying film at Emerson College. 
His winning piece is a traditional and digital black and white original photograph printed on watercolor paper with mixed media.   Mystic Valley Art teacher Courtney Sturgeon commented that she was very happy for Ryan and how good it is to see him earn recognition for his hard work.

Bingo Night

On Friday, March 5, 2010 from 6:30 to 8:30 the PTO will be sponsoring a K-3 Bingo night in the multi-purpose room in the Annex Building. Bring a canned goods or non-perishable item in exchange for a bingo card and get ready to play!

5th & 6th Grade Girls Basketball Team in Tourney

The Mystic Valley Girls 5th & 6th Grade Basketball team will play in a post season tournament on Saturday, March 6th. The first game will be played at 11:00 at the Tyngsboro Elementary School, 205 Westford Road, Tyngsboro against Andover.  If the girls win they will play a second game at 2:45. Should they continue to win they will play at 9:00 Sunday morning at Tewksbury High School, 320 Pleasant Street, Tewksbury. Playing in the tournament is a major step forward for the team that started out 0-6 but was able to turn the season around with an eight game win streak to close out the season. 

High School MCAS Dates Set

The ELA MCAS exam will be administered to all Mystic Valley tenth grade students on March 23rd, 24th and 25th.

Mystic Valley Student in National Judo Competition

Haley Meara, an 8th grade student at Mystic Valley Regional Charter School will be traveling to Spokane, Washington to represent Mystic Valley in the 2010 National Youth and Scholastic
Judo Championships on March 13 & 14. Haley, a Malden resident, will proudly be representing Mystic Valley as well as the MMA Judo Center in Burlington, Ma.

Mystic Valley Girls Fall in OT

Down by three with time rapidly running out on the Mystic Valley Eagles, guard Gina Pedro stepped up and nailed a clutch three pointer tying up the first round MIAA Tournament game against Mount St. Josephs with just 6 seconds left to play.  Mount St. Joseph’s had time to respond but Pedro and freshman guard Jordan Sullivan teamed up to force a Mount St. Joseph turnover at half court. As Pedro  raced down court to the hoop she spotted LJ Jackson underneath the basket and fed her  a pass that LJ immediately caught and shot into the hoop for the winning basket as the crowd and the Mystic Valley players screamed in delight. Unfortunately for Mystic Valley, time ran out just before Jackson could get the shot off and the referee, correctly, ruled that the basket didn’t count sending the battle between the Eagles of Mount St. Joseph and the Eagles of Mystic Valley into overtime.
The game was a tight defensive battle right from the outset.  Both teams played a very strong and aggressive defense that made every trip down court difficult for the offenses.  Mt. St. Joseph’s jumped out to an early 7-1 lead as Mystic Valley didn’t score a field goal until the 3:11 mark of the first quarter. Mystic Valley got right back into the game and was able to cut the lead to 11-9 at the end of the first quarter.
Mystic Valley took the lead in the second quarter thanks to scrappy defense led by Carolyn Bissex who grabbed several rebounds and loose balls and inside scoring from LJ Jackson.
Gina Bernadeau stepped up in a big way for Mystic Valley in the third quarter scoring half of the team’s ten points as well as being a powerful force on the boards. Mystic Valley led 32 -29 after three quarters.  In what would become a recurring theme for the night, the only thing keeping Mount St. Joseph’s in the game was incredible three point shooting.  It seemed like they couldn’t score layups due to Mystic Valley’s tight defense but every three pointer they shot seemed to go in.
The game stayed as tight as a drum throughout the fourth quarter.  Mount St. Joseph continued to hit threes when they were needed most and Gina Pedro had a huge fourth quarter scoring 12 of her game high 23 points including the three pointer that pushed the game into overtime. 
Defensive intensity ruled the overtime period. Only two field goals were made in the entire overtime period, a two pointer by Gina Pedro and yet another three pointer by Mount St. Josephs.  Neither team would allow the other to get any good shots off.  In the end Mount St. Joseph’s was able to hit several late free throws and escape with a 59 – 54 win.
Mystic Valley played a very tough game on defense.  Cailyn Chiccuarelli, Carolyn Bissex, LJ Jackson, Gina Bernadeau and Meghan Holden effectively pushed Mount St. Josephs’ offense away from the basket all night.  Gina Pedro was a force on both sides of the ball particularly on offense as she led all scorers with 23 points and ran the Eagles’ offense. She was followed on offense by LJ Jackson who had eleven points, Meghan Holden and Gina Bernadeau who each had seven, Jordan Sullivan who came off the bench to score four and Carolyn Bissex who had two.  
Although disappointed in the result, Coach Katelyn Leonard was very proud of her team’s effort. "Mt. St. Joseph's two scorers combining for 9 three-pointers was just a dagger for us...if two or three of those are two-pointers or stops, it's most likely a different ending. But our girls played their hearts out and left everything on the court and I'm so proud of that. For us to force  overtime after being down 5 points with less than a minute seemed impossible, but this team never gives up and always believes they can win and that's really all you can ask for as a coach."

The Living Abe Lincoln

Students from the fifth and second grades and the kindergarten classes were treated to a presentation by "The Living Abe Lincoln" on February 10th.  The 16th President recounted stories from his life for the students.  He told the students how he was born in a log cabin in the woods of Kentucky and how through hard work he rose to become President of the United States. "President Lincoln" told of his experiences as President during the deadliest war in the history of the United Sates and his decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.  

ThreePeat! Mystic Valley Swim Team Wins Third Straight CAC Title

Dynasty was the word of the day in 2004 when the New England Patriots won their third Super Bowl in four years. The 2010 Mystic Valley Regional Charter School swim team did the Patriots one better by following up their undefeated season with a resounding win in the Commonwealth Athletic Conference Championship Meet. The Eagles gained the “threepeat” winning the meet by more than three hundred points!
The team dominated the meet from day one and never looked back.  The meet opened on Wednesday with Robby DeSantis winning the boys 500 yard freestyle.  Mystic Valley’s swimmers finished first (Alyssa Savarino), second (Fallon Bushee), third (Allie Krasco) and fifth (Emily Williams) in the girls 500 yard freestyle.  Savarino’s time qualified her for the post season tournament. 
The second day of competition started right where the first left off. The boys’ 200 yard medley relay was the first race of the meet.  Shane Kinnon got off to a great start getting a lead that the team would not let go. As they switched swimmers from Shane to his brother Colin to their cousin Patrick Kinnon the lead got wider and wider until Zach Kelso finished the race. By then the only question was whether he would lap one of the other swimmers. The boys were done with the race for nearly 20 seconds before the next swimmer touched the edge.
The girls’ medley was next and led to the same result. Allie Krasco started off with a strong backstroke followed by Marissa Cagno who edged Mystic Valley into a two swimmer length lead. Sophia Elmoussaoui maintained the lead for Kelly Finn who swam a powerful anchor lap holding off a charge from Shawsheen’s swimmer.
The boys’ 200 yard freestyle was dominated by Zach Kelso and Robby DeSantis of Mystic Valley who were in a race of their own significantly ahead of the rest of the pack. Kelso finished three seconds ahead of DeSantis and 17 seconds before anyone else.
The girls 200 yard freestyle was another Mystic Valley dominated event. Alyssa Savarino and Fallon Bushee were well ahead of all other swimmers for the entire race. Savarino appeared to glide across the water with an apparently effortless stroke that led her to an easy first place finish which qualified her for the post season individual tournaments.
The closest race of the day was in the boys’ individual 200 yard medley. Brothers Shane and Colin Kinnon swam neck and neck throughout the race until Shane eventually won by a fingertip holding off a ferocious charge from his brother.
Later in the day, Patrick Kinnon set a team record with a 1:02 time in the 100 yard breaststroke.  Looking at the time, one observer commented that he may be able to break the elusive 1:00 barrier next season.
Speaking of next season and dynasties … the team is only losing two seniors to graduation.  

 2010 Commonwealth Athletic Conference Championship Meet Statistics and First Place Finishes

* Denotes Sectional/State qualifying time.

B 200 Medley Relay 1:48.00* Shane Kinnon, Colin Kinnon, Patrick Kinnon, Zack Kelso
G 200 Medley Relay 2:10.77* Allie Krasco, Marisa Cagno, Sophia Elmoussaoui, Kelly Finn

B 200 Freestyle  1:58.58  Kelso
G 200 Freestyle  2:02.39* Alyssa Savarino

B 200 Ind. Medley 2:11.70* S.  Kinnon
G 200 Ind. Medley 2:47.23  Molly Fitzpatrick, Shawsheen Tech

B 50 Freestyle  24.82  P.  Kinnon
G 50 Freestyle  26.49*  Joan Kinnon

B 100 Butterfly  1:04.67  Mike Breen, Minuteman
G 100 Butterfly  1:12.21  Fitzpatrick, Shawsheen Tech

B 100 Freestyle  58.63  Taylor Cossette
G 100 Freestyle  1:02.62  Jenn Cawley, Shawsheen Tech

B 500 Freestyle  5:35.77  Robby DeSantis
G 500 Freestyle  5:28.08* Savarino

B 200 Free Relay 1:39.24* Tran, C. Kinnon, Kelso, P. Kinnon
G 200 Free Relay 1:49.47* J. Kinnon, Rebecca Wright, Fallon Bushee, Savarino

B 100 Backstroke 1:00.93  S. Kinnon
G 100 Backstroke 1:11.10  Allie Krasco

B 100 Breaststroke 1:02.72* P. Kinnon
G 100 Breaststroke 1:14.58* J. Kinnon

B 400 Free Relay 3:38.88* Kelso, DeSantis, S. Kinnon, Tran

Swim Team Completes Perfect Season

The Undefeated Mystic Valley Swim Team

In only its fifth year of existence, Mystic Valley Regional Charter School’s swim team ended its regular season undefeated! 
The perfect record did not come easy. The 12-0 Commonwealth Conference dual meet champions had to go through Northeastern Conference champion Marblehead, handing the team its only loss of the season.  They also defeated last year’s Catholic Central Conference champion Austin Prep.
Seven Mystic Valley swimmers—Fallon Bushee, Marisa Cagno, Colin Kinnon, Joan Kinnon, Patrick Kinnon, Shane Kinnon, and Alyssa Savarino—have qualified to swim individual events in Sectionals and States.  Several others, including Taylor Cossette, Zack Kelso, Allie Krasco, Wilson Tran, and Rebecca Wright, are fractions of a second away from meeting the qualifying standards.
The Eagles will attempt to win the Commonwealth Athletic Conference championship meet for the third consecutive year on Wednesday (at Greater Lawrence) and Thursday (at Lynn Tech).
The members of the 2009-2010 Mystic Valley Regional Charter School Swim Team are: Maaya Alagappan (grade 8), Nohamin Ayele (10), Fallon Bushee (10), Marisa Cagno (10), Taylor Cossette (11), Robby DeSantis (9), Sophia Elmoussaoui (12), Jacqui Finn (10), Kelly Finn (11), Zack Kelso (10), Colin Kinnon (11), Joan Kinnon (11), Patrick Kinnon (11), Shane Kinnon (10), Alyssa Savarino (12), Wilson Tran (10), Rebecca Wright (11), Tanzeem Alam (9), Allie Krasco (10), Robbie Cummings (7), Emily Williams (8),  and Meredith Williams (11).
One of the most amazing things about the team’s undefeated run is that there are only two seniors on the squad, a fact that should send shivers down the spines of their Commonwealth Athletic Conference opponents who are looking ahead to next year!

Mystic Valley Announces Honor Roll

 The following students were recently named to the Honor Roll at Mystic Valley Regional Charter School for the second quarter.  Honor Roll recognition goes to any student with no grade lower than B-. High Honors are for any student with no grade lower than A-.

Grade Seven High Honors:  Sarah Terrazano

Grade Seven Honor Roll: Yahia Abuhasan, Tarek Alkedeh, Ryan Arnone, Ava Asai-Sarris, Alvin Buyinza, Robert Cummings, Andre DiFilippo, Charif Elmoussaoui, Alexandra Eugene, Joseph Finn, Abigail Fisk,  Erika Furtado, Nathan Gerard, Mario Hanna, Rachel Hynes, Brian Lai, Christopher Le, Tony Le, Visakha Le-Nguyen, Brittany Lin, Thomas Lin, Vanessa Lochirco, Jesse Loesch, Emily Luu, Patrick McPherson, Sarah Mercurio, Nina Mirzakashani, Adam Moran, Cathy Nguyen,  Amy Nickerson, Mckinsey O’Brien, Paulina Petras, Chadam Pires, Samantha Rizzo, Shannon Roseen, Erica Sacramone, Isha Sharma, Camila Silva, Rico St. Paul, Chloe Statho, Chelsea Sutherland, Andrew Tham, Jordan Tirrell, Andy Tran, Hildy Wen, Wolfgang Wentzell and Richard Wronski

Grade Eight High Honors: Saja Alani, Shirley He, Sara LoChirco, Raphael Stigliano and Isabel Waller.

Grade Eight Honor Roll: Jonathan Ace Knight, Maaya  Alagappan, Therence Bien-Aime, Anthony Bockley,  Soraya Caballero, Sydney Carlino, Nicolette Cerundolo,  David Chiccuarelli, Alexandria Cimetti, Melissa Desmond, Katarina DiPlacido, Tania Fabo, Ryan Foley, Megan Grossi, Jonessa Guarino,  Samantha Halloran, Michael Hooley, Brandon Kelso, Hui Yan Kuang, Connie Lam, Jessica Lee, Brian Liang, Benjamin Lieu, Mitchell Luti, Alexis Martino, Hannah McCurdy, Savah Moreno-Areniello, Emily Mui, Virginia Ng, Congtin Nguyen, Shane Norton, Feliciana Panza, Kyle Pereira, Breann Powell, Nicholas Saponaro, Elise Sheehan, Selma Sinanovic, Sophia Smail,  Alexander Swaim, Mohammad Taaha, and Emily Williams.

Grade Nine High Honors: Sophie Carroll, Kayla Mei, Violet Sullivan and Marc Toomajian

Grade Nine Honor Roll: Francine Alexandre, Amro Ali, Jared Allard, Vanessa Barrientos, Dino Bulic, Elvent Chenh Tu, Domenic Ciampa, Jordan Cram, Dean Cunio, Robert DeSantis, Michelle Doherty, Tomas Drahos, Siobhan Glynn, Alexander Green, Marco Hanna, Kyle Hanson, Amanda Kerner, Erin Kinnon, Jacqueline Lane, Victor Liang, Elioukenda Limose,  Rachel McGovern, Brandon Mei, Marvin Morisset,  Hari Perisic, Brandon Phung, Jordan Sullivan, Sai Bhargav Yarram, Brian Yee and Jackie Yu.

Grade Ten High Honors: Nohamin Ayele, Fallon Bushee, Shannon Bushee, Diandra Franks, Leandra Furtado, Ariana Mirzakashani, Ngobitak Ndiwane, Amanda Ng, Amanda Pires, Benjamin Soper and Ricky Yu.

Grade Ten Honor Roll: Karl Afrikian, Jenna Amari, Alyssa DiFilippo, Jordan DiPietro, Jarred Erickson, Joseph Foley, Patrick Holden, Ryan Keane, Shane Kinnon, Kristina Kontos, Vuong Le, Rosaria Marraccino, Christopher Mui, Taylor Newton, Brian O’Connor,  Jonathan Paul, Gemina Previlus, Joseph Russo, Amber Scarpaci, Wilson Tran and  Abigail Vincent.

Grade Eleven High Honors:  Joanna McPherson and Krithikn Tirupapuliyur

Grade Eleven Honor Roll: Erika Aiello, Leah Brown, Samantha Brown, Brennan Bushee, Audrey Cain, Alana Casullo, Hayley Cunningham, Amanda DiBenedetto, Kelly Finn, Zachary Hamhoomis, Brendan Hogan, Sean Hooley, Joan Kinnon, Nicholas Krasco,  Derek Lee, Stephanie Lin,  Ausjoli  Minichiello, Nicole Mui, Aaron Payne, Gina Pedro, Jessica Poutre, Taylor Roseen, Jessica So, Kayla Teves,  Jenna Walker, Hillary Wen, Meredith Williams, Rebecca Wright and Jeffrey Yee

Grade Twelve High Honors: Michael Beauboeuf

Grade Twelve Honor Roll: Carolyn Bissex, Cody Cameron, Joseph Littlewood, Carl McPherson, Ryan Oppedisano, Alyssa Savarino, Joseph Vaverka and Eric Vincent

Mystic Valley Basketball Wins Big

Utilizing the various skills of everyone on the team, the Mystic Valley varsity boys’ basketball squad won its second consecutive game toppling Fellowship Christian, 69-36, at home on Tuesday, January 19.

The victory improved the Eagles’ overall record to 5-4, 4-2 in the Commonwealth Athletic Conference.

Demonstrating a true team effort, all 13 players scored for Mystic Valley. The scoring leader was sophomore guard Greg Statho who led the way with 16 points. Senior forward and team captain Mike O’Connor added 12 points and six rebounds.

Mystic Valley’s next game is at home on Thursday, January 21, against non-league foe New Testament Christian Academy at 4:00 pm.

Distinguished Professor Speaks at Mystic Valley

The Mystic Valley Charter School faculty received a treat in the form of a lecture by one of the world’s top professors of American History, Gordon S. Wood.  Dr. Wood spoke to the faculty during their latest professional development meeting.
Dr. Wood has published literally dozens of articles regarding the American Revolution and the period of time immediately thereafter which he referred to in his presentation as the Era of Washington.  He went on to elaborate on the admiration that the founding fathers had for Washington and state that Washington was the Revolution’s “indispensible man”.  Dr. Wood spoke in detail how Washington was the only person who could have held together all of the various interests competing during the time and how he “shocked the world” by voluntarily leaving office and returning to Virginia which was unprecedented at the time.    

Swim Team In CAC Championship

The defending Commonwealth Athletic Conference Champion Mystic Valley Swim team is hoping to defend its title at the Commonwealth Athletic Conference Championship which will be held on February 3rd and 4th. The first day of competition will be held at Greater Lowell's pool and the second will be at Lynn Tech. The first day will feature diving and the 500 yard freestyle. Warmups will start at 2:30 and the competition will start at 3:10. Day two will feature the rest of the events with warmups at 1:45 and the races beginning at 3:00.

Mystic Valley wrapped up an amazing undefeated season with a win over Northeast Metro last Friday and hopes to continue to swim past all opponents and bring home another league championship.

Karen Mortimer Wins Mystic Valley GeoBee

Mystic Valley fourth grader, Karen Mortimer, won the school’s annual GeoBee on Wednesday, January 13th.  Her win is especially impressive as she was in head to head competition with students from grades four to eight.  Mortimer came out on top of a group of 22 students who had to pass a qualifying exam to enter the competition which is sponsored by National Geographic . 
The competition proceeded through several rounds of questions posed by Mystic Valley Professional Development Coordinator Gina McKinnon. The questions got progressively more difficult from round to round until the contest was narrowed to three contestants: Ben Lieu an eighth grade student from Malden, Miles Wentzell a seventh grader from Melrose and Mortimer.  Because Karen had the highest score of the three going into the final round, Lieu and Wentzell had to engage in a runoff to decide who would advance to face her in the finals.  The pair battled back and forth for several rounds, prompting McKinnon to ask at one point whether Mortimer was enjoying her rest while waiting to see who would advance.
The final round was just as tense as both Mortimer and Wentzell, whose twin brother Wolfgang also qualified for the competition, each got several questions right. Meanwhile most of the adult members in the audience were visibly having difficulty answering the questions in their heads.  Mortimer was finally able to prevail when she knew that New Mexico is bordered by the Rio Grande River.
Her next step will be to take a written test to qualify for the National Geographic state finals which will be held on April 9th in Boston. 
Karen lives in Melrose with her parents Alderman Peter Mortimer, her mother, Lisa and sister, Andrea.

Calling All Scientists!

The dates have been set for the grades K-4 and grades 5-6 Science Fairs.  The science fairs are an extremely popular and highly anticipated part of every school year at Mystic Valley.  This year's theme is "New Discoveries. 

The K-4 Science Fair will be held on Thursday, February 25th. The students who have volunteered to participate in this year's fair are busily finishing up their projects. All of the entries will be on display at the Fair which will be held in the St. Joseph's Church Hall. Parents are encouraged to come down and check out the student's work after class on Thursday.

The 5-6 Science Fair will be held one month later on Thursday, March 25th. Click here for further details regarding the fair including the experiment requirements, judging criteria and important deadlines.     

Lt. Governor Visits Mystic Valley

Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray visited Mystic Valley on December 17th. Accompanied by State Representative Christopher Fallon of Malden, Dr. McCleary and several Mystic Valley administrators and board members the Lt. Governor was given a tour of the lower school campus.
The highlight of the tour was when Scott Wronski, a fifth grader in Ms. Paascucci’s class was able to name from memory the first 42 elements of the periodic table of elements. 
After the tour was completed Lt. Governor Murray discussed pending charter school issues and teaching strategies and philosophies with Representative Fallon, Dr. McCleary and several Mystic Valley officials. 

Student Government Day

Mystic Valley Regional Charter School Student Government advisors in grades 9-12, Dierdre Turilli and Stephanie Cappodona, have recently announced the selection of John Dion and Leah Brown as student representative and student alternate, respectively, to represent Mystic Valley at the annual Student Government Day program at the State House in Boston. The program, in its 63rd year, is sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and will be held on April 9, 2010.
This statutory program encourages students from Massachusetts public and private high schools to learn about the structure of state government, to become engaged citizens, and to develop an understanding of the rights and responsibilities that we share in a democracy. Students will replicate activities of the General Court and Supreme Judicial Court.

Mystic Valley 10th Best IB School in the Nation

The Mystic Valley Regional Charter School was ranked as the 10th best International Baccalaureate High School in the country by U.S. News & World Report magazine.  The magazine’s annual report examines nearly 22,000 high schools in the United States before ranking them based on their academic achievements. Mystic Valley was ranked 10th out of the 669 International Baccalaureate Diploma High Schools in America as well as in the top 8% of all high schools in the nation.

“Our International Baccalaureate Program at Mystic Valley continues to grow both in student numbers and scope. Our success with the program continues to furnish evidence of the high academic standards that prevail at Mystic Valley” stated Gordon Bradford, the head of the International Baccalaureate program at Mystic Valley.

The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme is a challenging two-year curriculum which leads to a qualification that is widely recognized by the world's leading universities. The Diploma Programme prepares students for university and encourages them to: ask challenging questions; learn how to learn; develop a strong sense of their own identity and culture and to develop the ability to communicate with and understand people from other countries and cultures. The curriculum contains six subject groups (language, second language, individuals and societies, experimental sciences, mathematics and computer sciences and the arts) together with a core made up of three separate parts. All three parts of the core (extended essay, theory of knowledge and creativity, action service) are compulsory and are central to the philosophy of the Diploma Programme. The extended essay is a 4,000 word paper that offers the opportunity to investigate a topic of individual interest and acquaints students with the independent research and writing skills expected at the university level. The interdisciplinary Theory of Knowledge course is designed to provide coherence by exploring the nature of knowledge across disciplines, encouraging an appreciation of other cultural perspectives. Participation in the school's Creativity, Action Service program encourages students to be involved in artistic pursuits, sports and community service work, thus fostering students' awareness and appreciation of life outside the academic arena.

Mystic Valley, Executive Director, Dr. Joseph McCleary, proudly added: “Our entire school community is greatly pleased by the continuing recognition of Mystic Valley’s excellence in public education. For the third year in a row, a national news magazine has recognized our school as exemplary. Congratulations to all of the students, families, faculty and staff who make such achievements possible.” 

Mystic Valley was named the 94th best high school in America by Newsweek magazine last year and was ranked in the top 8% of United States High Schools by US News & World Report in 2007. 

Key Club Joins Malden Holiday Parade

Members of the Mystic Valley Key Club decorated a float and marched in the City of Malden's ever popular annual holiday parade.  Several club members marched along the parade route handing out candy to children watching the parade while the rest of the students waved to the crowd and tossed treats to the kids from the float.  The students were organized by Director of Youth Services, Nicole Rubin.

Searching  for Bobby Fischer

Mr. Anderson is searching for the next Bobby Fischer, who knows it could be you?!     Any interested Chess players from 3rd grade through 8th grade who are in good academic standing may participate in the after school Chess Club. 
The Chess Club meets on Wednesday afternoons in Ms. Flynn's room M105 from 3:30- 5:00.    Mr. Anderson is happy to return for his 5th year and is especially pleased to welcome 7th grade Math teacher, Mr. Jonathan Bush, as an advisor to the CHESS CLUB.   Mr. Bush is excited to share his vast Chess knowledge and experiences for our Chess players.
 While after school Chess is played primarily in a recreational manner, the club members are striving to be more competitive with their Chess outlook and strategies.  Mr. Anderson anticipates that in the near future there will be an in-house tournament or two and maybe in the spring the club will venture to a local Chess tournament.
The matches so far this year reflect a high caliber of knowledge and interest.  Mr. Anderson looks forward to speaking to anyone that would like to join the club to either just learn the basics or students that want to compete at a higher level.     

21 Mystic Valley Seniors Win Adams Scholarship

Twenty-one of the forty-six members of the Mystic Valley Regional Charter School Class of 2010 were recently informed that they were winners of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ John and Abigail Adams Scholarship. The results fit well with Mystic Valley’s tradition of remarkable success on the MCAS exams as twenty students received the scholarship in 2008 and nineteen students received the scholarship in 2009.
 The scholarships entitle the winners to receive free tuition for four years at any Massachusetts state college or university.  “Congratulations to all of our seniors who have been awarded the John and Abigail Adams Scholarships. Mystic Valley Charter School is especially proud of our students who continue to uphold the traditions of intellectual life made so much a part of our country’s heritage by the great family from Braintree” said Mystic Valley Regional Charter School Executive Director, Dr. Joseph McCleary.
The scholarship award winners are: Michael Beauboeuf; Carolyn Bissex; Cody Cameron; Sophia Elmoussaoui; Maija Erickson; Peter Finn; Meghan Holden; Kevin Le; Joseph Littlewood; Jade Lovett; Carl McPherson; Ndindam Ndiwane; Michael O’Connor; Evan Oppedisano; Ryan Oppedisano; Mathew Pini; Alyssa Savarino; Kirk Tomajian; Joseph Vaverka; Adriana Villalobos and Eric Vincent.
Mystic Valley Assistant Director, George Benzie, added “congratulations go out to our seniors for this great achievement. It is a tremendous accomplishment for a school to have 21 out of 46 students  be eligible for the John and Abigail Adams Scholarships”.

Mystic Valley Students Help Eliminate Waste, Graffiti

Since returning to school in August, Mystic Valley Regional Charter School students have remained actively engaged in various community outreach efforts.

Members of the Mystic Valley Regional Charter School graffiti task force, the club responsible for restoring over thirty sites across Malden during the 2008-2009 school year, have continued their work.  During the month of September, the graffiti task force repainted several mail and utility boxes.  Most recently, however, they focused their efforts on repainting one wall of Walsh Florist on Broadway, which was covered with tags of graffiti.

Mystic Valley students have also participated in several park cleanup events this school year.  Thus far, students have restored Trafton, South Broadway, and Devir parks.

Mystic Valley Senior, Michael Beauboeuf Named National Achievement Scholarship Outstanding Participant

Mystic Valley Regional Charter School High School Principal, George Benzie, is pleased to announce that Michael Beauboeuf, a senior at the school, has been named an Outstanding Participant in the National Achievement Scholarship Program.  Students who are so recognized scored in the top 3 percent of more than 160,000 Black Americans who requested consideration in the 2010 National Achievement Program when they took the 2008 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAP/NMSQT). A roster of these students’ names, high schools and tentative college major choices is being sent to about 1,500 colleges and universities.
The National Achievement Scholarship Program was initiated in 1964 specifically to honor academically promising Black American high school students.  The annual scholarship competition is conducted by National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), which also conducts the National Merit Scholarship Program that is open to all U.S. high school students.

Massachusetts DPH Issues H1N1 Order

John Auerbach, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health has issued an "Order Regarding Exclusion Requirements for Pandemic Influenza H1N1 Infection". The Order establishes exclusion requirements for individuals who are suspected to have, probably have, or have confirmed to have the H1N1 virus.

Any individual who is a suspect, probable or confirmed case of Influenza A H1N1, shall be excluded from school or work for at least 24 hours after he or she is free of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications.  For the full text of the order click here.

Mystic Valley Senior Maija Erickson Named National Achievement Scholarship Program Semifinalist

Today officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced the names of more than 1,600 Black American high school seniors who have been designated Semifinalists in the 46th annual National Achievement Scholarship Program.  These scholastically talented young men and women now have an opportunity to continue in the competition for approximately 800 Scholarship awards, worth some 2.6 million dollars to be offered next spring.
 Maija Erickson, of Stoneham, was recently informed that she was named a Semifinalist.  In addition to this award she was also recognized as a Commended Student by the National Merit Scholarship Program.  Mystic Valley principal, George Benzie, proudly offered his congratulations to Maija and her family and wished her luck in the rest of the competition. 
The National Achievement Scholarship Program, conducted by NMSC, is a privately financed academic competition that operates without government assistance.  It was initiated in 1964 to recognize academically promising black students throughout the nation and to provide scholarships to a substantial number of the most outstanding program participants.  To date, over 29,500 young men and women have received Achievement Scholarship awards worth $94 million.

Approximately 1,300 Semifinalists are expected to fulfill additional requirements and advance to the Finalist level in the 2010 program.  All Achievement Scholar awardees will be selected from the Finalist group on the basis of their abilities, accomplishments, and potential for successes in rigorous college studies.
More than 160,000 high school juniors from all parts of the United States requested consideration in the 2010 National Achievement Scholarship Program when they took the 2008 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMQT).  Semifinalists were designated within geographic regions and are the highest-scoring program entrants in the states that make up each region.
To advance to the  Finalist level in the competition, Semifinalists must present a record of high academic performance throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by their high school principal, write an essay, and earn SAT scores that confirm the PSAT/NMSQT performance.  Also, the Semifinalist and a high school official must complete a detailed scholarship application in which they provide information about the student’s participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, and educational goals.  The substantial amount of information collected about each Finalist will be used in the selection of scholarship winners.
National Achievement Scholarships provided in 2010 will be supported by corporations, professional organizations, foundations, and by NMSC’s own funds.  Two types of scholarships will be offered.  Every Finalist will compete for one of the 700 one-time National Achievement $2,500 Scholarships, which will be awarded on a regional representation basis.  In addition, corporate and business sponsors will underwrite about 100 Achievement Scholarship awards for Finalists who meet criteria set by the grantor.  Although some corporate-sponsored awards provide a single payment, most are renewable for up to four years of undergraduate study.  NMSC will release the names of scholarship winners to the news media in early April.

Mystic Valley Seniors Named National Merit Scholarship Commended Students

Mystic Valley Regional Charter School principal, George Benzie, announced today that Maija Erickson of Stoneham and Carl McPherson of Wakefield were named Commended Students in the 2010 National Merit Scholarship Program.  A Letter of Commendation from the school and National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), which conducts the program, will be presented by Mr. Benzie to these scholastically talented seniors.
About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise.  Although they will not continue in the 2010 competition for National Merit Scholarships, Commended Students placed among the top five percent of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2010 competition by taking the 2008 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).
“Recognition of high-achieving students is essential to advancing educational excellence in our nation,” commented a spokesperson for NMSC. “As demonstrated by their outstanding performance in our highly competitive program, the young men and women named Commended Students represent some of the most academically talented students in our country.  We sincerely hope this recognition will enhance their educational opportunities and encourage them in their pursuit of academic success.”
Principal Benzie praised both Maija and Carl citing their hard work and commitment to their studies.  “Both Maija and Carl are outstanding students. I am very happy for them and congratulate both of them on their impressive achievement.”