Schools & Education

School Committee deep dive: AB Education Association questions

April 25, 2026

by Acton Boxborough Education Association

Town Elections are this coming Tuesday, April 28. For more general voting information, see Town’s Elections and Voting page. For information about School Committee candidates, read on. The Acton Boxborough Education Association (ABEA) is the teachers union that represents the educators in the AB Regional School District. To help voters choose the best School Board candidates, they ask each candidate a series of questions. In addition, you can read more about each candidate, including links to each candidate’s website, in last week’s Acton Exchange: Meet the candidates: Part 1, Contested races. For even more information, the following recordings are also…

School Committee deep dive: AB Special Ed Parent Advisory Council questions

April 25, 2026

The Acton Exchange TeamandActon-Boxborough Special Education Parent Advisory Council

Town Elections are this coming Tuesday, April 28. For more general voting information, see Town’s Elections and Voting page. For information about School Committee candidates, read on, and see the links to voter information published at the top of the related article in this same issue of the…

AB softball: Revs pound out 16 hits, tame Lions, 12-1

April 25, 2026

by James Conboy

April 16, Acton-Boxborough Regional High School: Sixteen hits by the Revolution, including three triples and a home run, overpowered Dual County League opponent Newton South, which collected only three, landing the home team a 12-1 win, when the mercy rule was invoked in the sixth inning. The Lions…

Hope at Bat: Revs walk it off in 11-inning classic

April 18, 2026

by James Conboy

April 13, Acton-Boxborough Regional High School baseball field: After yielding four runs in the first inning, A-B’s defense held the Waltham Hawks to just one run in the next six, allowing the home team, trailing by two, to tie it at five-all in the seventh. Shortstop Healy led…

Despite deep divisions, School Committee pushes ahead with geography-based school assignment

April 11, 2026

by Diane Baum

The School Committee endorsed a major policy shift at their April 9 meeting that will change the way elementary students are assigned to schools in Acton-Boxborough. The policy change directs the District to assign elementary students who are enrolling in the District to a school based on geographic…

A group of musicians wearing grey t-shirts is dwarfed by the Green Monster wall at Fenway park. The Jumbotron on the right shows the musicians up close.

Your guide to spring arts events in the Acton-Boxborough schools

April 11, 2026

by Jen Lewy

Spring is a busy season for the arts in the Acton-Boxborough Regional School District, with many events open to the public. From a Fenway Park debut to full theatrical productions, student artists and performers are bringing remarkable work to stages and galleries across the community. The season launched…

School Committee readies for April 9 vote on geography-based enrollment

March 28, 2026

by Diane Baum

The Acton-Boxborough School Committee’s historic vote on January 22 to move to a geography-based school assignment model for elementary families overturned a longstanding practice in place since 1972 that assigned students to an elementary school based on families’ rankings of preferred schools (“open enrollment”). The vote to discontinue…

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School Committee Update: Feb. 26 and Mar. 5, 2026

March 7, 2026

by Diane Baum

The School Committee held their annual hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2026-27 budget on March 5. The hearing is required by Massachusetts Law and is an opportunity for community members to provide feedback. The final School Committee vote is scheduled for March 19. The district’s budget will…

Funding supports school bus modernization in Acton-Boxborough and other towns

March 7, 2026

by The Acton Exchange Team

BOSTON – The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center today announced $11.7 million in funding for six school districts and private transportation providers as part of the fourth round of the School Bus Deployment program. This initiative supports communities putting dependable, modern electric school buses on the road, making transportation…

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Select Board Notes: February 23, 2026

February 28, 2026

by Tom Beals

Opening remarks Revised Fiscal Year 2027 Recommended Budget Mr. Mangiaratti, noting the requirement for the Town Manager to transmit a budget to the Finance Committee before Annual Town Meeting, presented a revised Fiscal Year 2027 Recommended Budget and Capital Plan. In a Memo, and in remarks to the…

AB students stage ICE protest

February 14, 2026

by The Acton Exchange Team

On Monday, February 9, hundreds of Acton Boxborough Regional High School (ABRHS) students walked out of class in an anti-ICE protest. Students Zoe Kriveshko, Suravi Bhatia, Retal Said, and Izzy Kelly organized the event, supported by fellow student Divya Sharma. The event took about a week of planning.…

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School Committee endorses a preliminary budget for FY27

February 14, 2026

by Diane Baum

With the AB Forward elementary school reorganization in the initial stages of implementation, the School Committee turned their attention to the 2026-27 (FY27) budget, approving a preliminary budget for the district of $122,593,238 at their budget workshop on February 9. The amount represents a 4.75% increase over FY26.…

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The logic and contention behind elementary school reorganization

January 31, 2026

by Diane Baum

“We have exceptional schools and have been recognized for our education, but the reality, at least for the four years that I’ve been on this committee, is that we have yet to provide level services. We have made so many cuts and so many difficult choices. I just…

School Committee votes to transition to a grade-banded model this fall, ending open enrollment

January 24, 2026

by The Acton Exchange Team

At an emotion-laden meeting of the Acton Boxborough Regional School Committee on January 22, a decision-making process that began in May 2025, known as AB Forward, reached its conclusion. Over many months, and utilizing a structured process which prioritized community input and engaged a 19-member Steering Committee to…

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AB Forward Update: School Committee heads into a final vote on school reorganization

January 18, 2026

by Diane Baum

On January 8, the School Committee hosted their final informational session on school reorganization. The four-hour meeting included a 75-minute public listening session that drew a record crowd as community members continued to weigh in on the two reorganization options under consideration and the proposed options for school…

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School Committee Update: Nov 20 and Dec 4, 2025

December 13, 2025

by Diane Baum

School Committee continues to step up advocacy efforts to increase state funding for AB schools The Acton-Boxborough Regional School Committee engaged state Senator Jamie Eldridge and Representatives Simon Cataldo and Danillo Sena in a frank conversation at the Committee’s November 20 business meeting about the inadequacies of the…

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The AB Forward Steering Committee forwards four school reorganization scenarios to the School Committee

December 13, 2025

by Diane Baum

Editors’ Note (added Dec 13, 2025): After this article was finalized, the school district released an informative new document called “Supplemental Information for School District Reorganization Discussion”. The document compares and contrasts the four reorganization options still under consideration, which will be discussed by the School Committee at…

The future on display at DiscoverSTEM 2025

November 22, 2025

Janice WardandKaren Herther

Robot ring-toss, AI demos, and hands-on technology drew more than 500 students and families to DiscoverSTEM 2025 at Acton-Boxborough Regional High School (AB) on Friday, November 7, for a career exploration night. Hosted by AB STEAM, DiscoverSTEM featured 48 exhibitors, including tech companies, university research labs, industry experts,…

School District narrows reorganization options: Community voices shape the future of local education

November 22, 2025

by The Acton Exchange Team

The November 18 AB Forward Steering Committee meeting marked a turning point in Acton-Boxborough’s reorganization process, as members used new data and public feedback to begin narrowing long-term options for the district’s elementary schools. In a critical step toward creating a financially sustainable model for the district, the…

Boxborough principal spends a night on the roof

November 22, 2025

by Lori Cooney

Blanchard principal Michael Votto is a man of his word, even if it means sleeping on the school roof on a night that hovered near freezing. Earlier this year, Principal Votto made a challenge to the Blanchard Parents, Teachers and Friends (PTF) group. If they raised $25,000 during…

AB’s fall arts season brings Broadway, jazz, and student creativity to local stages

November 15, 2025

by Jen Lewy

This autumn, Acton-Boxborough students are transforming school auditoriums into professional-grade performance venues, offering the community a rich lineup of musical theater, choral concerts, and instrumental showcases. From Broadway classics to student-directed a cappella groups, the district’s middle and high school arts programs are delivering quality entertainment right in…

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