I needed a teacher like Kathryn Rindo in Lowell

Almost daily, multiple headlines pop out at me while I'm browsing the internet. To quote the old prophets C&C Music Factory, "things that make you go hmmmmmm," you know? Like this headline, for example: "Lowell Elementary School Teacher Competing in Lowell Golden Gloves." What a headline. What a story. What a teacher you wouldn't want to mess with!

Kathryn Rindo is the phys ed teacher at McAvinnue Elementary in Lowell. She also opened night 2 of Golden Gloves competition on Thursday night at the Lowell Auditorium. When I was growing up in Vermont my father and grandpa used to go every year to the Vermont Golden Gloves, heald at the Memorial Auditorium in Burlington every year. And every year they dragged me along. I say dragged, but I loved it. And I was scared as hell of it. A rowdy crowd screaming at two locals in the ring punching with all they had until they were gassed. Some boxers looked like pro's. Others? Well, they had more guts than I'd ever have.

Back to Kathryn Rindo. The nine-week boxing tournament presented 14 novice division bouts on Thursday night with Lowell elementary school teacher Kathryn Rindo taking on Amy Pole in the novice female 125-pound division opening round bout. Ms. Rindo has had one previous bout which she won in a unanimous decision in April.

Ms. Rindo is the kind of teacher I needed as a kid. I always thought I was being fun and funny when I was in school. I thought the teachers were in on the jokes with me. Looking back, even though I didn't mean to be disrespectful I'm pretty sure those teachers themselves didn't count themselves in on the aforementioned "jokes." Had I had a teacher like Ms. Rindo - maybe I would have had a little more fear and therefore a little fewer detentions. lol

Oh yeah, in the end Ms. Rindo won her opening bout on Thursday night in a split decision and was back in class on Friday. Congrats Ms. Rindo!

Which high schools reign supreme in the state of Massachusetts? We always hear of different outlets ranking schools here in the Bay State and Boston Magazine has just come out with its list. They come out with the list every year and it includes high schools in the "greater Boston area" or as it's also described, schools in the "I-495 corridor." To come up with its list, Boston Magazine compiled data from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and looked at that data in several categories including: enrollment, average class size, student to teacher ratio, MCAS exam results in English, Math and Science and graduation rates.

Boston Magazine has also compiled other lists including high schools that are top in areas like class size, "bang for your housing buck" and teacher ratings. For average class size, Georgetown high school took top honors with the average class size being 8 students. Hull, Rockport and Ipswich come in second, third and fourth respectively. And in regards to "bang for your housing buck," Algonquin Regional topped that list and was followed by Boston Latin, Foxboro and Littleton High Schools.

But which schools topped the entire list overall? The rankings probably shouldn't surprise anyone seeing as Weston has now topped the list two years in a row. There really aren't many new entries either. We're going to post the rankings for the top 10 so you can see where your child's school ranks with other schools in the state. To get a more complete analysis of each school and how the data was weighted, you can check out Boston Magazine's story HERE. Then you can decide if you want to move, want to move your kid to another school or just ignore it because you think the list is crap. Either way, here are the top 10 high schools in Massachusetts.

With enrollment at 1383, an average class size of 16.3 student teacher ratio of 13:6:1 and English MCAS results of 90, Winchester lands at #1 on Boston Magazine's list. Its mission: "Our mission is to provide an exceptional teaching and learning program that meets the needs of all our students."

https://www.winchesterps.org/whs

With enrollment at 1484, an average class size of 18.1 student teacher ratio of 12:1:1 and English MCAS results of 81, Lincoln Sudbury lands at #9 on Boston Magazine's list.  Its mission:  "Fostering caring and cooperative relationships, respecting human differences,
pursuing academic excellence, and cultivating community." 

https://www.lsrhs.net/

With enrollment at 560, an average class size of 15.2  student teacher ratio of 10:6:1 and English MCAS results of 92, The Bromfield School lands at #8 on Boston Magazine's list.  Its mission:  We commit to providing a high quality education centered around dynamic learning and personal well being in a community where everyone can find belonging.

https://bromfield.psharvard.org/

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With enrollment at 1178, an average class size of 14.9  student teacher ratio of 12:1:1 and English MCAS results of 85, Westborough lands at #7 on Boston Magazine's list. Its mission: To guide our efforts on a number of strategic focus areas throughout the 2023-2024 year, the school-wide theme at WHS is, ‘Why We Share’.

https://whs.westboroughk12.org/

With enrollment at 480, an average class size of 14.6  student teacher ratio of 13:1:1 and English MCAS results of 85, Littleton lands at #6 on Boston Magazine's list. Its mission is to foster a community of learners who strive for excellence and prepare each student to be a successful, contributing citizen in a global society.

https://www.littletonps.org/high-school/index

With enrollment at 1683,  an average class size of 17  student teacher ratio of 13:3:1 and English MCAS results of 89, Acton-Boxborough lands at #5 on Boston Magazine's list.  Its mission "developing engaged, well balanced learners through collaborative, caring relationships."

https://www.abschools.org/

With enrollment at 824,  an average class size of 15.4 student teacher ratio of 11:2:1 and English MCAS results of 84, Wayland lands at #4 on Boston Magazine's list. Its mission: Personal and civic responsibility, love of learning, and empathy for others.

With enrollment at 669,  an average class size of 15.9 student teacher ratio of 12:4:1 and English MCAS results of 83, Dover-Sherborn lands at #3 on Boston Magazine's list. Its mission: Dover-Sherborn High School is a community of learners whose goal is to inspire academic excellence and a commitment to personal and civic responsibility. We engage in the learning process with honesty, creativity, dedication, and respect, and seek to provide an atmosphere of freedom and  trust in a safe and nurturing environment.

https://www.doversherborn.org/page.cfm

With enrollment at 416,  an average class size of 11.8 student teacher ratio of 10:3:1 and English MCAS results of 87, Manchester Essex lands at #2 on Boston Magazine's list.  Its mission: Educating all students, instilling a passion for life-long learning, and encouraging both local and global citizenship! | Site Map

With enrollment at 639,  an average class size of 13.4 student teacher ratio of 11:3:1 and English MCAS results of 88,  Weston lands at #1 on Boston Magazine's list. Its misson: The mission of Weston High School is to challenge all students to excellence, to promote a climate of respect and support, and to encourage and to facilitate the growth, abilities, and talents of students, so that they will live healthy lives characterized by reflection, responsibility, wonder, daring, and enthusiasm for life-long learning.

https://www.westonschools.org/high/about/vision-statement/