News and Events

Track Team Members in State Tourney

The Mystic Valley Track and Field team is sending 12 athletes to the State Regional meet on Sunday May 26th at North Reading High School. The meet starts at 1:00. In order to be eligible to compete in the State Regional meet, the athletes had to meet specific state qualifying standards during any of their CAC league meets. The following is the final list of qualifying athletes:

 Amanda Kerner (4 x 100m Relay)
 Elly Limose (100 Meter, 4 x 100m Relay)
 Ashley Martorana (100 Meter)
 Kathryn McPherson (400m Hurdles, 400 Meter)
 Kayla Mei (100 Meter, 200 Meter, 4 x 100m Relay)
 Paulina Petras (Discus)
 Nycia Puryear (4 x 100m Relay)

 Giuseppe Iacovone (Long Jump, 200 Meter, 4 x 100m Relay)
 Zhiye Liang (Long Jump, 110m Hurdles, 4 x 100m Relay)
 Patrick Moran (400m Hurdles)
 Calvin Phung (100 Meter, 4 x 100m Relay)
 Jackie Yu (200 Meter, 4 x 100m Relay)

Housing Families, Backpack Drive

Housing Families, Inc. a local non-profit agency  works with community partners to raise awareness of the need for school supplies for children. Last year more than 400 backpacks were filled with school supplies to homeless and very low income elementary, middle and high school students in our local community. For further information please click here.

2013-2014 School Calendar

The school calendar for the 2013 -2014 school year is set and can be found here. School will start on Tuesday, August 20th.

Memorial Day

There will be no classes held at Mystic Valley on Monday, May 27th in honor of the Memorial Day holiday. Classes will resume on Tuesday, May 28th. 

Mystic Valley Student Aces National Spanish Exam

Congtin Nguyen, a junior at Mystic Valley and Medford resident, was honored at Regis College by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese because he received the highest score in the state of Massachusetts on the National Spanish Exam. This is the second year in a row that he earned the top prize!
He took the Level 4 exam - an exam level typically given to seniors. The other award winners and Congtin represented the top 0.3% of all the Massachusetts students who took the National Spanish Exam earlier this year.

Incoming Kindergarten Social

The Mystic Valley Regional Charter School PTO is hosting a "Make New Friends Kindergarten Social" for incoming Kindergarten students and parents/guardians on Tuesday, June 11, from 6:30-8:00 p.m. This will take place in the gym at the MVRCS Kindergarten Building located at 576 Eastern Ave in Malden.
Please join us for a fun craft, ice cream and an opportunity for the incoming kindergarten students to meet and mingle before starting school in the Fall.
Please RSVP to Peggy Kerans by June 1st at 781-393-0129 or medfordrep@mvrcspto.com. When confirming attendance, please provide the names of the student and parent(s)/guardian(s) attending, and the city you live in.
We hope you can attend and look forward to seeing you there!

Mystic Valley Achieves Top National Rankings

Once again Mystic Valley’s high school has been ranked among the best in the country by U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek and the Washington Post. The three well respected publications all placed Mystic Valley among the best of the best schools in the United States.
U.S, News & World Report gave Mystic Valley a Gold Medal and named it the 177th best public school in the country. Mystic Valley was their 39th best charter school in the US. Among Massachusetts public high schools, Mystic Valley was ranked the 4th best charter and the 8th best overall.
Newsweek magazine ranked Mystic Valley as the 4th best high school in Massachusetts, the 4th straight year that Mystic Valley was in their top 5! Mystic Valley was ranked as the 163rd best high school in America by Newsweek.
Finally, the Washington Post ranked Mystic Valley as the 759th best high school in the US and the 13th best in Massachusetts. The Washington Post rankings included private as well as public schools.

Francine Alexandre Honored at Law Day

Mystic Valley Senior Francine Alexandre was honored at the Annual Law Day event sponsored by the First District Eastern Middlesex Bar Association. The ceremony was held at Malden District Court on Friday, May 17th. She received a $1,000 scholarship for college expenses.

Francine, a Melrose resident, was nominated in part due to her demonstrated excellence in history and the social sciences, as well as her commitments to our school community. Francine is currently the treasurer of the Drama Club and a member of our National Honor Society. She serves on the yearbook and senior committee. She volunteers her time at the Bread of Life and for our Student Action Service Club. She loves to sing, and can often be heard performing at school events and in her local church choir. In the fall, Francine will be attending Boston College and is interested in studying law in the future.

Mystic Valley Key Club Attends Convention

The Mystic Valley Key Club attended the annual District Convention April 4-6, 2013.  The District Convention brings together all clubs in New England to celebrate their accomplishments of the past year.
Besides the numerous breakout sessions, dances, and luncheons, the Convention also serves to recognize the achievements of each club. Twenty-four Mystic Valley Key Clubbers attended the Convention along with advisors Ms. Wood and Mr. Oxsalida. Mystic Valley Key Club was recognized as being the third best club in all of New England. The club donated the most amount of money to four district projects, which are Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Institute, Camp Sunshine, Children of Peace International, and Project Eliminate. The club raised four thousand five hundred dollars for these organizations. Also, the club won third place for a Local Publications Award and first place for a club video contest. These successes are a reflection of the hard work of the members.
Another extremely important part of the Convention is the election of the District Board and induction of Lieutenant Governors, which keep connections between the club board and District Board. The club was honored to have two members be inducted into these prestigious positions. Emily Mui was elected as District Editor and Tania Fabo was inducted as the new Lieutenant Governor. Overall, the trip was a great success and has challenged the club to grow and improve for the upcoming year.

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Creative Writing is Alive at Mystic Valley

Creative writing is still alive!  This month, twenty of Mrs. Arleen Burke’s seventh grade students had their poems published in the 2013 edition of A Celebration of Poets published by Creative Communication.  According to the publisher, “these poems represent the top 45% of the students who entered” from the Northeast United States in grades 7-9.   According to Burke this has become a tradition in her classroom, as her students have been submitting poems to the contest each fall since 2001 when they first got published.   Burke says, “Many students feel a great sense of pride and accomplishment when they first see their names and poems printed in a professionally bound collection.”  She says that, as an added bonus, the Creative Communication Company sends her a copy of the finished product, and one day the Mystic Valley Library will have all of these books from 2001 to the present to remember and cherish the work of its alumni.   This year, the following students had the honor of seeing their work in print:  Youssef Asrih, Connie Cheung, Hannah Digivanni, Sarah Elkouram, Raniyah Fanchaouy, Soleil Francois, Taylor Gibson, Ashley Hynes, Ethan Lam, Katya Morales-Villalobos, Karen Mortimer, Vivian Nguyen, Alan Novaes, Patrick Rosetti, Cristina Ruiz, Fred Russell, Harun Sinanovic, Ashley Sullivan, Taylor Tenaglia, and Jordan Towle-Jackson.  

Mystic Valley Hosts Venezuelan Students

A group of students from the Colegio Integral El Manglar School in Venezuela recently visited Mystic Valley. The students spent the day attending regular lessons at Mystic Valley and talking with Mystic Valley student.
For lunch the students were served an American ballpark meal comprised of a hotdog and a bag of chips.  The students then went out onto Mystic Valley’s field for waffle ball games.
Throughout the day students from both countries discussed what is similar and different about their schools.

Sophie Carroll Wins National Merit Scholarship

Mystic Valley senior, Sophie Carroll, has recently been informed that she is a 2013 National Merit Scholarship winner.
2,500 Merit Scholar designees were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding Finalists in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program. National Merit Scholarship winners are the Finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors.
These Scholars were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors, who appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both the Finalists and their high schools: the academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from two standardized tests; contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay written by the Finalist; and a recommendation written by a high school official.
Sophie is a very active member of the Mystic Valley community she is involved in a variety of activities including the National Honor Society, Student Government, the Drama Club and the Key Club.” Sophie lives in Melrose with her mother Denise. She will be attending Harvard in the fall.

Drama Club to Perform Emma

In this retelling of Austen's classic, teenage matchmaker Emma Woodhouse has just moved on to her newest "project" – a sweet, but modest girl named Harriet Smith. Having played matchmaker for her long-time nanny, Mrs. Weston, vivacious Emma is determined to find Harriet an impressive suitor in spite of her lacking social standing. But as Emma becomes entangled in the romantic lives of her friends and acquaintances, she unwittingly falls in love with the least likely of bachelors in this lighthearted tale of gossip, matrimony, and misunderstanding.

The performance will be Saturday June 1st (note new date) at 7pm in the lower school MPR. Admission is $5.00. On Thursday May 30th at 6:00 there will be a dress rehearsal that will be open to the public. 

Teacher Appreciation Day

Mystic Valley celebrated Teacher Appreciation Day on Thursday. After the students were dismissed the entire faculty and staff gathered at the gym and was treated to lunch. The lunch was catered by Ravi's Restaurant in Malden and the food was served by members of the PTO. Teachers and staff members who have been with the school for five, ten and fifteen years were given special recognition as were Mr. & Mrs. Bradford who will be retiring at the end of the school year.

Baseball Team Plays Somerville

Mystic Valley's baseball team will travel to play Somerville on Wednesday afternoon at 4:00 at Trum Field. They have qualified for the MIAA tourney with a 12-7 record and are looking to pick up a win against a Division One school to improve their ranking.

Key Club Raises Money for One Fund

Due to the incident that occurred in Boston on April 15, 2013, the Mystic Valley Key Club decided to collect donations for the One Fund. The One Fund is a project created by Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino to help the people most affected by the tragic events that took place during this year's Boston Marathon. Throughout the week of April 22-26, the Key Club was able to collect over $600 for the victims of the marathon bombing. Donors were given certificates to place on the bulletin board in the cafeteria to show their support for the project. Donors ranged from teachers to students to the facilities team. The school and Key Club are very proud and thankful for all donations that were made to the One Fund.     –Emily Mui, Mystic Valley Key Club

A Message from Mr. Finn

Below are some important reminders and announcements:

• ITBS testing will be from Tuesday, May 28 through Tuesday, June 4 (testing for third grade runs through June 5).
• The Lower School sports banquet will be on Monday, June 3 at 576 Eastern Avenue.  More information will be sent home shortly.
• The Mystic Valley Band’s spring concert will be on Wednesday, June 5 at Eastern Avenue beginning at 6:00pm.
• The High School sports banquet will be on Thursday, June 6 at 576 Eastern Avenue.  More information will be sent home shortly.
• Mystic Valley’s class of 2013 will be graduating on Friday, June 14 beginning at 7:00pm.
• Thursday, June 27 is the last day of school.
• Tuesday, August 20 is the first day of the 2013-2014 school year.

Information regarding the awards assemblies and field days during the last week of school will be posted on our website soon.

Lastly, Beginning on May 1, students were allowed to wear shorts to school.  I would ask all parents to speak to your child about being compliant with the school’s uniform policy.  There are restrictions on the types of shorts, socks and shoes that can be worn to school.  If you would like to discuss the uniform policy with your child, it can be found in our parent student handbook, which is on the Notices page of our website.

Athletic Awards Nights

The Lower School Athletic Awards Night will be Monday, June 3rd at 6PM at the MV Athletic Complex at 576 Eastern Avenue. 

The High School Athletic Awards Night will be Thursday, June 6th at 6PM at the MV Athletic Complex at 576 Eastern Avenue. 

Tickets will go on sale Monday, May 6th.  High School tickets will be available in the High School Main Office.  Lower School tickets will be available at the front desk of the Annex Building.  Tickets are free for students and $15 for guests.  Tickets must be picked up or purchased by Friday, May 24th.  The attire is shirt, tie, and jacket for men and dress/blouse or slacks for women. 

All members of the Freshman Football team should attend the Lower School Athletic Awards Night. 

Like Us on Facebook

You can "like" Mystic Valley on Facebook and get updates on recent and upcoming events at the school. Just click http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mystic-Valley-Regional-Charter-School-Information-Page/310383342333985 .

Summer Vacation Program

Mystic Valley is offering a Summer Program for Mystic Valley students entering grades 1-5 at our facility on Eastern Avenue. The program will run from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm for the following weeks:
Week 1: July 8-July 12
Week 2: July 15-July 19
Week 3: July 22-July 26
Week 4: July 29-August 2
Week 5: August 5-August 9

The aim of the program is to offer Mystic Valley parents the opportunity to provide their children with quality athletic activities in a controlled and safe environment during the work week. 
The program will feature:
• Organized athletic activities including wiffle ball, scavenger hunts, various tag games, relay races, floor hockey both inside our athletic facility and, weather permitting, at the new turf field (across from the facility).
• Arts and crafts.
• Swimming and swim lessons.
• A certified nurse, in case of emergency.
• Students must bring their own lunches, snacks, and drinks, towels and swim wear for the pool, athletic clothing and sneakers.
The price will be $200 for the week, which is comparable to other local programs. You have the option of signing up for as many weeks as you want. 
There is an extended day option from 3:30 pm to 5:00pm. The extended day option is additional $30 per day.
Jane Brunelli will be the program director. Jane has over 25 years experience working with children in addition to being the Executive Director of the Independence Route Daycare and KidStop in Malden from 1990 to 2011
In addition to Ms. Brunelli, there will be lifeguards, counselors and counselors in training available to help run the program, including older students at Mystic Valley.
If you are interested in enrolling, please complete the attached Summer Sign Up , Liability Form and Allergy and Prescription Form, and Sign Up form, by May 31st and forward them to Andrew Brown at Mystic Valley’s Business Office (576 Eastern Avenue, Malden, MA 02148). Please also send your check, made payable to “Mystic Valley Regional Charter School”. Kindly make payment by the Friday of the week before your child plans to attend the Summer Program. If you do not complete all the forms and make the payment, your child will not be able to attend the Summer Program. If you have any further questions, please contact Jane Brunelli at jbrunelli@mvrcs.org.
 

Students of the Week Honored

Several students were honored as students of the week because they best represented the virtue of Wisdom. The students were treated to breakfast with Mr. Finn and had their names announced to the entire school.

Several students from the high school were honored as students of the month for the month of April. The students were chosen for their work in Math, Science, Latin, Spanish, History, English, Economics and Art.

Kindergarten Students of the Week

High School Students of the Month

Mystic Valley Announces Honor Roll

The Mystic Valley Regional Charter School proudly announces that the following students have been named to the Honor Roll for the third quarter:

HIGH HONORS:  (no grade lower than A-)

Grade Seven:  Omar Alani, Youssef Asrih, Phyllis Brady, Anthony Campana, Courtney Cheng, Michael Daly, Hannah DiGiovanni, Taylor Gibson, Jason He, Ethan Lam, Meredith Lane, Benjamin Li, Ian Libby, Lauren Maher, Samantha McGlynn, Jeffrey Mei, Karen Mortimer, Tina Nguyen, Vivian Nguyen, Lindsay Notarangeli, Julian Ospina, Jolie Powell, Harun Sinanovic, Hannah Stewart, Ashley Sullivan, Jordan Towle-Jackson and Rebecca Webb

Grade Eight:  Elena Bibilos, Kevin Chau, Haley David, Sarah DeSantis, Veronica Drahos, Dante Goss, Gaelle Gourdet, Andrew Hogan, Ashleigh Inman, Ryan Kinnon, Emily Nguyen, Nancy Nguyen, Alexandru Teodorescu
 
Grade Nine: Elizabeth Callahan, Carmen Chen, Bailey Chiccuarelli, Aaron Dame, Eliana Destin, Sydney Guerrier, Sarah Di, Karina Hanson, Kimberly Huynh, Asha Kurian, Victoria Mail, Timothy O’Donnell,  Haley Pezzarossi, Louis Piper Carson, Taylor Sa, Bailey Saponaro, Jessica Soper,  Nicole Tran, Visnavy Vickneswaran, Louise Wilensky and Emmaline Willis

Grade Ten: Erika Furtado, Brian Lai, Brittany Lin, Thomas Lin,Vanessa LoChirco, Emily Luu, Adam Moran, Samantha Rizzo and Sarah Terrazano

Grade Eleven:  Tania Fabo, Emily Mui, Congtin Nguyen, Jack Nguyen, Feliciana Panza, Sophia Smail and Isabel Waller

Grade Twelve: Nicole Anderson, Sophie Carroll, Robert DeSantis and Kyle Hanson

HONORS:  (no grade lower than B-)

Grade Seven: Kamari Adamson, Thomas Callanan, Barry Chen, Connie Cheung, Tama Coelin, Robert Cunningham, Nicola D’Alleva, Emily Daponta, Sarah Elkouram, Raniyah Fanchaouy, Philippe Guerrier, Lucy Harrington, Andrew Howard, Ashley Hynes, Marvin Josaphat, Menel Lamadzema,  Jacob Leary, Gianna Messina, Molli Motroni, Jovan Paul, Frederick Russell and Andrew Tran 

Grade Eight: Isabella Addison,  Vikram Alagappan, Nadine Alexandre, Kiara Awunti, Jocelyn Brissette, Ashley Buggy,  Demetr Christodoulides, Alex Ciampa, Talia Cutulle, Daniel Dailey, Emma Dailey, Alexandra de Heer, Christian Falzone, Garvin Gerard, Kassandra Julce, Jenelle Lareche, Ashley Martorana, Janai Matthews,  Ozem Onye-Franklin, Jesse Orton, Julia Passanisi, Catia Petrella, Christopher Poulos, Julia Powers, Brooke Proto, Stephen Smail, Gabriella Ssewankambo, Julia Thistle and Kelsey Vu

Grade Nine: Sara Calautti, Helen Chan, Rita Cook, Emmaline Dillon, Fabiola Falaise, Jamie Ferrari, Jordan Ferrari, Sean Flanagan, Kerri Foley, Meghan Foley, Mary Gallagher, Felicia Garbarino, Cassy Jean-Francois, Christian Kinnon, Jessica Lieu, Brandon Loesch, Colleen McGlynn, Aliza Merchant, Neissa Mondesir, Ser Morales-Villalobos, Ngosu Ndiwane, Amy Nguyen, Scott Nguyen, Gaetano Panza, Kerriann Pontbriand,  Jonathan Powell, Andrew Schofield, Makayla Selden, Cameron Sullivan, Vincent Tham, Colleen Tolete, Olivia Weber, and Aya Zeabi

Grade Ten: Tarek Alkedah, Ava Asai-Sarris, Alvin Buyinza, Tyler Cronin, Charif Elmoussaoui, Joseph Finn, Abigail Fisk, Nathan Gerard, Rachel Hynes, Emily Kelly, Christopher Le, Tony Le, Visakha Le-Nguyen, Cameron McKenna, Patrick McPherson, Sarah Mercurio, Ma Missbah el Idrissi, Nina Mirzakashani, Amy Nickerson, Katelyn Paz, Paulina Petras, Jessica Phinney, Devin Pierce, Shannon Roseen, Erica Sacramone, Isha Sharma, Camila Silva, Chloe Statho, Rico St. Paul, Chelsea Sutherland, Melinda Taylor, Andy Tran, Hildy Wen, Miles Wentzell and Wolfgang Wentzell.
 
Grade Eleven: Jonathan Ace Knight, Brittany Afonso, Maaya Alagappan, Saja Alani, Dylan Barrett, Anthony Bockley, Katherine Brown, Soraya Caballero, Sydney Carlino, Nicolette Cerundolo, David Chiccuarelli, Alexandria Cimetti, Joseph Dailey, Krystiana DiMaro, Jenna Dion, Ryan Foley, Meghan Grossi, Jonessa Guarino, Shirley He, Michael Hooley, Connie Lam, Jessica Lee, Raymond Leung, Brian Liang, Benjamin Lieu, Alexis Martino, Virginia Ng, Jonathan Powers, Allison Proto, Amanda Quintanilla, Justin Rizzo, Nicholas Saponaro, Elise Sheehan, Selma Sinanovic, Raphael Stigliano, Joseph Swain, Mohammad Taaha and Emily Williams

Grade Twelve:  Francine Alexandre, Amro Ali, Dino Bulic, Tyler Burnett, Domenic Ciampa, Elvent Chenh Tu, Jordan Cram, Siobhan Glynn, Marco Hanna, Ryan Hazel, Erin Kinnon, Jacqueline Lane, Elioukenda Limose, Rachel McGovern, Kathryn McPherson, Brandon Mei, Kayla Mei, Emily Moran, Ashley Pefine, Joanna Petras, Violet Sullivan, Marc Toomajian

Craig Turner Named Mystic Valley Head Football Coach

The Mystic Valley Regional Charter School recently announced that Craig Turner has been named the new varsity football coach. When making the announcement, Athletic Director, Marc Arria said that: “We are very happy that Craig is taking over the football program at Mystic Valley.  We feel that he has the ability to move the program in the right direction and create a successful atmosphere.” 
Turner is a native of Billerica. He was a 3 year Varsity football player at Billerica Memorial High School where he played for the Super Bowl Championship team in 1999. Turner was a 3 year starter on the offensive line at Nichols College from 2002 to 2004. He served as the Defensive Coordinator at Mystic Valley for the past 6 years and was the Offensive Coordinator the year before that.  He currently resides in Westford, MA with his wife Brittany.
When reached for comment on his new position, Coach Turner said: “I am honored and excited to become the new Head Football Coach at Mystic Valley Regional Charter School. I want to thank the Administration here at Mystic Valley for this tremendous opportunity. I’m excited to get started with the players, working to change the football culture here at Mystic Valley. We’ll be playing a much faster and up tempo style of football and I believe these changes will be something the players will enjoy and benefit from greatly. We play in a very competitive league and we look to add to that competition in the coming years. I can’t wait to get started.”

Mystic Valley Softball Opens Up at New Field

The Mystic Valley softball team became the first team to play an official game on the school’s new synthetic turf field on Friday.
Prior to the game, Jaci Goodwin from Mystic Valley’s Class of 2008 threw out the first pitch. Goodwin was one of the team members of the first Mystic Valley baseball Team before making the switch to softball. As a three season athlete, Jaci was the not only the team captain from 2007-2008, but also a two year MVP. While attending UMass Boston, Jaci played two seasons of basketball and four seasons of softball while working towards a degree in nursing. Jaci officially graduated in December is currently waiting deployment for the U.S. Air Force.
Once the game began freshman Bailey Chiccuarelli became the answer to the trivia question: who scored the first run on the new field, unfortunately for the Eagles that was one of the game’s few highlights as they lost to Greater Lowell 16-5. The girls will look to bounce back on Tuesday when they play host to Notre Dame of Tyngsboro at 4:00.

Mystic Valley Lacrosse Opens Field with a Win

The Mystic Valley lacrosse team picked up a win over Commonwealth Athletic Conference rival Minuteman on Monday. The game was the first lacrosse game played on Mystic Valley’s new athletic field.
The Eagles won the game13-7.  Mystic Valley was led by freshman midfielder Jayden Jean who had 6 goals and 1 assist on the day.  The Eagles held an 8-7 lead at halftime.  In the second half the defense shut down the visiting Mustangs and eighth grader, Jack Ryan heated up scoring three of his five goals during the second half.  Ryan finished the day with 5 goals and 2 assists.  Marc Toomajian chipped in with a goal and Cameron Sullivan recorded his first varsity goal as well.  Robbie Cummings, Charif Elmoussaoui, Wolfie Wentzel, Jeremiah Timothee and Brandon Kelso had great defensive games.  Trevor Bonaccorsi made 8 saves in the win.
Prior to the game the ceremonial first face off was performed by Mystic Valley alum Evan Dolber. Dolber graduated from Mystic Valley in 2011. He is Mystic Valley’s all time leading scorer in lacrosse. He is currently studying and playing lacrosse for Emmanuel College in Boston.