John A. Parker School

The Commissioner of Education has issued a four-point plan to improve academic acheivement at the struggling John A. Parker School in New Bedford.  The state declared Parker a "level five" school last year, one of only a handful of "chronically underperforming" schools in Mass...

Mass.  Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester says Supt. Dr. Pia Durkin will be the turnaround operator for the John A. Parker school in New Bedford.  Earlier this year, Parker School was declared chronically under-performing by the state, and has been designated a "level 5" school...

State Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester is now reviewing a long list of recommendations on ways to improve student acheivement at the Parker School in New Bedford.  A local stakeholers group, which included Supt. Dr. Pia Durkin, came up with the recommendations over a two month period, after the Parker School was designated a chronically underperforming or level five school.  ...

The John A. Parker School in New Bedford has been declared a level five school, meaning its chronically underperforming, and will be taken over by the state. Commissioner Mitchell Chester says while educators and students in the Parker School have been working hard, the school should be doing better. ...

State Education officials have reviewed the most recent MCAS scores from the struggling John A. Parker School in New Bedford, and they're not happy with the slow pace of academic progress at the so-called "level four" school. Superintendent Pia Durkin tells WBSM News, she expects the state will play a bigger role in the operation of the Parker School in the future...

Massachusetts education officials say while scores on standardized MCAS tests continue to improve, many of the state's high school graduates are not fully prepared for college level coursework. Gov. Deval Patrick's administration announced Wednesday that the percentages of 10th graders scoring proficient or higher on the MCAS exams were 91 percent in the English portion, 80 percent in mathematics