Nashoba Tech Partners With Nonprofit to Help Advanced Placement Students Succeed

Advanced Placement students at Nashoba Valley Technical High School will have the assistance of a nonprofit agency beginning this year to help them succeed in the high-level courses.

Nashoba Tech announced it is participating in Mass Insight Education’s AP STEM and English program beginning with the 2015-16 school year.

“The program encourages more students to take Advanced Placement classes in an effort to increase their confidence and acquire the academic skills they need to succeed in college,” according to a press release.

Nashoba Tech is the fourth vocational-technical high school to participate in the program. Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical High School in Charlton, Putnam Vocational-Technical Academy in Springfield, and Franklin County Technical School in Turners Falls are the other participating schools.

John Schneider, the director of the college-success campaign for MIE, called Nashoba Tech a “vanguard school.”

“There is a lot of interest among vocational-technical schools to expand and broaden their AP courses,” Schneider said in a statement, “but Nashoba Valley Tech is ahead of the curve in helping students excel in AP classes.”

Nashoba Tech AP teachers attended a weeklong training seminar at Bridgewater State University over the summer as part of the MIE program.

In a press release, Bill Toomey, an AP science teacher, said he attended a second week of training because the first was so helpful.

“This is an absolutely fabulous program,” Toomey said. “Our students are going to be so much better off from participating in this program.”

The following is an explanation of the program from a press release:

Mass Insight Education offers three Saturday study sessions this fall, and Nashoba Tech AP students will be expected to attend the sessions in the AP courses they are taking.

In addition, MIE, provides staff coaching year-round at member schools. MIE is funded through a combination of state grants, funds from the member school districts and private donations.

“It’s a really good example of a public-private partnership,” Schneider said.

Nashoba Tech has signed on with MIE for three years and will decide at that time whether to continue in the program.

Nashoba Tech offers Advanced Placement courses in American History, Biology, Calculus, English Language and Composition, Physics, and U.S. Government and Politics, and — new this year — Chemistry and Computer
Science.