Veterinary Clinic Opens at Nashoba Tech

WESTFORD, MA - The Angell at Nashoba veterinary clinic officially opened for business with a ribbon-cutting Tuesday, Feb. 2, at Nashoba Valley Technical High School.

The new clinic is a partnership between Nashoba Tech and MSPCA-Angell Aimal Medical Center, which will operate and staff the clinic. The clinic will allow Nashoba Tech to educate “the future leaders of the veterinary profession,” as Ann Marie Greenleaf, Angell Animal Medical Center’s chief of staff, said.

The clinic is located at the back of the school and offers free parking for clients during its business hours, Monday-Friday from 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Pet owners living in the Nashoba Tech district, which includes Westford, and who qualify financially can bring their animals for spay/neuter services, vaccinations and basic veterinary care.

Clients must present a photo ID and one of the following:

• Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program card.
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) card.
• Food Stamps/Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card.
• Spay and Neuter Assistance Program certificate.
• Proof that the client resides in public/subsidized housing.

The veterinary assisting program is welcoming freshman and sophomores this year and has five sophomores and 10 freshman who have joined the program, according to a press release. Those students will have the opportunity to watch surgical procedures and learn from professionals. Specifically, they will learn about handling and restraint, safety, anatomy and physiology, husbandry, breed differentials, disease humans can get from animals and more.

Outgoing Nashoba Tech Superintendent Judith Klimkiewicz had been thinking about starting a veterinary assisting program at NVTHS and, when driving by MSPCA-Angell West on Bear Hill Road in
Waltham one day, decided to go into the clinic and start the process.

“I’m very lucky I stopped by Angell Medical on Bear Hill Road that day,” Klimkiewicz told the crowd of school and local officials, students in the Veterinary Assisting program, and the architects and
developers of the clinic at the ribbon-cutting.

Greenleaf saw Klimkiewicz’s vision and jumped at the chance to get involved.

“When they asked if we were interested, we jumped right in and said, ‘Absolutely,’” she said, adding that they looked to a similar partnership between Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine and Worcester
Technical High School called Tufts at Tech. “This is a great opportunity, modeled after Tufts at Tech, which is the leader in creating this type of partnership,” she said, “and they’ve been very helpful in developing our program. We look forward to broadening our scope to include high-school students. There’s a real dearth of veterinary technicians, and these are the future leaders of the veterinary profession.”

Dr. Laurence Sawyer and Lisa Quinones, a certified veterinary technician, will staff the clinic at NVTHS, which Betsy Hensley, who has more than 20 years in the veterinary industry, will teach Nashoba Tech’s Veterinary Assisting program.

As part of the program, students will be able to watch surgical procedures and learn from professionals. Hensley said students will learn about handling and restraint, safety, anatomy and physiology, husbandry, breed differentials, disease humans can get from animals, and much more.

Sawyer called the new clinic “gorgeous and state-of-the-art.”

“They did a fantastic job building it,” she said of the space, which at one time held the now-defunct Upholstery program, and has been used for storage and by the school’s Drama Club for the past decade or so. “When I was interviewing for the position, it was like a big warehouse-type of space, so it was hard to envision it. But it’s phenomenal, and it will be a great teaching tool for the students here at Nashoba Tech.”

Nashoba Tech School Committee Chairwoman Jennifer Rhodes said the clinic and Veterinary Assisting program are exciting additions to the school.

“This is a great partnership,” she said. “It’s great for the community and great for the students. Everywhere I go, people are asking me about it, so there’s a lot of excitement in the community
for it, too.”

The phone number for the Angell at Nashoba clinic is 978-577-5992. Students are being accepted for the 2016-17 school year. Call 978-970-4611, ext. 1123.

Photos courtesy of Nashoba Valley Technical High School: 1) Cutting the ribbon at the grand opening of the new Angell at Nashoba veterinary clinic at Nashoba Valley Technical High School are Dr. Ann Marie Greenleaf, left, chief of staff at Angell Animal Medical Center, and Nashoba Tech Superintendent Judith Klimkiewicz, as officials and students in Nashoba Tech’s Veterinary Assisting program, look on. To the right of Klimkiewicz is state Sen. Eileen Donoghue.

2) Chatting at the grand opening of the new Angell at Nashoba veterinary clinic at Nashoba Valley Technical High School are, from left, Dr. Ann Marie Greenleaf, chief of staff for Angell Animal Medical Center, Nashoba Tech Superintendent Dr. Judith L. Klimkiewicz, state Sen. Eileen Donoghue, and David Hedison, executive director of the Chelmsford Housing Authority.