Welcome back to the Monty Tech Community,

With the opening week of the 2025-2026 school year already behind us, I am thrilled to welcome all students, families, faculty and staff back to Monty Tech for, what I am sure will be, another wonderful school year at Monty Tech.

Before we look ahead to some of the major projects and objectives of our upcoming school year, I think that it is important to pause and reflect on some of the great accomplishments of 2024-2025.

To begin, the Monty Tech community, including teachers, students and industry partners, completed one of its largest renovation/construction efforts since our students and faculty built our veterinary science clinic as Monty Tech, in partnership with Fitchburg, Gardner and Narragansett Public Schools, opened the Montachusett Vocational Partnership (also known as MVP) Academy. Following 18 months of renovations of a former warehouse at 270 Westminster St. in Fitchburg, the MVP Academy held its Grand Opening on April 30, 2025. This facility will provide workforce training in carpentry, electrical and eventually plumbing to a variety of student groups including secondary students from the partnering districts as well as adult workers seeking a new career through the Career Technical Initiative and MASS Clean Energy Center. We look forward to our MVP Academy students arriving to start their school year on September 8^th.

Other highlights from 2024-25 include the Monty Tech Drama Club’s cast and production crew earning the Best Overall Production award at the TAMY Awards at Mount Wachusett Community College. We expanded the celebration of our students’ and staff’s heritage through our Multicultural Night in May. Graduating Senior Nicolette Favreau earned the bronze medal in Auto Collision at SkillsUSA Nationals, and rising Senior Kelsey Ikonen was named as a state officer, Secretary, for SkillsUSA Massachusetts. Overall, over 80 students from Monty Tech participated in the state SkillsUSA Competition in April, including McKenzie Manuel who was chosen to perform the National Anthem.

Following a full-year of instruction, our Practical Nurse Program saw 45 students receive their “pins” as they graduated and entered the world of health care. Similarly, all 17 of the seniors in Health Occupations passed the Medical Assisting Exam. During the holidays, cadets from our amazing Marine Corps JROTC program participated in a welcome ceremony for the Wreaths Across America convoy. Earlier in the fall, the cadets raised $25,000 through their annual march which was donated to our wonderful community partners at NEADS. In addition, our various construction programs were proud to, once again, gift a new home to a deserving family through our work with Habit for Humanity. Of course, these are just some of the amazing accomplishments of our Monty Tech community members.

Looking ahead, 2025-2026 will be another very busy year. Throughout the year, the entire community will be collaborating as Monty Tech prepares for its decennial accreditation process with the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) which will culminate with a visitation team coming to campus in early 2026. As part of that work, our faculty and staff will be working to develop what is known as The Vision of the Learner. This effort involves determining the traits and characteristics that the Monty Tech community feels are essential for all students to demonstrate as they progress to Graduation. In addition, I will be working with our administrative team to explore opportunities to expand our programs through a variety of state grant programs that will support the development or lease of property that will allow Monty Tech to add a new training program. We will also consider plans to renovate our primary athletic facilities at the football field and track. Lastly, with a number of legislative efforts being passed that affect schools across the Commonwealth, Monty Tech will be developing a new competency determination for graduation, implementing a new admissions process that utilizes a lottery system to select students for enrollment at Monty Tech, and exploring new policies related to the use of Artificial Intelligence and cell phones in schools.

These are just a sample of the initiatives that Monty Tech will be focused on during the upcoming year, and I can assure everyone that our entire faculty and staff are committed to providing the optimum vocational learning environment that will allow our students to pursue whatever post-graduate pathway they choose.

As we leap into the 2025-26 academic year, I wish all members across our school community success and joy throughout the year.

Best Regards,

Tom Browne, Superintendent-Director

Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School District