Week in Review: Aug. 23-29

A busy week for Melrose Public Schools as school starts this week. Melrose students start returning to school on Tuesday, Aug. 31, so Melrose Patch caught up with the school principals to welcome back the students and offer a preview of what's coming up this school year. 

The Melrose School Committee is looking for urgency from Superintendent Joe Casey in tackling the district's educational problems, according to the committee's superintendent evaluation. The committee also took a second vote on a new field trip policy.

Melrose Public Schools are slated to receive nearly $400,000 of the $204 million in federal Education Jobs Fund money designated to the state, Gov. Deval Patrick announced, while the school district could also receive approximately $130K from the $250 million the state expects to receive through a Race to the Top grant award.

Families of Melrose High School and Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School students will no longer have access to school parking lots in the morning and evening on school days and, instead, drop and pick up students on side streets. Melrose Patch sports editor also stressed the importance of good nutrition during the school year. Also, this fall will mark the inaugural school year for the middle school athletics program that will be run through the Melrose Recreation Department.

In business news, Sally Frank's Farmers Market kicked off its Friday night market at the First United Methodist Church on Main Street, while the Melrose Y showed off the new enrichment classes and family events available at the Y this fall at a sneak preview on Friday. The Melrose Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) voted unanimously to grant a continuance to the owners of the Dunkin' Donuts at 470 Lynn Fells Parkway, who are seeking to add a drive-thru window to the store.

In police and fire news, Melrose Police detectives executed a search warrant at a Lynde Street home and arrested a man for possession of a Class B drug and a West Emerson Street resident was assaulted in his home after stepping out of the shower by a person wielding a tire iron. 

In the arts, ballroom dancing took over the hardwood floor at Memorial Hall as professional and amateur dancers competed in the New England Dancesport Classic. More dancing took place at Memorial Hall the night before, when "Dancing with the Realtors" was held to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Lowell. Also, volunteers helped Mayor Rob Dolan film Melrose's entry into a statewide "Mayor's Art Challenge."

As the state primary nears, Democratic state Senate candidates Michael Day and Katherine Clark answered questions on taxes, local aid and education standards.