Mountain on top as the new Fitchburg Public Schools 21st Century Administrator 

FITCHBURG – A familiar face has officially joined the Fitchburg Public Schools’ team.

Recently, Lauren Mountain – the former director for United Way Youth Venture of North Central Massachusetts – accepted the position as the full-time 21st Century Administrator to oversee afternoon and summer programming in the district.

“I'm thrilled to be taking on this opportunity, which is a new challenge for me, as well as a new role within the district that dedicates 100 percent of a single person to focus on afterschool and summer programming,” said Mountain, who started in her new role on Oct. 21. “I'm passionate about student choice and voice in learning, as well as having fun.”

Superintendent Jonathan Thompson and Assistant Superintendent Glenda Colón are excited with the addition of Mountain to the FPS team.

“We are thrilled to have Lauren Mountain join the Fitchburg Public School team as the 21st Century Afterschool Program Administrator,” said Thompson. “Lauren’s passion for nurturing young minds and creating a positive afterschool experience is exactly what our program needs. We look forward to seeing the impact she'll make as she guides and inspires the children in our community.”

Colón added: “With her extensive experience with our schools and families as our primary partner with Youth Venture, and her deep commitment to our community as a parent in Fitchburg Public Schools, Lauren brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to our afterschool and summer programs. Her understanding of our students’ needs and her collaborative spirit will be invaluable as we continue to enrich the educational experience for all our learners.”

Mountain worked at Mount Wachusett Community College for 11 years as the leader of the United Way Youth Venture program. Youth Venture works across the North Central Mass. region with young people in grades 2-12, helping them to make a difference in the community by designing their own youth-led and youth-created plan of action.

“I think this experience is particularly relevant to my new role because 21st Century programming aims to be high-quality, project-based learning with real-world applicability and high-academic rigor,” Mountain said. “There are already hundreds of Fitchburg students who have had Youth Venture experiences, and I'd love to build on that foundation.”

Mountain says her short-term goal for the 21st Century program is to ensure that student interests and needs are strongly reflected in structured after school learning activities, while recognizing that students and staff require a more lighthearted and relaxed approach to wind down from intensive school days. 

“Our time with students after school should be joyful and welcoming, and positively affect school-day attendance because students don't want to miss a minute,” Mountain said. “In the long-term, I'd like to increase our ability to serve more students so any family that wants their student to participate may do so. Right now, our biggest hurdle to reducing wait lists is funding.”

Out-of-school programming, which includes both time after the school day ends as well as summer programming, is important in providing more opportunities to practice learning in fun and practical ways. 

“A key benefit for students is also growing strong relationships with new friends in different grades and classrooms, as well as staff from the school,” Mountain said. “From personal experience in Fitchburg's after-school sites over the years, I've seen students who participate in afterschool and summer programming develop increased confidence that they belong in their school and feel comfortable with a wider group of peers and adults in the building. They know people in the school care about them deeply, will miss them if they are absent, want them to do well, and expect great things from them. Students truly blossom from all of this additional positive attention.