Hastings School Playground Games Getting New Life

 The Hastings Elementary School blacktop's hopscotch diagram is fading away.

Some Westborough High School students with paint brushes will refresh  this and other playground games behind the school next week.

The WHS student volunteers will paint on the playground, and work on other projects at the school, from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Hastings Principal Leigh Becker said.

Hastings Guidance Counselor Chiara Doretti will work with the students, whom WHS Athletic Director Johanna DiCarlo is organizing to volunteer in the community, Becker said.

A group painted the games years ago, Becker said.

"They're very faded now. So, one thing that the volunteers will be doing is refreshing the paint, but also adding some new games," said Becker, who starts her third year as Hastings principal.

Westborough's first day of school is Aug. 28.

Becker said she has spent the summer hiring new staff to fill vacancies and address enrollment needs.

"We just hired a new first grade teacher. We had an increase in enrollment in grade one this year," she said.

Hastings will have five first-grade classes, up from four, she said. Last year's first grade had 78 students. This year, there are "92 and counting," Becker said.

Kindergarten enrollment is in the high 80s, close to last year, she said. And third grade is around 76, compared to nearly 100 last year. As a result, there will be four third grade classes this year, down one. Second grade, meanwhile, remains steady: last year, about 76; this year, about 78.

A diversity council is among the other new things at Hastings this year.

Becker said there are "over 30 different languages spoken in the Hastings community."

Hastings again will  host a multicultural fair in which "different areas of the school represent different areas of the world," she said. The event is held every other year, typically in March, and run by parent volunteers.

"It's just a celebration of all the different cultures that are represented here at Hastings," Becker said.

The diversity council will drive the event this time, and also do "monthly exhibits in the library," she said.