GLOUCESTER – Superintendent of Schools Ben Lummis is pleased to announce a grant from the Brace Cove Foundation to the Gloucester Public Schools (GPS) to fund a coordinator to lead the Birdseye-Hammond Science Center located at O’Maley Middle School. The $200,000 grant will provide funding over two years for a dedicated science center coordinator. 

Amy Donnelly, an accomplished science teacher at O’Maley Middle School, will step into the role of science center coordinator to oversee the expansion of the O’Maley Science Center as a resource to strengthen the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) instruction delivered to Gloucester Public Schools students in grades 3-8. 

“The Gloucester Public Schools thanks the Brace Cove Foundation for its generous support in awarding a grant that we feel will strengthen STEM education in the Gloucester Public Schools and build a pipeline of students eager to study and pursue careers in the science and engineering fields,” said Superintendent Ben Lummis.

The science center coordinator will strive to: 

● Take advantage of the O’Maley Science Center as an experiential science programming destination for GPS elementary school students through hands-on laboratory work directed by teachers with a deeper content knowledge in STEM.

● Strengthen local science community partnerships with organizations such as the Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute, Applied Materials, Maritime Gloucester, Ocean Alliance, New England Biolabs, Gorton’s Laboratories, Cell Signaling Technology, etc.

● Strengthen college and university partnerships by bringing on additional student teachers to work in the labs with GPS students.

About the O’Maley Science Center

For more than a decade, O’Maley Middle School has benefited from the Birdseye-Hammond Science Center in which students undertake STEM projects in a series of working laboratories. The Science Center features a wet lab, life sciences lab, design lab and tech room. 

About Brace Cove Foundation

Brace Cove Foundation was founded by Walter Herlihy and Nancy LeGendre in 2016 to provide grants to non-profit organizations in Cape Ann and surrounding communities to improve the quality of life in our community. See www.bracecove.org for more information.