Swampscott girls tennis won three times this week, extending their streak to 15 wins. The Swampscott Tides covered Monday’s game against Peabody Veteran’s Memorial High School, when the Big Blue won its eighth consecutive shutout victory. Tuesday and Wednesday ended up being shut outs as well.

“The goal is always going to be to have fun and feel good about what you’re doing,” said head coach Emily Cilley. “Being successful is pretty fun. It’s a little bit of extra drive for the girls to keep it going.”

The Big Blue boys basketball team will have a new coach this fall, as Paul Moran is stepping into the position following Jason Knowles announcement that he would be stepping down from the position in March.

“We want to strengthen the spirit of the school and the community,” said Moran. “People will be proud of the Big Blue basketball team, as they have been.”

The unified track team finished in third  in the Division 2 North sectional meet.

Also in student news, Swampscott High School junior Joey Blood is the newest member of the Poet Laureate Committee, discovering a passion for poetry almost by accident earlier this year. 

“Not many people know that I write poetry,” Blood said.  “I’m trying to write enough to get published this year. While I don’t write as much as I did at the start of junior year, I am still writing very regularly, and, as with anything, my skills have improved massively. I hope it will continue to improve in the future.”

In politics, the Swampscott Planning Board is considering a zoning amendment that would preserve commercial space on Humphrey Street on the first floor of mixed-use buildings. 

On Wednesday, residents met with representatives of the MBTA, the Department of Conservation and Recreation and MassDOT around transit improvements and signal infrastructure upgrades along the Lynnway. The project, which is being funded by a $20 million grant from the US Department of Transportation, is currently in the concept design phase, with construction estimated to start between 2028 and 2030.

At Thursday’s School Committee meeting it was announced that Swampscott’s students with disabilities are outperforming the state in most fields. Swampscott Public Schools Director of Student Services Martha Raymond gave a presentation on the current state of the district’s special education department, sharing that the state recently gave the Swampscott School District an 89% score and over 82% of students with disabilities in the district are graduating with a regular high school diploma.

Looking to the weekend and week ahead, the Heritage Festival is now on Saturday, along with a Touch a Truck event at the high school. The Swampscott Recreation Department is hosting its town wide yard sale Saturday, as the Swampscott Conservancy is hosting a migrating bird walk at the Marblehead Neck Wildlife Sanctuary.

Monday will also be the start of Town Meeting. Learn about the warrant in our story reviewing all 14 articles, as well as the Swampscott Tides look at what the tradition of Town Meeting means. The rulings on the town budget will potentially have an effect on higher taxes. It will also be Ryan Hale’s first meeting as the new town moderator. 

And looking further ahead, the Swampscott Tides is still looking for volunteers to canvas the town during the All Aboard door-to-door subscription drive campaign. Anyone who is interested in volunteering can reach out at allaboard@swampscotttides.org or use this form by May 18. Volunteers will receive a Swampscott Tides baseball cap and T-shirt.