Blackstone Valley

12:24 PM EDT on Monday, June 6, 2005

MONDAY

Woonsocket Middle School is New England's largest with 1,551 students and it is in crisis. Students here find a school with a history of failing scores, assaults, a revolving door in the principal's office, a plague of broken bathrooms and even an invasion of cockroaches.

TUESDAY

Donna Valentine has been the principal at Woonsocket Middle School since September and she's always on the move. After nearly 20 years in corporate positions at a retail chain, she runs this school like a consultant brought in to rescue a company from bankruptcy.

WEDNESDAY

Teachers, tired of coping with difficult conditions in a braid of buildings dating back before the Great Depression, are angry that their voices are not heard.

THURSDAY

The students, whose scores on statewide tests are far below those of their peers, complain that teachers pay so much attention to out-of-control classmates there is little room for learning.

FRIDAY

School Supt. Anthony D'Acchioli may be Woonsocket Middle School's biggest booster. He backs his freshman principal but notes that she's got her hands full trying to rein in a faculty accustomed to running the show.