BeaconHill was a part of Gloucester until it was amalgamated with the new city of Ottawa.
BeaconHill is a primarily residential area, but includes the Robert O. Pickard water treatment plant, the National Research Council of Canada campus, and one major Ottawa high school, Colonel By.
The 'Hill' the name refers to is called 'Ski Hill' and is located behind the neighbourhood's Shoppers Drug Mart on La Verendrye Dr. 'Ski Hill' is generally referred to as 'Zeller's Hill' by residents who lived in the community prior the 1990s when a Zeller's department store occupied the BeaconHill Mall.
Gloucester High's 87.6 percent daily attendance rate last year was the second lowest -- behind Salem High's 86.2 percent -- among communities north of Boston, according to the state Department of Education.
Worried that Gloucester is sinking, a band of residents is banging down doors on BeaconHill, saying lopsided state funding formulas are largely behind the city's woes.
Gloucester has lost $1.3 million in state education aid since fiscal 2003, plus $496,857 in local aid since fiscal 2002, according to the Massachusetts Municipal Association.
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