Beverly and Gloucester are among three North Shore districts grappling with teacher strikes, but their teachers were the first to hit the picket lines last Friday; the other district is Marblehead, where teachers began striking Tuesday and now face the possibility of fines in the coming days.

District officials in all three towns sent an email home to parents around 6 p.m. that schools across the Gloucester, Marblehead, and Beverly districts will be closed on Thursday4. After-school activities will also be canceled.

Beverly and Gloucester teachers’ unions were ordered to pay $50,000 fine Wednesday as contentious negotiations continue and their strike heads into its fourth school day Thursday. An Essex Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday that the union must pay $50,

The Marblehead High School football team is supposed to play in the Division 4 quarterfinals on Thursday, but because of the teachers strike, the acting superintendent has called off games and extracurricular activities.

Teachers in two of the three striking North Shore school districts are set to face fines if they don’t stop their strike by 6:00 p.m. Wednesday evening, a judge has ruled.

For the third straight day, classes for both Gloucester and Marblehead students will be canceled as the teachers union and city officials failed to reach a contract agreement. District officials in both towns sent an email home to parents around 6 p.