Menino: Don't Let Candidates 'Tear This School System Down'

The outgoing Boston leader cautioned residents not to focus too much on the negative as the mayoral race heats up.

Mayor Tom Menino cautioned Boston residents not to focus on negative portrayals of the Boston Public School system as the city’s mayoral race heats up. Speaking at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new playground at Harvard-Kent Elementary School in Charlestown on May 10, Menino touted the progress public schools have made in recent years and asked residents not to allow anyone to “tear this school system down” in the coming months. “We’ve made a lot of progress in the Boston Public Schools in the last several years. It’s because of a lot of reasons—teachers, principals, the superintendent, the community—and I tell you, the graduation rate is up, dropout rates are down, more kids are going on to college,” Menino said. He spoke of how the …

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Boston Schools Superintendent Shares Tips for Talking with Kids about Marathon Bombing

Superintendent Carol R. Johnson sent out a letter to staff and student families on Tuesday.

In the aftermath of Monday’s Boston Marathon bombing, Boston Public Schools Superintendent Carol R. Johnson sent a letter to staff and families of students titled, “Talking with Children about Tragedies,” that was shared via the Warren-Prescott School newsletter on Tuesday morning. In the newsletter, Warren-Prescott Principal Michele Davis wrote: “Our sincere thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected by yesterday’s events. Our own Melissa Shea ran the Boston Marathon yesterday and her family was among the spectators. I am relieved to report that Melissa and her family are safe.” Davis asked that anyone with information about other Warren-Prescott families that may have been affected by the bombing to contact her at mdavis@boston…

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Mom Talk

Moms Talk: A Desert Still Thirsty for Schools

Even with the North End's promised new school, some Boston neighborhoods still won't have good access to Boston Public Schools: There's more work to be done.

Students from the Eliot K-8 Innovation School sat in an empty office building on March 14, waiting for the arrival of Mayor Thomas Menino and for the cameras to roll. Bouquets of colorful helium balloons livened up the space, which was also filling with expectant adults and news media assembling for an announcement: This North End waterfront building will become the city’s newest Boston Public School. The happy atmosphere was appropriate to an undeniably positive development for families in the northern reaches of Boston.  While the city says the new school should open in 2016 to serve about 500 children, Eliot students will be its first beneficiaries, with 585 Commercial Street serving as temporary classrooms during the Eliot’s expansion …

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North End Building to Become New School

The city will buy a building at 585 Commercial St. The building will become the fifth school in an area that encompasses the North End, the South End and Chinatown.

The North End will be home to another public school after a city purchase of a site formerly used by the Mitt Romney presidential campaign. The city of Boston will purchase the property at 585 Commercial St. and convert it to a K-8 school which will take students from the North End’s Eliot School, according to Boston.com Thursday. The building, which is subject to inspection by the Boston School Committee, will be used as a temporary school until Eliot is renovated. Once that project is completed, the 585 Commercial St. location, after renovation will be used for about 500 students in September 2016, according to Boston.com.

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Boston Schools Get New Student Assignment Policy

The new program will use a computer-generated list of six schools for parents to choose from based on a variety of factors.

The Boston School Committee adopted a new assignment policy that does away with a decades-old system at a landmark Wednesday night vote. The new policy will use a computer-generated algorithm to produce a list of six schools for parents to choose from based on distance to school, capacity and MCAS test scores, according to Boston.com. Four of the six schools listed will be of “medium to high quality,” Boston.com reports. The system will be implemented beginning in September 2014. “Tonight’s historic vote marks a new day for every child in the City of Boston,” said Mayor Thomas M. Menino. “A more predictable and equitable student assignment system that emphasizes quality and keeps our children close to home has been a long time coming for …

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Should Boston Schools Have Been Closed Today?

It snowed throughout the night making roads slick and dangerous, and many bus stops and sidewalks are still covered.

Boston Public Schools did not close school today despite the continued snowfall throughout the night and into this afternoon.  With sidewalks, streets, bus stops all being needing to be plowed, and with some not being plowed once - should Boston schools have been cancelled today? Boston Public School officials have already said they will forgive all absences today, according to WBZ's Beth Germano. Boston Public Schools posted that school was open today, and a message about buses, "Some school buses are delayed due to heavy traffic in the city. All of our school buses are on the road and will complete their scheduled routes this morning and afternoon. If you have school bus transportation questions, please call our Transportation Hotline at…

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Jan Paulsen

2:27 pm on Saturday, March 9, 2013

Yes, school should have been called off - How many inches of snow does it take to warrant a snow day? Blaming the lateness of the time for not calling school off is a lame excuse, Mr. Mayor. All it would have taken was a radio announcement and TV announcement and a posting on line. Those who saw it would have shared it with those who did not. As for saying that there would be problems about child…   more ›

Mom Talk

Moms Talk: Through a Teacher's Eyes

In a tribute to everyday kids and teachers, Amika Kemmler-Ernst takes her camera into Boston's classrooms to make images of kids hard at work.

“A student has to be a valedictorian – or bring a gun to school – in order to be considered newsworthy,” says Amika Kemmler-Ernst.  An educator for more than 40 years, she’s talking about our tendency to focus on either the great or the horrible, while paying less attention to everything in between. A teacher of children and a mentor to teachers, Dr. Kemmler-Ernst is now officially retired.  But in an ongoing visual ethnography project, she’s been visiting Boston Public Schools (BPS) and taking pictures of normal kids in action, learning at school. It’s a passion she’s indulged in throughout a career teaching in Brookline, Boston, around Africa, and in Italy.  Shelved at her Jamaica Plain home, bulging albums hold photos of kids at work, …

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With 40 Low Performing Schools, Is There Really Quality Choice for Boston Families?

Unfortunately, equity access to seats in quality schools will not fix the underlying issue which is that there are few quality schools overall.

Boston Schools Implementing New Single-Stream Recycling Program

Students set up the program during Green Week at eight schools,.

Boston students, teachers and administrators used National Green Week this month to set up single stream recycling in eight schools.  Single stream recycling means paper, glass, plastic and metal can all be recycled together. The items are then sorted at a recycling center, which makes it simpler for residents to collect recycle materials and avoids excess waste being sent to landfills. Through and extended day program offered by City Year, 322 students at the Blackstone, Hennigan, Holland, Marshall, Mattahunt, Orchard Gardens and Tobin schools will participate in Green Week lessons, activities and games to prepare them for successful single stream recycling at home and at school, according to Boston Public Schools. The curriculum was …

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Boston Public Schools CLOSED on Monday

Due to continued cleanup up of the fifth worst storm to hit Boston, public schools will be closed on Monday.

Boston Public Schools will be closed on Monday due to continued cleanup of one of the worst storms to hit Boston. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino tweeted on Sunday: "Boston Public Schools will be closed tomorrow, Monday, February 11. #bosnow" Menino also reminded Bostonians that the snow emergency parking ban remains in effect: "Our #1 priority today is getting to side streets.  Thank you for patience as we recover from 5th largest storm to ever hit Boston. #bosnow"

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