On the school lunch menu: locally-grown corn on the cob

Students at the South Boston Education Complex enjoyed a rare treat in the cafeteria yesterday: fresh corn on the cob. To celebrate Massachusetts Harvest for Students Week, students helped organize a special lunch featuring fresh corn from Lanni Farms in Lunenberg, MA. Students also put their knowledge about our nation’s top crop to the test in a trivia contest all about corn. The lunch kicked off "Fresh Start Together," a pilot farm-to-school program designed to introduce local produce to students at ten Boston Public Schools that will feature a different locally grown fresh vegetable or fruit each month.

Boston continues improvement in MCAS Math

Boston Public Schools students continue to make significant progress in Mathematics, according to new MCAS results released yesterday. In almost every grade tested, Boston students made gains comparable to or greater than improvements statewide. However, like school districts throughout Massachusetts, Boston’s English Language Arts (ELA) scores remained flat or declined in most grades. Boston students continued to make some of the greatest improvements at the high school level, with performance in both Math and ELA outpacing State gains. Two Boston high schools -- Brighton High School and Madison Park Technical Vocational High School -- made double-digit gains in percentages of students scoring at the "proficient" level or higher. See coverage in the Boston Herald.

Have you visited the new BPS website?

Boston Public Schools started a brand-new school year with a brand-new website!

It offers many new and improved features, including:

• updated, dynamic content about schools and major education initiatives;

• “Welcome” pages in eight languages, with translations of publications;

• podcasts, video library and other digital media content;

• redesigned “Careers” section for on-line recruiting and hiring;

• new “School Choice” section for school selection and registration;

• email notification systems; and

• improved search capabilities.

Visit www.bostonpublicschools.org to test drive the new model. Then you can take a short survey to provide feedback and be entered into a drawing to win a $50 Target gift card.

Three schools vie for "School on the Move" Prize

Three Boston Public Schools have been named finalists for the annual Thomas W. Payzant "School on the Move" Prize: Rafael Hernandez K-8 School, Samuel W. Mason Pilot Elementary School, and F. Lyman Winship Elementary School. EdVestors will announce the winner of the $100,000 prize at its annual gala on October 17. Read about previous winners: Sarah Greenwood K-8 School and Excel High School.

UPDATE: Congratulations to the 2008 winner, the Mason Elementary School!

Harvard Letter highlights BPS principal leadership

The current issue of the Harvard Letter features profiles of five former BPS principals who successfully led school transformation efforts. "Creating a Culture of Reciprocal Accountability" describes how these new school leaders engaged their faculty and students to institute change.

Four at BLS named National Merit semi-finalists

Four seniors at Boston Latin School have been named semi-finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program: Juncheng Dong, Paul E. Kreiner, Yukun Li, and Hannah S. Mogul-Adlin. Students are selected based on their PSAT and SAT scores, academic record, letters of recommendation, and personal essays. They will compete with approximately 16,000 students from across the country for college scholarships.

O'Bryant graduates are ready for MIT

Bruno Piazzarolo (left) and Alban Cobi, 2008 graduates of the John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics and Science, are beginning their freshman year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). They are featured in the MIT News section of the university's website.

Back-to-school in Boston!

Students in grades 1-12 begin a new school year today in the Boston Public Schools. (Kindergarten students begin on Monday.) Pictured here, principal Deb Socia (left) welcomes students back to the Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School in Dorchester. For more back-to-school information, visit the new BPS website.

A new beginning for the Burke High School

Teachers and other staff returned yesterday to the new Jeremiah E. Burke High School after a two-year, $50 million renovation. See coverage on New England Cable News and in the Boston Globe.