Superintendent announces personnel appointments

Superintendent Michael G. Contompasis has announced senior personnel appointments for the upcoming school year, including many principals and headmasters, as well as senior central office staff. Six of the 19 newly appointed principals and headmasters are graduates of the Boston Principal Fellowship, Boston's one-year principal certification program. Pictured here is Janet Palmer-Owens, former principal of the Samuel Mason Pilot Elementary School in Roxbury, who will become Acting Assistant Superintendent for Triad A.

Laura Bush Foundation supports Holmes library

The Laura Bush Foundation for America's Libraries recently awarded a $5,000 grant to the Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary School in Dorchester. The Holmes, one of only two schools in Massachusetts to receive a grant from the foundation, will use the funds to expand its collection of books, particularly books for young boys to engage them in reading. The Laura Bush Foundation awarded nearly $1.3 million to libraries around the country this year.

National awards for BPS communications work

The National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) recently presented honors for 14 communications tools produced by the Communications Office and other BPS departments. In its annual Publications and Electronic Media competition, NSPRA selected two publications for Awards of Excellence: the Boston Public Schools Career and College Guide (pictured here), published by the BPS Guidance Office, TERI College Access, and numerous community-based agencies; and The Boston Educator, a full-color newspaper sponsored by Comcast and produced in partnership with Grant Communications. Three other publications earned Awards of Merit, and five others received Honorable Mention. Many of these award-winning products are available for download on the BPS website.

Mayor honors students for academic excellence and school spirit

Mayor Thomas M. Menino continued a 23-year tradition of honoring students for their academic achievement and school spirit. Nearly 300 Boston Public Schools students earned Mayor's School Awards in three ceremonies at Faneuil Hall this spring. Mayor Menino began the program in 1985, when he was a district City Councilor, to recognize students in his home neighborhoods of Roslindale and Hyde Park, and expanded the program citywide when he became Mayor in 1993. Pictured here, from left to right, are School Committee Member Rev. Gregory Groover, Mayor Menino, Wing Yang Toon (Academic Award winner from the Edwards Middle School), School Committee Chair Elizabeth Reilinger, and Superintendent Michael Contompasis. A complete list of honorees is posted on the BPS website.

BPS Superintendents: yesterday, today, tomorrow

The Boston School Committee voted on June 27 to appoint Dr. Carol R. Johnson as the next Superintendent of the Boston Public Schools, ratifying a five-year contract through June 2012. Later that week, Dr. Johnson visited Boston to attend a ceremony naming the gymnasium of the Shelburne Community Center in Roxbury after longtime School Committee member and Shelburne founder Alfreda Harris. Pictured here at the event are former, present, and future Superintendents Thomas W. Payzant (left), Michael G. Contompasis (right), and Dr. Johnson (center).