Superintendent maps out her first 100 days

Superintendent Carol Johnson presented the Boston School Committee with a preliminary entry plan for her first 100 days in office, spanning the end of August through the middle of January. The plan outlines her action steps for learning more about the district and prioritizing the work ahead, including plans to engage families and the community. In her first month on the job, Dr. Johnson already has visited 34 schools (almost one-quarter of the district's 144), and she emphasized the importance of school visits as part of her "listening and learning" tour. Pictured here, Dr. Johnson visits the Haynes Early Education Center to participate in JumpStart's "Read for the Record" campaign.

South Boston Class of '52 returns to high school

Members of the Class of 1952 from South Boston High School recently returned to the neighborhood for a nostalgic 55th reunion, featuring a guided tour of their alma mater. The alumni were welcomed back to the building by students and staff from Excel High School, one of three small high schools that now make up the South Boston Education Complex. Students, including members of the school's ROTC program, escorted the visitors through classrooms, the gymnasium, and the newly dedicated "Doc" Reid Library.

School Committee, Superintendent examine new dropout data

Superintendent Carol Johnson and former Superintendent Michael Contompasis presented a "Graduation for All" update to the School Committee last night, highlighting efforts to reduce the dropout rate and ensure that all BPS students earn a high school diploma. The report provided preliminary findings from an extensive study commissioned by the district in partnership with The Parthenon Group, the Gates Foundation and Jobs for the Future, about students who have dropped out, as well as risk factors to help predict and prevent other dropouts. Dr. Johnson and the School Committee announced that the district will conduct a community engagement campaign over the next several months to present the data to the community and host conversations about strategies to address this citywide challenge.

Nine BPS principals named Schott Fellows

Nine Boston Public Schools principals have been selected as Principal Fellows by the Schott Fellowship. The fellowship recognizes and supports principals as they strengthen early care and education for children in Boston. All nine lead schools that are expanding early childhood education offerings, and they will share their successes and learn from one another through the fellowship. The fellows began meeting this summer with a professional development institute coordinated by the National Association for Elementary School Principals and will continue to meet throughout the year.

Pictured here (click to enlarge), front row, left to right, Patricia Butler (BPS Dept. of Early Childhood), Vera Johnson (Mendell ES), Alenor Abdal-Kallaq (Mather ES), Nora Toney (Ellison Parks EES), Ben Russell (East Zone ELC); second row, Valerie Gumes (Haynes EEC), Sherry Brooks-Roberts (Lyndon K-8), Suzanne Federspiel (Kenny ES), Catherine Constant (Holmes ES); back row, Dr. Valora Washington (Executive Director, Schott Fellowship), Marice Diakite (P.J. Kennedy ES).

Timilty teacher appointed to national Advisory Council

Darren Wells, a Science teacher at the Timilty Middle School, has been appointed to the National Academies' Teacher Advisory Council, comprised of 12-15 elementary, middle and high school teachers from around the country. The academies serve as advisors to the National Research Council on science, engineering and medicine. In 2005, Mr. Wells won the Ambassadors in Education Award from the MetLife Foundation.

Chef raises the bar for BPS school lunches

Boston recently unveiled an ambitious new Healthy Meals Initiative to make school lunch more nutritious and delicious, with help from a professional chef. Kirk Conrad left a distinguished career in the private sector to cook full-time in the Umana and Frederick middle schools cafeterias. Mr. Conrad is also working closely with Food & Nutrition Services staff and cafeteria managers throughout the district to develop creative and healthy ways to prepare and present meals. Mayor Menino recently joined officials from BPS and the Boston Public Health Commission to announce the initiative at the Umana Middle School Academy. (Photo credit: Patricia McDonnell, Boston Globe)

Massachusetts receives major grant to expand AP offerings

Governor Deval Patrick recently joined other State and City officials to announce a $13.2 million grant to the Commonwealth over the next six years to provide more Massachusetts public school students with access to rigorous, college-preparatory coursework. Following a highly competitive application process, the Commonwealth and Boston non-profit Mass Insight Education and Research Institute secured one of the first-ever grants from the National Math and Science Initiative's (NMSI) Advanced Placement® training and incentive program.

In brief...

* Two BPS school leaders have been named recipients of the 2007 Henry L. Shattuck Public Service Awards from the Boston Municipal Research Bureau. Congratulations to Domenic Amara, principal of the Warren Prescott K-8 School, and Gerald Howland, former headmaster of Another Course to College. They will be honored along with six other City of Boston employees in a ceremony next month.

* With a grant from Very Special Arts (VSA) Massachusetts, third grade students at the Trotter Elementary School have created "sound poems." The children wrote poems in their Readers & Writers Workshops and then worked with VSA jazz musician Tony DuBlois, who is blind and autistic, to record the poems in their own voice. The poems will soon be on display at City Hall and are now posted on the web.

* Kim Rice, CIO of the Boston Public Schools, is interviewed in a special edition of Digital Directions, published by Education Week, about Boston's work in instructional technology.

* Bill Horwath, Staffing Director for the BPS Office of Human Resources, has been accepted into the Broad Residency for Urban Education. Bill joins seven other Broad Residents currently working in BPS. The program places talented early career executives from the private or civic sectors into two-year, full-time, paid positions at the top levels of urban school systems across the country.

Globe columnists highlights Boston school gems

Boston Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham recently wrote about the "surprising and too-well-kept secret that a growing number of the city's schools are inspiring cultish devotion among parents who just a few years ago might have shunned them." The column quotes parents who have chosen lesser-known Boston Public Schools over private and parochial schools for their strong academic and extra-curricular programs. It also hihglights Y/BPS, an innovative partnership among the Mayor's Office, school district, and Greater Boston YMCA, to encourage more families to consider BPS for their children's education.

First day of school in Boston

Today is the first day of the 2007-2008 school year in the Boston Public Schools. Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Superintendent Carol R. Johnson, School Committee Chair Elizabeth Reilinger, and former Superintendent Michael Contompasis visited three schools this morning to present students with new pencils and to greet families and staff. The slide show above features photos from the English High School in Jamaica Plain, Hernandez K-8 School in Roxbury, and the Eliot K-8 School in the North End.

Carol Johnson in the media spotlight

Dr. Carol Johnson spent the day yesterday introducing herself to members of the Boston media, conducting interviews with print, radio and television reporters about her educational philosophy and experience, as well as her entry plan for her first 90 days on the job as the new Superintendent of the Boston Public Schools. See stories in the Boston Globe and South End News, listen to audio on WBUR Radio and watch video clips on Fox 25, WBZ-TV 4, and New England Cable News. Pictured here, Dr. Johnson welcomes two new kindergarten students to the annual Countdown to Kindergarten celebration at the Boston Children's Museum. Click here for additional photos from the event.

It's almost back-to-school time!

On Thursday, September 6, the Boston Public Schools will welcome nearly 57,000 students and their families back to school for the 2007-2008 academic year. The BPS website features important information for parents, students and staff about the start of the school year, including the back-to-school hotline (617-635-9046), calendar, school hours, school bus safety tips, a video welcome message from the new Superintendent, events and activities hosted by Countdown to Kindergarten, and more. Have a great start to a wonderful school year ahead!

BPS welcomes nearly 500 new teachers

Nearly 500 teachers began their careers in the Boston Public Schools today, with the kickoff of the three-day New Teacher Institute at UMass Boston. The educators include teachers new to the profession, as well as veteran teachers coming to Boston from other school districts. Mayor Menino, School Committee Vice Chair Marchelle Raynor, Superintendent Contompasis, Boston Teachers Union President Richard Stutman and incoming Superintendent Carol Johnson welcomed the teachers in an opening ceremony. Watch video clips on New England Cable News and WBZ-TV. Photo of Dr. Johnson by Nathan Fried-Lipski, Boston Metro.

Boston teacher "blasts off" to Space Camp

Wilma Marrero-Crespo is well prepared to teach her students at the Lewenberg Middle School about space travel this year, thanks to her participation in a week-long astronaut adventure. Ms. Marrero-Crespo, a math, science and social studies teacher, was one of only three teachers from the Boston area to be selected for the Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy program, which sends teachers to space camp to help them engage students in math and science learning.

Ms. Marrero-Crespo was among 268 educators from 21 countries and 43 U.S. states who traveled to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama earlier this summer for a week packed with 50 hours of classroom, laboratory and field training. Teachers had the opportunity to participate in real-life astronaut training exercises, including a high-performance jet simulation, scenario-based space missions, land and water survival training, and a state-of-the-art flight dynamics programs.

ACC students study in Ghana

Six students from Another Course to College (ACC) recently returned from a two-week trip to Ghana, West Africa, as part of a cultural exchange program between ACC and the Achimota Secondary School, a boarding school in Ghana’s capitol city of Accra. The students, all members of the Class of 2008, spent two weeks immersed in the culture and history of Ghana, living with Ghanaian students in dormitories and attending classes at the school. The Boston students made day trips outside the city, met with U.S. embassy officials, visited museums and historic sites, and participated in workshops on traditional Ghanaian arts, crafts, music and dancing. They also had the opportunity to spend several nights living with Ghanaian host families. ACC teacher Bethany Wood, who was recently named a 2007 Boston Educator of the Year, spent a school year at Achimota as part of a Fulbright exchange, and organized the trip for her students. Pictured here, left to right, are ACC students in traditional Ghanaian dress: John Gilmore, Matt Ruggiero, Terah Jackson, Eliza Williams, Alanna Loring-Donahue and Dejon Rice.

Dorchester High School examined in new book

The former Dorchester High School is the subject of New Hope for Urban High Schools, a new book co-authored by Dr. Jack Leonard, Headmaster of Noonan Business Academy, and Dr. Lisa Gonsalves, Assistant Professor at the Graduate College of Education at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The authors provide a case study of the former Dorchester High School in the context of national and local history from 1945 to 2006, including the 2003 redesign of the building into three small schools. They offer lessons learned and recommendations for urban high school reform work. The book is available from Greenwood Publishing Group.

Pay tribute to Michael Contompasis

After 42 years of dedication and service to the families and staff of the Boston Public Schools, Michael Contompasis will step down later this month as Superintendent. Mike has been an integral part of the district for his entire life: as a student, teacher, Headmaster of Boston Latin School (classic archive photo pictured here), Cluster Leader, Director of Human Resources, Chief Operating Officer and Superintendent. Although Mike has had many roles, most of us know him best as mentor and friend. Please join us in thanking and congratulating Mike by posting a comment on www.tributestomike.com between now and October 31. The site is designed to gather memories, reflections, and words of thanks from friends, colleagues, students, and others whose lives have been enriched by "Mr. C."

Charlestown High students learn critical Arabic language skills

Arabic is the fourth most spoken language in world, with more than 200 million people speaking it as a first language. Students at Charlestown High School are preparing to become the next generation of translators and diplomats by learning the language in a popular new Arabic program during the summer and school year led by teachers Steven Berbeco and Lama Jarudi. Charlestown High is believed to be one of fewer than 20 public schools nationwide to offer Arabic language instruction. The school's website provides details and multimedia, and the program was featured on National Public Radio. Pictured here are student calligraphy projects on display at the summer academy graduation ceremony.

Arabic, along with Chinese, Hindi, Russian, and Farsi, was recently identified by the United States government as a "critical language," one which is vital to national security and economic interest and of which there are not enough speakers. The U.S. government has committed millions of dollars through its National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) to dramatically increasing the number of Americans learning these languages. Students who completed the five-week summer academy, which was funded through a STARTALK grant, received high school credit and a $500 college scholarship.

Gardner School and Harvard Business School team up for summer fun and learning

Students from the Thomas Gardner Extended Services School in Allston have been participating in a Summer Enrichment Program thanks to a unique partnership with the Harvard Business School. The program has engaged 115 students in kindergarten through grade five in learning literacy, math, science and social studies, as well as physical recreation and the arts. The students also have taken field trips to the Museum of Science and Franklin Park Zoo.

Manny Delcarmen donates $10,000 to Grew Elementary

Boston Public Schools alumnus and Hyde Park native Manny Delcarmen, relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, recently donated $10,000 to the Henry Grew Elementary School. The donation was generated through a fundraiser held by Mr. Delcarmen earlier this year through his “Bowlin’ Strikes for Schools” charity bowling tournament held at Ron’s Gourmet Ice Cream and Bowling in Hyde Park. The money will be used to supplement the Hyde Park school’s library and the school district’s athletics offerings. Mr. Delcarmen attended Boston Public Schools from Kindergarten all the way through graduation from West Roxbury High School in 2000. He made his major league debut in 2005. Pictured here, left to right: Red Sox mascot Wally, Superintendent Michael Contompasis, Grew Principal Ronald Jackson, Manny Delcarmen, Manny’s wife Ana Delcarmen, and from Hyde Park Cooperative Bank, President and Chief Operating Officer Carol McClintock and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Norman B. Williamson.