Wednesday, June 24, 2009
New Mozart playground!
The Mozart school is getting a new playground through Boston Schoolyard Initiative. It's really about time. This is one of our go-to playgrounds within walking distance, and even my 3-year-old realizes that the playground is kind of sadsack. He prefers to walk over to the Bates, where they have more space, better playground equipment, and a green circular path that serves as a racetrack for him.
We're very happy with this development.
Mayor Menino also announced that the Mendell would be among those getting an outdoor classroom.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
BPS getting public input for assignment zone changes for 2010
These changes will definitely affect my family as we go through the registration process for K1 next winter. I don't have a problem being put into a new zone. I like a lot of the schools that are in our neighborhood. I just really wonder how they're going to handle existing students that will suddenly be in a new zone. Will they have to switch schools right away? I hope parents will get more answers this time around.
The first presentation of the revised five-zone proposal is Wednesday, April 29 at the School Committee meeting (26 Court St., 6 p.m.). Then on May 26, Irving Middle School in Roslindale will host a community meeting. (Check the BPS website for meetings in other neighborhoods.) The school committee plans to vote on the zone proposal on June 24.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Budget hearing in JP tonight
There will be two more hearings downtown and in Roxbury, and then the School Committee is expectd to vote on the budget on March 25.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Popularity of West Zone schools by parents' lottery choices
Curley
Haynes EEC
Hernandez
Kilmer
Lyndon
Mission Hill
Young Achievers
The second quartile:
Hennigan
Ohrenberger
Third quartile:
Agazzis
Conley
Haley
Manning
Mozart
Sumner
West Zone ELC (I think this is in the 3rd quartile. It’s difficult to read.)
Fourth quartile:
Bates
Beethoven
Ellis
Hale
Kennedy
Mendell
Philbrick
Trotter
The map actually has the city divided into the proposed five-zone system if you prefer to look at schools that way. I still think in three zones.
There’s definitely a lot of data in here on the proposed vs. existing zones. The last page notes all of the outstanding issues associated with this plan, including grandfathering in existing students.
By the way, the superintendant’s meeting with Roslindale parents on K-8 options was postponed until Thursday, March 12th, 7:00 p.m. due to the snow. Judging by the above document, the five-zone system would increase Zone 5's proportion of K-8 schools over the three-zone system from 31% to 40%. Maybe they're taking the BTU school into account. The proportion of the zone’s middle schools would drop from 8% to 5%.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Proposed assignment zones to be revamped
Today, they covered Wednesday night’s meeting of the Boston School Committee. There, Superintendent Carol Johnson told the committee that the plan needed to be revamped because of the inequities and the lack of seats in some zones.
BPS does want to hear from parents about this issue. They have a survey on their website regarding the budget.
Roslindale parents, don’t forget about the meeting with Johnson on K-8 options at 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 2, at the Roslindale Community Center. I’m going to try to make it. Although the focus of the meeting isn’t on the proposed zone changes, I’m sure it will come up.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Haley not expecting to lay off teachers
Arts in Boston Public Schools
The report found that 70% of students in the district receive some sort of daily arts education, including art integrated into the core curriculum. It looks like West Roxbury/Jamaica Plain/Roslindale fall just under the district average.
Eleven percent of schools reported that their students receive no arts education. Students in K-5 and K-8 schools get the most exposure to the arts (e.g., dance, music, drama, folk arts, media arts and visual arts), followed by middle and high schools. Here is the percentage of BPS students who receive of weekly arts education:
- K-8: 81%
- K-5: 75%
- 6-8: 48%
I guess that’s one more in the plus category for trying to get into a K-8 school (as much as I loved many of the K-5 schools I visited). The report also found that smaller schools had a greater percentage of students regularly taking arts classes, compared with larger schools. But these larger schools offered more variety.
Making Music Matters gets a shout-out in the report (p. 20). It’s a partnership between the Ohrenberger, Beethoven, Mozart, and Washington Irving schools that teaches students the violin, clarinet, flute, or trumpet beginning in third grade.
The first page of the appendix has an alphabetical list of individual schools and the type and frequency of arts instruction offered. They’re not listed by zone, so you kind of have to wade through it. The Haynes EEC fares really well, with all of their students gets twice-weekly arts instruction.
This was very informative, but I worry that these numbers might change drastically in the coming year(s). Arts education always seems to be one of the things schools threaten to cut when the economy gets rough. As an example, listen to WBUR’s story on Belmont’s proposal to eliminate all after-school programs, including performing arts and non-varsity sports.