Schools
Schools
After year, college prep bears fruit at Federated
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Federated Dorchester Neighborhood Houses' new focus on shepherding Dot's youth onto the college track is bearing fruit, says director Mark Culliton. In what was once called FDNH's GED program - but now is referred to as college prep 0 14 former high school dropouts have entered college.
"I always wanted to go to college, but I didn't want to go to high school," said 19-year-old Jazmen Huggins, a Dorchester resident and former Charlestown High School student who took FDNH's program from July to August this year. "It was like an epidemic at school, everybody was dropping out." Read more
Revamped Catholic schools get set for first day
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On Tuesday morning at nine, teachers, administrators and clergy of the Pope John Paul II Academy gathered at St. Mark's Church on Dorchester Avenue to celebrate a new school year, and what they term a new beginning for Catholic education in urban centers across the United States. Read more
Starting the school year off on a fun note
Aug. 27, 2008
As the start of the new school year quickly approaches, there are many new and exciting developments in the Boston Public Schools that children and families will certainly notice by the time the first bell rings. I have had the distinct pleasure of getting a sneak preview of some of these improvements happening city-wide that will better the education and experience of our children returning to or starting school this year. I am particularly excited by two major school renovations that were made possible through capital budget funding. Read more
Drop-out bill establishes commission
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Gov. Deval Patrick last week signed a bill aimed at reducing the school drop-out rate by setting up a commission to look into the problem. The bill (S 2766) was shepherded through the Legislature by Dorchester's state Rep. Marie St. Fleur.
Boston has a 40 percent drop-out rate, according to Lew Finfer, executive director of the Massachusetts Communication Action Network. Dropouts also earn $465,000 less in their lifetime than high school graduates. Read more
Drop-out bill establishes commission
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Gov. Deval Patrick last week signed a bill aimed at reducing the school drop-out rate by setting up a commission to look into the problem. The bill (S 2766) was shepherded through the Legislature by Dorchester's state Rep. Marie St. Fleur.
Boston has a 40 percent drop-out rate, according to Lew Finfer, executive director of the Massachusetts Communication Action Network. Dropouts also earn $465,000 less in their lifetime than high school graduates. Read more
At St. Peter's, high anxiety about future
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As rumor mills go, St. Peter's Parish is no different than any other in this age of church closings and parochial school consolidations. So when the 7:30 mass was taken off the weekly schedule, and the church bulletin called the faithful together for a meeting this Monday - mere weeks after the final graduating class left St. Peter's clutching diplomas and shedding tears -the wildfire rumor that the 164-year-old church's days were also numbered was inevitable. Read more
Leadership changes ahead for Dorchester Education Complex
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As the school year draws to a close, the three schools that make up the Dorchester Education Complex are all on the brink of leadership changes.
The complex on Dunbar Avenue, which houses the Edward G. Noonan Business Academy, the Academy of Public Service, and TechBoston Academy, will have two new headmasters come September and a third the following year. Robert Belle, the complex's chief administrative officer, said that the future holds a lot of potential for these young schools, created in 2002 and 2003. Read more
In Dot speech, Patrick pushes ed reform plan
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Employing Dorchester as a backdrop, Gov. Deval Patrick this week officially unveiled his highly-anticipated education reform effort, dubbed the Readiness Project.
The raft of proposals - full-day kindergarten and universal pre-kindergarten, a "portfolio" on each individual child, a statewide teacher contract, merged school districts, and free community college, among others - are aimed at taking Massachusetts out of what Patrick aides say is a 20th-century education system for low-skill, low-knowledge workers. Read more
St. Kevin's grads and alums share farewell Mass
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At St. Kevin's School, the final day was celebrated with a special mass for the school. Tears and laughter and plenty of song carried off the students inside the chapel on Columbia Road.
Fr. Tim Kearney, a former St. Kevin's seventh-grade teacher, celebrated the Friday morning service. Thirteen Sisters of Charity, the order that ran the school, were in attendance, most former faculty members. Alumni crowded the back pews behind the students, and afterward re-introduced themselves to their former teachers. There were fond memories and hopes for the future. Read more
Class is out at St. Peter's School
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St. Peter's School had their last day of school ever last Friday, ending 110 years of Catholic education on Bowdoin Street.
At the last graduation ceremony Thursday night, some parents said they hadn't found new schools for their children yet, others confirmed enrollment in the new Pope John Paul II Academy, but all lamented the decision to close the school, a bright spot in a poor neighborhood racked with gang violence and a high concentration of foreclosures. Read more
