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Three more reasons I'm glad I don't have to worry about sending my kid to the Irving Middle School in Roslindale
By adamg on Wed, 04/02/2008 - 2:55pm
Jesus. This week's police blotter in the Roslindale Transcript has three separate reports from the school:
Four girls calling themselves Die to Kill were found beating up another girl.
The relatives of a student showed up at 7 a.m. to confront her harassers - who then promptly tried to beat up the relatives (unclear if the two incidents are related).
A girl, 13, was arrested after allegedly leading 30 other students into the cafeteria to beat up another student. Fortunately, police were already in the school because of "a recent increase of student fights at the school."
All this and a possible MCAS cheating scandal.
NOTE: The column also mentions a girl getting beaten up at Catholic Memorial and the West Roxbury Educational Complex fight at the Spring Street Dunkin' Donuts, but neither of those schools get into the blotter week after week.
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Comments
Lackaday
Several years ago, my second and third sons attended Irving for sixth grade. Due to Boston's stupid holding-tank for exam school system, those testing as brighter have to kill a year as some sort of hazing to prepare for the exam schools. Like most of this set of students, my boys were in advanced work at Irving and got good educations for their year while they were same. The teachers knew they had them for just a year and prepared them as best they could do be ready for one of the three schools.
Irving put them a cluster of classes in one end of one floor. Neither of boy experienced or saw violence. I, on the other hand, was in Virginia at that age, where I saw city boys and country boys slugging it out numerous times.
It's a shame. I knew and liked Principal Watson. There were very impressive teachers in the advanced work classes as well. I guess those days are gone, eh?
Advanced Work
Yeah, when we were looking at advanced work last year (granted, for fourth grade, which the Irving doesn't have), people at the Irving kept making a big point of how the classes were kept entirely separate from the rest of the population. Yeesh.
Now that the kidlet's school is K-8, we can bypass middle school altogether, even if she doesn't get into (or want to go to) an exam school.
Apropos Art
I may still have the big white button around here someplace that I got from our NYC bank, Irving Trust 30 years ago. In cheerful red letters (with a heart), it simply read IRVING LOVES YOU.
Even though they were huge and at One Wall Street, they went down too -- in a merger with Bank of New York. Can the Irving merge?
Time for some responsibility and accountability all 'round
If a student assaults another, arrest both kid and parents, and they can all sit it out in juvie jail until they can get hauled in front of a judge to explain why they can't control their demon spawn.
Maybe James Irving, the principal there, can answer some questions about why his school is completely out of control; his email address is [email protected], if anyone feels like asking him.
Or, perhaps Boston Public Schools can explain why James Irving's failures are acceptable and he's still employed. Or maybe they can clarify whether the situation is acceptable (or the norm) for Boston Public Schools.
Suspicious packages? Call out the national guard! The FBI! Transit Police! Tactical Response and SWAT!
Kids beating the shit out of each other at school? Oh, that's okay, kids will be kids.
Name
James Watson.
The problem isn't the
The problem isn't the school, it's the homes the kids come from.
appalling student behavior after school
I live on a street perpendicular to the Irving. I have contacted the principal repeatedly about the appalling student behavior I see every day when these kids leave school. They walk down my street fighting and shoving the whole way down, throwing each other into cars both moving and parked, trying to bend and snap car antennas.
The language and the volume are terrible, and I'm not even 30, so it's not like I'm some elderly "You kids get offa my lawn" resident.
The worst is trash day. They throw bins and recycle containers into the streets and at cars.
I have been in touch with the principal repeatedly about this behavior. I get the sense there is not much he can do, or is willing to do, about their actions once the bell has rung.
Needless to say, every afternoon, I glance out my front window making sure my car is stil intact.
videotape it and send it to the news stations
...and post it on youtube with the appropriate tags for good measure.
Call the police
Seriously. That's what they're there for. Just having a cop car present for the 10-15 minutes that they're leaving the school does wonders for behavioral problems.
My dad is a teacher at an inner city school elsewhere in the nation and they have cops stationed at the school to begin with. If that's the case here as well, then the cop on duty at the school needs to be alerted to the location of the problem so he can respond.
The Irving
The problem is it's a middle school and there are students who drive their own cars to school.
hedan
students don't drive their
students don't drive their own cars to school liar.
reality check please
do any of you watch the news and see the reports of bullying and disgusting behaviors happening in the suburban schools?? my god - it's everywhere...this isn't Jim Watson's fault...this is society...parents want to be kids' friends...they don't take the word of the school, they side with their kids...they don't hold their kids accountable...they don't have manners...so what are they modeling for kids?...this isn't a boston public schools issue or a jim watson issue or an urban issue...this is a serious lack of parenting skills issue