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Councilors back idea of $120-million high school for Mattapan
By adamg on Wed, 10/08/2014 - 2:57pm
Yancey, Linehan shake after Linehan tells Yancey he won't get a vote on proposal today.
Several city councilors said today they strongly back Councilor Charles Yancey's longstanding proposal to put a high school on a 20-acre parcel on the grounds of the former Boston State Hospital.
However, Council President Bill Linehan deferred any vote on the idea after several councilors also said that while they don't oppose the idea, they need more information on it. Among those: Mark Ciommo (Allston/Brighton), who chaired a hearing at the Mattapan public library just last night on the idea.
Yancey (Dorchester, Mattapan) said said 4,000 BPS high-school students are in substandard buildings and that not a single one is in a state-of-the-art building. Yancey has been fighting for a Mattapan high school since the 1990s, he said it's time to finally act, especially now that Tom Menino is no longer mayor. He
The Mattapan school, which would have space for 1,250 students, would let Boston kids compete with their counterparts in the suburbs, many of whom now attend classes in new buildings, he and Councilor Tito Jackson (Roxbury) said.
Councilor Tim McCarthy (Hyde Park, Roslindale, Mattapan), who supports the idea, asked: "Where else do we have 20 acres of land to build a campus-style school in the city of Boston?"
Councilor Frank Baker (Dorchester) and Michelle Wu (at large) said they support the basic idea, but could not vote for it today because they just don't know enough about it. Unlike Yancey, neither was on the city council in the 1990s. Baker said he wants to get buy-in from Mayor Walsh before he votes on the proposal.
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Comments
Campus High (Madison Park)
Campus High (Madison Park) worked out so well when it was state of the art. I'm sure this will do better!
Whats wrong with Madison Park
Whats wrong with Madison Park
Read some articles from
Read some articles from September. It took one of the students to start a protest, after going to school for almost a week without any class schedules, to finally get the ball rolling. I believe Adam reported in August that there were almost 60 staff positions vacant(forget how many exactly) , weeks before school was set to start. Incredibly mismanaged school. If those students did not advocate for themselves who knows if they'd even have schedules by now (or teachers).
Those are management issues
How is the physical plant?
And for that matter, don't people realize that the O'Bryant is also part of Campus High School? That poor school, arguably up to par with most ordinary suburban high schools, gets no respect.
They are management issues
You can have a great building, but what is the point, if it won't be managed well. I guess I just don't have a lot of faith in BPS.
Isn't the O'Bryant an exam school? The exams schools seem to be run much better than the others.
I'm on board
As long as the BPS ain't runnin' it.
Voters better make sure they
Voters better make sure they are retired before getting their self inflicted pay raise.
Based on the location...
IMO - It should be called Forest Hills HS
should be a STEM school focused on environmental sciences, ecology, and sustainability.
mascot would be the "Olmsted Elms" (you can do bad-ass designs with trees)
Biggest mistake would be to call it mattapan high.
sustainability?
Why not create a school that will teach kids "real" skills? That way they can compete in the job market once they graduate. Not every kid wants, or has the resources to get a PhD.
Madison Park?
Isn't this what Madison Park is supposed to be about?
http://www.madisonparkhs.org/
green tech is a growth industry
plus it relates to building science, infrastructure, transportation - etc… not many people out there who really understand these things - and they don't require advanced degrees. of course - don't listen to me because obviously since my work covers many of these issues (STEM, btw) - and we're having a lot of trouble finding qualified people with the right background - I have no idea what I'm talking about.
"real skills." right - that's just code for preparing kids for a pre-1990 fordist economy.
Both
From your comments and my experience (construction industry), it would seem that both need to be shored up.
Your world (STEM) is growing, and honestly the local colleges and universities offer a lot by way of interest and camps that would support the proposed formal educational needs offered by Mattipan High. The construction world is losing well trained employees quickly. Both career tracks are necessary for our future and a well rounded community.
It sounds like Mattipan would fill the need for a state of the art college prep facility that the BPSs currently lacks? But truly, Madison needs some love, too.
That already exists
You mean like Boston Green Academy in Brighton? Already exists.
Mattapan proud
I'm here in Mattapan right now, its a very nice place to live, Mattapan High will help change the youth by providing opportunity, guidance, inspiration and recreation. I support building the school here.
Compete?
"The Mattapan school, which would have space for 1,250 students, would let Boston kids compete with their counterparts in the suburbs"
Compete how? On what basis? There's no interscholastic newness league. You don't get a prize for going to the newest school. Will the toilet paper that is a BPS high school degree be on higher rag content at Mattapan High?
Nobody wants to send their kids to high school in Boston unless it's Latin. This will just be a newer school nobody wants to send their kids to - but now, with more isolation.
That said, I'm for it as long as they close and sell off two other high schools.
Yeah , that will work, mascot
Yeah , that will work, mascot a Simco hot dog . The other hospital still there , on River street ?
Uh no. This is not a good
Uh no. This is not a good idea for many of the reasons already shared and the fact that the # of BPS students are decreasing, not increasing. So so much is wrong with BPS high school. Why not fix what's broke instead of duplicating it. Madison Park is a great property with a lot of potential. Why would you want resources making MP the great vocational school it can be? A state of the art building will NOT make our kids competitive with the suburban kids!
Since the 1990s when I first heard of this idea, I have believed that Yancey wants this school so he can have a legacy for himself. He will probably convince one of his loyal fans to start a campaign to name the school after him. Mark my words, he doesn't do anything without a reward for himself.
COMING SOON!!!
The Charles C. Yancey Memorial High School
City Council is practiced at hiding how things work backstage
Boston City Council is practiced at hiding how things work backstage behind the scenes. The People are kept at too long an arms reach from public information at Boston City Council. Central Council Staff deflect enquiries. Councilors' Staff deflect. 100 or so Council Staff that have only fair skill with technology and software that would make for a more open interactive City Council.
The robust Archives of the Boston City Council Library are kept away from too many interested in learning more or researching the City.
Better and newer technologies and software can make Boston City Council more interactive than the relegating to Committees testimony offered by people. a) Transcript of Captions from webcasts of Public Meetings of Boston City Council and b) Stenograph Record of the Public Meetings are a good opportunity to read the remarks of Councilors. read the remarks of Officials testifying at the Public Meetings, and then comment on the remarks. It's 2014, there's a wealth of ideas that could be gathered.
The attitude at Boston City Council Offices needs change. It could begin with successful up to date challengers to the reelection of the relatively more out of date Council President Linehan and former Council President Murphy.
Don Saklad for City Council!
If I see your papers, I will sign them (with my real name) in a heart beat!
However, I will not be raising your bail money when you go to jail for publishing the debates of the City Council.
New high School in Mattapan.... seriously
I am sorry but a new school is not going to fix a thing. You can have all the resources in the world but if the teachers cannot teach due to a high contingency of kids that are not interested in learning it won't work. Generally in the burbs there is a higher concentration of involved parents thus it is okay to group together over a thousand kids. It is a recipe for disaster in the city to group over a thousand kids together. The high schools in Boston should be small, perhaps one, two or three per town based on the size. It is like beating an old hat but put the kids in walking distance to the school combined with smaller settings and suddenly you will have higher parent involvement, parents meeting other parents makes parents want to be sure that their kid is not causing problems, not too many problems and you create a learning environment. Everyone keeps ranting and raving about resources, many well educated people that have made a significant impact in the world had limited resources. I am 47 years old, have been born and raised in Jamaica Plain, I walked to my neighborhood school in kindergarten then was bused shortly afterwards, I have two kids (ages 7 and 11) and reside in JP. I keep holding my breath that something will change by the time they are high school age. I know Latin well enough and I know my older son well enough to know that he would definitely get in but would not thrive. He is not a four hour type of homework person. I know that I have no interest in any other Boston Public High Schools. And I can tell you if things don't change a shiny new building in Mattapan will just be added to the list of another Boston Public high school of no interest. It is almost laughable to even suggest to build this when none of the other schools work. A good example is Madison Park. Those kids showed up with no class schedules in place. It demonstrates, unfortunately, the lack of parents that advocate for their kids in Boston. Because if they had a high rate of parents involved every news agency in Boston would have picked it up on that "little" tidbit. I hope us Boston residents have a chance to vote for this. Because my vote would be a big fat NO. Reason really seems to go out the window when it comes to making decisions for Boston kids. It is pretty sad. However, as a lifelong resident of JP, this problem has been going on since I began school. So I really think that it will never ever be fixed. Too many chefs spoil the stew.