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Students at West Roxbury high school will not go gentle into that good night
By adamg on Mon, 03/02/2015 - 11:15am
West Roxbury Academy students plan a protest outside City Hall tomorrow over BPS plans to shut their school and send them somewhere else in the system.
A T rider forwarded photos of fliers posted on the wall on the outbound Orange Line platform at State Street this morning calling for the protest between 4 and 6 p.m. outside City Hall.
Interim School Superintendent John McDonough last week put the school - which shares the old West Roxbury High School with the Urban Science Academy - on a list of schools to close at the end of this school year, because of a combination of low enrollment and low test scores as school officials try to figure out how to cut $40 million to $50 million from the school budget.
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Comments
CHEST pieces? Oh dear...
CHEST pieces? Oh dear...
This sounds like a job
...the BRA should be covering
No way...
That would make it 10x worst!
That "worst" and "worse"
That "worst" and "worse" thing is one of my pet peeves! Along with "loss" and "lost".
For all of you perpetrators:
Sorry for your LOSS = correct
Sorry for your LOST = incorrect
ARRRGGH!
Unless
You're talking to Cuse and Lindelof and trying to make them feel better about the reaction to Seasons 5 and 6
That's Horrible.
Negative messages
Yes -- students in city schools hear way too many negative messages all the time.... it can be very damaging. I am glad they are fighting back and pointing to the sense of community and pride they have in the school.
They were probably told that their test scores were low and therefore the school will be shut down, probably with at least an undertone of blame.
Mine is "lose" and "loose".
Mine is "lose" and "loose".
I don't see that often
What I do see all the time is "loose" used for "lose."
Evidence of school's failure
Even worse if a teacher proofread it first...
Its been my experience that
Its been my experience that most teachers in BPS do not edit grammatical errors. I have to to proofread my own children's papers personally. At first I was shocked with the stuff that was allowed to pass without being corrected. Now, I just expect it and make sure to point out and show them the correct tenses, spelling, etc.
Would you
say that if the school were in the suburbs? Poor spelling is all over the place.
Yeah I could just as easily
Yeah I could just as easily see this sort of writing coming out of Newton North.
Except they won't close Newton North...
...with its $200million price tag.
Because
Somebody actually wants their kid to go to Newton North
I am only speaking from my
I am only speaking from my experiences, which have been with BPS. Wouldn't doubt that there are suburban schools overlooking grammar as well.
"Chest Pieces"
And maybe THAT''S why they'e closing the school. Obviously nobody is learning anything.
Whats up with the
Communist/Marxist Fist?
Raised fist is far more universal than that
The raised fist as a sign of solidarity probably dates back to pre-history. You're right that one definitely sees it often used by political "big-C" collectivists, but a few minutes of googling turned up plenty of examples just here in America that clearly had little/nothing to do with that ideology per se - pre-colonial woodcuts depicting protests against the crown, crowds of women's rights marchers in the 1800s, civil rights marchers in the mid 20th century, Take-back-the-night posters, LGBT march posters, etc etc.
It's clearly a generalized symbol that represents coming together to oppose an established injustice.
Actually the background
is what makes it associated with Communism, not the first which i agree is rather universal.
The background is the flag of the Imperial Japanese Army
...unless I am mistaken.
Nah, it's a Dragonball Z
Nah, it's a Dragonball Z thing, they're going super saiyan
When I was 17 . . .
. . . I think it's possible I thought it was 'chest' and not chess.
Admirable effort, young person, and I think the clipart you selected is absolutely right for any protesting occasion!
Which symbol
The Schools mascot or the communist fist?
What is this game of 'Chest'?
Not sure what to say about this one.
Chest pieces?
School closing
due to low test scores.
Unwinnable
No, I don't think they can win. BPS population has shrunk by 15-20% over the last dozen years or so - and even a lot of that is only supported by adding virtually an entire class of Pre-K students which means we need to lose 20% of middle and high school capacity eventually unless there is a prediction of a huge influx of students. Given current demographics and the economic prospects for younger workers who might otherwise be inclined to have children, highly unlikely. Perhaps they can save their school - though I doubt it - it just means another will have to go. To be fair - especially for the high schoolers, it would be nice if they could phase it out over 4 years by not taking in Freshman classes - but I assume that's not very practical given the cost considerations.
KInd of too big and new...
... to shut down. Or will they open up a "new" school in the vacated space.
Could become K-8
The rumor is that it will eventually convert to a K-8 school. There is excess capacity in the high schools and not enough seats in the lower grades.
Maybe West Rox
could get its first in-district school!
Could get them sued
There is ample coverage for K-8 in the rest of the city. If they open up a "new" K-8 in West Roxbury, there is a groups of downtown parents that has been organizing for a new school the past couple of years. They've had some success getting the Eliot expanded, but their objective is to get something located more along the Charles (Fenway/Back Bay/Beacon Hill). It won't go over well if the budgets get allocated to West Roxbury where there are already several of Boston's better performing elementary schools.
Yeah, but...
I don't begrudge the Back Bay/Beacon Hill parents...they could definitely use a K-8 school to support that area. However, if the WR building is available and there are extra K-8 kids in the area, it would be silly to say no to that idea, simply because the Back Bay has been waiting longer.
Are you sure?
The city reported some 43,000 PK -8th graders to the state 12 years ago. In the 2014-15 school year they reported a little shy of 38,000. I know we closed a few schools 4-5 years ago - but not 10 (assuming about 500 kids per school). Where is your source for "not enough seats in the lower grades"? We have added over 1000 pre-K - but I included those in my numbers.
Artificial demand
Consider that demand for preschool "K1" seats is artificially inflated by parents who fear they can't get choice kindergarten seats if they don't play the K1 lottery and lock them up a year early.
If all the "good school" first grade seats weren't locked up years in advance, more parents would keep their little ones home.
The purpose of bureaucracy is to perpetuate and enlarge itself.
Or maybe people find pre-K to
Or maybe people find pre-K to be valuable? Where I grew up, most people did Pre-K. But then, we had full day kindergarten, too.
Counterpoint
Actually I want my kid to get a k1 seat to save $15000 in daycare costs next year. I don't think I'm alone in that view.
Yes, they should have had somebody proofread that first, but ...
As an allegedly educated adult who has made some similar and equally dumb mistakes right here on this very blog, I'd cut them some slack.
Maybe the "chest" was intended....
... to match the picture of the pirate? ;-}
Arrrrrr
"Arrrrr, the buried booty. Yo ho ho and a bottle of 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon."
What if they have a chest club?
LOL. I get the gist. The students think Boston Public School administration plays students and schools like pawns in their perpetual game of school closures, consolidation and reorganization.
If they have a plan, they should disclose it fully. If they don't, parents should demand one.
It's a positive sign there are students who care about their school and identify with it sufficiently that they plan to speak up and advocate for it. The kids get it. Someone is doing something right at the school.
It takes a lot of time and effort to stand up a new school.
We need a superintendent who values putting in the time and resources to make improve schools and one who is less quick to pull the plug and scatter everyone involved to the four winds.
School and "school"
It might be helpful to consider what is really happening here. No kids are being sent anywhere else. They'll be in the same seats in the same classrooms for the rest of their high school. What is being taken away is not the school, but the "school." Not the place, but just the name. It's an administrative savings to delete the redundant overhead. Instead of calling them students of West Roxbury Academy, they'll call them students of Urban Science Academy. The
pawnskids can continue being as poorly educated as before.what's really going on here
what's really going on here is that five schools are being closed because, for the second year in a row, there's $50-72$ million less than the year before in funding for BPS.
Where the students end up depends on where they want to go and where's there's room.
No, what's really going on here
Is taking care of business that's long overdue. BPS is about 8,000 students smaller than it was a dozen years ago and we've only closed a handful of schools. In the meantime we have massively and steadily increased the budget - and it will go up another 3-5% next year ($30-$50 million).
What's really going on here is that like so many other government systems, we can't seem to live within our means, even with healthy revenue increases there is always a demand for more (though never a definition of how much or what that will do for us). That goes for the state, the MBTA AND the city.
Don't come out here and spread lies about things you don't know or understand.
Except what are they rallying for?
"West Roxbury Academy" didn't exist before 2011 when the complex's four schools were condensed into two. Those four schools were all split out of West Roxbury High all the way back in the mid aughts of 2005. So, we're not exactly talking about a storied history here.
It's a 4-year school. So what are we talking about here? The seniors are the only ones who would have been there "from the beginning" of West Roxbury Academy.
What a joke the entire Boston
What a joke the entire Boston School Sytem is. Urban Science Academy-Really? what joke. putting fancy labels on these socalled schools will not change anything. It all starts at home and the school system become defunct way back in the 70's when busing started.
Quick: What do they teach at the science academy?
Do you have the slightest idea, or are you just upset they no longer have names like Girls Latin?
No
We need more..
Roosevelt High School
Kennedy Middle School
George Washington Elementary
At least we don't do what NYC does... PS1 PS10, PS102, PS223
the PSes in NYC do have names
the PSes in NYC do have names as well. Hell, they have a Denzel Washington Public School!
yeah
but most just refer it to by the PS number.. not the name.
"Excuse me, stewardess, but I speak Old Curmudgeon"
Allow me to translate:
"I don't know anything about this subject, but I'm going to randomly and vaguely bitch about the schools and share my dog-whistle complaint that it all started with those uppity blacks and browns."
Please, as someone
who went to that dump you're simply trying to pull the race card. The above commentor is absolutely correct. The only thing that has changed over the past 10 years is the name. Westie High, Urban Science who give a shit.
Obviously amending the schools name didn't result in improved test scores. Maybe they should have tried to implement something of substance.
Also, surprised no one has mentioned Matt O'Malley's $6.5m grounds project at Westie High, good thing the pupils will be around to use it. I mean neighborhood kids.
I always picture a vendor at a ball game
Yelling "Race card! Race card! Getcher race card right heah!"
It's not West Roxbury High School anymore and you seem not to realize that the there will still be a school in the building even if the West Roxbury Academy closing goes through.
Ya i know i went there
It went from 4 color coded houses, to 4 named schools (now 1). Similar to the 4 schools, if you were assigned a particulate house color you took class with kids from that house.
They gift wrapped a steaming pile of ______!
You know it's bad when even I
You know it's bad when even I can notice grammar mistakes.
Chest pieces?
Isn't that what knights wear?
Were you thinking codpieces?
- popular in medieval times.
These kids are showing
These kids are showing initiative in activist organizing to preserve their communities and education, yet uhub commenters just want to laugh at their spelling error.
Listen, spelling mistakes are not a good reason to dismiss these students' very real frustrations, nor is it any reason to think these kids are not intellectually capable (they have the wherewithal to arrange a protest after all).
Amen to that
Way to completely miss the point, uhubbers. Way to guarantee that if you ever get off your dead asses and have a legitimate concern about something, you'll have degraded the public dialogue to the point where no one listens to you.
"preserve their communities"
How many students to you think live in walking distance, 5?
"spelling mistakes are not a
"spelling mistakes are not a good reason to dismiss these students' very real frustrations, nor is it any reason to think these kids are not intellectually capable"
You are totally wrong about that. Have grammatical and spelling mistakes in a resume, guess what's going to happen? Your consideration for the job will be dismissed because you will be thought of as not intellectually capable.
Not a spelling error
Its an idiom use failure. Even google search knows enough to ask if you meant "chess pieces". Insisting on chest pieces yields chest tattoos. Using "worst" instead of "worse" is another non-spelling error. I just hate when people try to modify superlatives as in "very unique". So, no wonder kids confuse a relative adjective with a superlative.
The true irony is the kids complain that they are being blamed for the closure because their test scores suck. Obviously, they do suck!
Oh, and WTF, don't kids learn to play chess anymore? Its a great game that exercises concentration and thought also lost out to GTA (Grand Theft Auto) and other shooter games?
Sterna stuff
Maybe they're going to get tattoos of pirates?
Though perhaps the babybel cow would be a better choice.
So you would recommend kids
So you would recommend kids be more like you and sit at home posting on comment boards all day and night?
Mark, you'd love GTA
You run over people in your car and are rewarded for it.
Past tense
Another thing I have noticed is that nobody seems to learn tenses anymore. I frequently see signs like "please keep this door close" instead of "please keep this door closed". Using past tense seems to be a thing of the past.
Not past tense, actually
That's the past participle, widely used in passive constructions ("the door was closed by the wind") but here it's essentially transformed into an adjective ("a closed door"). It's an interesting process, actually, but quite difficult to explain to students (especially if they are not native speakers). More importantly, the pronunciation of "ed" endings is very difficult to hear. We don't really pronounce them clearly. That's one of many reasons why inexperienced writers often don't write them. I think they might be more likely to miss them when it's not the more clearly understood past form of the verb.
Full disclosure: the spelling, grammar, and usage errors everywhere drive me nuts, too, but I don't assume the writers are stupid or incapable, especially if they are young. And (putting on Old Fart hat), I sometimes decry a perceived decline in writing skills everywhere, too......but things change. Our means of communication -- written and otherwise -- have changed drastically. That's a big part of it.
Lost: one sense of humor
Your sense of humor seems to have been lost under a snowbank a while back. Maybe it will reappear in April along with some daffodils. Here's to hoping.
Three down, one to go
RIP Brook Farm Academy
RIP Media Communications Technology High School
RIP West Roxbury Academy
I guess the Urban Science is now on life-support!
High school
Gone are the days of going to school in your neighborhood this is sad
What year did you last wake up in?
Welcome to the 21st century! You do realize it's been 40 years now, right?
And what
has improved? NOTHING!
Proof?
There are good things happening in BPS, and not just at the exam schools.
Morons...
They can't even proof read their work, nor can they spell.
You spelled it wrong.
Is that a last name?
Senator/Representative Morans? :-)
Come on..
..don't tell me none of you have ever said "for all intensive purposes" or "mute point."
Grammatical errors don't mean a person is irremediably stupid.
love,
an ESL teacher
I agree.
I agree.
I was born here in Mass. and went to second grade in a different country. I learned to speak, read and write a new language and the subject material at the same time. I made mistakes, of course, but I learned the material. Math was the one subject where I didn't have to learn twice as much to learn the material.
Second grade is a good age for language acquisition. My brain was ready to absorb it and I had no inhibition such as embarrassment when I made mistakes. Honestly, if I stayed there, I don't know how good my grammar would be by the time I was in high school.
What's interesting about UHub commenters is that they've learned other peoples' grammar mistakes are unacceptable and a sign that if one has not learned grammar without making an error, it's unlikely you've mastered any subject.
Reading a lot is a good way to get a strong foundation for seventh and eighth grammar. Some ~38% of our kids are ESL.
It's not where you start, it's how far you go.
Spoken is one thing
And I accept that, since I do that all the time. Spoken language is much different than written language. Something is pronounced much different in Austin, TX than it is in Dublin, Ireland. Slang and whatnot is perfectly acceptable in common spoken language.
However, when you are creating a written work to drum up support for your education, get someone to proofread it. I have seen college application essays written by non-native English speakers with huge errors, and these were otherwise academically brilliant students. Thankfully, I was seeing these essays to proofread them.
If anything, we cannot teach these kids that it is okay to produce an end product as shoddy as this.
Also they should learn how to
Also they should learn how to objectively form a statement based on facts. "We're told that it's our fault the school is closing" is needlessly dramatic and open to interpretation. I know that the Common Core bullshit they're trying to throw into schools tells students as young as 1st graders to write persuasive arguments that appeal towards emotion rather than facts, but it's very important.