|
Come September,
West Roxbury High School will split into four smaller high schools, each
specializing in themes to help students progress past high school.
Superintendent Thomas W. Payzant and Boston
Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced the four new headmasters for the new schools
on Tuesday.
"Small is beautiful, but only if educators
take advantage of what small can do what big can not," said Payzant.
Menino said that the Boston Public High School
system will serve as a national model for high schools. Along with the West
Roxbury High School being divided into four smaller high schools, the Hyde
Park High School will also be split into three smaller schools.
Some people may recognize a new headmaster
or two. Edmund Donnelly, who will be the headmaster of the Brook Farm Business
and Service Career Academy, has been assistant headmaster at West Roxbury
High School since 1995.
Students at the Brook Farm will participate
in business- and service-career signature course offerings such as marketing,
economics, business technology, computer technology and social psychology.
Payzant added that students may also seek
a general curriculum, while the four smaller schools may offer more classes
or internships that pique certain students' interests.
Rasheed Hakim Meadows, the new headmaster
of the Urban Science Academy, was a member of the Governing Board at New
Boston Pilot Middle School.
"The Urban Science Academy allows students
to receive an authentic environmental science education where they can go
off to get an internship in Boston," said Meadows. "It is very
close to my heart since I was a science major in school."
Meadows added that the school will also focus
on the arts. The USA will have a music studio and offer a music technology
course.
In the active physics course, students will
participate in the Urban Ecology Institute's bio-acoustics project. The
school will also offer advanced placements classes in biology, calculus
and environmental science. Students may also get to choose from elective
courses in urban ecology, bio-ethics, environmental justice, outdoor education
and recreation and horticultural landscape design.
Barbara Ferrer will be the headmaster at the
new Parkway Academy of Technology and Health. Ferrer is completing a year-long
residency at the Economics and Business Academy in the Dorchester Education
Complex. Ferrer is a former deputy director of the Boston Public Health
Commission.
PATH has worked with collaborating organizations
to utilize local resources in service to student learning. Local organizations
such as the Boston Private Industry Council and the German Centre of West
Roxbury will provide technology and health-related internships, job placements
and job shadowing opportunities for students and professional development
for teachers. The COACH program will bring college students to PATH to assist
with post-secondary education planning, application preparation and financial
aid processes for students.
The fourth headmaster to be named was Sung-Joon
Pai, who will head up the Media Communications Technology High School. Pai
was a founding member of the Boston Arts Academy, where he has worked since
1998 in various positions.
Like the other newly named headmasters, Pai
was eager for school to start in September. Pai said that the program had
already existed in the high school since 1991, with some of the classes
already established. He added that the school has great equipment for the
school already.
The school will offer classes in computer
literacy, Web design and publishing, graphic design and visual arts, photography,
multimedia labs, and videography and television production.
Payzant added that students already enrolled
in both Hyde Park and West Roxbury high schools will be able to indicate
their preferences for the smaller schools for next fall. He added that not
all students may get their first preference.
David Ertischek can be reached at dertisch@cnc.com.
|
