NorthEndWaterfront.com
News & Views for Boston's North End & Waterfront Community
Some Boston Public Schools are effective and beloved by their students and those students’ parents. They are coveted but oversubscribed, so it is hard to get your child into one. The Eliot in the North End and Charlestown’s Warren/Prescott are good examples. The Hurley School in the South End is also an effective, coveted school. [...]
As part of a $1.8 billion FY 14-18 capital plan announced on Friday, Mayor Thomas M. Menino designated $18.6 million for the expansion of the North End’s Eliot School. In addition, the plan includes $20.5 million for 585 Commercial Street, the building that will serve as a new downtown Boston K-8 public school starting in [...]
We recently profiled “Eliot School Mom” and Charlestown resident, Elena Barbera, about how she was climbing Bunker Hill Monument for a month to raise money for the 14 victims of the Boston Marathon attacks who are now amputees. Friday’s New York Times features Elena and her efforts: Elena Barbera, a writer who has lived in [...]
Boston.com and Boston University student reporter, Kiera Blessing, takes us through the “hopscotch” plan for the North End’s K-8 students as the Eliot K-8 Innovation School expands into the North Bennet Street School properties and a new K-8 school is 585 Commercial Street is brought to life. A giant game of musical chairs is only [...]
Elena Barbara has started a “climbing Bunker Hill Monument campaign” to raise money for the 14 victims of the Boston Marathon attacks who are now amputees. To reach the top of the monument takes 294 steps. Her goal is to raise $1 per step, for a total of $8,820. Elena is an “Eliot School Mom” [...]
This year, The Eliot K-8 Innovation School is celebrating the 300th anniversary of its founding and as part of the celebration the Eliot Family Council will hold its fourth annual fund Spring Fling Gala Auction on Friday, June 7, 2013 at the Fairmont Battery Wharf Hotel. The school has made incredible achievements in the past [...]
The newly formed non-profit, The Boston String Academy, visited both St. John School, and the K-8 Eliot Innovation School this week. Forty-five 1st and 2nd graders at St. John School, and forty-seven 2nd and 4th graders at the Eliot were treated to an interactive instrument demonstration and performance with violin instructors Marielisa and Mariesther Alverez, and [...]
As part of an anti-bullying program, students at the Eliot K-8 School in the North End heard from Harlem Globetrotter stars Bucket Blakes and TNT Maddox along with Nate Solder, left tackle for the New England Patriots. At the visit to the school last week, the celebrities demonstrated the ABC’s of Bullying Prevention – Action, [...]
The Eliot School Daisy Girl Scout troop spent Thursday afternoon on the Prado with RUFF, Responsible Urbanites for Fido. North End dog owners, Sarah, Holly & David, stopped by to teach the girls about the responsibilities that come with owning a dog in the city. The Eliot School Daisy Girl Scouts are led by North [...]
A friend recently commented that she thought the Eliot School was in trouble under the new school assignment plan, approved by the Boston School Committee last week. And she made it very clear that a lot of other parents feel the same way. I was surprised at that reaction. But I shouldn’t have been – [...]
It was a celebratory mood at Friday’s official announcement by Mayor Tom Menino that the City of Boston is acquiring the North End / Waterfront property at 585 Commercial Street to be renovated for a new K-8 public school in Downtown Boston. Since the news initially came out, it was disclosed that the City’s purchase [...]
News on the development of 585 Commercial Street has taken a serious turn toward the benefit of Downtown Boston families as the City of Boston is close to acquiring the property for a new K-8 public school, according to people close to the situation. The new school is expected to open in 2016 and serve [...]
The Mayor’s External Advisory Committee on Student Assignment has recommended the “no zone” Home-Based/A school choice plan that creates a list of schools for each student based on his or her family’s home address. In this model, each student has at least six choices based on school quality. Read more on how Home-Based/A works. Eliot School [...]
The new State Secretary of Education, Matt Malone, visited the BEST public school in Boston ~ the Eliot K-8 Innovation School! Secretary Malone came to visit the Eliot because it is one of the newest Innovation Schools in the State of Massachusetts. In addition, the Eliot is one of 4 schools in the state of [...]
Skate Date 2013 featured a fundraising event by the North End Athletic Association and North End Against Drugs during free public skating at Steriti Rink on Commercial Street. Families and friends enjoyed a day of skating fun while several neighborhood groups set up informational tables and a bocce tournament. The Nazzaro Center Band played during [...]
The Eliot K-8 Innovation School has a new website at www.eliotK8school.org. The site was created by the Eliot School Family Council to help centralize school information including classroom micro-sites accessible by parents. The Charter Street school is in the midst of a phased expansion to the former North Bennet Street School buildings and has recently [...]
It seems like forever and it’s not over yet, but Boston Public Schools has released three final elementary school choice proposals. The new plan would go into effect in the 2014-15 school year. It’s down to a 10 zone assignment system (replacing the current 3 zones) or no zones at all (home based options) with [...]
It was a delicious fundraising event on Tuesday at the third annual “Evening for Education” in support of the John Eliot K-8 School in the North End. The Mendoza family welcomed parents, neighbors and friends to a special wine pairing dinner at their restaurant, Vinoteca di Monica on Richmond Street. Hosting the November 13, 2012 [...]
The John Eliot K-8 School and its Family Council kicked off a year-long celebration for the 300th Anniversary of the historic public elementary and middle school in Boston’s North End. The event spanned the school grounds into the Prado and on to Charter Street where Boston Fire brought out Engine 8 for the kids to [...]
Lights on Afterschool Invitation On October 18th, 2012 our afterschool program will be participating in the 12th annual Lights On Afterschool nationwide celebration of afterschool programs. We will be one of more than 7,500 sites across the nation sending the message that afterschool is key to children’s success, and that we must keep the lights [...]
Eliot School’s 300th Anniversary Kick-off Celebration! Come celebrate with Eliot students and their families, alumni, community members and our valued partners as we kick-off our year-long celebration of 300 years in education! This year, not only are we commemorating our 300 years of education, we will also celebrate throughout the year our expansion into the [...]
A large banner advertisement hangs in the window at the Charles/MGH T station. These are beautiful windows. Why is this big ad there? $$$$$. First, I heard a 72-year old woman complain about this ad. Then a 10-year-old boy pointed it out, saying it was too big. It is hard to see from some angles, [...]
Proposing the most significant change for public school choice in decades, Boston Public Schools has released four new “zone” options and one “no zone” option. All of the proposals are a substantial shift away from the current large 3-zone model, with a move toward more “neighborhood schools” and less busing. Chair of the City Council [...]
I recently contacted principal Traci Griffith at the Eliot Elementary School concerning drinking and disturbances in the school playground. In response, Traci has very constructively agreed to have the gate that abuts the Prado locked each evening at 9 p.m. This will significantly discourage kids from entering the playground after dark. Traci has worked with us [...]
News release from Boston Public Schools: Boston Public Schools back-to-school hotline up and running Operators answered 599 calls on first day Boston Public Schools (BPS) Superintendent Carol R. Johnson announced Wednesday that the back-to-school hotline (617-635-9046) is up and running. On Monday, the first day of operation, the operators fielded 599 calls. Multi-lingual operators are [...]
The attached letter relates specifically to ongoing problems at the Eliot Elementary School, which helped lead to the near-riot conditions at and near the Prado this past weekend. However, the general problem of noise and disturbances is again becoming serious and we need to encourage our police and elected officials to do more. The street [...]
Miguel Gómez-Ibáñez, President of North Bennet Street School (NBSS), updated the North End / Waterfront Residents’ Association on the school’s move to the former City police and printing buildings at North and Richmond streets. View the video above for the short presentation by the NBSS President at the August 9, 2012 NEWRA meeting. Although the [...]
From toilets on Charter St., trash strewn on the Prado to shredder trucks on Commercial St., it was quite a week on Citizens Connect for complaints to the city regarding issues in the North End / Waterfront area.
The following letter was sent this week to City Hall by the Boston Finance Commission, a watchdog group within the city system, regarding two issues related to the pending sale/swap of North and Richmond Street city properties to the North Bennet Street School. The agreement allows for the Eliot K-8 public school to expand into [...]
Our favorite “flower in her hair” community photographer, Michele Morgan, shares more than 100 photos from last week’s Eliot School Fundraiser, held at the Fairmont Battery Wharf Hotel. Michele wanted to make sure that everyone had a chance to see the dancing photos! If you can’t get enough, there are more photos from the Eliot [...]
Coming off the well-received expansion news for their school, parents and friends of the John Eliot K-8 School celebrated at a fundraiser on Friday to benefit the North End neighborhood school. Supporters perused an extensive silent auction before enjoying a full-course dinner followed by dancing to a DJ at the Fairmont Battery Wharf Hotel. Photos [...]
There was resounding applause at the Eliot K-8 School on Tuesday night as North End and Downtown Boston families joined with City and Boston Public School officials to celebrate an agreement substantially expanding the Eliot to a second campus at the nearby North Bennet Street School buildings. Importantly, BPS Superintendent Carol Johnson announced that [...]
There is high praise coming from all sides regarding the “win-win” agreement of expanding the Eliot K-8 Public School into the existing North Bennet Street School properties that would also allow NBSS to grow its trade and craft school in the North End. Through a cash and building swap valued at $11.4 million, NBSS, a [...]
The following press release from the City of Boston details terms of today’s $11.35 million agreement of a building and cash swap, including the city owned 150 North St. and 130-140 Richmond St., in exchange for four buildings owned by the North Bennet Street School. The swap will allow for a substantial expansion of the [...]
The Paul Revere Mall in Boston’s North End was the sight of an inspiring community celebration on Sunday, April 29, 2012, commemorating the great American sculptor, Cyrus Dallin, his internationally known landmark Paul Revere statue and the Prado park, designed by famed landscape architect Arthur Shurcliff and architect Henry Shepley. The public event drew hundreds [...]
North End / Waterfront and Eliot School parents might want to take part in these community meetings on Saturday, April 28, 2012 with Boston Public Schools regarding changes to the school assignment system. There is also an online survey at: bostonpublicschools.org/choice. Details from BPS below: BPS is creating a new school assignment system and we [...]