Education

Somerville Library as a digital laboratory, community service, and creative resource to both city and national users.

Somerville Climate Action, Rep. Denise Provost and The Growing Center present a free film:

MOTHER NATURE’S CHILD

Mother Nature’s Child explores nature’s powerful role in children’s health and
development through the experience of…

Are you a teen who likes to write stories about aliens, blogs, flash fiction, or poems? Are you interested in becoming a novelist, short story writer or poet?

The Committee to Elect Mark Niedergang invites you to enjoy delicious free food from Redbones, Taco Loco, and Gauchão , fun entertainment, good company, and provocative discussion at a party and fundraiser to kick off Mark’s campaign for Ward 5 Alderman. Alex the Jester will entertain. State Representative Carl Sciortino (Somerville/Medford) will speak.

Well over 100 Massachusetts professors and researchers have signed a statement against high-stakes standardized testing. The four initiators of the petition include two from Somerville: Lesley University early childhood education expert Nancy Carlsson-Paige and Harvard Graduate School of Education instructor Chris Buttimer. Here’s their press release: …

Reposted from the Somerville-4-Schools email list, a message from School Committee Chair Paul Bockelman about the process that the School Committee agreed to use to fill the Ward 1 School Committee seat. The seat is…

Jonathan Kozol has spent many years in schools that serve children of poverty, writing a series of powerful books that began with Death At An Early Age about his experiences as a Boston teacher…

This year, Somerville’s education budget has expanded. The Board of Aldermen in late June awarded the School Department just over $3 million more for fiscal year 2013—which began July 1—than it did last year, bringing the allowance to approximate…

Remaining Spots for Scholars in Somerville CDF Freedom School Program This Summer

Scholars completing kindergarten through eighth grade will learn to make a difference through reading this summer at no charge to parents.

More than 50 Somerville parents and other community members crowded into a church room Sunday to make a start toward answering an important question: What will their organization, Progress Together, work on next?…

What should be the next big push by parents to improve Somerville schools?

Steps to improve communication between parents and teachers? More community volunteers in the classrooms? Academic program changes?

Parents and community…

Texas leads the way!

Mass. Citizens for Public Schools, FairTest, and other groups are circulating a “National Resolution on High-Stakes Testing” modeled on a resolution passed by over 300 school boards in Texas…

This afternoon, a good group of Somerville parents, educators and administrators chose to forego the amazing weather and meet at the Argenziano School cafetorium to talk about our schools. There was a panel of speakers…

I hope you enjoy (and share!) this Xtranormal animation from Citizens for Public Schools about the Stand For Children’s ballot initiative:

Stand’s proposal is now before the legislature. If the legislature doesn’t…

The School Committee voted to explore introducing Innovation Schools in Somerville. To learn more, we invited two experts who have direct experience with Innovation Schools.

Perspective on the proposed charter by Stephanie Hirsch, a Somerville parent and Director of SomerPromise, a joint effort of the City, Schools, on-profit providers, residents, Tufts, and the Somerville Housing Authority to increase coordination and to use data-informed decision-making to improve life outcomes for children in Somerville.

Somerville-4-Schools and other Somerville email lists are buzzing with debate over a new charter school proposal that could, if successful, force big cuts in the school budget including closing a school.

The state Board…

The recent flap about “holidays” in Somerville has obscured the issues that instigated all the media frenzy in the first place.…