Education

Good Afternoon South Boston Civic Leaders and Community Members, Hope this finds you well. I am reaching out to share details regarding the recommendation to close Excel High School in South Boston. The district’s goal is to continue to provide high quality learning environments for every child, and high quality teaching environments for every educator. Yesterday, BPS shared recommendations for select closures and mergers impacting a total of 6 schools including Excel, identified through a rigorous, transparent, data-driven, process: This includes 2 high school closures, 1 elementary school closure, 1 merger of two elementary schools, and the conversion of 1 high school from a degree-granting school into a program. These recommendations will be presented to the Boston School Committee on January 22, 2025. We expect [...]

By Birute Vaicjurgis Slezas HONORING YESTERDAY, CELEBRATING TODAY, BUILDING TOMORROW For over a century, it has symbolized a community’s deep Catholic faith and its Lithuanian roots. St. Peter Lithuanian Catholic Church in South Boston, consecrated in 1904, is celebrating 120 years of its rich history. On Sunday, October 20, the church on Flaherty Way was alive with activity, as its parishioners crowded into St. Peter’s to attend a special Mass to mark the anniversary. Around them were the walls that Lithuanian immigrants constructed with their own hands, with the money they themselves raised, using materials donated by a fellow Lithuanian who owned a brickyard. In the pews sat the great grandchildren of the parish founders. Over time, the interior became a jewel that artists and [...]

By Carol Masshardt (The series will feature 2024 high school graduates from South Boston) South Boston’s Liana Flood can make it look easy. A 2024 graduate of the Dexter-Southfield School in Brookline, she excelled in track and is an editor of the school newspaper and has been a peer tutor. She with graduate with the academic honor of cum laude on June 1. “I went to the Condon K-3 and SB Catholic 3-5 and knew when I made a choice that I wanted a small, closely knit school community where I could connect on a personal level,” she said. “The athletics and academics are collaborative at Dexter Southfield, and the teachers are willing to work with you,” she said.   If high school success could [...]

By Carol Masshardt (The series will feature 2024 high school graduates from South Boston) Many high school seniors are understandably unsure about their future goals, but eighteen-year-old Caleigh Houlihan isn’t one of them. If ever there was a born teacher in the making it is this South Boston native and 2024 Boston Latin Academy  graduate. Soon to attend Bridgewater State University as an Elementary Education/Special Education major, Caleigh hasn’t missed an opportunity to prepare. Perhaps it began at home with two younger sisters, or through the years at Miss Linda’s Dance Program, and/or in tutoring and babysitting, and surely because of teachers she has had. “I have been thinking about being a teacher and talking about it forever,” she said. “And Bridgewater was my choice [...]

By Judith Silva Nee We teachers are an odd breed, especially early childhood teachers like myself.  We often drive to work in a costume. If we’re on the phone at all, it’s emergency related and over a loud classroom din (‘Hello Dr. Welby...PUT THAT BLOCK DOWN!). We form friendships with other adults through snippets of conversations or a knowing nod between bells. Our lunchtime options are limited.  I happily eat mine in the car, rain or shine. It’s quiet there.  Our work conditions often resemble the great outdoors. It can get so hot that I once got asked at dismissal if I’d gone swimming;  my clothes clung to my body from sweat.  I sometimes walk directly from the schoolyard to the beach for a quick [...]