Progress Together Parents Group Contemplates Next Move

The group, which formed last year to oppose a proposed charter school, is figuring out what to tackle next.

Editor's note: The following was sent by Progress Together: 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? And the answer is … it’s not quite decided yet. At the end of the meeting the group picked two broad areas for more exploration. They were strengthening parent involvement and communication, and finding ways to help the schools tailor instruction better to the needs of individual students. The group will meet again to focus on one of these and get more specific.  Parents were excited about many ideas proposed and debated at the meeting. “This is amazing,” said Jason …

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City Launches Community Forum Series About Public Schools

Parents, teachers and administrators met Sunday at the Argenziano School; another forum is scheduled for this spring.

Editor's note: The following was sent by Somerville Public Schools: Somerville Community Forum on Education Draws Broad Participation More than 100 community members from across the City of Somerville gathered at the Argenziano cafeteria on a beautiful Sunday afternoon for a discussion on education.  It was the first of what is expected to be a continuing series of Community Forums on Education designed to engage all interested stakeholders in an ongoing dialogue about education in the Somerville Public Schools.   The Forums – a collaborative effort organized by Progress Together for Somerville, the Somerville Family Learning Collaborative, and the Somerville School Committee and sponsored by the Mayor’s Office, the Somerville Teachers …

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SCHOOL DAY

Debate on Somerville Progressive Charter School Isn't Over

If the state's board of education votes to deny a charter, the creators of the school will submit a refined application later this year.

After the state’s education commissioner announced last week that he wouldn’t support the proposed Somerville Progressive Charter School, the welcome note on the school’s website changed to reflect the creators’ revised goal.  “There is a new public school which will hopefully be opening in Somerville in the Fall [sic] of 2013.” For months, Somerville School Committee members, parents and teachers debated, among many issues, whether or not this publicly funded independent Commonwealth charter school would educate English language learners and teach science better than the district’s elementary schools do. And although Progress Together for Somerville, a group of parents who oppose the charter school, declared in a statement that the “…

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SCHOOL DAY

Somerville Educators Will Consider Innovation Schools

An unusually large audience attended a meeting about innovation schools, which some see as an alternative to a proposed charter school in Somerville.

As the state's Board of Education scrutinzes the application for a new charter school in Somerville, some educators have put forth an alternative for parents, teachers and staff who want to practice experimental teaching and management methods.  The Somerville School Committee passed a motion last week requesting that the superintendent and assistant superintendent meet with the Somerville Teachers Association to discuss innovation schools.   About 20 parents and teachers, including figures for and against the proposed Somerville Progressive Charter School, packed a small conference room in the school district's administrative office building Jan. 18 to hear from two experts on innovation schools. Innovation schools, introduced by Gov. …

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SCHOOL DAY

A Chat With Meghan Bouchard, Opponent of Somerville Progressive Charter School

The Somerville resident talks about why she doesn't believe the proposed charter school differs enough from the programs within the district schools to justify its opening.

  Somerville resident Meghan Bouchard has taught students learning English in the Lynn Public Schools and is the mother of two young children, one of whom is a student at the Argenziano School. And for the past few weeks, she's organized Progress Together for Somerville, a group of parents and others that formed to oppose the proposed Somerville Progressive Charter School. Some 250 people have signed the group’s petition online appealing to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to reject the application for the charter. Bouchard invited Somerville Patch into her kitchen to talk about her concerns about the proposed charter school and the sort of parental involvement and progresive education she would like Progressive Together to …

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