WBUR - District 91心頭istration District 91心頭istration Media Fri, 27 Mar 2026 13:29:26 +0000 en-US hourly 1 With new program, Boston to ensure AI literacy in public high schools /with-new-program-boston-to-ensure-ai-literacy-in-public-high-schools/ Fri, 27 Mar 2026 13:29:26 +0000 /?p=182754 Boston Public Schools is launching an AI literacy initiative backed by a $1 million gift from tech entrepreneur Paul English and the AI Institute at UMass Boston. Leaders say the program will focus on ethics, creativity and responsible use.

The post With new program, Boston to ensure AI literacy in public high schools appeared first on District 91心頭istration.

]]> Tech entrepreneur Paul English has a vision for the Boston Public Schools: all high schoolers graduating with artificial intelligence literacy.

Through a partnership with his AI Institute at UMass Boston, English, a BPS graduate, contributed $1 million to BPS to launch the program. Boston will be the first major U.S. city to ensure AI training in public high schools.

I look at the announcement today as something also for the Boston economy,” English said Thursday at an event at the Eliot School in the North End. “Boston will become an AI forward city because of the students at Boston Public Schools.

Read more at .

The post With new program, Boston to ensure AI literacy in public high schools appeared first on District 91心頭istration.

]]> Salem superintendent shares how his schools went phone free /salem-superintendent-shares-how-his-schools-went-phone-free/ Wed, 20 Aug 2025 13:27:27 +0000 /?p=177059 Salem Public Schools are entering their fourth year without student cell phones to reduce distractions and keep kids engaged. Superintendent Stevens Wright said the ban followed concerns that phones were pulling students away from learning after the pandemic.

The post Salem superintendent shares how his schools went phone free appeared first on District 91心頭istration.

]]> Massachusetts is moving closer to passing a statewide ban on personal phones in public schools.

Salem public schools have had a ban since 2022. Superintendent Stephen Zrike joined WBUR’s All Things Considered to share what he’s learned.

This segment aired on August 19, 2025.

Read more at .

The post Salem superintendent shares how his schools went phone free appeared first on District 91心頭istration.

]]> The push to eliminate honors programs in schools /the-push-to-eliminate-honors-programs-in-schools/ Thu, 29 May 2025 13:59:16 +0000 /?p=174931 In an effort to reduce inequality in education outcomes, some school districts are removing honors classes or other programs for high achievers. Some students, parents and teachers say the push to "de-track" or "de-level" classrooms is limiting learning for everyone.

The post The push to eliminate honors programs in schools appeared first on District 91心頭istration.

]]> It boasts one of the top performing public school districts in the country. It’s ranked as the best school district in all of California by the education website Niche, and it placed eighth nationally based on test scores, graduation rates, parent reviews, and other factors. Of course, Palo Alto is also the home of Stanford University, founders of giant Silicon Valley companies, professors, diplomats, computer scientists, you name it. But reformers in the district say that Palo Alto’s public schools, in fact, are a perfect mirror of the community, and they say that’s a problem.

LIZ BRIMHALL: Our honors classes look very different than our college prep level classes, and as educators, that is a deep concern that we all share.

CHAKRABARTI: That’s Liz Brimhall, a biology teacher at Palo Alto High School. She was speaking at a school board meeting at the beginning of this year. The problem she and others say is a pattern of what some call inequitable outcomes in education.

Read more at .

The post The push to eliminate honors programs in schools appeared first on District 91心頭istration.

]]> What students, teachers and parents think about banning phones in Mass. schools /what-students-teachers-and-parents-think-about-banning-phones-in-mass-schools/ Tue, 06 May 2025 12:53:39 +0000 /?p=174044 How much these devices consume our attention, and particularly how they impact children's developing brains and social skills, has deeply troubled some health and education experts, parents and students.

The post What students, teachers and parents think about banning phones in Mass. schools appeared first on District 91心頭istration.

]]> Getting a phone is a rite of passage for most modern American kids. It’s finally a chance to stay connected with friends and tool around on the internet while at homeand often even in school.

How much these devices consume our attention, and particularly how they impact children’s developing brains and social skills, has deeply troubled some health and education experts, parents and students.

Some schools and districts in Massachusetts have recently adopted personal phone bans, and now lawmakers are considering whether to pass statewide rules to clamp down on phone use in public schools.

Read more at .

The post What students, teachers and parents think about banning phones in Mass. schools appeared first on District 91心頭istration.

]]> Because of PCBs, some Vermont students will go back to school in tents /article/because-of-pcbs-some-vermont-students-will-go-back-to-school-in-tents/ Fri, 23 Aug 2024 12:46:48 +0000 /?p=166282 fter another round of testing revealed stubbornly high rates of PCBsa class of toxic chemicalsat Vermont's North Country Union High, administrators are preparing to educate students in wedding tents this fall.

The post Because of PCBs, some Vermont students will go back to school in tents appeared first on District 91心頭istration.

]]> After another round of testing revealed stubbornly high rates of PCBsa class of toxic chemicalsat Vermont’s North Country Union High, administrators are preparing to educate students in wedding tents this fall.

A state law passed in 2021 requires all schools, public or private, built or renovated before 1980 to test for the probable carcinogens. Thats 324 schools, according to the Agency of Natural Resources, which oversees the program.

Basically since its outset, school officials have complained about the program. While the tab, for now, is being picked up by the state, schools have worried they would eventually be saddled with mounting costs as funding set aside by the Legislature for the program quickly dwindles.

.

Slide1

The post Because of PCBs, some Vermont students will go back to school in tents appeared first on District 91心頭istration.

]]> Mass. high schoolers to get a jump start on offshore wind job training /article/mass-high-schoolers-to-get-a-jump-start-on-offshore-wind-job-training/ Tue, 25 Jun 2024 13:38:13 +0000 /?p=164480 The state will need more than 30,000 new workers who can install heat pumps, prepare residential homes to charge electric vehicles, build offshore wind farms, and more to get there.

The post Mass. high schoolers to get a jump start on offshore wind job training appeared first on District 91心頭istration.

]]> Up to 125 high school students are expected to participate next school year as a new Clean Energy Innovation Career Pathway launches to provide hands-on learning geared towards jobs in the renewable energy sector, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said in a report this month.

With ambitious mid-century emission reduction targets on the books, Massachusetts wants to electrify heating and cooling, personal vehicle travel and more. But the state will need more than 30,000 new workers who can install heat pumps, prepare residential homes to charge electric vehicles, build offshore wind farms, and more to get there.

The 2022 climate and energy law required DESE and the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development to design and implement a pilot program that could connect students to academic and technical skills that will prepare them for jobs in the offshore wind industry that state official hope to grow here.

.

Slide1

The post Mass. high schoolers to get a jump start on offshore wind job training appeared first on District 91心頭istration.

]]> How a high-performing Boston K8 school desegregatedand resegregated /article/how-a-high-performing-boston-k8-school-desegregated-and-resegregated/ Tue, 18 Jun 2024 12:33:17 +0000 /?p=164269 By many measures, the Eliot K-8 Innovation School is a notable bright spot for Boston Public Schools. Its students routinelyoften dramaticallybeat the average on state tests.

The post How a high-performing Boston K8 school desegregatedand resegregated appeared first on District 91心頭istration.

]]> By many measures, the Eliot K-8 Innovation School is a notable bright spot for Boston Public Schools. Its students routinely often dramatically beat the state average on MCAS scores. Scattered across three buildings in the city’s North End, kids at the school have access to hands-on learning, enrichment programs, art, music and theater offerings, even classes in Italian.

The Eliots newest building, the Upper School for grades 5 to 8, opened in fall 2019 following a two-year, $20 million construction project. It sits on the mouth of the Charles River, with a view of Charlestown and the USS Constitution. Its flanked by new playgrounds and ballfields, where after school in April dozens of students and their families gathered on the lawn to gaze at the partial solar eclipse.

Many wore eclipse glasses provided by the Friends of The Eliot School, a parent-run nonprofit with nearly $1 million in assets as of 2022.

.

Slide1

The post How a high-performing Boston K8 school desegregatedand resegregated appeared first on District 91心頭istration.

]]> Mass. education secretary takes to airwaves with a message: make school attendance a priority /article/mass-education-secretary-takes-to-airwaves-with-a-message-make-school-attendance-a-priority/ Wed, 10 Jan 2024 11:24:13 +0000 /?p=157597 Patrick Tutwiler, the states education secretary, will make his television debut to deliver the message that school is where kids belong. It's part of a multilingual campaign by the state's K-12 education department, including billboards and ads on radio and public transit.

The post Mass. education secretary takes to airwaves with a message: make school attendance a priority appeared first on District 91心頭istration.

]]> Nearly four years after COVID-19 first shuttered schools, students are still missing class at rates unprecedented in the past two decades.

In an effort to reverse that trend, Patrick Tutwiler, the states education secretary, will make his television debut this week to deliver the message that school is where kids belong.

Tutwilers public service announcement is one part of a multilingual campaign by the state’s K-12 education department, including billboards and ads on radio and public transit.

.

Slide1

The post Mass. education secretary takes to airwaves with a message: make school attendance a priority appeared first on District 91心頭istration.

]]>