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West Roxbury Academy to stay open
By adamg on Sat, 03/21/2015 - 9:22am
The Globe reports the announcement.
Interim School Superintendent John McDonough had originally included the school, housed in the former West Roxbury High School, in a list of schools to shut to close a budget gap.
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Comments
WE ARE NOT CHEST PIECES!
The pitch for the movie about this would be Rudy meets Lean On Me meets Searching For Bobby Fischer.
'West Roxbury High School'
'West Roxbury High School' had some kind of logic to its location when it was originally planned - as a high school for the people of West Roxbury and Roslindale. Not great logic, but at least it was somewhat near the end of a bus line. So then, as soon as it was built, district schools were de-localized, and it was left at the far end of the city, lonely and unloved by the locals and not particularly liked by anyone else. Do you think the building could be cut up and moved to Mattapan?
No
Because Charles Yancey wants a brand-new high school for Mattapan. Nothing less. Yancey doesn't like renovating buildings. He wants an absolutely brand new building.
Can't get there from here
One of the key problems with the location is just that - the location. It sits on the edge of swamp land at the edge of the former Gardner Street Dump - er... Millennium Park. (You really don't want to go digging down too far there.)
The plan was to bus people in and out of there but the buses proved to be inadequate. Plenty of kids take the MBTA and hoof it the rest of the way because the buses are not safe from fights and the pick up places (Forest Hills, Cleary Square) just don't connect with the students.
Many take the #37 to Baker Street and walk down an unofficial path on private property to the VFW Parkway. Others get off the #36 at Baker St and cut through the stores at Savers, and even more take the #36 to Rivermoor and walk behind Home Depot and under a footpath under the MBTA tracks (used to be a stream there).
What they need is a real form of transportation to get there. Why not petition the MBTA ot extend the #37 on certain runs or the #36 on certain runs to service the high school?
So many kids were crossing the parkway in the middle and getting wiped out that they had to erect a fence. Clearly there was a need and no one fixed the problem. If you plan a school, make it accessible.
Oh yeah... families without cars and parent meetings at odd hours. Really? After school activities - no transportation? Really?
Very early plans had the commuter rail stopping there. Well that never happened.