Universal Hub - Parenting

Police hunting man they say kidnapped his son from Roxbury home

adamg — Wed, 22 May 2013 01:32:50 +0000

Updated.

A boy kidnapped by his father at gunpoint in Roxbury tonight was recovered safely by Cambridge Police a few hours later, around 10:30 p.m., at the home of a relative.

Boston Police issued an Amber Alert after the 13-year-old, Jonathan Moore, Jr., was taken.

They continue to search for his father, Jonathan Moore.

Police are looking for a red 1997 Camry. Mass plates 634RH4.

He might be making a run for Georgia.

Parents hope to turn asphalt into grass at Curley School

adamg — Fri, 17 May 2013 02:54:55 +0000

Parents at the Curley School hold a fundraiser on Saturday afternoon to try to raise $200,000 to convert an old asphalt "field" at the school into a three-season, multi-use playing field. The original goal was $250,000, but somebody recently and anonymously donated $50,000 toward the goal.

Some North End parents want tall fence around neighborhood playground to keep vagrants out

adamg — Sat, 11 May 2013 16:37:32 +0000

The North End/Waterfront Mothers Association says fight-happy homeless people in Christopher Columbus Park are becoming a menace to their children and that one answer is a six-foot-tall fence around the park's playground - locked every night from May through November.

In an e-mail to members, organizers say they reached their breaking point last month after a fatally injured man was pulled out of the harbor near the park, possibly as the result of a fight in the park.

The e-mail is a call to action to have members show up in force at a community meeting on Tuesday with city councilors. The session starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Pilot House, 2 Atlantic Ave.

We have to let the councilors know that protecting children is our first priority as a neighborhood. A packed room of concerned, involved residents will do that.

Roxbury principal fired security guards to hire arts teachers

adamg — Thu, 02 May 2013 22:22:15 +0000

NBC News reports on the turnaround of the Orchard Gardens K-8 pilot schools 10 years after it opened.

Driver who left toddler in van on a hot day was negligent, but that's not enough for a murder charge, DA says

adamg — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:55:24 +0000

Luis Matos, who inadvertently left 17-month-old Gabriel Pierre to die in a van will face no criminal charges, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office says.

With the exception only of misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide, Massachusetts law leaves issues of negligence in the hands of civil courts and precludes the criminal prosecution of an accident, even one as terrible and tragic in its consequences as this one.

DA Dan Conley's office says it will work with Gabriel's parents for legislation:

And Boston cancels ... street sweeping - and now school

adamg — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:24:48 +0000

UPDATE, 8:42 p.m.: Our phone rang and the kidlet picked it up. As soon as she began jumping and yelling, I knew: School is canceled in Boston tomorrow. Barring any more snow days, this means Boston Public Schools will get out for the year on June 28. All Boston Centers for Youth and Families sites will be open tomorrow, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Somerville announced this afternoon it's cancelled school, but America's Toughest City says school is still on. Parents who do get their kids to school will no doubt get really, really annoyed if they get robo-calls at noon again that absent kids won't be marked absent.

Mixed feelings on getting into BLS

adamg — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 13:52:34 +0000

Parent Imperfect describes the choice his daughter faces now that she's gotten into both BLS and BLA:

Connie's Mom, to her unending credit, will challenge Connie to remember that both schools have the same curriculum and to think about who she'll be going to school with and to imagine how she will feel in the two schools. She'll do all that challenging, and then she'll listen to what Connie wants and we'll make a decision ... hopefully the right one. Help!

After 25 years, School Committee votes to end school-assignment zones

adamg — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 01:25:30 +0000

The School Committee tonight voted to approval an overhaul of student assignment for elementary schools that will give parents a choice of six schools - at least two of which have to have among the highest standardized test scores in the city.

The new system, which will go into effect in the 2014-2015 school year, will end the city's current three-zone system - and walk zones.

Students already in the system will be grandfathered in their current schools.

Supt. Carol Johnson's letter on student assignment
Profile of Peng Shi - the MIT grad student who came up with the new system.
Home-based assignment proposals
Partial victory for those seeking a fair assignment policy - One parent's reaction.