Presentation and Q&A: Learn About White Stadium Rehabilitation on Jan. 11

The proposal to rehabilitate Franklin Park's White Stadium to turn into the home field of a new women's soccer league team, better serve Boston Public Schools and community events, will be discussed in a virtual public meeting on Jan. 11. The city. Boston Public Schools, and Boston Unity Soccer Partners are partnering together to make renovations that would include adding spectator viewing areas, a concourse, bathrooms,  space for retail, space for food/beverage area, entertainment amenities, locker rooms, press/media space, and more. The unnamed as of yet National Women's Soccer League team is planning to start playing at the site in 2026.

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Montessori School Coming to School Street

Come this spring, a Montessori school is expected to start providing tours to its under renovation School Street property. Higher Ground Education is a Montessori school network that operates more than 100 schools throughout the country, and will lease the building at 100 School St. from Murphy Real Estate. Higher Ground operate schools for children 0 to 14, for infants, toddlers, kindergarteners, and elementary school, according to the company's website. The exact date of when the school will open has not been determined.

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Curley School Offers Counseling After Plane Flies Overhead with Anti-Semitic Message

Curley School students were offered counseling after witnessing a plane fly overhead with an anti-Semetic message on Thursday. Principal Katie Grassa sent the following email:
Today, while our students were outside for recess, an airplane pulling an anti-Semitic message flew overhead and was witnessed by our students. Our educators immediately set up opportunities for the students who witnessed this highly offensive and hateful language to address the impacts on them. As you know, we strive to communicate with one another in a caring, welcoming, and affirming way each day at the Curley School. Today, someone outside of our school affected our community in a very disturbing way.

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Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with Margarita Muñiz Academy

The community is invited to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with the Margarita Muñiz Academy on Oct. 14. The celebration is also an opportunity for prospective new families to check out the school because it's becoming a 7th grade to 12th grade school next year. Margarita Muñiz Academy is the Boston Public School's first dual language high school, and will now also be a middle school in September 2024. Headlining the event will be Edmar Colón, who will play a Jazz concert with his tenor saxophone, accompanied by a pianist.

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Jamaica Plain Student Selected for Highly Competitive Internship with Boys and Girls Club

Jamaica Plain's Yohannes Bekele was among five students selected as 2023 Massachusetts Bank of America Student Leaders, a highly competitive internship that recognizes 300 community-focused juniors and seniors from across the U.S. annually. As part of his internship, Bekele was placed with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston this summer to help mentor young people while building essential workforce experience and leadership skills. He also participated in an all-expense paid week-long leadership summit in Washington, D.C.

Bekele is a rising senior at John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science and a member of his high school debate team. “By providing the pathways and resources for young adults to gain the foundational work skills and leadership experience they need to succeed, we are investing in long-term economic growth in Massachusetts,” said Miceal Chamberlain, President, Bank of America Massachusetts. “The teens selected for this paid summer intern program are truly extraordinary, but they may not have had access to opportunities like this until now.

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Jamaica Plain Resident Wins Gastrointestinal Scholarship

As a person with a diagnosed GI disorder, Jamaica Plain resident Raina Levin's earning a Salix Gastrointestinal (GI) Health Scholars Award, is only fitting. Levin will receive a $10,000 scholarship to the Boston University School of Public Health in the fall to receive a Master of Public Health with a focus on environmental health and chronic disease prevention. The scholarship is awarded to 10 outstanding students living with gastrointestinal (GI) diseases and disorders who are pursuing their higher education goals. Among the requirements, award applicants were asked to write about the role their healthcare providers have played in helping to treat the condition. "Over the past decade, I've seen quite a few healthcare providers, but was only recently diagnosed with a GI disorder.

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City & Boston Schools Discussing ‘A Reimagined White Stadium’ in July 13 Virtual Meeting

City officials are hosting a meeting to discuss revitalizing Franklin Park's White Stadium to be the "centerpiece of Boston Public Schools athletics" on July 13. White Stadium was constructed in 1945 in the Playstead area of Franklin Park, and since then it has held many sporting events -- football games, track meets, and a lot more. Sadly, the stadium is in disrepair, isn't up to code and doesn't meet accessibility requirements, said the city. But the city is planning a signifiant investment in the stadium and athletics facilities. After a recent assessment, desired improvements will include an expanded staff office, a modern press box, improved locker rooms, and an 8-lane track, according to the city's website.

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Free Meals for Kids and Teens This Summer

The Boston Public Schools is offering free summer meals to all young people 18 years old and younger at more than 100 locations across the city. Free meals will be available in Jamaica Plain in the following locations:

Curtis Hall Community Center (20 South St.) with breakfast at 8 am and lunch at 12 pm
English High School (144 McBride St.) with breakfast 8-9 am and lunch 11 am to 1 pm
Curley K-8 School (40 Pershing Road) with breakfast 8-9:30 am and lunch 11 am to 1 pm
City on a Hill Church (445 Arborway) on Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday with lunch at 11:30 am
Hyde Square Task Force (30 Sunnyside St.) with lunch at 12 pm

Locations will offer breakfast and/or lunch services to students, and no identification or pre-registration is required. This year's free meal program began on July 6, and will be offered through late August. Locations aren't just in Boston, they are available throughout the state. Learn more about the program and find a meal site by visiting projectbread.org/summereats or by calling 1-800-645-8333.

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32-Year Old Woman Posed as Student at 3 High Schools, Including English High

A former Department of Children and Families employee posed as a student by allegedly falsifying paperwork to attend three Boston high schools, including Jamaica Plain's English High. Boston Police and the Suffolk County District Attorney's are investigating the 32-year old woman, whose father has told media outlets that his daughter was in need of mental health help and is receiving it now. Boston Public Schools said the woman attended the Jeremiah E. Burke High School, Brighton High School, and English High School. WCVB reported that the woman graduated from Sharon High School in 2009, earned an undergrad degree at Wheelock College and got her Masters of Education in School Counseling from UMass-Boston in 2016. The woman's alleged charade crashed down at her third high school stop in recent months, at English High, after an unidentified man went to the school and said she would be withdrawing his daughter because of bullying -- but she had just enrolled at the school less than a week before, report WCVB.

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JP’s Maya Johnson Honored in 2023 Letters About Literature for Letter to ‘The Hate U Give’ Author

A Jamaica Plain teenager was honored by the Massachusetts Center for the Book 2023 Top Honor student writers for its Letters About Literature program. This Commonwealth-wide reading and writing initiative invites students from Grades 4 to 12 to write letters to authors about the books that have had special meaning to them. Jamaica Plain resident Maya Johnson, junior at Melrose High School, earned Honors in Level 3 for her letter to Angie Thomas about The Hate U Give. Fifteen honorees, representing the top 1.5% of this year’s program submissions, were celebrated at a virtual awards celebration on May 17. On behalf of the Board of Directors, Massachusetts author Alexandra Marshall commended the students on their work and also told them, as a writer, how important it is for authors to hear from readers, because authors write “with the wish to be read.”

"As a student of color in a predominately white school, the opportunity to read and access literature that reflects Maya's experience is powerful," said state Rep. Samantha Montaño (15th-D Suffolk) during the awards.

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