Education
Professors Describe ‘Mass Exodus’ From Technical College in Boston
Juggling a full load of courses as a biology professor at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, Ryan Rogers reached her breaking point when administrators required her to teach laboratory courses in-person during the pandemic. “My mental health was trash,” Rogers said. “I felt it declining day by day. I did not sleep very much.…
Read MoreAs New School Year Begins, Some Immunocompromised Families Feel Left Behind
As the new school year begins and students head back to the classroom, some immunocompromised families feel left behind. That’s because many districts across Connecticut aren’t offering a remote learning option, and for many families, returning to the classroom is like choosing between their education and their health. Ten-year-old Lane Mayville is used to tearing…
Read More‘If I Lose One More Person I Have to Close’: What It Might Take To Fix The Child Care Crisis
At a fairground in North Haverhill, N.H., past the rides and an obstacle course set up for goats, Amy Brooks was recruiting. She stood at a booth not far from a gun raffle and a fudge stand, hawking an industry she says is a little different than retail. “Small humans are amazing, and it’s not…
Read MoreMore Than Half Of Public Colleges in Mass. Used COVID Relief Funds To Cover Unpaid Student Bills
As students prepare to return to campus, colleges in New England and across the country are figuring out how to spend a windfall of $69 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funds. More than half the public colleges in Massachusetts are using part of that money to cover millions in unpaid balances that students owe them.…
Read MoreFederal Relief Funds Keeping Small, Struggling Colleges In New England Afloat — For Now
In a dank basement of a 113-year-old building in Boston, Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology’s new president Aisha Francis struggled to turn the key to a classroom where — when school is in session — students learn how to fix cars. “They learn to take apart and rebuild a transmission, so they have to be…
Read MoreRumbila’s Story: Smith College Grad Works To Balance Career Goals, Family And Tradition
In early May, Smith College senior Rumbila Abdullahi relaxed on a couch in her living room off a quiet street in the Sixteen Acres neighborhood of Springfield, Massachusetts. She wore a baati — a traditional Somali dress — and a hijab. Days earlier, she sat in a testing center for most of a day taking…
Read MoreHow The Critical Race Theory Debate Came To Two New Hampshire Towns
For student Alex Putney, the debate over diversity and inclusion efforts at her New Hampshire high school took a turn in July 2020. Local residents had submitted a proposal to SAU 41 to “make anti-racism and equity a strategic priority” in local schools. Putney, one of the few biracial students at the mostly-white Hollis Brookline…
Read MoreKayaking, Mad Libs, and Greek History: Here’s What Summer School Looks Like in Somersworth, N.H.
At Idlehurst Elementary School in Somersworth, 9-year old twins Jamya and Jennessa Mercer are huddled over their clipboards, crafting a Mad Libs story about camping. They’re here with three other students and three teachers, four days a week, for the next five weeks. It’s a far cry from the virtual schooling they had much of…
Read MoreTo Mask, Or Not To Mask: Epidemiologists Debate Rules For K-12 Students This Fall
The COVID-19 advisory panel for Brookline, Mass., public schools met late on a Friday afternoon last week to discuss, as they had for over a year, safety in the district’s classrooms. But that morning, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had thrown what David Gacioch, the panel’s co-chair, called “a curveball.” The CDC released…
Read MoreSchools Face A New Threat In The Pandemic: Ransomware
Doug Russell, the IT director for the city of Haverhill, was sleepless in the wee hours of April 8, which turned out to be fortunate. He caught an alert on his phone when the school district’s computer system suddenly crashed. A former firefighter, he hopped in his red pickup to check out the district servers…
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