Move to drop honors courses at Boston Latin worries some – Change opens AP classes to more students
By Travis Andersen – Globe Staff / February 26, 2010

Boston Latin School is dropping its honors courses next year, a move administrators say will prepare more students for Advanced Placement classes in their junior and senior years, though some parents fear the change will have a negative impact on their children’s college admission chances.

The school, widely regarded as one of the best in the city, serves grades 7-12 and requires an entrance exam for enrollment. It currently offers honors math courses beginning in grade 8, as well as an honors English class for high school juniors and honors science and language classes for juniors and seniors.

Boston Latin headmaster Lynne Mooney Teta told approximately 300 parents at a curriculum meeting at the school last night that under the current system, students in eighth-grade honors math have a decided advantage in getting into AP classes in grades 11 and 12, leaving little room for their peers to join the AP sections if they show improvement in later years. Students can receive college credit for performing well on AP exams at the conclusion of the courses.

But under the new system, she said, more students will have a chance to take AP classes in grades 11 and 12, and the school will offer more AP sections as needed. And, she added, course work will remain rigorous in every class, regardless of the designation.

Simmons events will focus on women entrepreneurs
Globe Staff – Feb. 26, 2010

The Simmons School of Management has scheduled an ongoing series of discussions for the month of March on women entrepreneurs

The first event, set for Monday at 6 p.m., is titled “Daughters Running the Family Business,” and it will feature Sonesta International Hotels Corp. chief executive Stephanie Sonnabend. For three generations, her family has been in the hotel business, and it is now engaged in the cruise and resort industries as well.

Free and open to the public, the event is scheduled to take place on the fifth floor at the School of Management and Academic Building, which is located at 300 The Fenway in Boston.

Disabled fight to keep funds
By Colneth Smiley Jr./Boston Herald – February 26, 2010

More than 100 families and advocates for the disabled took to the halls of the State House yesterday asking legislators to “Walk in Our Shoes” and reconsider proposed budget cuts in state disability programs.

“We want to increase the Legislature’s awareness on how serious proposed cuts will be for people of disabilities,” said Leo Sarkissian, executive director of The Arc of Massachusetts.

Participants from areas including Boston, Woburn, Haverhill and the Cape offered their shoes to lawmakers as a symbolic invitation to get to know disabled families and individuals on a personal level.

Red Sox unveil plans for new spring training complex
By Thomas Grillo/Boston Herald – February 25, 2010

The Boston Red Sox will open its new spring training stadium in 2012 complete with a Green Monster and manual scoreboard.

Sox officials unveiled architectural renderings today for the Spring Training Ballpark & Player Development Complex to be built in Lee County in southwest Florida.

The new park will feature many characteristics borrowed from storied Fenway Park, including the playing field’s dimensions and irregularities, location of the bullpens and seating atop the left field wall. In the spirit of Yawkey Way, one of the streets in the new complex will offer a family-friendly, festival atmosphere with entertainment and concession stands.

Berklee building completed
By Thomas Grillo/Boston Herald – February 26, 2010

Berklee College of Music celebrated the completion of its newest classrooms and faculty office space in the Fenway yesterday.

The school purchased the former Fenway Health Center on Haviland Street last year for $6 million. The sale allowed the center to complete its new facility at 1340 Boylston St.

Berklee invested $5 million to transform the 16,000-square-foot, three-story former health clinic into classrooms and faculty offices to help the college deal with overcrowding.

Bay State’s Ashley Rodriguez dropped from ‘Idol’
By Bill Burke/Boston Herald – February 26, 2010

Ashley Rodriguez’ dream to become the next “American Idol” has come crashing down.

The 22-year-old Berklee College of Music grad from Chelsea was eliminated during the first live results show of “American Idol” last night.

Rodriguez’ ouster from the top 24 semifinalists came after singing a less-than-winning version of Leona Lewis’ “Happy” on Tuesday’s show. Notoriously tough judge Simon Cowell predicted trouble for Rodriguez after her one and only live performance. That conjecture proved true when host Ryan Seacrest announced Rodriguez would be going home.