High Street Neighborhood News

by Adelle Foley

The bricks purchased by Boys & Girls Club supporters were installed last year, with no fanfare, at the front entrance of the building. Photo by Adelle Foley.

Redesigning our Schools

' I caught up with Ashley Thomsak between meetings for an update on progress at Maxwell Park School. Ashley is a member of the team designing "the New Maxwell Park School"—a placeholder name until a permanent name is chosen. Under the leadership of Principal Dr. Mary Louise Newling, who lives nearby, the team is redesigning the school's culture as a community hub with the strong involvement of parents and the community. They are reshaping the faculty and evaluating academic programs to find the best fit through site visits to observe the programs in action. Dr. Newling will head the school that emerges from the incubator this summer. On May 8 the school is hosting Literacy Night. Following dinner at 6 p.m., parents are invited to an overview of the new school while children listen to stories. All children will leave with books.

' At the former Sherman School, the Melrose Leadership Academy is also designing a new program. Principal Moyra Contreras and her team have visited schools and researched programs. The result is a proposal to the Oakland School board for a K to 8 dual immersion bilingual/biliterate program beginning September 2009.

Older Americans Month at Melrose Branch

' Did you know that May is Older Americans Month? The Melrose Branch Library is celebrating on Saturday, May 24 with a film called Mrs. Brown's Beauty: a Story of Art and Inspiration. The movie centers on the life of a 75-year-old artist. Viewers of all ages should gather downstairs at 2 p.m. Branch Manager Sandra Toscano told me that youngsters from Horace Mann School have been enjoying field trips to the branch. Teachers interested in bringing their classes to an Insect Lab at 1 p.m. on Thursday, May 22, should reserve space in advance. For all class visits, contact Sandra at 535-5623.

Bats and Bricks at the Boys and Girls Club [NOTE: if you use a photo, you may want to put this item first AF]

' Pelton Stewart, who has been sharing branch manager duties with acting director (and full-time teacher) Chris Logwood, has just unveiled Revive Baseball in the Inner City (RBI). It's an exciting joint venture with major league baseball, the Peralta Colleges, and the young peoples' baseball leagues. From June to August the RBI program will welcome interested youngsters from six to 18.'

' Pelton also brought me up to date on the bricks purchased by Club supporters when the clubhouse opened. After some difficulties the bricks were installed last year, with no fanfare, at the front entrance of the building, so I stopped by to take a look. Some are memorials, some have sayings related to the Club, and others have the names of businesses or community members. Anyone interested in adding another brick should contact Pelton at 444-8211.

Our see-saw April

We're sun-baked on Saturday

Wind-chilled by Tuesday

' Adelle Foley can be reached at jandafoley\@sbcglobal.net.