Snowden & W. Roxbury Earn High Marks on Choice News Clipping

    . ’ 

10° THE BOSTON HERALD, THURSDAY, MARCH 4.1993 . 
  

Snowden & W. Roxbury 
earn high marks on choice 

- By PATRICIA MANGAN 
The two most popular Bos- 

ton high schools are Snowden 
International and West Rox- 
bury, with half of the city's 
eighth-graders choosing 
them as the schools they 
most want to attend next 
year, according to a report 
released yesterday. 

“Whatever Snowden and 
West Roxbury are doing, the 
other high schools in the city 
should try to duplicate,” said 
Michael J. Alves, one. of two 
consultants hired by the 
School Department to revise 
the way students are as- 
signed. 

Boston High School was 
the third most popular 
choice. 

The least popular high 
schools are Dorchester and 
Hyde Park. X 

Boston Latin, Latin Aca- 
demy and John O'Bryant are 
not included in the analysis 
because they require an 
exam for admission. 
According to the consul- 

tants’ report, 27 of the sys- 
tem's schools — three high 
schools, nine middle schools 
and 15 elementary schools — 
were ‘overchosen” by all 
races. 

The most popular middle 
schools are the Lewenberg in 
Mattapan; McCormack in 
Dorchester; Edison in Brigh- 
ton; Taft in Brighton; McKay 
in East Boston; Irving in Ros- 
lindale; R.G. Shaw in West 
Roxbury; Timilty in Rox- 
bury; and Hernandez in Rox- 
bury. 

The most popular elemen- 
tary schools are the Condon 
in South Boston; Kenney in 
Devhagsler; Grew in Hyde 
Ftk: Whips in Dorchester; 
oO’ rn KRY Dorchester; F. a ALT 
ole 4 An 1 ads 

« 

- West Roxbury. 

Roosevelt in Hyde Park; Rus- 
sell in Dorchester and Hamil- 
ton in Brighton. 

Also, the North Zone early 
learning center in Allston; 
Lyon' in Brighton; Bates in 
Roslindale, Beethoven in 
‘West Roxbury; Hernandez in 
Roxbury; Mozart in Roslin- 
dale, and Ohrenberger in 

The least popular middle 

  

  

§ Whatever 
Snowden and 
West 
Roxbury are 
doing, the 
other high 
schools in the 
city should try 
to duplicate. 

~— Michael J. Alves 
: SS 

schools are the Cleveland in 
Dorchester; Edwards in 
Charlestown and Wheatley in 

      

‘Roxbury. 

The two elementary 
schools that were least cho- 
sen are the E. Greenwood in 
Hyde Park and Fuller in Ja- 
maica Plain. 

The School Committee is 
planning public hearings by 
April, when officials from all 
of the least popular schools 
will be invited to discuss 
ways those schools ean in- 
crease their desirability. 

In their report, the consul- 

  ey — reste 

tants said the educational 
quality of a school rather 
than its location is a more 
important factor in its popu- 
larity. 

| 

  

They also noted that some 
of the schools that were lest 
chosen need to improve their _ 
marketing techniques. ; 

The consultants concluded - 
that they had achieved one of 
the main goals of a revised 
student assignment plan, 
which is to give a higher 
number of first-choice as- 
sigrments. ¥ 

The report showed that in 
Grades 1, 6 and 9 — when stu- 
dents attend a new school — 
85 percent of students who 
applied on time received 
their first-choice school and 
94 percent received one of 
their top two choices. 

The new plan also allows 
students to get their assign- 
ments earlier in the year. 

The School Department is 
trying to attract more white 
students back to the system 
as they account for only 20 
percent of the student popula- 
tion. : 

The report noted that if 
the schools retain their newly 
assigned first-grade stu- 
dents, the proportion of white 
first-graders next year could 
increase by as much as 10 
percent, -