Volume LXIII THEARGO MARCH 2021 THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE BOSTON LATIN SCHOOL BPS Suspends Admissions for AWC By Elyssa Cabey (III) While some agree with the & Kevin Zhong (IV) plan to establish a temporary hi- atus for the AWC admissions re- Staff Writers quirement, others have expressed concerns about the exam’s sus- On February 3, the Boston pension. Some members of the School Committee voted to tem- Boston Latin School communi- porarily suspend the admissions ty believe that limiting access to test for the Boston Public Schools AWC may hinder younger stu- (BPS) Advanced Work Class dents’ learning and negatively af- (AWC) program set to take place fect their preparation for entrance during the 2021-2022 school into exam schools. year. Ms. Monica Gribaudo, a BLS The AWC program provides Algebra teacher, believes that the an accelerated academic curricu- AWC program should be expand- lum for fourth- to sixth-grade stu- ed to more students who wish to dents in BPS. In previous years, challenge themselves, without students were admitted to the pro- isolating a select group for the ac- gram based on their performance celerated coursework. on the TerraNova exam, which is “I really don’t like seeing administered to third-grade stu- a child bored in the classroom. dents throughout the district. Stu- I think that if there’s a group of dents who earned a benchmark them that could go at a little faster score on the exam would then be pace and don’t need to have things picked via a lottery system to de- repeated to them 18 times, then termine admission into the AWC Kelly Kate sure, put those kids together. We program. AWC is suspended after the pandemic makes learning more difficult for students. even do that here at Latin School This year, however, schools with the sixie Algebra I class that could not administer the Ter- Josiah Quincy Elementary School. dent. [...] A lot of the students, Iris Zhang (II), another I am honored to be able to teach,” raNova because of the COVID-19 These schools additionally have including me, were all on board member of the SSEC, states, “BPS states Ms. Gribaudo. pandemic, leading to the district’s the option to implement AWC in- with the [hiatus] plan,” states An wants to push towards making ed- The debate over AWC draws proposed hiatus. struction to all students instead of Tran (II), a representative on the ucation more accessible and equi- parallels to recent discussions Students who are current- keeping it as a distinct program if SSEC. table for all students, rather than surrounding the exam school ad- ly enrolled in the AWC program they so choose. The COVID-19 pandem- providing a high-quality educa- missions process. As of March 14, will continue with the accelerated The test requirement hia- ic has prompted BPS to address tion to a select group of students.” there is an ongoing lawsuit chal- track into next year. Rising fourth- tus was initially proposed by BPS concerns regarding racial and In addition, BPS has been lenging BPS’s new zip code and grade students, however, will not Superintendent Brenda Cassellius economic inequality within the forced to reduce the number of GPA-based exam school admis- have the opportunity for admis- and a working group was estab- educational system. According to schools offering AWC in recent sions system. sion unless they attend or transfer lished in forming the plan. The Su- BPS data, 71 percent of students years because of a decrease in en- Amid the controversy, Sa- to one of the five schools through- perintendent’s Student Executive enrolled in the AWC program this rollment. The current number of brina Wei (IV), president of BLS out the city offering AWC for the Council (SSEC) was also involved school year are White or Asian. students enrolled in fourth grade Youth for Education Equality, next school year. These schools throughout the process. “As a The district’s working group is AWC for the 2020-2021 school states, “As long as racism remains include the James Condon Ele- whole, we’re all involved [in] pro- currently examining the enroll- year is 116, compared to the in the foundation of the United mentary School, Jackson/Mann viding the Superintendent [with] ment process in order to confront 303 students who were enrolled States and Boston, people of color K-8, Richard J. Murphy K-8, Wil- feedback and opinions, and giving the inequalities that have been ex- during the 2014-2015 school will continue to experience lower iam H. Ohrenberger School and a student voice to the Superinten- acerbated by the pandemic. year. qualities of education.” BLSA Begins Alumni Speaker Series By Joanna Lin (IV) Clarke (‘68) occurred last month. Having hazards on human health. questions they had to consider while & Darren Seto (III) worked for 30 years in national security Zoe Nagasawa (I), president of BLS scheduling: “We’re thinking in this virtual policy roles for the U.S. government and Youth Climate Action Network, is excited space, what’s the best time of day? Is noon Staff Writer and Contributing Writer recognized as BLS’s Distinguished Graduate about the upcoming speaker series. By time okay? Is 5:30 in the evening OK? [...] of the Year in 2003, Mr. Clarke brought hearing from an alumnus who used their Does it encroach upon dinner time? Can The Boston Latin School Association participants into the world of security and BLS education to combat climate change, people in the West Coast also participate?” (BLSA) initiated a speaker series growing cyber threats. Nagasawa hopes that students will begin to Ms. Dumas not only had to highlighting the work of alumni as part Ms. Dumas explains that the do the same. communicate with alumni but also with of a broader goal to forge a strong alumni- outcome of the first session exceeded her “We are given a quality education designers in order to create infographics student connection. expectations. The event had well over at BLS, and it’s important for students to to market the event. Other back-end Ms. Nicole Dumas (‘90), director of 200 signups, which she attributes to the see that quality applied to combating the tasks Ms. Dumas had to arrange included BLSA’s Alumni Engagement & Philanthropy relevance of cybersecurity. “December’s not climate crisis. At the same time, however, coordinating e-blast emails, ensuring program, has been putting together an too far back in our minds, and people are our education is very linear — because smooth registration and making space online series in which BLS Alumni come to thinking, ‘What happened? Was there an our classes are so split, [...] it can be hard for donations on the signup page. After speak about various topics related to their interference in the presidential election?’” to understand the interconnected systems preparing for the initial speaker session, Ms. careers. says Ms. Dumas. that make up our world, and thus it can Dumas finds that coordination for the next She introduces each session as “a Since the election and the SolarWinds be hard to understand the extent to which sessions will simply be a “rinse and repeat.” series of alumni-led webinars that are breach were fresh on the news, many climate touches everything,” remarks This speaker series is part of a larger designed to inform, to spark discussion and parents, students and even a BLS alumnus Nagasawa. goal to provide a bridge between BLS alumni to answer questions on a range of timely who graduated in 1950 were prompted to Behind the successful execution of the and students. Head of School Rachel Skerritt topics.” These topics range from global attend the session and listen in to Mr. Clarke. speaker series was a great deal of planning explains that this ongoing commitment to issues, such as cybersecurity and ocean Mr. Clarke, however, is not the only and communication. With an abundance connect BLS alumni and students across pollution, to concepts closer to home, such speaker in this multi-month series. Next of interested alumni, finding speakers was decades and geographical locations is as the complexities of Boston as a city. month, Dr. Philip Landrigan (‘59) will be not an issue. Ms. Dumas, however, had incredibly special. Held on Zoom, the event opens with highlighting the effect of ocean pollution to ensure that each was available at their Acknowledging that the alumni set a lecture where an alumnus provides the on human health in the second webinar allotted times and that the session would examples for BLS students, she emphasizes, audience insight into their work. After the on April 9. Over the past few years, Dr. not conflict with the BLS community “We will continue to work to ensure that speaker’s presentation, participants can ask Landrigan’s work as a pediatrician and routine and other events happening around they reflect the tremendous diversity of questions to gain further understanding. epidemiologist has been centered around BLS. identities, professions and expertise in our The first session with Mr. Richard studying the impacts of toxic environmental She recalls some of the logistical expansive network.” Page 2 Credits Boston Latin School Argo Editors' Note Editorial Board Nadine Han, I Editor-in-Chief Julianna Zhao, I Editor-in-Chief Greetings, readers of the Argo! John Lin, I News Editor It’s been a while — remember us? Although you may have only read a grand total of one (1) direct letter from us during our entire tenure as Editors-in-Chief of the Argo so far, Emily Sun, I News Editor you can still find our handiwork in various nooks and crannies of this beloved publication, Esther Shen, I Asst.