Applications up at local schools; Parents fret over shortage of seats by Colleen Walsh
Some parents fear there is a shortage of schools for their children on the Hill.
That was the word recently from some mothers, discussing the situation of larger numbers of applicants for the same spots in the popular preschools on the Hill after their acceptance letters were sent out in mid-March.
According to some reports, more than one hundred children applied to The Beacon Hill Nursery School on Joy Street for less than twenty spots.
“If you look around the neighborhood and see the number of small children, it’s just gotten harder,” said Michelle Vilms of Cedar Lane Way. Vilms’ 4 1/2-year-old son Jonathan attends Beacon Hill Nursery School and her daughter, Allison, 2 will attend the school next year, but she worries for other families in the neighborhood.
“There’s only so much capacity at each school,” she said. “Where are they going to go?”
Tara Gohlmann, whose 2-year-old daughter Maggie will attend the Park Street School next year, said she too was also worried about the rising number of children competing for spots at local schools and what it means for the future.
“How can there be so many applications for so few spots,” said Gohlmann. “For the level of competitiveness, what does that mean for kindergarten? With the city deciding not to build a new school, what does that mean for all of us?”
School administrators acknowledge that the numbers of children applying have increased in recent years, but they say they think there are still good options available for local families.
“It definitely feels to me that the Hill has a larger younger population,” said Lucinda Ross, director of the Beacon Hill Nursery School on Joy Street, which offers weekly toddler, nursery and kindergarten programs. While Ross declined to give specific numbers in terms of applicants, as the process is still ongoing, she did note that she has seen an increase over the past few years.
“There are certainly many more applicants than the first year I came,” said Ross. “I do disappoint people, I hate doing it. It’s really, really hard.”
Like many schools in the area, The Beacon Hill Nursery School gives precedence to returning students, or students who have siblings attending the school. Those considerations, said Ross, mean that of this year’s possible 42 spots for 3 year olds and 30 spots for 4 year olds, some were already spoken for.
“There are just so many factors involved in it,” said Ross.
In terms of the increase in the number of applicants, Ross said, “it is unclear to me if that is an indication of changing demographics of Beacon Hill or of the impact our new facility has had on an already solid reputation of quality early childhood education. We are adding afternoon classes and have been pleased with the response to those as well.”
Ross said if students weren’t accepted to her program, that there were other strong schools in the area. “There are some really good nursery schools around here.”
Tracey Bradley, head of schools for the Park Street School, an elementary school for kindergarten through grade six on Brimmer Street, and Park Street Kids, a toddler through pre-kindergarten nursery school located at Park Street Church, said she has seen an increase in applicants over the past few years, but that the cause was unclear.
“I would probably say there has been an increase, but we are also a newer school,” said Bradley. “As our school has grown and word of mouth about our school has increased, I think that has also influenced the applications.”
Bradley said it would be hard to determine if there was a shortage of spots as families that apply to her program and are put on the wait list have often applied to several other schools.
“I don’t know if they ever ended up finding a school,” she said. “They may have been able to get in another school in the area.”
Christie Guevin, director of The Spruce Street nursery School said she has also noticed an increase in applications.
Guevin said that siblings entering the school could mean fewer spots for newer families. Of the 18 possible spots in her Acorn program, for ages 2 to 2.9 years old, she said that only seven went to non-affiliated families. In the Willow program, for children in their late 2s to mid-3s, eight spots of a potential 22, which include spots for part time students, went to non-affiliated families, while the rest went to affiliated or returning students.
When it comes to the public school system, the state is obligated to offer schooling for students ages 5 and older. Parents with younger children can apply to the handful of public early education programs in the local area, but if there are no spots available for them, they are out of luck.
“Availability [in our early education centers] is very limited,” said Jonathan Palumbo, spokesman for the Boston Public School Department. “State law only stipulates that we provide for students from 5 years old on. If you are 3 and you don’t get a seat, it’s up to the parents what to do, whether they go private, or anything else along those lines.”
One group of parents in Charlestown decided to take matters into their own hands, forming the Charlestown Cooperative Nursery School, which is scheduled to open this fall.
“I think there aren’t enough options,” said Kelly Pelligrini, a mother of two young children who helped found the parent cooperative.
Pelligrini said she’d heard of a number of children who weren’t accepted to nearby private schools and thought that the increased competition for spots has driven some families to move away.
“Clearly there is a variety of reasons why families leave, but that is one of them,” she said.
Pelligrini said she hoped the new school might help solve the problem for parents who want a viable option located right in the neighborhood.
“Part of the reason we live here is so that we can walk to things, so we don’t spend a lot of time in the car.
Some think the problem has to do with more families deciding to stay and raise their children in the city instead of leaving for the suburbs.
“I definitely think there is an influx of siblings gong to nursery school, I think people are not leaving the city,” said Eileen McCormick of West Cedar Street whose children Maggie Fleck, 4 1/2, and Peter Fleck, 2 1/2 attend The Beacon Hill Nursery School.
But like other parents, McCormack said she worries about where to send her children in the future with potential shortages and rising school costs.
“We don’t want to move, but the school thing is a huge issue,” she said. Adding, “It would be nice if we had a [local] public school, but I don’t think it will ever happen.”
Local composer honors Beacon Hill elm tree by Times staff
Three years ago a massive American elm tree that had stood at the center of Mount Vernon Square for more than a century was diagnosed with Dutch elm disease and, in one afternoon, was swiftly scaled, disassembled and leveled.
The removal of the grand tree saddened many, and came as a shock to local musician John Coulter, who had been visiting the tree for more than a decade. “I discovered it unexpectedly on my usual walk, and needless to say it was a shockingly sad day for me,” said Coulter. “I believe it is the only time I have shed tears for any being from the plant kingdom. I will miss her greatly.”
Coulter first discovered the tree while on a break from practicing piano at the nearby Harvard Musical Association on Chestnut Street. “I began seeking out the hidden places around town in hopes of finding moments of solitude amidst the chaos of city life,” he said. “It was in just one of these alleyways that I discovered Mount Vernon Square Park. There, hidden from most of the world, is a magical little garden, at the center of which was standing the most massive tree I had ever seen (or so it seemed).”
Coulter’s relationship with the tree grew with time. “I took the detour to visit her every chance I could, and for more than a decade our friendship continued.”
It was during this time that Coulter began to work on a grand waltz, which sprang from a simple melody that just “came to me one day.”
“For the next fourteen years I looked after it, pruning and weeding, watching secondary motifs branch out and reach for the sky,” he said.
Coulter had no deadline to complete the piece and said because of the lack of expectation, it “grew quite organically,” much like his friend, the elm, he said.
“At some point I couldn't help but notice similarities between the nuances of the score and the general characteristics of trees, particularly elm trees. If you've ever noticed, their branches often make sudden and dramatic shifts in direction, appearing to have been choreographed in slow motion.”
Three years after the demise of the majestic Mount Vernon Square elm, Coulter is ready to premier his waltz for violin and piano, entitled “Dance of the Majestic Elms.”
“It will always be linked with the memory of this tree and the joy that filled my spirit at each encounter,” he said.
The piece will be performed at part of the ARTS-FIRST festival at Memorial Church in Harvard Yard on Saturday, May 5, at 4 p.m.
The Beacon Hill Times gets its information from John Lepore, Mass. Highway’s project manager, and from direct observation.
Median: The irrigation system is in, but the subcontractor did not come back to test it last week, as he had said he would. The soil and the plants cannot go in until the system is tested. Lepore said he expects the testing to happen this week as the loam is going in. Planting should take place mostly on weekends when the street is less busy because the equipment takes up a lane of traffic.
Brick work: Workmen finished off the concrete around the traffic signals at Grove Street and did some patching.
Tree pits: Workmen have begun excavating the asphalt out of the tree pits in preparation for planting.
Street lights: There are still a couple left to be installed. Some street lights are on 24 hours. Others are on only at night. The rest, especially in the median, are not on at all. It’s uncertain when they will all be working, but Lepore says that will be before he turns the project over to the city.
Bottles of Grey Goose vodka have been disappearing left and right, indicating that there is a Grey Goose bandit on the loose. He’s looking for the good stuff, and he knows just where to find it.
The bandit’s been targeting liquor stores along Charles and Cambridge streets, aiming straight for the top shelf liquor. Beacon Hill Wine & Spirits, Charles Street Liquors and TopShelf have all been victims of this bandit’s costly taste.
He hits one store and then another until he’s satisfied with his Grey Goose stash. Backpacks, baggy pants and jackets are his accomplices, and he’s been caught in action on several occasions. “He can be in and out in a minute and a half,” said Chris Pedersen, managing partner of Charles Street Liquors. Pedersen’s shop has been targeted three times in two weeks.
TopShelf was the first target. Owner Weylan Ma confronted the bandit after seeing him (on surveillance) stuffing three bottles of Grey Goose down his pants two weeks ago. “This is the first time I actually caught the guy,” said Ma, who hasn’t seen him since.
The bandit has been kicked out of Charles Street Liquors twice but made off with at least one bottle of Grey Goose according to Pedersen. “He came in on a Thursday and then four days later on a Monday. He just keeps coming back.”
Beacon Hill Wine & Spirits shares the same frustration. They have been hit twice and had one bottle stolen. This time, the bandit targeted the shop two nights in a row.
“He looked suspicious, but we didn’t know if he took anything,” said Greg Siffon, who works at Beacon Hill Wine & Spirits. Siffon thinks there are two separate people targeting the stores. “They’re definitely not stealing the cheap stuff,” said Siffon, “and it looks like they’re trying to target every liquor store on the street.”
While the bandit has been partially successful in his Grey Goose thefts, Pedersen said he’ll physically take action the next time the bandit comes around. “We’re all keeping our eye out for him.”
Walking around, one sees things up close. Sometimes it’s too close. Take the corner of Cambridge and Grove streets near the entryway to Harvard Gardens.
Neighbors have complained that from time to time they have seen hospital debris — needles, rubber gloves and something that looked like an IV bag-on the sidewalk and in the gutters. It has looked to them as if a person has walked out of the emergency room, having used some of the equipment, and dumped it on the corner.
One neighbor, having called city agencies which shunted her from one office to another, donned her own gloves and picked up the debris.
That corner already has some problems because Harvard Gardens’ trash, especially the grease, has left part of the sidewalk a little waxy.
A pedestrian light has been installed pretty much in front of Harvard Gardens’ doorway, which makes it a little difficult to get crowds in and out.
It’s not as if the condition of the corner is anyone’s fault completely. After all, Mass. General can’t help it if someone leaves the emergency department when no one is looking.
Up the street is another trouble spot. Neighbors on the west side, along the first block of Grove Street up from that corner, are slobs. All winter long, the debris piles up in the gutter and no one appears to care that they are living in a mess.
A trouble spot still exists on West Cedar Street at Charles Circle. Last year some nitwit bricklayer pulled up the bricks on the sidewalk to re-lay them in the new Charles Circle configuration. Then, instead of blending them neatly into the city’s brick sidewalk, they laid down a line of asphalt.
Pretty, huh?
It is the responsibility of the MBTA’s contractor to fix this, but so far nothing has happened. If it doesn’t get done soon, we’re going to have a brick monitor on the front page of the newspaper with the contractor and the MBTA’s name on it, just as we have done on Cambridge Street. Fix it.
Brimmer Street neighbors endure a lot. There is legitimate construction that has a beginning and an end. Then there is construction that never ends. Brimmer Street needs some rest.
Another trouble spot that seems never to go away is on Beacon Street across from the Public Garden and around David Mugar Way. Car break-ins and thefts have been a problem for the dozen years we’ve run this newspaper. It doesn’t change. If you have to park your car in this part of the neighborhood, don’t leave any objects inside.
In all these trouble spots, however, there is a bright spot.
Crossing from the subway station at Charles Circle to the Beacon Hill side has been much improved, and it isn’t just the new configuration of traffic and pedestrian ways. It is the little store Top Shelf, which all winter has brightened the circle with flowers and vegetables. A little color and fragrance go a long way in making the introduction to our neighborhood a happy one.
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