CREDIT: Courtesy photo

CAPTION: The Museum of Science.

Preliminary discussions are underway between Boston Public Schools (BPS) and the Museum of Science to open a charter school for Back Bay, Beacon Hill, North End and West End children, and the proposed redevelopment of the Government Center Garage is being considered as a possible site, sources said.
On July 17, Gov. Deval Patrick filed legislation that would more than triple the number of slots in charter schools and allow the state more authority to intervene in underperforming schools. The legislation includes the Readiness Acceleration Schools initiative, which establishes Readiness Alliance Schools through comprehensive partnerships between external partners, such as universities, charter school operators and museums. One day before he filed the legislation, Patrick announced the proposed education reform during a press conference at the Museum of Science.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino also filed legislation earlier this month that would allow city officials to turn underperforming schools into in-district charter schools.
Ioannis Miaoulis, the Museum of Science’s Boston president and director, acknowledged that opening a charter school in partnership with BPS was a possibility.
“The Museum of Science is in regular discussions with the secretary of education on various issues related to Massachusetts education reform,” Miaoulis said. “The topic of the Alliance Schools was introduced as part of these ongoing conversations, and we are considering the role the museum might play in this effort. In the near term, the museum is focused on expanding its technology and engineering curriculum in schools throughout the commonwealth and across the country, as well as on the opening of upcoming exhibits and programs.”
BPS spokesperson Matt Wilder said while there were no plans to open up a charter school in partnership with the Museum of Science at this time, he didn’t rule it out, either.
“The Boston Public Schools has a long history of successful partnerships with the Museum of Science, and we are certainly open to exploring a collaboration for a new school,” Wilder wrote in an e-mail. “There are a number of possibilities on the horizon for new types of schools that could meet the needs of families and students through innovative approaches and new educational models. At this point, no specific plans have come forward, but we welcome the opportunity to learn more.”
Jonathon Palumbo, communication director for the state’s Executive Office of Transportation, said Boston and about a dozen other communities throughout the state were being considered for a charter school, although no specifics had been nailed down yet.
Meanwhile, State Rep. Marty Walz, who co-chairs the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Education, supported the idea of opening a new school for Boston children.
“A public elementary or K-8 school serving Boston’s downtown is essential, whether it’s located in the proposed development at the Government Center Garage or at another nearby site,” Walz said.

Every Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m., The Esplanade Association and World Rhythms Dance & Fitness, present “Dancing Under the Stars,” a free dance program at the DCR Hatch Shell on the Charles River Esplanade. Each week, professional dance instructors will introduce a different style of dance. The evening will begin with one hour of free dance instruction followed by an hour of open dance. The next program on July 30 focuses on ballroom dancing.
For more information, visit www.espalanadeassociation.org or jburke@esplanadeassociation.org or call 617-227-0365 ext. 110.

CAPTION: Suzanne Besser, executive director of the Beacon Hill Civic Association, receives a dance lesson.

The Beacon Hill Civic Association (BHCA) Board of Directors unanimously voted to establish a study group to examine the potential impact of a proposed redevelopment of the Government Center Garage on the neighborhood.
On March 2, Boston-based Raymond Property Company filed a $2.2 billion proposal with the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) to raze the 11-story garage, replacing it with 3.8-million square feet of office, retail and residential development, including two office towers.
Tad Stahl, a BHCA board member and the sole Beacon Hill resident serving on the Impact Advisory Group for the project, said the two buildings would be 500 and 700 feet tall, the latter of which would rival the Prudential tower in height.
“The number of public officials who have been positive about the proposal is discouraging,” Stahl said. “Every elected official has supported it with some stipulations.”
Regarding a proposal in which the development would include a new public school, Stahl said he still wouldn’t support the project. “I would not trade this for a school – no way,” he said.
Stahl suggested that the BRA conceive a master plan for the site and surrounding areas as it did for the West End at the request of neighborhood residents about six years ago.
The official launch of the new committee is tentatively set for September.

A truck is crushed Friday when it fails to clear the Arthur Fiedler footbridge.

CAPTION: Boston Common Coffee Co. co-owner Tony Massari and barista Rachel Schwartz.

As a North End resident, Tony Massari was well aware of the need for a traditional coffee shop in the neighborhood when he opened the original Boston Common Coffee Co. on Salem Street five years ago.
Before that, Massari was a regular at Red Barn Coffee Roasters at Faneuil Hall, where he met Peter Femino, a part owner of the Massachusetts chain of coffee shops. Massari casually mentioned the need for a coffee shop in the North End to Femino, who soon signed on as a business partner. Together, they opened the first Boston Common Coffee Co. in December 2004.
Boston Common Coffee offers coffees from around the world, all of which are roasted medium at the company’s roasting facility in the small Worcester County town of Hopedale. In-house pastry chef Jean Paul La Pierre cooks up a daily selection of scones, cookies and specialty pastry items. Other menu items include grilled panini and breakfast sandwiches.
“A coffee shop serving sandwiches and great pastries was our original concept, and that’s still our first priority,” Massari said.
In December 2006, Boston Common Coffee opened its second store about a mile away from the North End on High Street in the Financial District.
“We wanted to keep things in the same general area,” Massari said. “Being a small business, we had our hands full just running two stores.”
A third store opened in an Suffolk College dormitory on Washington Street in the Financial District this May, and Massari expects this to be the busiest location once students from Suffolk, Emerson and other nearby colleges return in the fall.
“We expect it to exceed our other stores, even though it’s only a couple of months old,” Massari said. ‘There’s already huge foot traffic from workers in the area, but we wouldn’t have gone in there, if it wasn’t for the dorms.”
Looking forward. Massari is thinking about opening smaller stores, kiosks or even an iced coffee cart in the summer in Beacon Hill and the Back Bay, but the main objective for the time being is bringing Boston Common’s home-roasted coffee to a larger clientele.
The company recently landed a deal to supply its java to Scoops ice cream shop in Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard, and the plan is to continue to grow the wholesale operation through smaller distributors and vendors. Boston Common also hopes to offer online sales through its Web site and to launch a Coffee of the Month Club in which subscribers would receive a different selection of its home-roasted coffee every month.
“We’re at a juncture right now that’s really exciting to us,” Massari said.
Boston Common Coffee Co. has stores at 97 Salem St. in the North End, 10 High St. in the Financial District, and 515 Washington St. in Downtown Crossing. For hours of operation and more information, visit www.bostoncommoncoffee.com.

The stock market and you

The New York Stock Exchange has risen dramatically since the near collapse of the economic system about six months ago.
The Index has broken through the 9,000 level, up from the dreariness of the lows that were reached when it appeared as though the economy was going to evaporate.
It is plain and clear now that the economy isn’t going to evaporate and that, in fact, it may be growing again.
However, a number of problems remain.
Almost 500,000 men and women per month for the past year have been laid off and placed on the unemployment rolls. The national unemployment rate is nearing 10 per cent.
New jobs aren’t being created at a fast enough rate to offset job loss, and there is the widespread belief held by economists that corporate profits may improve because of belt tightening, but that the expansion of business is going to be slow.
If you have children graduating from college and entering the job market, then you know there are very few jobs to be found. This is a situation that will intensify as Baby Boomers remain in their positions far after the time most of them thought they’d be leaving.
The near collapse of the stock market wiped out about $15 trillion in equity from all of our retirement accounts, stock portfolios and unless you’re living in the most fabulous of circumstances, it has vastly diminished the value of your home. Home values are continuing to decline and are expected to do so for another year.
The run-up in the stock market is satisfying as far as creating good feeling, but it hasn’t done much to allay our fears that we face a brave new world since the economic disaster befell us. Neither has it appreciably replaced the equity we lost in our various accounts.
It is an uncertain economic future that all of us face as the summer winds on.
Funny what a difference a year can make in the economic life of the nation.

The Gates affair

President Barack Obama has once again shown how he can act as a great conciliator by inviting Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. to the White House to share a beer with Cambridge Police Sergeant Jim Crowley, the man who arrested Gates.
Most of us understand that being black or white has very little to do with whether or not we’ll be arrested – especially if we’ve been haranguing the police officer to the point where he says, “Put your arms behind your back. You are under arrest.” In such cases, we arrest ourselves, which is what we believe Professor Gates did.
We understand Professor Gates’ inevitable response and how it was framed historically.
We also understand Sgt. Crowley’s imperatives as a police officer.
That something can be learned from this incident is a certainty.
There is nothing wrong with having a national discussion about racial profiling.