1+ hour, 58+ min ago (446+ words) Gov. Maura Healey on Tuesday named Tara Goodhue, a science teacher at Lowell High School, as the 2026 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year. Goodhue is Lowell Public School's first teacher to win the annual award since its creation in 1960. "I am incredibly humbled and overwhelmed by this," Goodhue said. "I really attribute this honor to the fact that I teach the best students in the state." The Teacher of the Year Award is given to educators who have created a positive learning environment, built strong relationships with students and the district community and provides high quality instruction, according to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Goodhue was chosen from 200 nominees across the state and automatically becomes the state's candidate for the National Teacher of the Year Award. She said she credits her win to her students' help during the application…...

19+ hour, 51+ min ago (1125+ words) Between Miriam Grodin's classes, shifts at the student newspaper and work in the campus development office, she's spent part of the fall semester job shadowing staff at the book publisher tucked behind the stacks in the library. "Have you learned anything that you didn't know before about publishing?" Brandeis University Press Director Sue Berger Ramin asked Grodin in a sort of exit interview as they sat in her book-lined office three months into the fall semester. "Definitely," Grodin responded, smiling. "Having a conversation with someone who actually works in publishing and finding out the tangible things that they do is just really interesting." The 20-year-old junior from Livingston, New Jersey, is double-majoring in English and creative writing. She hopes to become an editor someday but said before job shadowing at the press, she found the process of publishing to be…...

1+ day, 6+ hour ago (529+ words) Massachusetts high schoolers would be required to learn financial literacy, start planning their college or career journeys, take end-of-course tests and complete a capstone or portfolio project under a new set of graduation standards that state officials proposed Monday. The initial framework comes in response to a statewide vote last year that eliminated the use of 10th grade MCAS tests as a graduation requirement. Healey administration officials worked with a council that included educators, students, parents and business community representatives to come up with the newly proposed requirements unveiled Monday. "We're moving away from high stakes to high expectations and seizing this moment, this opportunity to reach all of our students and make a Massachusetts high school diploma more meaningful than ever," Gov. Maura Healey said as she announced the framework's details in an event at Dedham High School. As proposed…...

1+ day, 14+ hour ago (1207+ words) In New Bedford, school officials renovated a planetarium at the high school to use for history and science lessons. In Lynn, city officials transformed a former bank into a place for pre-college classes that has doubled the program's ability to enroll students. And in Chelsea, the city acquired a church it plans to turn into classrooms to free up space in its high school. These urban districts all turned to unconventional learning spaces out of necessity, as years of unequal funding left them with outdated facilities. School leaders in New Bedford " one of the communities with the most deficient facilities in Massachusetts " say they want the funding system to be made more equitable, but they can't wait for that to change. "If there isn't a new building on the horizon, you have to be very creative and you have to…...

1+ week, 8+ hour ago (657+ words) The Massachusetts Nurses Association is among a nationwide coalition of health care organizations criticizing a Trump administration plan that would limit some students" access to federal loans. While graduate students could previously borrow loans up to the cost of their degree, the new rules " part of Trump"s "Big Beautiful Bill" passed by Congress " would set caps depending on whether the degree is considered a graduate or professional program. Left out are nursing, physical therapy, dental hygiene, occupational therapy and social work, as well as fields outside of health care such as architecture, education and accounting. Students pursuing graduate degrees in these fields would face tighter federal student loan limits under the plan. In a statement, the Massachusetts Nurses Association criticized the loan caps, saying it would "make it dramatically harder or impossible to afford the education required to meet…...

1+ week, 5+ day ago (666+ words) Boston Public Schools is proposing to close two high schools and one elementary school starting in 2027 as part of the district's long-term goal to decrease its physical footprint amid declining enrollment. The schools expected to be shuttered under the proposal are Lee Academy Pilot School and Community Academy of Science and Health (CASH), both in Dorchester, as well as the Another Course to College pilot school in Hyde Park. The proposed closures were presented at Wednesday's Boston school committee meeting with Superintendent Mary Skipper calling it part of the district's effort to build a better BPS for its students. "One that is optimized to match our student body while offering high quality choices for all BPS students and families across our neighborhoods," Skipper said at the meeting. "Our primary focus is expanding access to safe, healthy and inspiring learning spaces…...

1+ week, 5+ day ago (769+ words) Former Harvard President Larry Summers abruptly went on leave Wednesday from teaching at the university over recently released emails showing he maintained a friendly relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, Summers" spokesperson said. Summers had been retreating from his public commitments amid the fallout of the emails revelation, but he had maintained that he would continue teaching economics classes at Harvard. Yet by Wednesday evening, Summers had not only retreated from teaching classes but also as director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government with the Kennedy Harvard School. "Mr. Summers has decided it"s in the best interest of the Center for him to go on leave from his role as Director as Harvard undertakes its review. His co-teachers will complete the remaining three class sessions of the courses he has been teaching with them this semester, and he is…...

1+ week, 6+ day ago (333+ words) Harvard is opening an investigation into the university's connections to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The school made the announcement Wednesday after recently released emails showed former Harvard President Larry Summers and his wife kept close ties with Epstein, even after his conviction in 2008. "The University is conducting a review of information concerning individuals at Harvard included in the newly released Jeffrey Epstein documents to evaluate what actions may be warranted," a spokesperson said in a statement to GBH News. Ahead of the Wednesday night announcement, some Kennedy School faculty members expressed a desire for the university to be rid of Summers. "He is an embarrassment to the institution, to put it mildly," said Mary Waters, director of undergraduate studies and a sociologist at Harvard. "I don't think we can strip him of tenure unless more wrongdoing comes to light, but…...

1+ week, 6+ day ago (333+ words) Harvard is opening an investigation into the university's connections to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The school made the announcement Wednesday after recently released emails showed former Harvard President Larry Summers and his wife kept close ties with Epstein, even after his conviction in 2008. "The University is conducting a review of information concerning individuals at Harvard included in the newly released Jeffrey Epstein documents to evaluate what actions may be warranted," a spokesperson said in a statement to GBH News. Ahead of the Wednesday night announcement, some Kennedy School faculty members expressed a desire for the university to be rid of Summers. "He is an embarrassment to the institution, to put it mildly," said Mary Waters, director of undergraduate studies and a sociologist at Harvard. "I don't think we can strip him of tenure unless more wrongdoing comes to light, but…...

2+ week, 1+ day ago (657+ words) This is a web edition of GBH Daily, a weekday newsletter bringing you local stories you can trust so you can stay informed without feeling overwhelmed. "Mostly sunny and cold, with highs in the 40s. Sunset is at 4:20 p.m. "Given the threats that higher education faces in this country, if I lived abroad, I'm not sure I'd send my child to a school in the United States," Levine told GBH's Kirk Carapezza. You can find more on this report and what it means here. 1. Until last month, Ellen Mei worked for the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service as a program specialist in Boston. When the federal shutdown began she gave an interview to MSNBC and talked about how the shutdown might affect SNAP benefits. The next day Mei " also president of the union representing her co-workers " was fired. Mei and her colleagues…...