Tuning up at the Song School

Tuning up at the Song School
The likes of Mary Gauthier offer instruction to aspirants in the lonely craft of songwriting. Solace is part of the program.

The songwriters attending Mary Gauthier's class pulled up a folding chair or found a patch of lawn, to hear her inveigh against the forces that block writers' best effort.

The long road back

The English High School, a historic icon and once one of Boston's premier learning institutions, has become one of the city's worst schools. This year, it must improve or face closure. This story is the first of several about the students, teachers, and headmaster at English as they try to reverse the school's troubled course. Read the rest ...

William 'Bill' Russell dies at 94; longtime high school sports commissioner

William 'Bill' Russell dies at 94; longtime high school sports commissioner
As the head of the California Interscholastic Federation, Russell helped formulate the first athletic code enabling schools to sponsor girls' teams, with rules adopted statewide in 1967.

William "Bill" Russell, a former longtime California Interscholastic Federation commissioner who was instrumental in the rise of girls' high school sports, died Aug. 9 at his home in Santa Barbara. He had brain cancer. He was 94.