Establishing the North Star Alumni Association!

Establishing the North Star Alumni Association!

We are on our way! Thanks to the Vela Education Fund, along with the generosity of alumni donors at our Bonanza (matched by a gift from Board member and Alumni Parent Emily Harding-Morick) we are proceeding with hiring an Alumni Coordinator to create the North Star...
Unambiguously Good News!

Unambiguously Good News!

Who guessed this pandemic would lead to us watching Boston’s wastewater reports on a daily basis? Well, I’ll take good news wherever I can find it, even in a pile of public poop. This week, there is dramatically less Covid-19 in the fecal matter of Boston’s general...
Sex Education

Sex Education

Sex Education is serious and funny, romantic and platonic, focused on sexual behavior and also interested in all sorts of social and emotional issues of the teens and their school. It’s quite a roller-coaster, and I found myself rooting for many of them to connect...
North Star’s Covid-19 Policy, Fall 2021

North Star’s Covid-19 Policy, Fall 2021

At our final staff meeting of last year in mid-June, we felt quite optimistic about this coming fall in regards to Covid-19. The incidence of Covid-19 in western Massachusetts was very low, and across the country, cases seemed to be in decline. All of our staff and...
A Different Order of Events

A Different Order of Events

“Hi, Ken! It’s Jesse! Believe it or not, I’m now applying to Amherst College, and I wonder if you would write me a recommendation?” Jesse Shotland, now age 28, was a delightful member of North Star for two years, 2009-2011. We have stayed in touch, and I knew that...
One Year Later: Are We Almost There Yet?

One Year Later: Are We Almost There Yet?

My young-adult children are increasing their vigilance of my wife and me regarding our COVID- 19 protective behaviors, demanding that we “don’t blow it now after all we have sacrificed this year to avoid getting COVID-19!” They want us to keep our guard up for another...