Latest news with #ClassicalHighSchool
Yahoo
23-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Revered RI judge Bruce M. Selya, known for distinctive writing style, dies at 90
Bruce M. Selya, the first person of Jewish faith to ascend the federal bench in Rhode Island, has died at 90. Known for his expansive vocabulary and distinctive writing style, Selya was a revered figure around the state and in the legal community. "Rhode Island has lost a legal legend whose outstanding contributions to the community and the people of Rhode Island go well beyond his four decades of remarkable service on the federal bench," U.S. Sen. Jack Reed said in a statement on Sunday. A Providence native, Selya attended Classical High School, Harvard University, and Harvard Law School. President Ronald Reagan nominated him to be a U.S. District Court judge in 1982, then tapped him for the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals four years later. "I would like to tell you that my nomination was due solely to my brilliance, but the truth is that it came about on the recommendation of Senator John H. Chafee," Selya later told a legal website. "I had been a practicing attorney for 22 years at the time I was appointed to the bench and was involved in both the community and the politics of the state of Rhode Island." In later years, Selya served as chief judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review. Over the course of his legal career, Selya authored more than 1,800 opinions, which were often distinguished by his use of arcane words and unique turns of phrase. "I spent twenty-two years being paid extravagant sums for work that included reading judicial opinions and often found myself struggling to stay awake," he told a legal website in 2004. "Upon my appointment to the bench, I made a commitment to myself that I would attempt to prove that sound jurisprudence and interesting prose are not mutually exclusive." Holding firm to that commitment, Selya casually scattered words like "philotheoparoptesism" and "rodomontade" in his opinions, sending lawyers scrambling for their dictionaries. An opinion involving the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union included phrases like "plaintiffs' own filings place them in the tightest of corsets," the New York Times noted in a 1992 story on his wordplay. Among his "Selyaisms": "We find this to be a ketchup-bottle type of argument: it looks quite full, but it is remarkably difficult to get anything useful out of it." "While Rumpelstiltskin is said to have converted dross into gold, the agency cannot convert evidence favorable to an alien into evidence unfavorable to the alien simply by ignoring the context of such evidence." "[T]he appellant's asseverational array is all meringue and no pie." Selya was also known for mentoring countless law clerks over the years, including one who went on to become a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson. Outside the courtroom, Selya served on the board of numerous organizations, such as the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island, and was the founding chairman of the Lifespan medical group. 'As a judge, Bruce Selya was nationally renowned and respected and set a high bar that many others in his profession admire and aspire to reach," Reed said. "As a man, he will be remembered for his exemplary devotion to the law and uplifting others, particularly those in his beloved hometown of Providence." The city of Providence ceremonially designated Fulton Street, which runs alongside Rhode Island's federal courthouse, as Judge Selya Way in 2023. 'I've always been in awe of how a son of Providence … went on to such a spot of national importance,' said Samuel Salganik, a former clerk, said at the time. 'He's a nationally important judge and he did it all from his hometown.' This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Bruce M. Selya, revered RI judge and Providence native, dies at 90
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Classical High School unveils $40M in renovations
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Classical High School recently underwent a $40 million makeover. The Providence Public School District celebrated the major milestone in its ongoing efforts to modernize the city's educational facilities with a ceremonial ribbon cutting Thursday afternoon. RELATED: Smiley still pushing to take back Providence schools in July The district received $33.2 million from the state to renovate Classical High School. Those renovations included building a state-of-the-art media center and library, as well as making key infrastructure upgrades, like adding central air conditioning, to ensure a student-centric learning environment. The high school's classrooms have also each been upgraded to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. MORE: RIDE, McKee open to returning Providence schools to city in 2026 R.I. Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green said these renovations come after more than 50 years of the high school seeing minimal improvements. She added that this marks the first step in the state's overarching plan to have students learning in brand new or like-new schools by 2030. 'The days of Band-Aids approaches and solutions are behind us,' Infante-Green said at the ribbon cutting ceremony. 'We're focused on 21st century spaces like this one.' Though the bulk of the renovations have been completed, additional improvements are expected to be made in the coming years. Classical High School Principal Scott Barr revealed that there are plans in the works to upgrade the gymnasium and auditorium. The high school also plans to create a maintenance plan to make sure the renovations last well into the future. NEXT: Smiley says survey supports local control as RIDE counters with same data Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Yahoo
Police: 3 Classical students robbed while walking home
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Police are investigating after three Providence teenagers were robbed in broad daylight while walking home from school Tuesday. Josh Estrella, a spokesperson for the capital city, told 12 News three Classical High School students were walking down Broad Street shortly after dismissal when two men approached them. The suspects stole a gold necklace and a backpack containing a Google Chromebook from the students before taking off, Estrella added. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Providence Police Department by calling (401) 272-3121. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Boston Globe
29-01-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Go inside the best basketball gym in all of Rhode Island
And after watching my two sons play Purple home and away games for eight years, I can tell you that Classical has the best gym in all the (R.I.) land. So what makes it so special? It's an urban version of the Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up On Wednesday night, Classical will travel across Providence for Advertisement As a public school in a city that just Robert J. Palazzo, a longtime track and field coach and a former state senator, has been Classical's athletic director for 36 years. He bleeds Purple. He wears school championship rings the size of golf balls. And during pep rallies, he wears a toga and gives impassioned speeches about the Purple battling foes from far off lands, such as Newport. Sure, Palazzo has seen the 'perpetual' banners that hang in some gyms: When a team wins a championship, that year gets added to an existing banner listing other championship years. They're generic, orderly, and don't take up much space. Advertisement But, Palazzo said, 'We're into shock and awe here. That's what we do.' Classical High School Athletic Director Robert J. Palazzo stands before a wall of championship banners in the school's historic gymnasium in Providence, R.I. Erin Clark/Globe Staff Inside Classical's gym, you can spend the entire first half reading purple banners of various sizes heralding Purple glory from various decades. But it wasn't always that way. Jackie Poulios said when he was a member of the Classical basketball team that beat La Salle in the 1985 state championship, the court had no banners — not even a center court logo. Just cinderblock walls. 'It was prisonlike,' Poulios said. 'It could be Anywhere USA. In Italian, Palazzo means palace, and Bobby turned it into an iconic palace. He has celebrated the accomplishments of Classical athletes like no other. It builds self-esteem, and he teach life lessons.' Some people bust Palazzo's chops, telling him he'd put up a banner for a ping-pong champion. But, Palazzo said, 'Listen, we have a different level of success here that we celebrate.' He gives a speech to the student body each year, encouraging them to get involved, and he wants to recognize their achievements, big and small. 'The message is inclusion,' Palazzo said. 'There's got to be something that you can do to move the school forward. And this place can't exist with kids just going home at 3 o'clock.' So he keeps buying purple banners, making Classical second only to Penn State as the oldest customer at the Nixon banner company, in Massachusetts. Granted, it can be hard to find the gym. The first time I attended a game, I went in the front door, got lost, and somehow ended up in a space outside the walls of the school auditorium. To get to the gym, you have to go through the cafeteria and up a flight of stairs. Advertisement A sign above the entrance lets you know you're entering the 'Home of the first RI Interscholastic League State Championship Ever Played: Classical Baseball. March 1899.' Another sign celebrates Championship banners and alumni tributes line the walls of Classical High School's gymnasium, including honors for NBA player David Duke Jr. and MLB star Jeremy Peña, alongside a 2008 state championship banner commemorating the school's undefeated 22-0 season. Erin Clark/Globe Staff Yet another sign proclaims the school's Latin motto: 'Certare, Petere, Reperire, Neque Cedere' (To Strive, to Seek, to Find, and Not to Yield). As layup lines form before a game, loud speakers reverberate with the bass beats of Gunna and other rappers — far hipper than the Journey anthem played at an East Greenwich game last year. Classical was 'The roof is leaking like a sieve,' Palazzo said, pointing out water stains trailing down a wall and over banners. 'The heating system is atrocious. You've been in here with the sauna. And then in the summer, it's terrible.' It's like the There have been improvements. During the pandemic, the scoreboard blew out, so Palazzo brought the football scoreboard inside and put in on the floor. He said the then-schools superintendent showed up for a playoff game, and said, 'We gotta do better than that.' Advertisement So Classical ended up with a new scoreboard that displays the points scored by all of the players on the floor. Palazzo said it can be hard to keep pace with private schools such as La Salle and Bishop Hendricken, which draw students from throughout the state, plus the likes of Ponaganset and North Kingstown, which are becoming magnets for career and technical education programs. But Classical is poised for progress. Palazzo said a state bond will provide funding for a second phase of Classical renovations in 2026 and 2027, and he'd like to see work on the roof, bleachers, gym floor, heating system, and air conditioning. In the process, Palazzo said, Classical must maintain room for the history, the tradition, the character — and the banners. More immediately, he said, he hopes Classical beats La Salle. A commemorative basketball marking Classical High School's 2024 state championship season sits in a trophy case at the school's gymnasium. The team went undefeated in both the State Open Tournament and Division 1 Championship Tournament. Erin Clark/Globe Staff Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at
