EGHS Settles Into New (Old) Safety Routine

In wake of student’s arrest for essay deemed threatening, Officer Al Marcello has returned full time to the high school.

Two years after he was reassigned due to budget cuts, EG police officer Al Marcella is back full time at East Greenwich High School, walking the halls, patrolling the parking lot, and chatting up the students. The move comes in the wake of a controversy that arose after a student handed in an essay to his English teacher the end of March depicting a school shooting spree. The student was arrested April 1, charges were dropped April 5, he posted the essay to his facebook page April 6, was arrested again April 9 and currently faces two charges of disorderly conduct. He is suspended indefinitely and on home confinement, according to officials. Two officers were assigned to the school April 9-13 and initially it was reported that two officers…

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Michael Mernick

3:28 pm on Saturday, April 28, 2012

I don't think this has to do with population at all. It has to do with location. That officer is limited to the location he is at, the high school. He is not available to protect and serve the rest of us who are not at the school. 4 officers and a super is minimum! Lets make this position permanent by ordinance with the goal of providing the "safest" as well as "the best public high school" in RI   more ›

Rants and Raves

Guns And Taxes

What to love and loathe about East Greenwich this week.

RANT: It seems to me that enough people have weighed in with their opinions over what is being euphemistically referred to as “The Incident” at the high school this week that I don’t need to throw in my (frankly uneducated) 2 cents worth. This is obviously a fraught issue and, regardless of the legal outcome, something that our community will continue to grapple with for quite awhile. The thing that struck me, though, was how few people even questioned that a teenager could apparently easily get a hold of what are effectively weapons of mass destruction. This observation has nothing to do with my views on the Second Amendment. Well, it does in that I understand where the initial idea germinated, but have a feeling that the founding …

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Judging Behavior By Words Alone Not Enough, Doctor Says

Many factors need to be considered when assessing whether or not someone is at risk to commit a violent act, specialist says.

In the wake of the controversy over an essay depicting a high school shooting spree, many in East Greenwich are at odds whether or not the teenage writer should have been arrested and if he is a threat. One issue many EG Patch commenters have responded to: Can words alone predict a violent act? According to Wade Myers, director of forensic psychiatry at Rhode Island Hospital, they cannot. Forensic psychiatry is a subspecialty of psychiatry that addresses the interface between mental illness and the law, said Myers. Myers refused to comment about the 15-year-old EGHS student who was suspended and then arrested after turning in the essay to his English teacher March 29. Those charges were dropped April 4, but two more charges were brought …

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Elizabeth McNamara

10:17 am on Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Spring Street, the teacher turned in the essay immediately. The student was arrested two days later. The charges were dropped. It was AFTER that the student posted it to Facebook. The school only notified parents 10 days after the essay was turned in.   more ›

EGHS Student Faces New Charges

The sophomore who was suspended after turning in an essay about a school shooting spree has been charged with two new counts of disorderly conduct.

Police arrested the 15-year-old East Greenwich High School student responsible for writing about a school shooting spree and posting it to Facebook for a second time Monday afternoon, charging him with two new counts of disorderly conduct. Three earlier charges for the same essay were dismissed by a judge last Thursday, April 5. The boy was arraigned in Family Court Monday afternoon and released to the custody of his parents and is on home confinement, said EG Police Sergeant John Carter, who handles juvenile issues for the town. Under the terms of his home confinement, he is not allowed to leave his family's house without being accompanied by a parent, Carter said. Carter said the boy was being charged under R.I. state statute 11-45-1. …

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Elizabeth McNamara

10:23 am on Friday, April 13, 2012

Fair enough Gladys.   more ›

[POLL] Should Student Be Arrested For Writing Essay Deemed Threatening?

An EGHS sophomore was arrested April 1 for the essay reprinted here.

On April 1, East Greenwich police arrested a 15-year-old student of East Greenwich High School on charges of threatening a public official and disorderly conduct after an essay he handed in raised concerns because of the high school shooting spree it depicted. The essay by East Greenwich High School sophomore is reprinted here: The Last Bullet The parking lot I feel the gun against my side, it's shaking, or maybe that's just the nerves. The cigarette in my hand burns me, meaning it's finished; I toss it on the ground and step on it, flattening the butt with my heavy boot. I exhale. “Are you ready?” I ask my self, I respond with a simple nod. As I walk towards the school, I wonder how successful this will be. It's certainly not the first …

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Elizabeth McNamara

10:08 pm on Saturday, April 14, 2012

An honest east greenwich high student: While we welcome your comments, the first part of your 4-part comment was deleted because of a personal attack.   more ›

EGHS's Charlotte Palmer Wins Essay Contest

The ninth grader came in first in Rhode Island, fifth in the country for her essay about investing.

The students, mostly ninth graders, had been called to an assembly in the auditorium Wednesday morning, March 7, without knowing why. Then they found out: one of them had written an award-winning essay on investing. Students looked at each other and around. Whoever it was had written an essay ranked number one in the state, number five in the country.  And the winner was ... Charlotte Palmer, a dark-haired ninth grader sitting in in the back. The auditorium erupted in applause as Charlotte made her way to the stage to be congratulated by Elizabeth Reidel, vice president of Securities Industries and Financial Management Association (SIFMA), which ran the InvestWrite contest. Charlotte and other members of EGHS teacher Pat Page's business …

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