Boston School Committee to vote on expansion of Kilmer Elementary to K-8 school

BOSTON - Superintendent Michael G. Contompasis will recommend to the Boston School Committee that the Joyce Kilmer Elementary School in West Roxbury be expanded to a kindergarten through grade 8 (K-8) school beginning next year. The school would occupy two buildings: its current site at 35 Baker Street for kindergarten through grade 3, and the former Lyndon Elementary School building (now vacant) on Russett Road for grades 4 through 8.

The School Committee will consider the recommendation at its meeting on Wednesday, November 1, at 6:00 p.m. in the Winter Chambers, 26 Court Street.

If approved, the Kilmer would become the district's twentieth K-8 program, offering families continuity through the elementary and middle school years. In 1998, only three such programs existed in the Boston Public Schools.

The Superintendent formally recommended the Kilmer K-8 expansion at the beginning of the school year, but the School Committee did not vote at that time. Instead, the Committee directed the Superintendent to hold an additional round of community meetings at the school to discuss the proposal further with parents, staff, and neighbors. After several meetings about the matter, Superintendent Contompasis is now prepared to resubmit the recommendation.

The Kilmer Elementary School currently serves approximately 260 students in K1 (for four-year-olds) through grade 5. Last year, Boston Magazine named the Kilmer one of the top 100 elementary schools in eastern Massachusetts. For more information about the school, visit http://www.bostonpublicschools.org/schools/profiles.asp.

The Boston Public Schools serves approximately 57,000 pre-kindergarten through grade 12 students in 14