Mayor Menino Breaks Ground for Jeremiah Burke High School

Mayor Thomas M. Menino joined community leaders and neighbors today for the official groundbreaking of the new Jeremiah Burke High School / Library/ Community Center. The extensive project not only breaks ground, but also breaks tradition with the inclusion of a public branch library to be built within a Boston Public School.

"I am proud of the collaboration that has been grown among several different city departments and the community," Mayor Menino said. "In less than two years, the Burke will be a national model: a dynamic high school partnered with a modernized public library and community center."

The project is slated to cost $42 million and will provide the Burke School community with a brand new, state-of-the-art library that will also serve as the Grove Hall branch of the Boston Public Library. The school's new gymnasium will be an additional location for the Boston Centers for Youth and Families. Boston's Department of Neighborhood Development Capital Construction Division is managing the project.

"The new Burke Library/Community Center will help ensure that our students receive the quality education they deserve; and the new gym will help promote physical fitness so they are ready to learn," said Superintendent Michael G. Contompasis. "It is also gratifying to know that we are able to improve the lives of so many residents of Grove Hall with this project."

Construction is expected to be complete in the summer of 2008. Burke students and staff have moved temporarily to another school site while the work takes place and will return when the construction is completed.

Members of the surrounding community have played a vital role in the development of this project, attending community meetings and providing valuable feedback on both the content of the construction and the transition plan while the work is on-going.

"The amazing neighbors who live and work near the Burke have been so accommodating and have contributed many ideas that helped make the project a success," Mayor Menino said. "We could not have done this without their support."

The Burke High School is a powerful example of the impact of Boston's investment in its public high schools. In 1995, the Burke lost its accreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. After a multi-million City investment in the school's facility and academic programs, the school regained its accreditation in 1998. Four years later, the College Board awarded the school its distinguished Inspiration Award, in part because every member of the graduating class had been accepted to a two- or four-year college.