Health Careers Academy seeks name change in honor of Senator Kennedy

BOSTON – The Boston School Committee tonight approved a request from Health Careers Academy to rename the school in memory of the late U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy. The school, located on the campus of Northeastern University, is seeking to become the “Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers: A Horace Mann Public Charter School” in order to honor the legislator’s lifelong commitment to health care and public education.

Last Friday, shortly after Senator Kennedy’s death, Mayor Thomas M. Menino sent a letter to the school’s Headmaster and Board of Trustees, suggesting a name change in his memory.

Mayor Menino wrote, “As the author of more than 2,500 pieces of legislation, Senator Kennedy fought tirelessly for the needy, the disabled, the immigrant, the less advantaged. He was particularly passionate about education, health care, and public service. I have thought long and hard about the most appropriate way to honor the life and work of one of our nation’s most influential and accomplished leaders. I can think of no more fitting tribute than to name a school in Ted Kennedy’s honor.” (Letter attached below.)

Boston Public Schools Superintendent Carol R. Johnson recommended the name change to the School Committee at its first meeting of the school year tonight.

“Senator Kennedy touched the lives of so many people here in Massachusetts and throughout this country,” Dr. Johnson said. “We look forward to paying tribute to his remarkable legacy by renaming an outstanding public high school in his honor.”

The School Committee approved the measure unanimously.

Rev. Gregory G. Groover, Sr., Chair of the School Committee, said, “We applaud Mayor Menino, Superintendent Johnson and this school community for such a lasting and fitting remembrance of the life and work of Senator Ted Kennedy. This school that prepares young people for college and careers in the health sciences is an ideal monument to the countless young men and women who have benefited from his 46 years in the United States Senate.”

Health Careers Academy is a Horace Mann charter high school that operates within the Boston Public Schools. It is located on the campus of Northeastern University and serves more than 200 students in grades 9-12.

“Ted Kennedy devoted his life and career to helping people achieve their dreams,” said Dr. Walker Gregory. “We are so proud to be educating the next generation of doctors, nurses, researchers, medical technicians and other health professionals who will have graduated from a school that bears Senator Kennedy’s name.”

The school’s Board of Trustees held an emergency meeting to consider Mayor Menino’s suggestion about a name change and unanimously approved the recommendation from Headmaster Dr. Caren Walker Gregory. The Boston Teachers Union also approved the request. The school also must submit its proposal to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for final approval.

Two other Boston Public Schools are named after members of the Kennedy family: the John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Jamaica Plain, named after the former President, and the Patrick J. Kennedy Elementary School in East Boston, named after his grandfather.