Madison Park Technical Vocational High School

Special features:

• Boston’s only technical/vocational high school
• Eighteen Chapter 74-approved technical vocational programs
• Standards-based academic and vocational programs
• Four Small Learning Communities
• Opportunity for all students to earn college credits and industry recognition
• Industry co-ops, shadowships, and clinicals to develop career skills
• Certified by Automotive Youth Education Systems, National Health Care Association, PrintED (printing program), National Automotive Education Foundation, and Mass. Department of Public Health
• Member of SkillsUSA, a partnership of students, teachers, and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled work force
• Member of National Honor Society
• OSHA 10-certified in all vocational programs
• Dual enrollment opportunities with local colleges
• School partners: Boston Private Industry Council, Boston Rotary Club, Bunker Hill and Roxbury Community Colleges, College for Every Student - Northeastern University, Comcast, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Gilbane, Berry, and Turner construction companies, Hebrew Rehabilitation Center, Keys to Success/Village Automotive, Quirk Automotive

Strengthening Career Pathways in 2012

Madison Park Technical Vocational High School is the only high school of its kind within the Boston Public Schools. Its mission is to provide a diverse student population with opportunities to acquire a well-rounded vocational and academic education. Individualized instruction, applied learning, and work site experience are intended to help put students on a pathway to succeed in a variety of careers and post-secondary education.

While school leaders have created a safe, secure, and respectful environment – qualities that were lacking in the 1990s – and BPS has invested heavily to upgrade the building and classroom facilities, Madison Park’s vision of delivering a first-class vocational technical education has yet to be fully realized.  Less than one-third of its students score proficient or advanced on the MCAS exam;  more than 40% of entering freshman fail to graduate in four years; and the average student is absent for more than a month each school year.
To address these challenges, Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Superintendent Carol R. Johnson commissioned a team of two dozen state and national experts to review the school’s academic and career/technical programs. 

The committee, led by Dr. Michael Fitzpatrick, Superintendent of Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School and William Symonds, Director of the Pathways to Prosperity Project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, conducted site visits to Madison Park and looked to other successful vocational technical high schools to inform its research.

To help Madison Park reach its potential and the ambitious goals set by the Acceleration Agenda, the review committee determined that the school should:

• Work to graduate 90% of its incoming freshman with job skills and certifications in occupations that meet their aspirations and enable them to sustain a comfortable standard of living;
• Fully prepare students to pursue post-secondary education and to enter the workforce;
• Utilize facilities when high school is not in session to provide workforce training to unemployed and underemployed adults, in order to train both youth and older individuals for the most in-demand jobs.

The review team identified six high-priority issues that must be addressed to help transform Madison Park:

1. Create considerably more opportunities for students to do authentic work by partnering with the business community.
2. Integrate academic and vocational education to reconnect with students from traditional academic programs.
3. Adopt a new schedule that provides students with the opportunity to enroll in a full week of vocational classes, followed by a full week of academics.  This practice is used at model vocational education schools.
4. Establish a new admissions protocol, similar to the application process for exam schools and the arts academy, to attract students that are committed to taking advantage of the school’s unique curriculum.
5. Raise expectations so that the entire school community believes that all students can excel at a high level.
6. Reinvigorate 9th grade transition to immerse freshman students in a way that reawakens their interest in academics and lowers the likelihood of students dropping out.

• Strengthening Career Pathways summary document
• Full Madison Park Review report commissioned by BPS

Madison Park Academies:    

Construction, Design, and Transportation Academy
Robert Kleinman, Academy Director    
617-635-8968    
Automotive Repair, Auto Tech, Carpentry, Collision Repair, Electricity, Facilities Maintenance, Plumbing, Power Mechanics, Sheet Metal

Health and Human Services Academy
Debra Fox, Academy Director
617-635-8976    
Cosmetology, Culinary Arts (includes baking), Dental Assistant, Hospitality Management, Medical Assistant, Nursing Assistant

High Tech Academy
Kathleen Dawson, Academy Director
617-635-8962
Business Office Technology, Information Technology Services, Graphic Design, Production Printing, Web Development and Programming, TV and Film Production

Freshman Academy
Agapito Feliciano, Academy Director
617-635-8964
Rigorous academics, targeted support, enrichment, and Exploratory Program to prepare students to select one of the 18 technical/vocational programs offered in the three other academies.