Henderson Inclusion School

Special Olympics Massachusetts recently honored four Boston Public Schools with National Banner recognition for their efforts to provide inclusive sports and activities for students with and without disabilities.

Special Olympics Honors Four Boston Public Schools with National Banner Recognition

BPS has four of only 17 schools in Massachusetts and 217 schools nationwide to achieve the status of National Banner School for the 2024-2025 school year.

BOSTON - DECEMBER 19, 2025- Special Olympics Massachusetts recently named Brighton High School, Mario Umana Academy, Trotter Elementary, and the Warren Prescott K-8 School as National Banner schools for their efforts to provide inclusive sports and activities for students with and without disabilities. The four schools earned this distinguished status as a result of meeting 10 national standards of excellence in the areas of inclusion, advocacy, and respect. These standards were developed by a national panel of leaders from the Special Olympics and the education community.

"We are incredibly proud that four Boston Public Schools have been recognized as National Banner Unified Champion Schools," said Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper. "This honor reflects our district's and schools’ commitment to creating inclusive environments where every student of all abilities can participate, lead, and thrive. Through programs like Unified Sports, inclusive youth leadership, and whole-school engagement, we move closer to building a more inclusive future across all of our schools."

The Unified Champion Schools® model is a strategy for schools Pre-K through university that intentionally promotes meaningful social inclusion by bringing together students with and without disabilities to create accepting school environments, utilizing three interconnected components: Unified Sports; inclusive youth leadership; and whole-school engagement. As many as 16 million young people are taking part in inclusive experiences through Special Olympics. National Banner Unified Champion Schools also demonstrate they are self-sustainable or have a plan in place to sustain these activities into the future.

"At Warren Prescott, our students are at the center of everything we do and our school community works diligently every day to ensure that all our students have the opportunity to connect, lead, and learn alongside their peers of all abilities," said Principal Michele Davis, Warren-Prescott K-8 School. "Our collaborative efforts are grounded in this vision, allowing students to engage meaningfully with each other and helping build a school culture rooted in equity, respect, and inclusion."

Since October 2023, Boston Public Schools (BPS) has been implementing its landmark Inclusive Education Plan for the Boston Public Schools. The plan outlines systemic changes across all BPS divisions to close opportunity gaps and give every student access to rigorous and culturally affirming instruction. This Inclusive Education Plan will transform learning outcomes for all students, upholding the right of every student to be educated in the least-restrictive environment.

"Trotter Elementary celebrates the power of inclusion every day. Our students participate in Unified Sports and school-wide activities that foster understanding, leadership, and friendship across all abilities," said Principal Sarita Thomas, Trotter Elementary School. "Being named a National Banner School emphasizes our commitment to creating a learning environment where all students can thrive socially and academically."

Brighton High School has made history by becoming the first secondary school in Boston Public Schools to earn Special Olympics National Banner recognition. This achievement showcases the school’s commitment to creating an inclusive community where students of all abilities can fully participate in sports, leadership activities, and school life. With its unified sports programs and strong culture of belonging, Brighton sets a great example of what it means to achieve inclusive excellence at the high school level.

"At Brighton High School, our students are at the forefront of creating a community where everyone feels seen, supported, and included," said Principal Andrew Bott, Brighton High School. "This recognition highlights their dedication to uplifting one another, fostering strong friendships, and making our school a welcoming environment for all. We are incredibly proud of the leadership and compassion our students demonstrate every day, which has earned us the Special Olympics National Banner."

Photo: Piano Lab Ribbon Cutting at Umana Academy, 2025.

“This achievement reflects the power of inclusion, teamwork, and community. At the Umana, every student deserves to feel seen, valued, and celebrated, and earning the National Banner recognition affirms that belief,” said Principal Akua-Nia Francillon, Mario Umana Academy. “I am proud of our school, grateful for our dedicated educators, and inspired by our amazing young people who make the Umana a place where belonging and brilliance are lived every day.”

The Unified Champion Schools® model is supported by the Office of Special Education Programs in the U.S. Department of Education. This model has been proven, through research, to be an effective and replicable means to providing students with and without disabilities the opportunity to form positive social relationships and promote a socially inclusive school climate.

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Suffolk Announces Free Tuition Program for Eligible Boston Students (opens in new window/tab)

Suffolk University will offer full tuition coverage to Boston Public School and Boston Charter School students with family incomes of $75,000 or less.

BPS Ensures Every Student, Family, and Staff Member Has Mental Health Care

New landmark partnership with Cartwheel, The Brookline Center for Community Mental Health (BCCMH), and Boston Public Schools ensures timely, multilingual mental health services for students, families, caregivers, and educators.

Boston Public Schools Ensures Every Student, Family, and Staff Member Has Mental Health Care

BOSTON, MA – December 10, 2025 – Boston Public Schools (BPS) today announced a transformative investment in student mental health through a partnership with Cartwheel, Massachusetts' leading school-based mental health provider, with implementation support from the MA School-Based Telebehavioral Health Pilot led by The Brookline Center, a partner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. This comprehensive initiative will bring immediate, multilingual mental health care to students, families, and staff at 82 schools across the district, in partnership with The Brookline Center for Community Mental Health (BCCMH).

“We want all our students to feel supported and inspired when they come to school every day as they work towards achieving their goals and aspirations," said BPS Chief of Students Cory McCarthy. “We recognize that for some students, this becomes more difficult when they are facing mental health challenges. Through this new partnership with Cartwheel, BPS is connecting our students and families to timely, high-quality, evidence-based support. This initiative aims to help remove barriers that prevent students from feeling ready to participate in school, which will help strengthen their attendance, enhance their well-being, and promote personal growth, giving every young person the opportunity to succeed beyond our classrooms.”

Boston Public Schools has long been a leader in student mental health, making exceptional investments in counseling services, crisis intervention, and partnerships with local mental health organizations. Despite these efforts and the district's commitment to supporting students' social-emotional wellbeing, the needs still vastly outweigh capacity. School leaders are seeing the direct impact on student attendance, classroom behaviors, and academic performance, driving the district's decision to make this bold, proactive investment to support more students and families.

"Boston Public Schools is setting the standard for what's possible when a district decides that student mental health is mission-critical," said Joe English, CEO of Cartwheel. "This isn't just about providing therapy—it's about creating a comprehensive ecosystem of support that helps students thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. We're honored to partner with a district that shares our belief that every child deserves timely, best-in-class mental health care."

Cartwheel, with programmatic funding from The Brookline Center, brings the nation's most comprehensive school-based mental health care model to BPS. Cartwheel’s platform empowers school-based staff to identify students who may benefit from evidence-based therapy and psychiatry from a licensed Cartwheel clinician, track student progress as they receive services, and coordinate with families. The partnership also includes Cartwheel's specialty School Avoidance Program, which helps students tackle mental health related causes of chronic absenteeism.

With a track record serving 325+ school districts nationwide, including 70 districts here in Massachusetts, Cartwheel combines local expertise with national-scale impact.

"This changes everything for our students and families. When a child is struggling, they can be connected to a licensed clinician immediately and not in months,” said Jenna Parafinczuk, Director of Social Work, Division of Student Support, Boston Public Schools. “That kind of support can make the difference between a student falling behind or thriving in school and in life."

The partnership addresses an urgent crisis facing schools nationwide. According to the CDC, more than 40% of high school students report feeling persistently sad or hopeless, while 1 in 5 seriously considered suicide in the past year. In Massachusetts, families often face months-long waitlists for child and adolescent mental health services. This partnership eliminates those barriers entirely.

“The data also reflects the collective strength of the statewide SBTBH Pilot,” said Carla Gonçalves, Director of the Massachusetts School Based Telebehavioral Health Pilot at The Brookline Center for Community Mental Health. “As the state’s lead SBTBH implementation partner, The Brookline Center measures program effectiveness and ensures that districts and clinical providers, including Cartwheel, can deliver high quality, equitable care. Across the Commonwealth, we have supported more than 2,280 referrals, completed 1,266 intakes, and delivered nearly 19,000 telebehavioral health sessions to over 2,400 students, contributing to measurable reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms. As we welcome Boston Public Schools as a new pilot site, we are building a proven, data driven model. We are honored to partner with Boston and providers like Cartwheel to expand timely, multilingual, culturally responsive mental health care across the Commonwealth.”

At the school level, educators see Cartwheel’s program as transformative. Since its launch earlier this school year, over 350 Boston Public Schools students have been referred to Cartwheel and more than 450 teletherapy sessions have been completed. The program was made possible with implementation and capacity-building support and programmatic funding from The Massachusetts School Based Telebehavioral Health Pilot led by The Brookline Center for Community Mental Health, which has a long history of driving school-based mental health innovation across the commonwealth and nationally.

"When students walk through our doors each day, they bring with them their aspirations, hopes and their vision for the future. Students also bring with them the many challenges they face every day, and the emotions that accompany them,” said Principal Andrew Bott, Brighton High School. “Having direct access to mental health care through this partnership means our students don’t have to face those challenges alone. It allows them to focus on learning, connecting with their peers, and seeing themselves as capable of achieving their goals. Providing this service to our school community is about showing every student that their well-being should always be a top priority, and we're all here to ensure they have the supports needed to succeed.”

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Henderson Inclusion School

The district recommended shifting the Henderson School from a Pre-K through Grade 12 to a Pre-K through Grade 8 school at the end of the 2026-2027 school year, effective June 30, 2027. This means the district is recommending to:

Reconfigure the Henderson Upper: Eliminate grades 9-12 and Transition Program (currently housing grades 2-12) beginning in the fall of 2027
Merge Henderson Lower and Upper into one PreK-8 school community
Shift grade 1 into the Upper building to expand Pre-K capacity in the Lower building

The Boston School Committee voted to approve the shift, merger, and reconfiguration of the Henderson on December 17, 2025.

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The district recommended shifting the Henderson School from a Pre-K through Grade 12 to a Pre-K through Grade 8 school at the end of the 2026-2027 school year, effective June 30, 2027. This means beginning in the fall of 2027, the Henderson Inclusion School will no longer serve students in grades 9, 10, 11, 12 and the transition program.

Our recommendation to reconfigure the Henderson Inclusion School is based on a careful review of several factors, including declining enrollment in the high school grades, limited programming options, and the building’s ability to support a high-quality high school experience. The Upper School building was originally designed for elementary and middle school students, not for high school education. It lacks the space, layout, and facilities needed to support comprehensive secondary programming, especially for students with diverse learning needs. In addition, ongoing churn of students year after year and low enrollment at the high school grades have made it difficult to maintain stable programming and stretch resources across a very small group of high school students. Over the past three years, an average of 45% of Henderson 8th graders have chosen not to return for high school, resulting in the smallest 9th–12th grade population in the entire district. This small enrollment makes it difficult to provide the full range of opportunities that high school students deserve, such as athletics, enrichment, early college experiences, and robust specialized services.

The school has been assigned a Senior Project Manager from the Capital Planning Team to help respond to the day-to-day needs of the school community in anticipation of this change. Stipended school-based Transition Support Coordinator will also be hired to assist with the transition process.

The district will work hand in hand with Henderson School leadership to provide support for seamless transition for the school communities.

The Boston School Committee voted to approve the closure and merger recommendations on December 17, 2025.

The Henderson Inclusion School will stop enrolling new Grade 9 students beginning in Fall 2026. Students who are currently in Grade 12 will graduate as planned in June 2026, and students currently in Grade 11 will move into Grade 12 next year and graduate in June 2027. All other students will receive priority in the school registration process and the district will work closely with every family to help select a new school that best supports their student’s needs. With strong inclusion models now available in high schools across the district, and with the new Navigating Employment and Transitions (NExT) program available for students with disabilities age 18-22, we are confident that every impacted Henderson student and family can find the right new school for them.

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Special Olympics Honors Four Boston Public Schools with National Banner Recognition

Boston Public Schools Ensures Every Student, Family, and Staff Member Has Mental Health Care

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