Winter 2025 Grade Reconfigurations, Mergers and Closures

Overview

Guided by extensive community feedback, the district developed a vision for a High-Quality Student Experience as part of our Long-Term Facilities Plan. This vision reflects our commitment to ensuring every Boston Public Schools (BPS) student has access to an educational environment that supports their growth and success, including access to rigorous and culturally affirming learning experiences, wellness and enrichment opportunities, a strong network of caring adults, and facilities that support all aspects of their education. To reach that vision, BPS must shift towards a physical footprint that has fewer and, on average, larger schools, that are fully resourced and able to provide expanded academic and enrichment opportunities for all students.
Last January, in the Long-Term Facilities Plan, the District committed to establishing an annual cycle of review of the most up-to-date data on our schools. The Capital Planning team at BPS has evaluated schools in the District based on the public Decision-Making Rubric Data, grounded in the Long-Term Facilities Planning Data Framework. From this review, BPS has developed the below proposals for SY26-27, as well as the plans for the grade reconfiguration of 4 schools.
Please email capitalplanning@bostonpublicschools.org if you have any questions.

Timeline

January 6-7, 2025
- After consultation with school leaders, Winter 2024-2025 proposals are shared with school communities.
January 8 - 21, 2025
- Virtual community meetings with each impacted school community. Meetings are closed to the public. If you are a member of an impacted school community, please contact Capital Planning at capitalplanning@bostonpublicschools.org for meeting information.
January 22, 2025
- Presentation of Winter 2025 proposals to the Boston School Committee.
January - March, 2025
- In-person community meetings with each impacted school community.
Spring 2025
- Boston School Committee to vote on Winter 2025 Closure and Merger Proposals.

Materials

January 7, 2025 - Student and Family Transition Guide
- English | Español | العربية | Cabo-Verdiano | 中文 | Français | Kreyòl Ayisyen | Português | Soomaali | Tiếng Việt
January 7, 2025 - Staff Transition Guide
- English | Español | العربية | Cabo-Verdiano | 中文 | Français | Kreyòl Ayisyen | Português | Soomaali | Tiếng Việt
January 7, 2025 - Frequently Asked Questions
- English | Español | العربية | Cabo-Verdiano | 中文 | Français | Kreyòl Ayisyen | Português | Soomaali | Tiếng Việt
January 7, 2025 - Letter from the Superintendent to Boston Public Schools
- English | Español | العربية | Cabo-Verdiano | 中文 | Français | Kreyòl Ayisyen | Português | Soomaali | Tiếng Việt

Community Academy

Closure of the Community Academy School
- We are presenting a proposal to the Boston School Committee to close the Community Academy School as a diploma-granting school at the end of the 2025-2026 school year, in June 2026.
Materials
- Community Academy School Community Meeting Slidedeck (January 14, 2025)
  - English | Español | العربية | Cabo-Verdiano | 中文 | Français | Kreyòl Ayisyen | Português | Soomaali | Tiếng Việt
  - Community Academy School Community Meeting Recording (January 14, 2025) - Zoom Link
Meetings
- In-Person Community Meeting on Thursday, February 27, 2025 at 6:00PM, Location to be determined
Proposal Information (January 7, 2025)
- The district is recommending closing Community Academy as a pathway to a diploma for students at the end of the 2025-2026 school year. Community Academy will instead be reimagined as a program to support students who are in need of a temporary placement due to a code-of-conduct violation or need a soft re-entry into school from the Department of Youth Services.
- The school will be 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.
- Current eligible Community Academy 12th graders will graduate in June 2025, and current eligible Community Academy 11th graders will graduate in June 2026.
- The district will work hand in hand with Community Academy leadership to provide support for seamless transition for the Community Academy school community. Every impacted Community Academy student will receive individual counseling to develop a transition plan to set students up for success.

Appendix D: Additional Information on Closure Proposals

Current Enrollment

Total: 62

Grade 9	Grade 10	Grade 11	Grade 12
4	21	12	25

Asian	Black	Hispanic	Other	White
0%	48.4%	41.9%	8.1%	1.6%

Students with disabilities: 58.1%
Multilingual learners: 9.7%

Administratively Assigned

0%
*Note: Students from Community Academy are specially assigned through a process with the Re-Engagement Center.*

Concentration of specialized programs for students with high needs

21% of students

21% substantially separate
0% SLIFE

Students living near the school

62.9% of students live within 2 miles of the school

Special Ed and ML Programs

Emotional Impairment Externalizing

Building Capacity

154

Facilities Condition Score

8 out of 100

Paul A. Dever Elementary School

Closure of the Paul A. Dever Elementary School
- We are presenting a proposal to the Boston School Committee to close the Paul A. Dever Elementary School after the end of the 2025-2026 school year, in June 2026.
Materials
- Paul A. Dever Elementary School Community Meeting Slidedeck (January 13, 2025)
  - English | Español | العربية | Cabo-Verdiano | 中文 | Français | Kreyòl Ayisyen | Português | Soomaali | Tiếng Việt
  - Paul A. Dever Elementary School Community Meeting Recording (January 13, 2025) - Zoom Link
Meetings
- In-Person Community Meeting on Thursday, February 13, 2025 at 6:00PM, Location to be determined
Proposal Information (January 7, 2025)
- The district is recommending closing the Dever Elementary School at the end of the 2025–2026 school year. Due to the Dever being in state receivership, this recommendation was made in consultation with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
- The recommendation to close the Dever is based on a careful review of multiple factors related to ensuring a High-Quality Student Experience, including the physical condition of the building, how it is currently being used, and its capacity to support the high quality educational opportunities all students deserve.
- The school will be 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 Dever School leadership, as well as School & Main Institute (SMI), the Dever’s receiver, to provide support for seamless transition for the Dever School community.
- Current 6th graders will graduate in June 2025, and current 5th graders will move up to 6th grade and graduate in June 2026. The District will not assign any new PreK or Kindergarten students to the Dever in Fall 2025.
- Several elementary schools across Dorchester and nearby communities, including the reopened Lilla G. Frederick Elementary School, are being prepared to open their doors to Dever students as they transition to high-quality schools close to home. Welcome Services will work with families one-on-one to help find elementary schools close to home that best fit their students’ needs and aspirations. Every impacted student will have priority in the BPS assignment process for the 2026-2027 school year.

Appendix D: Additional Information on Closure Proposals

Current Enrollment

Total: 444

Grade K1	Grade K2	Grade 1	Grade 2
36	43	60	63
Grade 3	Grade 4	Grade 5	Grade 6
59	63	60	60

Asian	Black	Hispanic	Other	White
3.4%	21.2%	65.8%	1.8%	7.9%

Students with disabilities: 15.5%
Multilingual learners: 56.1%

Administratively Assigned

Concentration of specialized programs for students with high needs

0% of students
- 0% substantially separate
- 0% SLIFE

Students living near the school

27.9% of students live within 1 mile of the school

Building Capacity

514

Facilities Condition Score

35 out of 100

Excel High School

Closure of Excel High School
- We are presenting a proposal to the Boston School Committee to close the Excel High School after the end of the 2025-2026 school year, in June 2026.
Materials
- Excel High School Community Meeting Slidedeck (January 9, 2025)
  - English | Español | العربية | Cabo-Verdiano | 中文 | Français | Kreyòl Ayisyen | Português | Soomaali | Tiếng Việt
- Excel High School Community Meeting Transcript (January 9, 2025)
  - English | Español | العربية | Cabo-Verdiano | 中文 | Français | Kreyòl Ayisyen | Português | Soomaali | Tiếng Việt
Meetings
- In-Person Community Meeting on Tuesday, February 11, 2025 at 6:00PM, Location to be determined
Proposal Information (January 7, 2025)
- The district is recommending closing Excel High School at the end of the 2025-2026 school year.
- The recommendation is based on a careful review of multiple factors, including the physical condition of the building, its current usage, and its capacity to support the high-quality educational programming all students deserve.
- The school will be 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 Excel High School leadership to provide support for seamless transition for the Excel High School community.
- Current eligible Excel 12th graders will graduate in June 2025, and current eligible Excel 11th graders will graduate in June 2026. The District will not assign 9th grade classes to Excel in Fall 2025. There will be no new students from any grade assigned to the school, with the exception of siblings in grades 10-12, in Fall 2025.
- The Excel High School building is currently being scoped for a decarbonization project and other upgrades to enable future use as a BPS high school, serving South Boston and the broader community.

Appendix D: Additional Information on Closure Proposals

Current Enrollment

Total: 311

Grade 9	Grade 10	Grade 11	Grade 12
55	71	107	78

Asian	Black	Hispanic	Other	White
17.7%	36.3%	34.4%	4.2%	7.4%

Students with disabilities: 28.0%
Multilingual learners: 23.8%

Administratively Assigned

18%

Concentration of specialized programs for students with high needs

15.1% of students
- 15.1% substantially separate
- 0% SLIFE

Students living near the school

42.4% of students live within 2 miles of the school

Special Ed and ML Programs

Vietnamese
Emotional Impairment Externalizing
Specific Learning Disability
Mild Intellectual Impairment

Building Capacity

644

Facilities Condition Score

20 out of 100

Mary Lyon Pilot High School & Mary Lyon K-8 School

Closure of the Mary Lyon Pilot High School and Reconfiguration of the Mary Lyon K-8 School
- We are presenting a proposal to the Boston School Committee to close the Mary Lyon Pilot High School after the end of the 2025-2026 school year, in June 2026.
- We are also sharing the plan with the Boston School Committee to reconfigure Mary Lyon K-8 School from a K-8 school to a PreK-6 school beginning in the 2026-2027 school year.
Materials
- Mary Lyon Pilot High School & Mary Lyon K-8 School Community Meeting Slidedeck (January 21, 2025)
  - English | Español | العربية | Cabo-Verdiano | 中文 | Français | Kreyòl Ayisyen | Português | Soomaali | Tiếng Việt
Meetings
In-Person Community Meeting on Thursday, February 25, 2025 at 6:00PM, Location to be determined
Proposal Information (January 7, 2025)
- The district is recommending closing Mary Lyon Pilot High School at the end of the 2025-2026 school year. The district is also planning the reconfiguration of Mary Lyon K-8 School to a PreK-6 school starting in Fall 2026.
- The recommendation is based on a careful review of multiple factors, including the physical condition of the building, its current usage, and its capacity to support the programming all students deserve.
- This shift will enable students at Lyon Upper School to transition to high-quality high schools, including options close to home, that have a wider array of offerings. It will also allow the Lyon Lower School to be consolidated into one space and expand to a second strand, allowing the school to offer a wide array of programming, increasing teacher collaboration time, and providing the structure to support a full continuum of services.
- The school will be 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 Lyon School leadership to provide support for seamless transition for the school communities.
- Current eligible Lyon High School 12th graders will graduate in June 2025, and current eligible Lyon High School 11th graders will graduate in June 2026. There will be no new students from any grade assigned to the school, with the exception of siblings in grades 10-12, in Fall 2025. Current 7th and 8th grade students will have the option to attend Lyon High School until June 2026.

Appendix D: Additional Information on Closure Proposals

Current Enrollment

Total: 96

Grade 9	Grade 10	Grade 11	Grade 12
18	29	28	21

Asian	Black	Hispanic	Other	White
8.3%	21.9%	51.0%	8.3%	10.4%

Students with disabilities: 32.3%
Multilingual learners: 21.9%

Administratively Assigned

Concentration of specialized programs for students with high needs

0% of students
- 0% substantially separate
- 0% SLIFE

Students living near the school

59.4% of students live in the same neighborhood

Special Ed and ML Programs

N/A

Building Capacity

307

Facilities Condition Score

33 out of 100

Roger Clap Elementary School & John Winthrop Elementary School

Merger of the Roger Clap Elementary School & John Winthrop Elementary School into the Lilla G. Frederick Elementary School
- We are presenting a proposal to the Boston School Committee to merge the Roger Clap Elementary School & John Winthrop Elementary School into the Lilla G. Frederick PreK-6 Elementary School beginning in the 2026-2027 school year.
- The Frederick School is located at 270 Columbia Road.
Materials
- Roger Clap Elementary School Community Meeting Slidedeck (January 15, 2025)
  - English | Español | العربية | Cabo-Verdiano | 中文 | Français | Kreyòl Ayisyen | Português | Soomaali | Tiếng Việt
- Roger Clap Elementary School Community Meeting Recording (January 15, 2025) - Zoom Link
- John Winthrop Elementary School Community Meeting Slidedeck (January 16, 2025)
  - English | Español | العربية | Cabo-Verdiano | 中文 | Français | Kreyòl Ayisyen | Português | Soomaali | Tiếng Việt
- John Winthrop Elementary School Community Meeting Recording (January 16, 2025) - Zoom Link
Meetings
- Winthrop Elementary
  - In-Person Community Meeting on Wednesday, March 5, 2025 at 6:00PM, Location to be determined
- Clap Elementary
  - In-Person Community Meeting on Thursday, March 6, 2025 at 6:00PM, Location to be determined
Proposal Information (January 7, 2025)
- The district is recommending merging the Roger Clap Elementary and John Winthrop Elementary into the new Lilla G. Frederick PreK-6 Elementary School beginning the 2026-2027 school year.
- The recommendation is based on a careful review of multiple factors, including the physical condition of the current buildings, their current usage, and their current capacity to support the comprehensive programming all students deserve, and students’ walkzone (whether a student lives within one mile of a school). This merger will also honor the commitments made to the Grove Hall community to maintain the Lilla G. Frederick name and ensure the new PreK-6 is a Community Hub school.
- Under this proposal, Winthrop Elementary and Clap Elementary would become one unified school, effective June 30, 2026. Current Winthrop and Clap 5th and 6th graders will graduate as expected from their respective schools. In the fall of 2026, the school communities will come together in the new Lilla G. Frederick Elementary School, currently the site of the Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School, which will close at the end of SY24-25.
- Over the course of the 2025-26 school year, BPS will make minor upgrades to the Frederick building to prepare it to become a PreK-6 school.
- Both schools will be 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 Coordinators will also be hired to assist with the transition process.
- Current eligible Winthrop and Clap 6th graders will graduate in June 2025, and current eligible Winthrop and Clap 5th graders will graduate in June 2026. Beginning in fall 2026, Winthrop and Clap will be one school community operating out of the Lilla G. Frederick building in the Grove Hall neighborhood, pending School Committee vote.
- The district will work hand in hand with Clap and Winthrop School leadership to provide support for seamless transition for the school communities.

Appendix D: Additional Information on Merger Proposal

Current Enrollment (Clap Elementary School)

Total: 142

Grade K1	Grade K2	Grade 01	Grade 02
10	19	19	20

Grade 03	Grade 04	Grade 05	Grade 06
19	20	16	19

Asian	Black	Hispanic	Other	White
7.0%	34.5%	43.0%	4.2%	11.3%

Students with disabilities: 28.9%
Multilingual learners: 31.0%

Current Enrollment (Winthrop Elementary School)

Total: 234

Grade K0	Grade K1	Grade K2	Grade 01	Grade 02
1	17	30	41	40

Grade 03	Grade 04	Grade 05	Grade 06
33	28	22	22

Asian	Black	Hispanic	Other	White
2.6%	50.4%	38.5%	5.1%	3.4%

Students with disabilities: 12%
Multilingual learners: 32.9%

Administratively Assigned (Clap Elementary School)

Administratively Assigned (Winthrop Elementary School)

Concentration of specialized programs for students with high needs (Clap Elementary School)

0% of students
- 0% substantially separate
- 0% SLIFE

Concentration of specialized programs for students with high needs (Winthrop Elementary School)

3.4% of students
- 3.4% substantially separate
- 0% SLIFE

Students living near the school (Clap Elementary School)

51.4% of students live within 1 mile of the school

Students living near the school (Winthrop Elementary School)

77.4% of students live within 1 mile of the school

Special Ed and ML Programs (Clap Elementary School)

N/A

Special Ed and ML Programs (Winthrop Elementary School)

Applied Behavioral Analysis K0/K1 only

Building Capacity (Clap Elementary School)

187

Building Capacity (Winthrop Elementary School)

206

Facilities Condition Score (Clap Elementary School)

24 out of 100

Facilities Condition Score (Winthrop Elementary School)

18 out of 100

Boston Teachers Union Pilot K-8 School

Reconfiguration Plan
- We are planning to reconfigure the Boston Teachers Union Pilot K-8 School from a K-8 school to a PreK-6 school beginning in the 2026-2027 school year.
Materials
- Boston Teachers Union Pilot K-8 School Community Meeting Slidedeck (February 4, 2025)
  - English | Español | العربية | Cabo-Verdiano | 中文 | Français | Kreyòl Ayisyen | Português | Soomaali | Tiếng Việt

Dearborn Stem Academy

Reconfiguration Plan
- We are planning to reconfigure Dearborn STEM Academy from a 6-12 school to a 7-12 school beginning in the 2025-2026 school year.
Materials
- Dearborn STEM Academy Community Meeting Slidedeck (February 6, 2025)
  - English | Español | العربية | Cabo-Verdiano | 中文 | Français | Kreyòl Ayisyen | Português | Soomaali | Tiếng Việt

Mary Lyon K-8 School

Reconfiguration Plan
- We are planning to reconfigure Mary Lyon K-8 School from a K-8 school to a PreK-6 school beginning in the 2026-2027 school year.
Mary Lyon Pilot High School & Mary Lyon K-8 School Community Meeting Slidedeck (January 21, 2025)
- English | Español | العربية | Cabo-Verdiano | 中文 | Français | Kreyòl Ayisyen | Português | Soomaali | Tiếng Việt

Young Achievers Science and Math Pilot School

Reconfiguration Plan
- We are planning to reconfigure Young Achievers Science and Math Pilot School from a K-8 school to a PreK-6 school beginning in the 2026-2027 school year.
Materials
- Young Achievers Science and Math Pilot School Community Meeting Slidedeck (February 5, 2025)
  - English | Español | العربية | Cabo-Verdiano | 中文 | Français | Kreyòl Ayisyen | Português | Soomaali | Tiếng Việt