Democracy in Action: BPS Student Poll Workers Support City on Election Day

Boston, MA – October 29, 2025 –Today, Superintendent Mary Skipper and Boston Public Schools (BPS) welcomed more than 400 volunteer readers to Kindergarten, First and Second grade classrooms as a part of Boston Reads, the City of Boston’s new citywide literacy campaign. Boston Reads is designed to advance literacy in the City of Boston, starting with our littlest learners and furthering Mayor Wu’s vision of making Boston the most family-friendly city in America. Among today’s volunteer readers were City Councilors Coletta Zapata, Fitzgerald, Flynn, Louijeune, Mejia, and Worrell; School Committee Chair Jeri Robinson and member Rachel Skerritt; and City workers from every department.

"Boston Public Schools is dedicated to ensuring that every student becomes a confident and enthusiastic reader through supports that go beyond the classroom and traditional learning methods," said Superintendent Mary Skipper. "When our youngest learners develop a love for reading, they become curious and empowered, bringing them a step closer to reaching their full potential and achieving their goals. We extend our thanks to Mayor Wu, the Office of Early Childhood, our city partners, and the more than 400 volunteer readers who are joining us in giving every child a strong start and helping to build a foundation for lifelong success."

Boston Reads supports the district's work by making early literacy content and the Focus curriculum accessible citywide so that emerging readers can continue to grow these skills outside the classroom. Throughout the city, families will have opportunities to engage with the Focus curriculum early, before experiencing it in the classroom and throughout their years in BPS.

Teacher reads an open book in front of a classroom of students

“Volunteer readers bring books to life in ways that spark curiosity, introduce new perspectives, and build meaningful relationships that nurture confidence and joy in our young learners,” said Dr. Angela Hedley-Mitchell, BPS Chief of Teaching and Learning. “By welcoming community members into our classrooms to share stories and model a love of reading, we help students strengthen essential literacy skills through engaging, interactive experiences. We are deeply grateful to our educators, volunteers, and school communities for empowering our students and ensuring they have the strong foundation needed to thrive at every stage of their academic journey.”

“Early literacy comes to life when students can connect the stories they read to the people and places around them,” said Principal Michele Davis, Warren-Prescott School. “Having volunteer readers in our classrooms shows our young learners that reading is more than a school activity, as it creates a shared experience that brings families, neighbors, and community partners together. When students share these reading moments with leaders from across the City, it helps every child feel connected and excited to keep exploring stories long after the school day ends."

Over the last three years, BPS has overhauled its literacy instruction through its Equitable Literacy strategy, beginning School Year 2025-26 with 100% of schools using district-approved High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM) across all major content areas for the first time. HQIM includes science-based literacy curricula that meets rigorous standards, aligns with the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework standards, and is culturally and linguistically diverse. In partnership with the Boston Teachers Union, the district has also redesigned its professional development to deepen educators' skills and make content accessible to all learners.

The district strengthened its accountability structure through its regional model, deploying instructional coaches and other resources to monitor student progress through regular classroom observations and data reviews. As a result of these changes to literacy instruction, the district’s accountability rankings are showing clear signs of improvement.

Boston Reads Includes:

Boston Reads Days

Boston Reads Days engage volunteers to serve as guest readers in early childhood classrooms across Boston. Boston Reads Days launch today, with a guest reader reading a book from the Focus curriculum in every BPS kindergarten, first-, and second-grade classroom. In subsequent months, Boston Read Days will provide opportunities for guest readers to share the joy of reading books and stories from their own cultures and heritage with our students.

Story Stops

Story Stops are an exciting new way for children and families to experience reading all around the City of Boston. These interactive, place-based literacy installations pair engaging stories with Boston landmarks, activities, and neighborhoods, turning the city into a storybook! Each Story Stop features a short, themed story that is specifically written with text that supports early readers as they build foundational reading skills. Whether it’s a tale set in Moakley Park, Boston Public Market, or in one of the city’s many gardens, each story connects literacy to the lived experiences of Boston’s children and their communities.

Story Starters

To engage families and young children in early literacy, we are rolling out a media campaign across the city. These Story Starters connect families to Boston Reads while also serving as prompts for storytelling while walking or commuting in Boston. The prompts—“Where do lost stuffies go?,” “Do dragons live in cities?,” and “Do seahorses gallop?”—foster imagination and storytelling, key pillars of early literacy.

Student raising their hand while teacher reads in front of the classroom

Boston has always been a leader in learning and innovation. We want to build on that tradition by becoming a city where every child grows up a reader. Together, we can ensure that Boston continues its path to becoming a literacy-rich city where every child shares a love for reading. To learn more about how you can participate, please visit www.boston.gov/boston-reads.

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Boston Public Schools' Food Service Program Earns National Recognition

Boston Public Schools’ (BPS) Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) has earned Good Food Leader: Silver status from the Center for Good Food Purchasing.

Mayor Michelle Wu Announces Boston Public Schools’ Food Service Program Earns National Recognition for Fresh, Nutritious, Locally Sourced School Meals

“Silver Status” award from the Center for Good Food Purchasing demonstrates progress made during 2023-2024 school year in adopting Good Food Purchasing practices

BOSTON – Tuesday, October 21, 2025 – Mayor Michelle Wu and Superintendent Mary Skipper today announced that Boston Public Schools’ (BPS) Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) has earned Good Food Leader: Silver status from the Center for Good Food Purchasing. This designation positions Boston Public Schools as a national leader in providing students with fresh, nutritious, and locally sourced school meals. The Center for Good Food Purchasing (the Center) is a national nonprofit organization that manages the Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP), a framework used by public institutions to shift their food buying to support local economies, environmental sustainability, a valued workforce, animal welfare, and nutrition. BPS’ Silver status as a Good Food Leader was based on the Center’s independent assessment of BPS food purchasing practices for the 2023-2024 school year, following the baseline assessment of the 2019-2020 school year, published in 2023.

“No student should ever face barriers when it comes to accessing nutritious food. The recognition of our Boston Public Schools as a Good Food Leader reaffirms our commitment to ensuring every young person has the resources they need to thrive,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “Thanks to Superintendent Skipper, City departments, and our community partners, we’re proud to deliver thousands of fresh, healthy meals for our students every day.”

"Boston Public Schools is reimagining school meals by providing freshly prepared nutritious food that supports our students' focus in the classroom while also ensuring it reflects the diverse cultures and communities of our students," said Superintendent Mary Skipper. "Earning Silver Status affirms the progress being made and that these efforts are having a meaningful impact on our school communities. By investing in local partnerships and expanding scratch cooking across our schools, we are ensuring that every student has access to high-quality meals that provide the nourishment they need to succeed in the classroom and beyond.”

"Boston Public Schools commitment to providing fresh, nutritious, and locally sourced meals is a shining example of how we can prioritize the health and well-being of our students while supporting local economies,” said City Councilor Henry Santana. “I am proud to see BPS earning Silver Status and leading the way in reimagining school nutrition for a healthier, more equitable Boston."

BPS serves more than 8 million meals per year, including breakfast, lunch, after school meals, and summer meals, across 123 school buildings. With a food budget of approximately $18 million, BPS’ Food and Nutrition Services is the largest school district purchaser of food in New England, allowing the City to improve the quality of school meals while also accelerating broader food system reform.

BPS’ significant improvement in the GFPP assessment since 2020––going from meeting targets in one of five value categories to four out of five––was made possible by a complete transformation of Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) operations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, BPS school kitchens were closed and most schools came to rely on pre-packaged vended meals. Since 2022, BPS has overhauled its meals program, and is now serving fresh meals cooked on-site in 107 school buildings. Today, 96% of meals are being made freshly in house by BPS kitchen staff.

Based on its 2025 report, the Center for Good Food Purchasing awarded BPS its Silver status for many reasons, including:

Exceeding national benchmarks in nutrition and in serving students fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegetables
Reinvesting in communities by spending 18% of the food budget on locally sourced products
Investing in small- and mid-sized local suppliers and nurturing relationships with New England growers
Creating more appealing, culturally relevant menus based on BPS students’ preferences and diverse backgrounds, leading to increased participation in the school meals program and higher financial reimbursements from the U.S. Department of Agriculture enabling BPS’ continued reinvestment in its school meal programs
Reducing BPS’ carbon footprint by promoting plant-based entrees and eliminating plastic bottles
Expanding opportunities for food access and community engagement, including nutrition education, school gardens, grow towers, after-school suppers and summer meal programs

Sixteen school buildings do not have either the kitchen facilities or enough student demand to cook meals from scratch on-site, but through targeted renovations of the BPS Central Kitchen facility in Dorchester, FNS will soon begin cooking and packaging meals in-house and delivering to these locations. The Central Kitchen is expected to re-launch its food preparation operations by the end of 2025, gradually scaling up to produce 1,000 meals per day. Centralizing food production will also bring about substantial cost savings.

“The recognition of Silver status is a testament to the incredible work of our school kitchen staff, food service professionals, and partners who have helped us reimagine what school meals can look like in Boston” said Eric Stevens, Interim Executive Director of Food and Nutrition Services, Boston Public Schools. “By bringing scratch cooking back to our schools and sourcing more nutritious, culturally diverse ingredients from local suppliers, we’re not only serving healthier meals — we’re also investing in our students, our workforce, and our local economy.”

“Boston Public Schools is proving that large urban districts can be powerful drivers of food system change” said Simca Horwitz, Co-Director of Massachusetts Farm to School. “By prioritizing local sourcing and fresh, scratch-cooked meals, BPS is creating new market opportunities for regional farmers and food producers and showing what’s possible when schools commit to farm to school principles at scale for the benefit of their students.”

In 2019, while serving on the Boston City Council, then-Councilor Wu authored and passed the Good Food Purchasing Ordinance, leading City departments to adopt Good Food Purchasing standards for their food procurement. The City’s Office of Food Justice (OFJ) leads the cross-departmental initiative to make healthy eating easier for Boston residents, keep public dollars invested in Boston, and reduce the environmental impact of the City’s food purchases.The Ordinance also formally adopts the goal of encouraging food vendors to invest in local minority, disabled, and/or women-owned businesses. BPS FNS is focused on growing its existing partnerships with minority-owned business enterprises (MBEs) and, alongside OFJ, forging alliances with major institutional buyers in Boston, like hospitals and universities to get healthier, values-based products with diverse suppliers all across the city.

To read the Center for Good Food Purchasing’s findings and for more background on the Good Food Purchasing Program, visit Boston Public School's webpage. Read the BPS Eats Strategic Plan here.

About Boston Public Schools

The Boston Public Schools (BPS), the birthplace of public education in the United States, serves more than 48,000 pre-kindergarten through grade 12 students in 121 schools. BPS is committed to transforming the lives of all children through exemplary teaching in a world-class system of innovative, welcoming schools. We partner with the community, families, and students to develop in every learner the knowledge, skill, and character to excel in college, career, and life.

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Leading with Purpose: Katherine Walsh's Three Commitments For BPS Facilities (opens in new window/tab)

BPS’ Katherine Walsh Committed to Sustainability, Equity, and Transparency

Events

Oct 11

Saturday Recreational Tennis

2:30 PM - 3:30 PM

Oct 13

Parent, Teacher, and Community Association Meeting

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Oct 15

Sample Event

2:30 PM - 3:30 PM

Oct 18

Saturday Recreational Tennis

2:30 PM - 3:30 PM

Democracy in Action: BPS Student Poll Workers Support City on Election Day

Group of people sitting while raising their hands

Before Boston’s high school students are old enough to cast their first vote they have a unique opportunity to participate in Election Day.

Boston Public Schools (BPS) students who are at least 16-years-old are eligible to participate in the Boston Election Department’s Student Poll Workers Program, a hands-on, behind-the-scenes look at the electoral process.

After training for more than two hours, 50 students will help with all aspects of Election Day from setting up polling sites and greeting and checking in voters to providing directions and distributing the coveted “I voted” stickers.

“Serving as a student poll worker allows students to experience civics in action and gain a deeper understanding of how elections function,” said BPS Chief of Teaching and Learning Angela Hedley-Mitchell. “Through this hands-on opportunity, students learn the importance of civic participation and how voting shapes local, state, and national decisions.”

Seventeen-year-old Keyshawna Goulbourne, a senior at the John D. O’Bryant School of Math and Science, said her curiosity about elections piqued when she was a student at the Mildred Ave. K-8 School, one of the city’s 275 polling sites. “What kind of people in my community vote and use their voices?” she wanted to know.

Mia Herring-Monteiro, 17, also a student at the O’B, said, she received an email at school about the program and wanted to learn how elections work. “I think it's important to know what’s going on in our country and in our close knit communities and know who we are electing,” she said.

Three people working together on tablet.

A man stands in the foreground of the image, facing a presentation screen displaying information about Boston Public Schools.

Ian Flood, Civic Engagement Coordinator for the city's Election Department, said the goal is to engage students. The program began in 2017, and after a pause due to the pandemic, was brought back last year. Students are also paid for their work. “It’s really great to see young people involved in elections,” he said. “Our hope is after these students are no longer students they will still be poll workers.”

BPS studentds aged 16-year-old and older can register to vote online here. Once they turn 18, they will be automatically added to the voter rolls.

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Boston Public Schools Hosts First-Ever Boston Reads Day

Boston Reads Includes:

Boston Reads Days

Story Stops

Story Starters

Mayor Michelle Wu Announces Boston Public Schools’ Food Service Program Earns National Recognition for Fresh, Nutritious, Locally Sourced School Meals

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Democracy in Action: BPS Student Poll Workers Support City on Election Day