City Year Helps Ready New Mary Lyon Elementary School For Students' Arrival

City Year Boston and Bain Capital took on a beautification project in July at the Mary Lyon Elementary School, with 200-plus volunteers coming together to help prepare the school for its first year in the upper building.

City Year Helps Ready New Mary Lyon Elementary School For Students' Arrival

One of the Boston Public Schools' (BPS) longtime partners has helped shape a beautiful new beginning for the Mary Lyon Elementary School community.

City Year Boston took on a beautification project this summer in Brighton at Lyon Elementary. City Year arranged for 200-plus volunteers from Bain Capital to participate in transformative days of service in July and August.

With Lyon Elementary moving across the street into the former Mary Lyon Pilot High School in school year 2026-27, BPS contacted City Year to City Year last spring to see if they would be interested in helping support the community in this process. City Year enthusiastically agreed and worked closely with the new Lyon Elementary Principal Jackie Carolan on a project that reflected the school’s commitment to creating a positive and welcoming environment for its students and staff.

Murals that align with Lyon Elementary's core values highlight the design of the school's new space. Between the paw prints scattered throughout the building to the ROAR (Respect, Optimism, Achievement, Responsibility) mural along the back wall of the cafeteria, the school’s pride is on display for all to see. Students who visit the library will read, learn, and grow under a mural depicting one of Boston’s most iconic sights: the Charles River Esplanade.

Prior to starting their work, City Year volunteers heard from Carolan why the project is so important to the community. “This is a big year for us, at the Lyon,” she explained, “The Lyon was established in 1992 by Dr. Mary Nash. ... She pioneered inclusion in this school before inclusion was a thing. And now we see the district adopting inclusion across all the schools. With our move to the upper building, it gave us the opportunity to add K0 (three-year-old PreK). The work that you will do today will make this building feel like a fresh start, and a really exciting beginning for our school.”

The volunteers also worked hard to beautify the exterior and interior of the building. In addition to painting murals, they built outdoor furniture and packed supply kits for the students.

We are deeply grateful for the support of Bain Capital and City Year. Their time and effort helps ensure Lyon Elementary students, staff and families will return to a welcoming environment that they will call home for years to come.

High School Graduation Requirements

BPS has designed a new set of graduation requirements across all high schools, aimed at ensuring that every student graduates fully prepared to continue their education and achieve success in life as they define it.

Competency
Determination
Mastery of Core Content

Students must earn a grade of a D- or better in the following courses:

One year of English Language Arts 9 and one year of English Language Arts 10 (or the equivalent of two years of ELA coursework)
One year of Algebra I and one year of Geometry (or the equivalent Integrated Math I and II)
One year of Biology, Physics, Chemistry, or Technology/Engineering
One year of U.S. History (starting with the class of 2027)

MassCore
Requirements

Students must successfully complete a total of 22 credits

4 credits of English
4 credits of Math
3 credits of Science
3 credits of History or Social Studies
2 credits of the same World Language
1 credit of the Arts
5 additional Core Courses
1 credit = 1 full school year of study

Exceptions to MassCore graduation requirements include students attending stand-alone Alternative Education schools, students participating in Ch.74 programming, students who have been ELD 1,2 or 3 during grades 9-12 and students with disabilities who have specific courses waived as part of IEP process.

Physical
Education
Healthy Bodies

Massachusetts requires public high schools to provide physical education, and students are required to take it each year for graduation.

Students should complete 1 credit of Physical Education upon graduation.

Graduation Requirements Graphic

Infographic titled %22Getting to Graduation%22 that outlines the requirements and components for high school students to successfully graduate, including Competency Determination, MassCore Requirements, and Physical Education.

Download Graphic (PDF)

Whom should students and their families ask about your High School Graduation Policy?

Your school’s Guidance Department
BPS Guidance Department 617-635-8030