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.

Summer Early Focus

The Summer Early Focus program extends children’s school-year learning through engaging, child-driven experiences. Serving Boston students entering pre-K (K0 and K1) through third grade, each classroom typically includes up to 20 students supported by two BPS teachers using a dedicated curriculum. Students participate in high-quality instruction, field trips, and both structured and unstructured play, along with classes in dance and physical education and visits from guest educators. The program fosters critical thinking, creativity, social awareness and relationships, teamwork, and self-regulation—all while having fun!.

Birds Around Us

SEF Pre-K: 3s is the summer Focus curriculum for rising Pre-Kers.

SEF K0 Homepage

Life in the Ocean

SEF Pre-K: 4s is the summer Focus curriculum for rising Pre-Kers.

SEF K1 Homepage

Incredible Insects

SEF Kindergraten is the summer Focus curriculum for rising First Graders.

SEF K2 Homepage

Food Brings Us Together

SEF First is the summer Focus curriculum for rising Second Graders.

SEF 1st Homepage

Bicycles Everywhere!

SEF Second is the summer Focus curriculum for rising Third Graders.

SEF 2nd Homepage

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