School Types

There are 119 schools in the BPS portfolio in 2022-2023.They include traditional district schools, exam schools, pilot schools, Horace Mann charter schools (also called in-district charter schools), innovation schools, international baccalaureate program, dual language and receivership.

Exam Schools

Boston Public Schools has three exam schools: Boston Latin Academy, Boston Latin School, and the John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics and Science. All three schools accept new students for grades 7 and 9. John D. O’Bryant School accepts a small number of new students in grade 10.

Current BPS grade 8 exam school students are eligible to apply for grade 9 admission to a different exam school. Click here to learn more.

Pilot Schools

Our 19 pilot schools have flexibility around hiring, budget, and curriculum. The Boston Public Schools' pilot schools are the result of a unique partnership launched in 1994 among Mayor Thomas M. Menino, the Boston School Committee, superintendent, and the Boston Teachers Union. The pilot schools were explicitly created to be models of educational innovation and to serve as research and development sites for effective urban public schools. Pilot schools are part of the school district but have autonomy over budget, staffing, governance, curriculum/assessment, and the school calendar to provide increased flexibility to organize schools and staffing.

Horace Mann Charter Schools

Horace Mann Charter Schools are innovative, semi-autonomous schools that are approved by both the Boston School Committee and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and funded by Boston Public Schools. They are also called in-district charter schools.

Boston Public Schools include six Horace Mann Charter Schools:

Learn more at Horace Mann Charter Renewals SC 6.21.22

Innovation Schools

BPS was among the first districts in the state to open an Innovation school in 2011, transforming an underperforming school with new leadership, autonomy, and flexibility. In 2012 we opened a dual language (English/Spanish) Innovation high school and began transforming our technical vocational high school. We currently have 11 innovation schools:

International Baccalaureate Program

Josiah Quincy Upper School
The IB curriculum at JQUS teaches students to be critical learners, analytical thinkers, and compassionate humanitarians that are well-balanced, principled, open-minded, and caring. In addition to a rigorous academic program that prepares students for university work, we provide diverse and rich extracurricular programs and activities to develop students’ social lives.
Learn more about the JQUS’s International Baccalaureate program >
Snowden International School at Copley
The Muriel S. Snowden International School is an International Baccalaureate World School with a demanding college preparatory curriculum and a focus on global studies. Snowden has additional graduation requirements including: four years of the same language (Japanese, Mandarin, Spanish, or French), Community Action Service, a senior research paper and studies in International Relations. Students must earn a minimum grade of a C- in order to pass each course.
Learn more about the Snowden’s International Baccalaureate program >

Dual Language

In this program model, half of the students in the classroom are speakers of the program’s partner language and the other half are English speakers, taught by a team of highly qualified teachers. Instruction is provided in both languages with the goal that students will become bilingual or biliterate. The program entry grade levels are K1 to 2 and 9 to 11. Students between grade levels 3 and 8 must be assessed by the school in the partner language to enter the program. English learner (EL) students also receive English Language Development (ELD) instruction, which is designed to teach English to EL students.

Receivership

Dever Elementary School