More than 1,000 BPS seniors eligible for free college tuition

BOSTON – 1,012 members of the Class of 2010 from Boston Public Schools (BPS) are eligible for free tuition at any public college in Massachusetts based on their performance on the MCAS exams.  The students all qualified for the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship, sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Board of Higher Education. 

“These BPS students and their families should be extremely proud of their accomplishment,” said Superintendent Carol R. Johnson. “The towering costs of a college education should never obstruct the will of any student to continue learning. This scholarship program will open doors that some of our students didn’t know could be opened.”

To qualify for the scholarship, students had to score in the Advanced category (Level 4) on either the English Language Arts or Math sections of the MCAS exams and Proficient or Advanced (Level 3 or 4) on the other. Also, the students’ scores had to rank in the top 25% of the district. 

Boston students who qualified for the scholarship are enrolled at 30 different Boston public high schools, including district, pilot, exam and alternative schools.

“This news is a perfect example of how far academic achievement can take a young person,” said Mayor Thomas M. Menino. “With help of the great teachers in our city our students are able to become scholars in their own right. These students and their families clearly have good reason to be very proud of this accomplishment.”

Adams Scholarship recipients receive free tuition at any Massachusetts public college or university. The tuition waiver remains in effect for eight consecutive semesters or four years. Recipients must begin to use the waiver in the first fall semester following their high school graduation, and must maintain a GPA of 3.0 or better.

The number of qualified students from each school is listed below, by neighborhood:

• Back Bay: Snowden International School at Copley(6)
• Brighton: Another Course to College (13), Boston Community Leadership Academy (16), 
• Brighton High School (31)
• Charlestown: Charlestown High School (36)
• Dorchester: Dorchester Academy (5), Jeremiah E. Burke High School (3), Boston Latin Academy (213), TechBoston Academy (21)
• East Boston: East Boston High School (35)
• Fenway: Boston Arts Academy (11), Boston Latin School (373), Fenway High School (12), Edward M. Kennedy Health Careers Academy (10)
• Hyde Park: Community Academy of Science and Health (4), The Engineering School (1), Social Justice Academy (4)
• Jamaica Plain: Boston International (1), English High School (7)
• Roxbury: Madison Park Tech. Vocational High School (7) John D. O’Bryant school of Mathematics and Science (174), New Mission High School (5)
• South Boston: Excel High School (18), Monument High School (5), Odyssey High School (3)
• West Roxbury: Brook Farm Business and Service Career Academy (2), Media Communications Technology (5), Parkway Academy of Technology and Health (3), Urban Science Academy (5)

For more information about the scholarship program, visit http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/adams.html.

Photo Caption: The English High School seniors Lusianny Medina, Raul Cruz, Wesley Tejeda, Ariel Jacobs and Matthew Dias join Headmaster Dr. Sito Narcisse (second from left) after being informed of their eligibility for the Adams Scholarship.