BOSTON – Mayor Thomas M. Menino, the Boston School Committee and Superintendent Carol R. Johnson invite Boston families to discover the array of educational opportunities available in the Boston Public Schools, including many exciting new and expanded programs designed to meet the needs of parents and students. 
The school selection process for the 2010-2011 school year officially gets underway this month with the citywide Showcase of Schools on October 24, followed by information sessions and School Preview Time, when families visit schools to learn more about educational options for their children. Registration for school year 2010-2011 begins January 4 for students entering Kindergarten, Grade 6 and Grade 9, and in February for all other grades.
Dr. Johnson highlighted some of the new and expanded programs available through her “Acceleration Agenda” for the Boston Public Schools. For example:
• The Superintendent is exploring options to expand elementary school capacity in the West Zone, particularly in West Roxbury, where demand currently exceeds supply. Dr. Johnson is investigating and costing out modular classrooms and considering other expansion strategies to create more seats in highly chosen elementary and K-8 schools. She also has been meeting regularly with a group of Roslindale families to ensure a strong, seamless educational experience throughout the elementary and middle school years, including possible feeder patterns and improvements to the Irving Middle School.
• An additional “strand” of classrooms has been added to the high-achieving and highly chosen Warren-Prescott K-8 School in Charlestown and the Eliot K-8 School in the North End, creating hundreds of additional seats. Dr. Johnson has met with groups of parents in Beacon Hill, Back Bay, South Boston and other neighborhoods about creating additional schooling options in those neighborhoods.
• Last fall, the School Committee approved the Superintendent’s “Pathways to Excellence” plan, designed to replace ineffective schools with successful programs in greater demand among parents. The former Wilson Middle School in Dorchester is home to an expansion of the pilot school TechBoston Academy, previously serving only high school students, now serving grades 6-12 in two buildings. In Mattapan, the former Lewenberg Middle School now houses an expanded Young Achievers Pilot K-8 School of Mathematics and Science, one of the most sought after schools in the city.
• The “Pathways to Excellence” initiative also created several new K-8 schools by combining existing elementary and middle school programs into a single facility, including the Edison K-8 in Brighton, the Higginson-Lewis K-8 in Roxbury, Mildred Avenue K-8 in Mattapan, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. K-8 in Dorchester. Two new K-8 feeder patterns also create greater educational continuity for families: in Hyde Park, students completing the Grew Elementary are guaranteed a seat at the Rogers Middle, and in West Roxbury, the Beethoven now feeds into the Ohrenberger in a single K-8 program.
• The plan also expanded the pilot schools network, increasing the number of schools with greater flexibility to adopt educational innovations. New pilot programs include the Haley Elementary School in Roslindale, the Mary Lyon 9-12 program in Brighton, and the Boston Teachers Union K-8 School in Jamaica Plain.
• Dr. Johnson opened the district’s first public Montessori school program at the East Boston Early Education Center last month.
• The Roosevelt in Hyde Park completes its expansion to a two-building K-8 school next September, with the addition of a grade 8 program.
• Two small high schools in need of improvement have been replaced by an innovative new Dorchester Academy in the Dorchester Education Complex, preparing students for college and career success in public service, business and the law.
• To meet the needs of the city’s growing English Language Learner population, Dr. Johnson is exploring options for an additional Spanish bilingual program in East Boston, as well as program model options for the Chinese community near Chinatown and for Haitian students in the Mattapan area. Last month, a new Spanish/English dual immersion, or “two-way bilingual” program, opened at the Dever Elementary School in Dorchester.
• In addition to these programmatic improvements, throughout the city, schools are receiving additional resources to strengthen arts and music education, with the support of sponsors such as EdVestors and VH-1, and to increase opportunities for athletics and other forms of recreation and enrichment. A new elementary reading program is bringing a strong new citywide literacy curriculum and new books and other instructional materials to every elementary school. For students in grades 4-6, there will be new opportunities for Advanced Work Class (announced later this fall). High schools are increasing opportunities for credit recovery, as well as Advanced Placement, Honors and dual-enrollment courses with area colleges. And a new Parent University beginning this month will help families strengthen the skills they need to support their children’s academic growth.
“We look forward to opening our doors during school choice season to introduce families to all of the exciting improvements taking place in the Boston Public Schools,” said Mayor Menino. “We are greatly encouraged by the growing interest in our schools and are actively exploring options to increase the number of seats in those areas of greatest demand.”
Dr. Johnson added, “We’ve been working diligently to put our ‘Acceleration Agenda’ into action and believe the BPS offers families a broad array of quality school options for learners at all grade levels. We encourage parents to attend the Showcase of Schools, visit as many schools as possible during School Preview Time, and take advantage of all of the resources the district offers to help them make thoughtful choices about which schools offer the programs and services best suited to their child’s needs.”
School Choice activities and resources include:
• The annual citywide Showcase of Schools will take place Saturday, October 24 from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury (MBTA: Roxbury Crossing). The Showcase offers families an opportunity to meet representatives from all Boston Public Schools under one roof.
• School Preview Time, which runs from November 2 through January 22, is the time when all Boston Public Schools host open houses, tours and other activities to welcome prospective families. Offered at the elementary level since 2000, this opportunity became district-wide in 2006. Visit www.bostonpublicschools.org/node/163 for the schedule of tours and open houses.
• Families can learn more about the school selection process at informal Family Information Sessions. These interactive workshops will include information about how the student assignment process works, how to make informed school choices, and how to register a child for school (see attached list of activities below for schedule).
• Families will receive a variety of publications to help them navigate the school choice process, including Introducing the Boston Public Schools, which provides an overview of each school, and Ready, Set, Go! – a step-by-step checklist to register for school. These publications will be available online, as well as in schools, Family Resource Centers, Boston public libraries and community centers, among other locations. Families registering for Kindergarten can also take advantage of the newly redesigned Countdown to Kindergarten website, www.countdowntokindergarten.org, which has additional resources for students starting school for the first time.
• The registration section of the BPS web site includes “What are My Schools?” – a tool that lets families find out which schools their children are eligible to attend based on address and grade level.
For more information about school choice, visit the Boston Public Schools website at www.bostonpublicschools/register.
