State of the Schools 2026

Mayor Wu and BPS Superintendent Mary Skipper shared updates on progress across the district, and outlined academic and partnership priorities for the year ahead.

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Good evening, and welcome to the second annual State of the Schools!

A year ago, we came together to create a new tradition in Boston, because the state of our schools is the state of our city’s future.

Last year at the Josiah Quincy Upper School, I shared our vision—for Boston Public Schools to be the first choice for all our families, by making the nation’s first public schools the best.

And we put out a call for partnership to join the village supporting our young people, which got such a response that, this year, we needed a bigger room. So thank you to UMass Boston for providing that space for us, today and every day.

Thank you to Superintendent Mary Skipper, Boston School Committee members, Boston City Councilors, state legislators; all the educators, administrators, allies, friends and families in the room. Thank you to the school nurses and lunch monitors and bus monitors, librarians, custodians, crossing guards; all of our community partners who show up every day for our students and families.
As a BPS mom to a sixth grader to and a fourth grader — and I terrifyingly calculated that Mira is BPS Class of 2045… Thank you for all that you do every single day in taking care of our most precious resources in this city.

I want to join the superintendent in also sharing an extra moment of gratitude for two of our most committed partners, who are retiring this year.

In 1954, a little girl from Roxbury walked across the street and up the hill to her first day of kindergarten at the Nathan Hale School. When she got home that day, she announced to her mother that she was going to be a kindergarten teacher, too. 

She graduated from Girls Latin School, became an expert in early childhood learning, and spent the last five decades changing the lives of young children in our city, founding programs like Countdown to Kindergarten and many, many more. She has served on the Boston School Committee for over a decade — the last five years as Madam Chair. Thank you, Chair Jeri Robinson, for all that you do. 

We have also treasured our partnership with UMass Boston Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco — who is stepping down and unfortunately is home sick tonight. So, Marcelo: Que se mejore, gracias y felicidades por un legado extraordinario. With the Chancellor’s leadership and his team, Ruth Batson Academy — located right here on Columbia Point — became Boston’s first university-assisted hub school. And today, that means that more than 35% of Ruth Batson’s upperclassmen are taking early college courses here for free, and a growing cohort of BPS grads are not only enrolling here as future leaders and UMass Beacon graduates, but also coming through debt-free with full tuition scholarships from this university, so thank you so much.

The City of Boston is known as The Hub. It’s a nickname we claimed 168 years ago in a piece of satire by the poet Oliver Wendell Holmes. He was actually poking fun at how proud Bostonians were to be from Boston when he called our city “the hub of the solar system.”

Sure enough, Boston being Boston, we took that as a challenge, and decided that our civic pride couldn’t be contained by just the solar system. And now we call ourselves the Hub of the Universe. I hope we celebrate every bit of power in that fierce civic pride, and in the name.

Because a hub is not only the center of a wheel. It’s the connection point. The hub turns motion into progress. 

So does Boston.

Tonight we’re here to recognize that the hub of the Hub of the Universe — our city’s most important connection point — is our public schools.

Because more than any other place in America, that’s what a great school has the power to do — connect a child to a future of opportunity; a family to the resources they need; and neighbors to the community that strengthens all of us.

BPS is the hub for nearly 45,000 of our young people. Their families come from more than 100 countries and speak over 70 languages at home. More than two-thirds of our students belong to low-income households; one in every four students is receiving support for a disability; and one in every three is a multilingual learner.

Some might look at our community and see a target—for immigration raids, federal funding cuts, or cynical billboards.

We see a hub of academic ambition, community leadership, championship athletics, artistic excellence, and connection.

And as Washington tries to cut our funding and make our families afraid, we are fiercely proud to see our schools on the rise.

Last school year, BPS set the record for the highest graduation rate in our history.

Chronic absenteeism is down double digits from 2022, and our drop out rate has fallen to record lows. 

After decades stuck in the bottom ten percent of Massachusetts schools, BPS standardized testing scores have continued to leapfrog peer districts. 

15 years ago, we ranked at the bottom of our state-designated cohort of large urban school districts in 3rd grade reading scores. For every one of the past six years, we’ve been at the top of that cohort.

Our state MCAS ranking has climbed from the eighth percentile to the 21st, and we’re not slowing down on closing proficiency gaps for every student.

We’ve made progress by focusing relentlessly on what works — evidence-based practices like implementing a consistent and rigorous curriculum, engaging families to improve school attendance, building partnerships to connect academics with enrichment, and measuring results to hold ourselves accountable. 

And we will continue to raise the bar. 

Last month, Superintendent Skipper and the School Committee shared the district's success measures to track student experience, from attendance and assessment scores, to early literacy and MassCore completion, school safety and culture, early college and career preparation.

This fall, we will define five-year targets for these new measures to help us direct resources where they’re needed most, hold ourselves accountable, and accelerate progress to excellence for every student.

When we connect our students to hubs of opportunity, the world gets to see how remarkable they are.

A few years ago, Steevenson Chanson fled Haiti in search of safety and opportunity. 

He arrived in Boston alone — knowing very little English and very few people. But he wasn’t alone for long. Because at Boston International Newcomers Academy (BINcA), he became part of a team. His teachers welcomed him, and his classmates embraced him. He learned English, worked hard in school, and made varsity soccer as a freshman. By sophomore year, his teammates named him captain. And last year, with Steevenson leading the defense, that BINcA team became the first BPS boys soccer team to bring home a state championship title.

BINcA is one of 20 designated community hub schools in Boston: with dedicated staffing and coordinated systems that connect schools, businesses, and community organizations to support our students and families in every way possible.

For Steevenson and for so many of his peers, those connections made all the difference. 

After soccer season ended, he needed a job. BINcA’s hub school coordinator, Mr. Ja-Hon Wang, helped connect him to a role working with young kids at the Sarah Greenwood’s after school program  —a different hub school. The boy who came to this country alone is now the caring adult in a room full of children. He is learning to manage a classroom and write lesson plans, and he has decided he wants to become a teacher. 

Steevenson’s here somewhere — Where is Stevenson? Stand up, Stevenson! We want to celebrate you.

Captain Chanson’s success is proof of what our hub schools are built to do. He found a team, a job, and a calling — thanks to three schools and two community organizations working together. 
That’s the power of the hub school model — where we surround students and families with supports from across our City. And that is the future of Boston Public Schools.

Each hub school offers dependable before- and after-school care. And from there, they direct resources to whatever a neighborhood needs. Some of our hub schools run food pantries and clothing swaps. Others offer English classes for parents, or bring in a mobile grocery market.

By the start of next school year, we are growing the hub schools program to five new schools — each with full before- and after-school programming.

Delivering excellence for every student requires surrounding them with supports — and high expectations.

Last year, I spoke about giving every BPS teacher a stronger, more consistent curriculum and supports, so every student would be challenged with grade-level material. Educators call that “heavy lifting.” Students do the reading, the writing, and the problem-solving themselves, while the teacher coaches them through it.

Educators across the district are now working from the same playbook, so each grade builds on the one before it — class to class, and school to school.

This new curriculum puts an extra focus on using strategies based on the science of reading to teach literacy in the early grades.

Every teacher is receiving training, coaching, and supports to improve their techniques. And we are checking progress through more frequent classroom observations supported by regional networks throughout the district that keep us connected.

We’re also finding new ways to get students excited about reading in and out of school. We’ve added over 90 Story Stops at parks, playgrounds and city buildings — including a story on Chair Jeri Robinson. We’re having citywide Boston Reads day, and we’re working every day to ensure our students have access to books and stories.

And this year, we’re expanding the Spelling Bee from 23 schools to every eligible public school in Boston.

Focusing on literacy also helps us double down on math.

A year ago, we launched our new advanced math program called Wicked Math — partnering with EdVestors, The Young People’s Project, The Calculus Project, and the BPS Telescope Network to launch math clubs and strengthen math pathways districtwide.

At the O’Donnell Elementary School in East Boston, eight students showed up to the first math club practice. Twice a week for a month, they met way early, before school started. Then they entered their first math competition, online, against teams from across the country, and it didn’t go so great.

Most of the students received negative scores, not realizing that that competition actually took away points for incorrect guesses.

And as the students were processing their disappointment after it, a fifth grader named Monica said she had something to tell the team. 

She said, “I get up early for math club because it’s fun. We got it next time.” 

And they did. Little by little, competition by competition, the Eagles started to really get it. 

They learned when to skip a question instead of just guessing. They learned how to stick with a problem they couldn’t solve yet. They had a blast at the BPS Wicked Math jamboree. And as teammates watched their friends get better, they started to believe they could do it too.

By the time the district competition came around in the spring, the team had more than doubled. Ms. O’Brien needed a second coach.

On a Saturday morning, over chicken nuggets, the team came together at school to log on next to each other.

Then came regionals. Then states. And in the first ever year of the BPS Wicked Math program, the highest statewide scorer in the Massachusetts Math League State Championship was an O’Donnell Eagle, fourth grader Haytam El Ayoubi.

Haytam learned to solve hard problems by explaining his work to his teammates, and listening while they explained theirs. He represented all of Boston at the national competition in Texas last June.

This year, the O’Donnell has 30 students on three math teams, and counting. Can we give a round of applause for Coach Ms. O’Brien, and all the Wicked Math coaches?

Across the district, we’ve expanded math clubs from 9 schools last year to 22 this school year. 

And it doesn’t stop with elementary school.

We’re building a path for students at every stage, from summer math and advanced courses to paid mentoring jobs for teens. Selvin, a student at the O’Bryant, tutors younger kids every weekend through The Calculus Project. He just passed the same math licensing exam we require of our elementary school teachers.

And high schoolers like Selvin are reaching higher during the school day, too. 

BPS high schools continue to expand participation in Advanced Placement courses — this year teaching 44 different AP subjects in 367 different class sections. Thanks to a partnership with the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, we’ve launched AP Business & Personal Finance, in addition to AP Cybersecurity.

Last year, more than 4,000 BPS high schoolers took AP classes, and almost 500 achieved a 3 or above on at least 3 separate exams — that’s up from fewer than 200 in 2022.

Today, thanks to our university partners, more than a quarter of BPS high schoolers are also in an early college or career pathway, including 102 Ruth Batson students taking courses for free right here at UMass Boston. By 2030, we will double the number of BPS high schoolers earning college credits and vocational industry certifications for free.

We’re doing so by expanding our career pathways—through the Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers partnership with MGB and Bloomberg Philanthropies; through a WPS Institute partnership creating a career readiness launchpad for 7th and 8th graders; through a partnership with Cathy Stone Island to prepare students for jobs in the green economy; and many more.
This year, we’re also expanding access to career and technical education by making Madison Park Technical Vocational High School a hub for all our high schoolers.

I’m excited to announce the launch of Vocation by Madison, a program where Madison Park will now stay open after school, so students from any BPS high school can get hands-on experience in the trades.

We’re also connecting more students with paid Learn and Earn opportunities. Our school year jobs program is expanding to connect 2,000 Boston high schoolers to school year jobs—300 more than last year. They’ll be placed directly with local businesses and organizations, in jobs that line up with what they’re also learning in class.

Thank you so much to the big coalition who made this possible: the Boys and Girls Club, the YMCA, Artists for Humanity, the Boston PIC, the Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Suffolk Construction, State Street, Eastern Bank, Citizens’, the Federal Reserve, Dana Farber, P&G Gillette, Liberty Mutual, John Hancock, Boston Children’s Hospital, Roxbury Community College, Emmanuel College and Bank of America.

We are still adding to that list if you have jobs to offer our students.

Young people who have participated in our youth jobs program report that these experiences have made them better academic learners, too — practicing discipline, professionalism, and leadership skills in the workplace.

And we see and hear the same from our student athletes, musicians, and artists.

Students who play team sports come to school more often, are leaders in their community, and get better grades.

So building on the work of our youth sports partners, I’m excited to announce that starting next school year, every BPS student ages 6 through 12 will have the opportunity to participate in school sports for free on the weekends. And because we are raising scholar-athletes, BPS will also offer academic and enrichment support onsite at practices and games.

Right down the road at the Ruth Batson, the Three Point Foundation has been piloting their Assist Zone program—pairing math tutoring with basketball. Students receive help from tutors during the day before coming together after school to play competitive, full-court basketball—and we’re excited that soon, students will be able to play at the Dorchester Fieldhouse+, as well. Over the next three years, we will work to expand this academic and enrichment programming to all of our high schools and large K-8 schools.

Across the board, our investments in youth sports are seeing real results. In just the last two school years, BPS sports teams have won six state championships.

And starting next school year, our high school student-athletes will finally have a stadium worthy of their aspirations. White Stadium has officially cleared every hurdle, and we are on track. Boston will have the best student athletics facility in the country in fall 2027.

Our investments in access to the arts are also showcasing the brilliance of our students. Boston Arts Academy’s Spirituals Ensemble hit number one on the billboard charts nationally, the BPS All-Star Marching Band just wrapped their first season as the official band for the Boston Legacy soccer team, we’re expanding music education districtwide, and Boston Family Days has opened the door to free cultural experiences, live performances, and guided tours for more than 100,000 students and their families, and counting.

When students join BPS, it’s on us to take care of the fundamentals so they can focus on learning, and the same goes for our educators, too. We want to make sure there are reliable buses and buildings, healthy food, and comfortable temperatures. 

And I want to report back on a few of the statistics on these.

Bus on-time performance hit record highs during the 2025-26 school year, and this year we’ve made record progress tackling tricky routes and driving down the number of uncovered trips.
We know we have more work to do, but we’re seeing real possibility and promise with the technologies and the advocacy of our community.

We’ve also been making it easier for families to sign students up for school and summer programming. Remember when you had to go in person to the welcome centers with your folder of paperwork and sit and wait for your appointment? Now, with the one-stop-shop GreatStarts portal, more than 30,000 families have registered online for school, and you can register there for all summer programming, too. 

We’ve made generational investments in our school buildings through new construction and significant renovations—from the brand new Carter School to a completely overhauled, carbon neutral climate control system at the Otis.

Since 2022, the facilities team has installed nearly 900 new water fountains, improved 28 playgrounds and 39 gyms.

And now, with our new and improved central kitchen facility, 100% of our schools have access to fresh, home-cooked, hot, from scratch meals for breakfast and lunch every day.

We will continue working with the Massachusetts School Building Authority and all of our elected officials to make sure we’re trying to chase down every dollar to give our students the best learning environment possible—creating the spaces that can truly serve as hubs of connection for our future.

I want to end with a story from one of our other community hub schools, the Mattahunt Elementary in Mattapan.

Every Mattahunt kid knows about the bridge.

It’s a 200-foot skybridge that runs from the school over to the Mattahunt Community Center, high above the playground. 

For a little kid, that height can be pretty scary.

You’re always looking up when you’re on the playground to see it above you.

When students get old enough, usually around second or third grade, they decide for themselves when they’re ready to walk across that bridge. 

40 years ago, Darius Green was a second grader at the Mattahunt. 

He’s here with us today.

Now picture Darius, about three feet shorter, positively terrified of that bridge.

Today, he walks across it every day as Dr. Darius Green, principal of the Mattahunt School.

We want every Boston Public School to have a bridge. A way from the classroom to everything a community can offer.

And you don’t have to end up running your old elementary school to help us build it.

Every one of us can help unlock our students’ potential—by tutoring, mentoring, providing jobs, bringing your organization’s programming into our schools, or providing resources directly to our families.

And to propel our students to their highest potential, we’re calling on all of Boston to pitch in. So please—sign up to get involved by scanning the QR codes that will be on the screens next to me and at the tables downstairs.

Please make sure, if you are an individual with an idea or with time to volunteer, or if you’re an organization that has something to partner with us on, scan this code, we’ll get you set up, and we can’t wait to plug you in to our village.

This summer, we showed the world that Boston will always be a beacon of freedom, and a home for everyone.

As we approach our 400th birthday for Boston in 2030, that pathway runs right through the Boston Public Schools. Let’s build on that legacy for the hub of the Hub of the Universe.