Mission Hill School Explained

Mission Hill School
Location:20 Child Street
City:Jamaica Plain, Boston
State:Massachusetts
Zipcode:02130
Country:United States
Schooltype:Public pilot school
Founder:Deborah Meier
School Board:MHS Governance Board
Authority:Boston Public Schools
Principal:Valeria Lowe-Barehmi (at time of closure)
Grades:PreK8
Gender:Coeducational
Enrollment:227 (2015–16)[1]
System:Progressive education
Democratic education
Medium:English
Publication:MHS News
Affiliations:Coalition of Essential Schools
Website:www.missionhillschool.org

The Mission Hill School was a small preK–8 public pilot school in the Mission Hill and Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1997 by Deborah Meier, Elizabeth Knox Taylor, and colleagues, the school was administered by the Boston Public Schools. Meier has publicized the school in many of her works.[2] [3] [4] [5]

Overview

The Mission Hill School was a member of the Coalition of Essential Schools.[6] [7] The school had a diverse student body of approximately 220 students, with democratic decision-making at the school and classroom levels, a curricular focus on five democratic "Habits of Mind", school-wide thematic units, a strong emphasis on the arts, and graduation from the school upon creating and defending portfolios of student work for a panel of evaluators.[8] [9] Students were admitted to the school based on a lottery, within the choice system of the Boston Public Schools (with consideration given to whether families lived within the "walk zone" and whether a sibling already attended the school, among other factors).[10] Graduates were found to achieve academic success in high school and college at high rates, and the school was studied worldwide for its methodology.[11]

In Schools We Trust book

In 2002, Meier's book In Schools We Trust included substantial attention to the Mission Hill School. It argued that the current climate of high-stakes testing makes running a school like Mission Hill much more difficult. She also wrote about the school in her books, Will Standards Save Public Education? (2000) Keeping School: Letters to Families from Principals of Two Small Schools (with Ted and Nancy Sizer, 2005), Playing for Keeps: Life and Learning on a Public School Playground (with Beth Taylor and Brenda Engel, 2010), and Teaching in Themes: An Approach to Schoolwide Learning, Creating Community, and Differentiating Instruction (co-edited with Matthew Knoester, Katherine Clunis D'Andrea). The school is also the focus of the book by Matthew Knoester Democratic Education in Practice: Inside the Mission Hill School (2012),[12] as well as the 2014 documentary "Good Morning Mission Hill," directed by Tom and Amy Valens.[13] Mission Hill School published a periodic newsletter for the school community, including reflections by staff, students, and family members; digital copies of some issues of the newsletter are available through the Boston City Archives and the MHS website.[14] [15] The school was controversially moved to a different location within Boston in 2012, despite resistance from the school community.[16] [17]

2021 lawsuit and 2022 closure

In 2021, the City of Boston settled a lawsuit for over $650,000 with several families regarding unaddressed sexual misconduct against their children from other students. In 2021, BPS removed several administrators and teachers from the school and took over operations after additional allegations. In 2022, following an investigation by law firm Hinckley Allen into allegations of failure to properly address bullying and sexual misconduct between students and neglecting students with disabilities, Boston Public Schools superintendent Brenda Cassellius recommended permanently closing the school at the conclusion of the 2021–2022 academic year. Mayor Michelle Wu and many city officials also voiced their support for closure.[18] Despite organizing efforts by some family members, staff, students, and community members,[19] [20] [21] on May 5, 2022, the Boston School Committee voted 5-0 (with one member abstaining and one member absent) to close the school at the end of the 2021–2022 school year in June 2022.[22] Many Mission Hill School family members, teachers, and students criticized Boston Public Schools' lack of transparency throughout the investigation, falsehoods in the dominant narratives promoted by Boston Public Schools and local media, and the harmful impacts of the decision to close the school.[23] [24] [25] [26] [27] Still other families were in support of the closure.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mission Hill School. National Center for Education Statistics. December 12, 2018.
  2. Web site: Bridging Differences . Education Week . 2013-05-06.
  3. Book: In Schools We Trust . registration . Beacon Press .
  4. Book: Democratic Education in Practice: Inside the Mission Hill School . Teachers College Press .
  5. Web site: A Year at Mission Hill film series . 2013-05-06.
  6. Web site: CES Fall Forum 2012. 2013-05-13. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140116092840/http://www.essentialschools.org/d/41/Final_Program_Guide_2012.pdf?1352496266. 2014-01-16.
  7. Web site: Coalition of Essential Schools: Mission Hill School. 2013-05-13. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20101208191554/http://www.essentialschools.org/affiliates/119. 2010-12-08.
  8. Web site: Heidi Lyne: Mission Hill School . 2013-05-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140116115307/http://gallery.carnegiefoundation.org/collections/castl_k12/hlyne/ . 2014-01-16 . dead .
  9. Web site: Mission Hill School website . 2013-05-06.
  10. Web site: BPS: What are my School Choices?. 2013-05-06. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130414050313/http://bostonpublicschools.org/schoolchoices. 2013-04-14.
  11. Book: Central Park East and its Graduates: Learning by Heart . registration . Teachers College Press .
  12. Web site: Beating the Odds. A Book Review of Democratic Education in Practice: Inside the Mission Hill School . 2014-06-10.
  13. Web site: Good Morning Mission Hill . 2022-08-11 . en-US.
  14. Web site: Mission Hill School newsletter Boston City Archives Digital Records Portal . 2022-08-11 . cityofboston.access.preservica.com.
  15. Web site: Newsletter – Mission Hill K-8 School . 2023-12-22 . en-US.
  16. Web site: Mission Hill School's fame is focus of a new book . Mission Hill Gazette . 2013-05-13.
  17. Web site: Letter: Mission Hill School should regain citywide status . Jamaica Plain Gazette . 2013-05-06.
  18. Web site: Naomi . Martin . April 27, 2022 . Scathing investigation prompts Boston superintendent to recommend closing 'failed' Mission Hill School . 2022-04-28 . BostonGlobe.com . en-US.
  19. Web site: Save Mission Hill School! . 2022-08-11 . actionnetwork.org . https://web.archive.org/web/20231222160854/https://actionnetwork.org/letters/save-mission-hill-school . 2023-12-22 . en-US.
  20. Web site: Secure the Future of Mission Hill School // Asegurar el futuro de la Escuela Mission Hill . 2022-08-11 . actionnetwork.org . https://web.archive.org/web/20231222161050/https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/secure-the-future-of-mission-hill-school-asegurar-el-futuro-de-la-escuela-mission-hill . 2023-12-22 . en-US.
  21. Web site: 2022-04-05 . Mission Hill parent leaders: BPS officials are killing our school . 2022-08-11 . Schoolyard News . en.
  22. Web site: Toness . Bianca . Boston School Committee votes to shutter Mission Hill School - The Boston Globe . 2022-05-05. BostonGlobe.com . en-US.
  23. Web site: 2022-06-12 . Mission Hill sixth grader: "I am so sad I have to leave" . 2022-08-11 . Schoolyard News . en.
  24. Web site: 2022-05-05 . Mission Hill School Governance Board Co-chair Allison Cox: What happened, what didn't happen, and… . 2022-08-11 . Schoolyard News . en.
  25. Web site: 2022-07-08 . My Statement on Mission Hill . 2022-08-11 . Deborah Meier on Education . en.
  26. Web site: Meier . Deborah . Lyne . Heidi . Knoester . Matthew . Gasoi . Emily . August 23, 2022 . The closing of Mission Hill School attacks progressive education . 2022-08-25 . BostonGlobe.com . en-US.
  27. Meier . Deborah . Lyne . Heidi . Knoester . Matthew . 2023-09-01 . What Happened at the Mission Hill School?: The Struggle to Sustain a Small Democratic Progressive School in a Large Urban System . Schools . en . 20 . 2 . 328–347 . 10.1086/727140 . 265516264 . 1550-1175.