A Story of Now: St. Stephen's and the Blackstone School

Submitted by Kyle Boudreau on Tuesday, October 26th, 2010

This year, I am charged with the exciting task of building a stronger connection between The St. Stephen's and the Blackstone Elementary School Communities. The tag line we use at St. Stephen's is "stronger communities = stronger schools," as we hope to make the South End a more desirable place to be by making the Blackstone a school where parents really want to send their children. I know this task is worthwhile because of my belief in the power of community organizing and the great opportunity for positive change at this particular school. The Blackstone Elementary School is one of Boston's "turn-around" schools. This means the school had to hire a new principal, had to require every staff person re-apply for their job, and had to hire at least 50% new staff. As a result, 85% of the staff at the Blackstone is new and teachers were brought in from around the country to invest in this school's children.

The students at the Blackstone are in dire need. On the 2009 MCAS, 88% of 4th graders either failed the MCAS English/Language Arts section or needed improvement. Similarly 84% failed or needed improvement on the math section of the MCAS. These students are falling behind their peers and need the support of the community. St. Stephen's is providing support to the Blackstone community in many ways. In addition to providing an after-school program for 90 elementary-age children, 30 of which come from the Blackstone, St. Stephen's has spearheaded an effort to renovate and reopen the Blackstone's school library and has approximately 10 volunteers serving in the library or in a classroom setting each week. Along with approximately 50 other partners, the South End community is making a strong effort to help the Blackstone improve its MCAS scores and provide an overall better learning environment.

However, there is much more work to be done. The library is still a work in progress and it will be a while before it can lend books out to students. Many of the students at the Blackstone need a mentor and need their parents to get involved in their school. I am making an effort to push for parental involvement in the parent council and I am continuing to look for strong leaders from the St. Stephen's community who can help make this partnership stronger.By empowering the community to make the Blackstone a school that parents really want to send their kids instead of a last resort, I can empower the community to make a stronger, more vibrant South End neighborhood for everyone.