Boston Schools Fund Annual Report 2021-22
AT BOSTON SCHOOLS FUND, WE WAKE UP EVERY DAY TO CREATE GREATER ACCESS TO HIGH-QUALITY SCHOOLS. For too long, a child’s educational outcomes have been most influenced by factors outside their control: where they live, where they come from, who their parents are, or sheer luck. Boston Schools Fund believes that a key to addressing this challenge is giving more children access to schools that best fit their needs and set them up for long-term success. Our holistic approach helps make that vision a reality: we expand access to great schools; keep families and stakeholders informed on issues that impact Boston’s children; bring together partners to advocate for change; and actively foster a team that leads through the lens of diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism. We believe that, taken together, these strategies will positively impact Boston’s children, especially those who have historically lacked access to high-quality schools: Black and Latinx students, students with disabilities, and English learners.
AT BOSTON SCHOOLS FUND, WE WAKE UP EVERY DAY TO CREATE GREATER ACCESS TO HIGH-QUALITY SCHOOLS.
For too long, a child’s educational outcomes have been most influenced by factors outside their control: where they live, where they come from, who their parents are, or sheer luck.
Boston Schools Fund believes that a key to addressing this challenge is giving more children access to schools that best fit their needs and set them up for long-term success. Our holistic approach helps make that vision a reality: we expand access to great schools; keep families and stakeholders informed on issues that impact Boston’s children; bring together partners to advocate for change; and actively foster a team that leads through the lens of diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism.
We believe that, taken together, these strategies will positively impact Boston’s children, especially those who have historically lacked access to high-quality schools: Black and Latinx students, students with disabilities, and English learners.
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2. PROVIDING TRUSTED INFORMATION<br />
<strong>Boston</strong> <strong>Schools</strong> <strong>Fund</strong> seeks to provide data to inform and empower<br />
stakeholders in education. In 2017, BSF launched <strong>Boston</strong> School Finder,<br />
a first-of-its-kind tool to equip <strong>Boston</strong> families to navigate the enrollment<br />
process for all <strong>22</strong>5+ <strong>Boston</strong> schools.<br />
Translated into 8 languages and garnering more than 100,000 total users since launching, <strong>Boston</strong> School Finder<br />
has become a staple for <strong>Boston</strong>’s families. Usage has significantly increased during the pandemic, as families<br />
require more accurate, timely information on their school options than ever before.<br />
Usage has also nearly doubled each year, with Finder reaching over 60,000 users in between July <strong>2021</strong><br />
and June 20<strong>22</strong>.<br />
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP SPOTLIGHT: FYI FROM BSF<br />
BSF continues to play a critical role in informing the general public around education issues in <strong>Boston</strong>. Our<br />
weekly newsletter, FYI from BSF, has grown to a wide distribution, doubling annually since its launch. BSF’s<br />
analysis and work has been featured in the <strong>Boston</strong> Globe, Commonwealth Magazine, the Dorchester <strong>Report</strong>er,<br />
the <strong>Boston</strong> Herald, WBUR, The 74, NBC 10 News. BSF’s content has shaped the public conversation and policy<br />
in several topics, including <strong>Boston</strong>’s enrollment decline, K-12 education implications around the mayoral race,<br />
BPS budget and master facilities plans, and more.<br />
INFLUENCING POLICY SPOTLIGHT: MEDIA COVERAGE<br />
In conjunction with providing trusted information to families and the overall education sector, we continue to<br />
leverage our share of voice to help inform and advocate on key education-related policy issues. Through reports,<br />
op-eds, and articles, we seek to be the bridge between information-sharing and action, sharing critical, data-driven<br />
insights from our work with schools with the community and advocacy groups that are seeking to advance change.<br />
Our Every Neighborhood, Every Child <strong>Report</strong>, which highlighted three major policy<br />
pathways for new city leadership to improve access to quality schools, was featured as<br />
an Op-Ed in Commonwealth Magazine and helped to shape the Green New Deal for<br />
<strong>Boston</strong> Public <strong>Schools</strong>.<br />
Our school enrollment trends analysis – in partnership with <strong>Boston</strong> Indicators – and<br />
Will Austin’s June cover story for the Ideas section of the <strong>Boston</strong> Globe received wide<br />
local and national coverage.<br />
Kerry Donahue’s article for Commonwealth Magazine on the struggle to find a<br />
permanent home for the Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers helped to<br />
pave the way for EMK to identify a long-term building solution last school year.<br />
Where have<br />
<strong>Boston</strong>’s<br />
children gone?<br />
READ MORE<br />
+<br />
BSF’s work to advocate and inform around the use of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) <strong>Fund</strong>s<br />
– including through the creation of “Understanding the ESSER Opportunity” – helped push the district into creating plans around<br />
ESSER, including the majority of funds being school-based.<br />
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