Educating the Hub: Three Centuries of Boston Public Schools

Sections

Early Years to Nineteenth Century

The Boston educational system began in 1635 when Boston’s citizens voted to establish the Boston Latin School.  Boston Latin was a free Latin grammar school for boys and its existence marked the founding of America’s first public school system.  Seven years later, the Massachusetts General Court passed an act requiring the elementary education of all children. This remarkable law marked the first instance of state-mandated universal education in the English speaking world.   In 1789, a committee led by Samuel Adams presented a new school program that, among other changes, provided for the education of girls in public schools.  

As the nineteenth century began, the school committee recognized the need to educate boys who were not preparing for college. In response, in 1821, they began English Classical School (later English High School). Three decades later, in 1852, the city established the High School for Girls, the country’s first public girls’ high school.  Educational opportunities for girls continued to expand in 1877 when the School Committee received a petition that girls be allowed to attend Boston Latin School. In response, the committee founded the Girls Latin School, a college preparatory school for girls.  During this period, the School Committee also established the Horace Mann School for the Deaf – the first public day school for deaf children. The city also began providing classes for mentally retarded children.  In 1894, the city introduced the Department of School Health Services. One of the first School Health departments in the country, the department examined children to identify and prevent communicable diseases.

Twentieth Century

By the early twentieth century, Boston had begun to establish vocational and technical high schools for both girls and boys.  During the first half of the 1900s, Mechanic Arts High School, the High School of Commerce, and Boston Trade School all trained boys in trade, industry, and technology. The High School of Practical Arts, the Trade School for Girls, and the Boston Clerical School offered vocational training to girls.  Further change visited the Boston Public Schools during the 1970s. In 1972, Boston Latin and English High became co-educational. Two years later, a federal judge determined that the Boston School Committee had maintained a segregated school system and ordered busing to promote school integration.  By 1989, the School Committee had been replaced by an appointed board and Judge Arthur Garrity approved the “Controlled Choice” plan which employed a lottery system. Currently, the Boston Public School System consists of over 130 schools and over 57,000 students.