Message from the commissioner: It’s back to school again in Boston

Kristen McCosh, the Commissioner of the Mayor's Commission for Persons with Disabilities, provides a weekly update on the work happening in her office.

Well, summer flew by again as usual — and the new school year is now underway! Staff from my office attended opening day at the Horace Mann School for the Deaf in Brighton to hand out pencils to students on their first day of school.

This year, many students with disabilities will be entering new grades, new classrooms, and even new schools. Some will be starting high school, while others will be going off to college and moving away from home for the first time in their lives.

The new school year always comes with hope and change — and there are some very exciting changes happening this year in the Boston Public School system.

Mayor Walsh and BPS recently unveiled the brand new Dearborn STEM Early College Academy, for grades 6 through 12. This is the City’s first newly-constructed school in 15 years. This state-of-the-art, $73 million, 128,000-square-foot facility, located outside of Dudley Square in Roxbury, is fully ADA accessible, which helps to increase the inclusion of students with disabilities.

BPS continues to prioritize accessibility and inclusion throughout the schools, in both infrastructure and in policy. The City recently made a $4 million dollar investment in the Henderson School, which serves as a national model of inclusion for students with disabilities.

My office will continue to work closely with BPS to ensure access for students with disabilities, for generations to come.