School Profile
The Burke is the first high school in the state of Massachusetts to exit the Turnaround status. The Burke offer small unique communities identified as academies for each grade level. Personalized learning in longer teaching blocks with specialized academies leads to strong relations between students and staff. Solid partnerships support academic and enrichment programs. City Year Corps members provide near-peer mentoring.
Innovative teaching practices are in place. Curriculum and training by John Hopkins University and Diploma now. Student learning is optimized in classes with fewer students with more than one adult in most cases.
The Burke High school was first opened in 1934 and was named after a former superintendent of the Boston Public Schools. It was inaugurated as a girls only high school, and later became coeducational in 1972. In 1996, after the school lost its accreditation Mayor Thomas Menino pledged to transform the school and the entire district. Burke regained accreditation in 1998. The building underwent a $49.5 million renovation and now features a new school library, cafeteria, kitchen, gymnasium, visual and performing arts studios, family center, renovated classrooms, science and computer labs, and offices. In 2009 the school was identified by the Department of Education as a Turnaround School. After innovative reforms, student achievement improved dramatically and Burke High School became the only high school in the state to ever exit Turnaround status.
To date approximately 500 students are enrolled at the Burke High School, representing some of Boston's most promising youth from the high poverty neighborhoods within the Dorchester-Roxbury Grove Hall area. Our student population represents a diverse and high needs student body that will benefit greatly from meaningful opportunities to learn and receive mentoring and significant social/emotional supports. Many of our students and their families have had negative experiences or felt marginalized while matriculating through the public school system. Dealing head-on with issues of trust, cultural relevance, respect for traditions and diverse belief systems have always been at the heart of this challenge. Our students rely on teachers that can differentiate their instruction, provide culturally relevant instruction, and to create a trauma-sensitive learning environment.
To date approximately 500 students are enrolled at the Burke High School, representing some of Boston's most promising youth from the high poverty neighborhoods within the Dorchester-Roxbury Grove Hall area. Our student population represents a diverse and high needs student body that will benefit greatly from meaningful opportunities to learn and receive mentoring and significant social/emotional supports. Many of our students and their families have had negative experiences or felt marginalized while matriculating through the public school system. Dealing head-on with issues of trust, cultural relevance, respect for traditions and diverse belief systems have always been at the heart of this challenge. Our students rely on teachers that can differentiate their instruction, provide culturally relevant instruction, and to create a trauma-sensitive learning environment.