Excellence in Haitian Creole and English at Mattahunt Elementary

The nine semifinalists for the 2024 School on the Move Prize are excellent examples of the conditions of sustainable school improvement EdVestors’ research has identified. You can read all their stories here. Please join us at the Prize Ceremony on October 22!

In 2017, Mattapan’s Mattahunt Elementary was closed. The school’s leadership was tasked with building a new school with a new shared vision: the first dual language Haitian Creole program for early childhood and elementary students in the nation, Toussaint L’Ouverture Academy. Teachers are creating precedent-setting Haitian Creole curriculum and assessments for both academic content and cultural learning. The school is committed to effective family and community partnerships: the Mattahunt is a Hub School, and the whole community celebrates Haitian culture together through events like Soup Joumou day and Haitian Heritage Month.

As a school where half of students speak a first language other than English, the Mattahunt is committed to academic rigor in both Haitian Creole and English. Teachers are learning and applying the science of reading to their collaborative instructional planning. The team uses assessment and observation data to target English language instruction for each student. The Mattahunt demonstrates each of the key conditions of improvement identified by EdVestors.

Because of this, the Mattahunt’s multilingual students are far outperforming their peers across the district in English language progress and attendance. In the midst of declining enrollment in the district, there are waiting lists for the Mattahunt’s Haitian Creole classrooms.