Research & Insights / Henry Grew Elementary School: A 2026 School on the Move Semifinalist

Henry Grew Elementary School: A 2026 School on the Move Semifinalist

The ten semifinalists for the 2026 School on the Move Prize are excellent examples of the conditions of sustainable school improvement EdVestors’ research has identified. Please join us at the Prize Ceremony on November 10th!

The Henry Grew Elementary School serves 196 students that reflect the diversity of Boston’s Hyde Park neighborhood. Once marked by instability and unmet potential – the school’s performance was in the 1st percentile when it entered Turnaround status in 2014 – the Grew reached the state’s 46th percentile by 2025 and was one of six Boston schools designated as a School of Recognition by the Commonwealth that year. While there has been hard work over many years, impressive recent growth starting in 2023 stemmed from intentional steps to foster trusting relationships among educators, students, and families, creating the conditions for shared, accountable leadership, and data-driven systems of support with equity at the center.

The Grew has built trust among educators by dedicating professional development time to staff relationships and collaborative planning, so that educators are equipped to have challenging, productive conversations about the equity work they lead. Equity-focused data practices examine patterns in achievement, attendance, and student experience highlight areas where historically marginalized students experience school differently. In response, the Grew has focused on educator skill-building that directly impacts student outcomes. During collaborative planning meetings, grade-level teams analyze student work to identify the specific instructional moves needed to help learners move forward. Teachers then implement these strategies, observe the results, and iterate and refine practices based on new data. Recent data shows that students with disabilities and multilingual learners are growing academically at higher average rates than their peers, indicating success in efforts to support these students to activate their full potential.

Relationships are also at the center of the Grew’s inclusion staffing model. Teams of learning specialists, homeroom teachers, and paraprofessionals work together to support students. All educators at the Grew are responsible for student success. Every single staff member serves on a leadership team– for areas such as instruction, climate, community and culture, attendance, and student support–and taking individual and collective ownership in building trust, setting high expectations for all students, and providing appropriate support.

Recent data on student safety and sense of belonging, especially for Black and Latinx students, indicates that the school’s commitment to student voice and shared leadership is making a difference. The Student Council plays an active decision-making role on the school’s Climate team. The Grew extends these sense of belonging practices to families, planning regular events and outreach shaped by community feedback. Staff members call each family before the first day of school and keep in touch to celebrate students’ unique strengths, rather than only reaching out when there are concerns to discuss.

Leaders at the Grew attribute this progress to hard work over many years that combined a focus on improving academic practices and creating a safe, supportive, and joyful learning environment.