TechBoston Academy is Rising Together

In March 2020, Dorchester’s TechBoston Academy (TBA) received the news that they were being designated a transformation school, one of the bottom ten percent of schools in the state. TechBoston is an incredibly complex environment in which to effect transformation: the second-largest open enrollment high school in BPS, with high levels of student need, including strands for students with disabilities and sheltered English immersion. New students come to TBA every week—192 students joined over the course of this school year alone.

Faced with this challenge, TBA returned to their origins as a pilot school designed to leverage technology to connect students to learning opportunities. This attitude of innovation characterized their work to create the conditions of improvement EdVestors’ research has identified.

To increase academic rigor and student support, the school designated two Intervention Directors to get students up to speed in English and Math. All students from grades 6-9 have a one-hour RISE block four days a week to receive targeted instruction based on their needs and interests. Students are enthusiastic, with responses like “I’ve been loving my RISE block unconditionally.”

TBA’s goal is excellence, not just “catching up.” The school piloted AP African American History last year, and recently celebrated teacher Tanisha Milton winning BPS’s Educator of the Year award.