Research & Insights / Fenway High School: A 2025 School on the Move Semifinalist

Fenway High School: A 2025 School on the Move Semifinalist

The six semifinalists for the 2025 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 November 13th!

Fenway High School—a small pilot school with a focus on social justice—is a short walk away from a cluster of Boston’s elite private universities whose graduates go on to work at nearby hospitals and tech companies. However, Boston’s abundant higher education opportunities are rarely easy to access for Boston Public Schools students.

Fenway is working to change that, having offered its students the opportunity to earn college credit while in high school for over three decades. In the past few years, Fenway has grown early college participation–with more than 60 percent of its grade 11 and 12 students participating in college courses in the 2023-24 school year. The school became a wall-to-wall inclusive Early College and Career High School, providing all students the opportunity to earn college credits while in high school.

Fenway High School’s vision of school-wide continuous improvement is an exemplar EdVestors has identified as a key condition of school improvement. The school conducted a comprehensive curriculum, teaching, and learning review, which led to significant changes in the math curriculum and improvements in teaching practices, including integrating ELA instruction into existing Humanities courses. Over the same time period, the school has closed gaps in graduation outcomes. Students with disabilities and English Learners graduate at the same rates as general education students at Fenway—and at rates surpassing district averages.

Fenway High School has also worked to promote an inclusive school culture where everyone has a place. For example, all Fenway students are required to participate in either a club or a sport. Doing so fosters new friendships, develops passions, and builds habits. School leaders attribute the school’s decrease in the chronic absentee rate, which has dropped about 15 percentage points over the last 3 school years, to culture change. In 2024, Fenway was recognized as a Massachusetts “School of Recognition” for high growth and achievement—the only Boston Public Schools high school to ever receive this award.