Five years ago, in 2015, I launched Boston Schools Fund (BSF) with the mission of advancing educational equity through opportunity and access to high-quality schools. We started with a team of two, and have now grown to team of eight that is working tirelessly to improve the lives of thousands of children in the City of Boston.

In partnership with educators, families, and our generous donors, over the past five years we have achieved our goal of adding 7,000 high quality seats for Boston children. We also launched Boston School Finder, which is the only centralized information source and online tool to help families navigate the school enrollment process of over 200 schools in the city. In this report of our first five years, you will find some of the people and stories behind these big accomplishments.

Download our full retrospective here.

With gratitude,

Will Austin
Founder & CEO

2015

2020

In just over five years

BSF has had an immediate impact,
helping nearly 10% of Boston’s children attend high-quality schools.

15.9

Million Fundraised

7,152

Seats Created

16,000

Boston Children Served

A map of our grantees, 2015 to date.

Creating meaningful relationships with our community has been one of the most rewarding things we’ve experienced in the past five years of BSF. We believe that every individual — whether a student, donor, parent, principal, or a staff member — plays a special role in working towards our mission of a more equitable Boston.

The following stories provide insight into our collaborative work and the impact we’re creating together. Click the images to read more.

The Channing

The Channing Elementary School is a PK-5 school in Hyde Park. Currently serving approximately 220 students, it will grow to serve approximately 300, including the addition of a 6th grade. Over 90% of the students are students of color, and nearly 3 out 4 Channing students are designated as high-need. Read more about our grant work.

Mission Grammar

Mission Grammar is a Catholic school at the base of Mission Hill, aside the Basilica. With an enrollment of 235 students, growing to 300, Mission Grammar was the first school in the city of Boston to offer an infant, toddler, and elementary program under one roof. At Mission Grammar, the road to college starts at 3 months.

Read more about our grant work.

East Boston

With a commitment of over $250,000, BSF is helping to create over 200 more high-quality seats in East Boston and to provide East Boston families a true PK-12 pathway in their neighborhood.

Read more about our grant work.

Boston School Finder

As an initiative of Boston Schools Fund, Boston School Finder aims to make the school enrollment process more equitable for all—especially to historically underserved families—by empowering families with an easily-accessible, easy-to-understand knowledge base about Boston’s schools.

Read more about our work.

Boston schools fund: 2020 – 2025

Over the next five years, BSF will work to address the gaps in access to high-quality schools while also taking a more public role to raise awareness and amplify the voices and experiences of historically marginalized students. To do this we will expand on our current strategies in the following ways.

Investing in Schools & Community Based Organizations

We will continue to fund schools with strategic grants to expand equitable access to high- quality schools, with even more targeted focus on students from historically marginalized groups. We plan to increase the share of Black, Latinx, English Language Learners, and students with special needs in high-quality schools. We will also expand our grantmaking support to community-based organizations looking to tackle issues of educational equity.

Investing in Information & Becoming a Trusted Source

Building on the track-record of Boston School Finder and a growing, influential newsletter, we seek to bridge the gap in available school data in Boston. There is not a way for all families to simply understand how effectively schools are educating students; the data across schools regarding quality and outcomes is available but difficult to find and interpret. This gap negatively impacts our most historically underserved families the most in navigating the school process for their children. In the next five years we will work on making this information more easily accessible and becoming a trusted source of any education related information in Boston.

Investing in Relationships & Building a Coalition for Educational Equity

Leveraging the relationships we’ve built over the past five years, we will work to create and launch a coalition of aligned stakeholders and organizations committed to advancing educational equity and quality in our city. This coalition will be a critical channel for dissemination of information and raising greater awareness to the long-standing, systemic issues that have prevented Boston’s historically marginalized students from accessing the educational opportunities they deserve.