Last night, the School Committee met for our annual meeting with families in Boston participating in the METCO program, the second oldest desegregation program in the country. The program provides support services to students, staff, and parents around academic, cultural, and social issues. About 250 students are bused each day from Boston to attend Lexington Public Schools.
We were privileged to hear directly from three students, two current and one graduate, who shared their experiences and challenges. One student, a junior at LHS and a METCO Scholar, stated that her experience has been very positive. She noted that there is great support from parents and staff for academics as well as for social-emotional issues. One challenge has been that some teachers of AP had not expected to see her (as a person of color) in the higher level classes.
The second speaker, a sophomore, talked of how she is benefitting from her METCO experience: she is exploring several post-secondary options for college, including careers in photography, meteorology, and teaching. Through the Today's Student Tomorrow's Teachers (TSTT) program she is learning a lot about potentially becoming a teacher. LHS is one of five high schools in Massachusetts participating in TSTT. TSTT's Mission is to recruit, mentor, and train culturally diverse and economically challenged students and place them as effective teachers and committed leaders who strengthen schools and communities.
The last student who spoke was a 2012 LHS graduate who currently attends Lesley University. She spoke about the benefits of METCO relative to the cultural exchange and being exposed to resources and networks that she might not otherwise have had access to. She also shared that the program helped her to become more comfortable with diversity and that had a positive impact on her first semester in college. She said that LHS successfully prepared her for this part of her life.
Having participated in the Family Friends Program when our children were in elementary school, this meeting solidified my understanding that not only is METCO an integral program of educational excellence in Lexington, but it has a positive impact on building community between Boston and Lexington and that lasting cultural and social benefits extend beyond the school day.
Lexington has participated in the METCO program since its inception more than forty years ago and in the Greater Boston area, there are at least ten districts participating: Arlington, Belmont, Brookline, Concord-Carlisle, Foxborough, Needham, Reading, Scituate, Wakefield, and Wayland. There is another METCO program out of Springfield, but I am not as familiar with that one. The state funds the entire program on an annual basis. The current funding level, at $18,142,582 for FY13, is seriously underfunded.
METCO Links
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
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