Jackson Mann K-8 School is a public magnet school in Allston. The school is closing this June, which will affect the Allston/Brighton neighborhood dramatically. There will be one less school and no Boston Centers for Youth and Families (BCYF) community center in the area.
The Boston Public Schools (BPS) system is moving away from the middle school model and toward the K-6 and 7-12 model. The goal is to reduce the number of transitions a child has to go through, so they would be going to two schools instead of three.
Another reason for the closing is because the building is in very poor physical condition. The building will be rebuilt and a new school will occupy The Jackson Mann.
The Jackson Mann K-8 School shares the building with the Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the Jackson Mann Community Center.
The Horace Mann school for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing is the oldest public day school for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. It was first opened in 1869 and holds grades Pre-k through 12. It is the first public school to have approval from both the district and state as a Dual Language Program. Everybody is fluent in American Sign Language (ASL) and English. Many well-known historical figures, for example, Alexander Graham Bell and Helen Keller, have been associated with the school. This school will not be permanently closing. It will be temporarily moved to a new location.
The Jackson Mann Community Center is the only BCYF community center in Allston and Brighton. It has after school and teen programs, a community gym, and adult literacy classes. The community center holds an emergency shelter, cooling station, and an auditorium which recently held a vaccination clinic and vaccinated 1,000 individuals from COVID-19.
This closure will significantly impact the neighborhood as The Gardner Pilot Academy, Edison K-8, and Mary Lyon School are the only public elementary and middle schools left and Brighton High School and Mary Lyon School are the only high schools.
On December 16, 2021, the Boston School Committee voted to close the Jackson Mann K-8 School in Allston in June 2022. The committee also voted for Washington Irving Middle School, and James P. Trinity to close in June 2022. This decision was first introduced in 2018, but was officially decided in December.
