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By Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone

Warm temperatures blazing outside or not, fall is on the horizon,  and nothing signifies the impending return of autumn like the excitement surrounding the start of a new school year. Last week my four boys, along with more than 5,000 Somerville students, returned to school, gearing up for another year in the classroom and at sporting events, band concerts, art shows, and more. Most importantly, all of our students returned for another year of preparing for their future.

As a father and as a City leader, I continue to be confident in and incredibly proud of how well prepared they will be no matter the future path they choose. After all, our students returned to a district that has seen an increase in four-year graduation rates over the past six years. They returned to the state-leading urban district for growth on the MCAS test. They returned to a district that was recognized nationally as the top district in Massachusetts for a 50 percent increase in Advance Placement (AP) class enrollment; a district that is home to a Commendation School in the Brown School and a four-year Level 1 School in Somerville High School; and a district where last year students took home the top prize in the New England Future City Regional Competition and advanced to the Robotics World Championships. And as impressive as all of those accomplishments are, our students ultimately returned to a district that knows our work isn’t done because when it comes to our children we can – and we must – do more.

At City Hall and across the community, we’ve been talking a lot lately about equity and how the work we’re doing every day can and should contribute to a more equitable and just society. We’ve discussed equity as it relates to housing, job opportunities, environmental justice, transportation and mobility options, food access, and even public art. But we know that in order to truly improve equity, we must begin with equity in education.

Somerville students are accomplishing tremendous things, and our schools continue to improve year after year. However, it’s not enough to simply raise test score or increase AP enrollment, we must close achievement gaps and ensure that every student in the district is given equal opportunity to succeed. This school year, we’ve expanded and improved efforts on those fronts and made additional, new strategic advancements with equity in mind.

We’ve long been committed to STEM education in our schools, and now thanks in large part to a $10 million investment from the Biogen Foundation over the next four years in Somerville and Cambridge, we will be able to build upon existing partnerships (like those with Citizen Schools, Breakthrough Greater Boston, Enroot, Lesley University, and UAspire, to name a few) and provide more out-of-school time opportunities with increased resources and access in STEM for populations typically underrepresented in the fields. We’re also further expanding STEM education this year by introducing an Exploring Computer to science curriculum for sixth graders district-wide.

Every student is different. They learn differently and come with their own unique needs. A large part of advancing equity is ensuring that our schools are able to best meet varying individual needs. This year, we are continuing to focus on student-centered learning. With the help of the Center for Collaborative Education and with grant support from the Barr Foundation, we are working to redesign the current high school model and build a more complete learning ecosystem that connects all students to personalized experiences, more completely preparing them for college, career, and active citizenship upon high school graduation. We are in the second year of this planning work at Somerville High School and just launched the planning at Next Wave/Full Circle.

Along that same line, this year we continue to emphasize the importance of educating the whole child and supporting student wellness through a Cummings Foundation grant that allows us to continue providing high-risk and special education students with adventure programming and leadership development opportunities.

These provide a glimpse at just a few examples of the initiatives we’re putting in place or improving upon so that we can better provide equal access and opportunity to classroom and out-of-school time learning experiences for all students in our care. Education is the fundamental tool of progress and the key to our collective future. And again, if we are to expand equity across our community, it must begin with education. I hope you’ll join in and support our efforts this school year – and beyond – as City and School officials, teachers, school staff, community partners, advocates, and more work to open doors and grow the minds of all of our students.