The Paul A. Dever Elementary School on Columbia Point closes its doors for the final time this week, bringing a mix of nostalgia and frustration for students and faculty at the 69-year-old Boston Public School.
The Dever community was shocked and angered in 2024 when they learned that BPS planned to close the K-6 elementary school as part of a larger district-wide consolidation. Attempts to reverse the decision were unsuccessful.
Cheryl Buckman, a South Boston resident whose son graduated from the Dever last year and who attended it herself as a child, said she’s sad to see this community, long cultivated, scattered.
“Watching my own child grow up in these hallways, I saw firsthand what made the Dever so special; it was a safe haven where every child, no matter their needs, truly belonged,” she said. “The district’s decision to close our school is a profound loss, and while our hearts are heavy, we are walking out of these doors with our heads held high. The city can close a building, but it cannot erase the legacy of what we built here since 1957.”
The process of re-assigning students for next year has also been controversial. Some students graduated and moved on to middle school, and no kindergarten students were enrolled for the past two years. However, a few hundred students in the middle grades need a new school.
Parent Council member Haval Abdulrahman, who lives in Harbor Point, said the district has left many loose ends for families like his, who were asked to rank their top three schools for transfer. While his child won a spot in their second choice — South Boston’s Condon School— others have been offered spots as far away as Hyde Park and Mattapan.
“We asked them to be nice to us if they were going to close the school and accommodate us in getting our first, second, or third choice as a priority,” he said. “They promised that to us and they said that more than one time at meetings. We were happy about that, but what happened is we are now disregarded again like when they closed us down. Many families didn’t get their first, second, or third choices. Most people left in the school haven’t been happy with how BPS worked this out for their children.”
He pointed to a family he is helping, also Kurdish refugees from Iraq living in Harbor Point, that have children separated into two schools, one at the Perry School and one at the Michael Perkins school – both in South Boston.
“That’s actually against BPS rules to separate siblings and we have asked them to correct this, and they have only put them on a wait list; there was no correction,” he said. “This has left many of us totally frustrated with BPS and we hope they can correct all of this before September because that’s what is fair.”
Like many others in the parent community, he still wonders why BPS didn’t phase the school out over four or five years and close in 2028-29 so no students would be displaced.
“The numbers of families displaced and in upheaval would have been much smaller,” he said.
BPS did not provide detailed information to The Reporter about how or where specific students were re-assigned, citing privacy laws. But a general list of new schools suggests that Dever students have been scattered all over the southern part of Boston, with 37 elementary or K-8 schools listed. Another 12 schools have hosted Dever students who graduated and moved on to middle school.
Of the 37 elementaries, some are as far away as Mattapan – like the Mattahunt School and Young Achievers – or Hyde Park – such as the Grew Elementary. Other schools farther away are the Blackstone Elementary in the South End, the Tobin K-8 school in Mission Hill, and the Sarah Roberts School in Roslindale. Still others have landed at the nearby Frederick Elementary School, the Russell Elementary School, and the Condon.
Students shown during a 2025 protest against closing the Dever School. Seth Daniel photo
The district did note that 21 graduating students from the Dever this year tested into one of the three exam schools – John O’Bryant High School, Boston Latin Academy, and Boston Latin School – which is the highest number since 2013.
The placement of educators at the Dever is also another consideration, especially in a tight job market due to staffing cuts across the BPS district this year. Many open positions have had numerous applicants, but BPS officials said they have been successful in helping Dever staff find new positions.
“Regarding educators, more than 75 percent of educators, including permanent and provisional, have accepted positions within the district,” read a statement supplied to The Reporter. “(And) 70 percent of support staff such as paraprofessionals, administrators, and lunch monitors have also accepted positions within the district.”
The new job placements include 28 schools in BPS, most of them in Dorchester, Roxbury, South Boston, or Mattapan. Others landed in East Boston, the South End, or Hyde Park. Some moved up to teach at high schools like Madison Park Technical Vocational School or the neighboring Ruth Batson Academy, according to a list provided by BPS.
Dever Elementary – named after the late Gov. Paul Dever (1949-1953) – opened in 1957 next to the John McCormack Middle School, named for the Congressman who became Speaker of the US House and who lived on nearby Columbia Road.
That history has been celebrated thoughtfully by BPS in maintaining a robust website dedicated to the closing school’s memories, and also hosting events like the Dever Digitizing Night last March that invited current families and older alums to come back and submit their photos of times at the Dever for a larger memorial project.
Dever Principal Margaret Reardon (above) – who has been principal or assistant principal since 2015 – helped to dedicate a ceremonial street sign in front of the school that read: ‘Dever School Drive: All Roads Lead Through the Dever.’
On Tuesday, she talked about her feelings over the tolling of the final bell at her school: “While the closure of the Dever is emotional, I leave with an overwhelming sense of pride. I am proud of the academic growth our students achieved, the inclusive school community we built, and the experiences we provided for children over the years. I am especially proud of how our students, families, and staff navigated this final year with resilience, grace, and a continued commitment to one another. The building may be closing, but the impact of the Dever will live on through the students we served, the relationships we built, and the educators who will carry this work forward.”
Members of the School Council have pushed to make sure that when the Dever School closes its doors for the last time, the school community doesn’t fade into obscurity.
“As the Dever doors close this June, it stands as a symbol of neighborhood resilience,” read a statement from school advocates. “From recent ‘Digitizing Nights’ that archived its long history to street sign dedications, the community is ensuring that the Dever’s story is not lost in the statistics of a district merger, but is instead honored, preserved, and carried forward by the generations of Dorchester families who shaped it.”
In addition to the Dever School, the Winthrop School in Grove Hall and the Clap School in the Polish Triangle also closed their doors for good this week – though those closures were much less controversial, with many of their students migrating to the new Frederick Elementary on Columbia Road, a district newsletter indicated this month.
