The Boston Public School District's decision to eliminate its middle schools dates back to 2018, when then-Superintendent Tommy Chang made the case that students and families needed fewer transitions to new schools. Since then, declining city enrollments and deteriorating facilities have given the district more reasons to close aging buildings and consolidate students at fewer campuses. 

Amy Ellen Schwartz, Daniel Patrick Moynihan Chair in Public Affairs, is among the researchers who see a real cost to school transitions, one that may outweigh the benefits of separate middle schools. “Kids in a new school are dislocated, with new rules and peers and different levels of preparation,” says Schwartz. “There’s robust research showing that transition has a cost in academics. … I like the K-8 model, and I do think moving kids around can be a problem.” Read more in the Boston Globe article, "Once a crown jewel of BPS, Roxbury’s Timilty Middle School will close in June. Will its history of transformation be remembered?"