The Josiah Quincy Elementary School
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
This is a public elementary school located in the Chinatown district of Boston, Massachusetts. About 800 students are served ranging from grades PK to 5. The majority of the student body is of Asian descent, followed by African-American, Hispanic, then White. This elementary also partakes in the state-wide Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS). A unique fact about this site is that its original predecessor, The Old Quincy School, is nationally recognized for being the first school in the country to have separate classrooms for each grade and separate desks for each student.
Images
Front of the school
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
This location is a derivative of the original house built by Josiah Quincy, honoring President Quincy. The original location is on the National Register of Historic Places and was built in 1848. It became a historic site in 1983 when the new school was built. This school is recognized as being the first school in the country to have separated desks and rooms for its pupils based on grade. When the new school was created, the neighborhoods were segregated by race which meant that most of the students were going to school with people that looked like them.
This location is set in the Chinatown district and has a significant Asian culture integrated with education. On the school's website, there are subtitles in Asian characters. Since there is a generalized Asian culture within this school, other minorities are not represented as much within the school's community. For example, community events are typically held around Chinese New Years' and other holidays, but seldom around other ethnic holidays.
This school is ranked as 446 out of the 1001 elementary schools in Massachusetts. With inspection, one would also find that their students in grades 3-8 also meet expectations in reading and writing (MCAS, 2017). 80% of this population is classified as high needs, 66.3% of the population's first language is not English, and over 50% of this population is classified as economically disadvantaged.
Initially when I chose this elementary school it was because it was one of the most acclaimed schools in the Chinatown district of Boston. I was curious to see the achievement gap in this neighborhood with a rich Asian influence compared to other neighborhood that were also dense with ethnic groups. I found that because this school catered to their Asian communities and students, it allowed for the students to excel in their academics. I believe the unity plays a factor in one of the reasons why the school is performing at an excellent state.
This location is set in the Chinatown district and has a significant Asian culture integrated with education. On the school's website, there are subtitles in Asian characters. Since there is a generalized Asian culture within this school, other minorities are not represented as much within the school's community. For example, community events are typically held around Chinese New Years' and other holidays, but seldom around other ethnic holidays.
This school is ranked as 446 out of the 1001 elementary schools in Massachusetts. With inspection, one would also find that their students in grades 3-8 also meet expectations in reading and writing (MCAS, 2017). 80% of this population is classified as high needs, 66.3% of the population's first language is not English, and over 50% of this population is classified as economically disadvantaged.
Initially when I chose this elementary school it was because it was one of the most acclaimed schools in the Chinatown district of Boston. I was curious to see the achievement gap in this neighborhood with a rich Asian influence compared to other neighborhood that were also dense with ethnic groups. I found that because this school catered to their Asian communities and students, it allowed for the students to excel in their academics. I believe the unity plays a factor in one of the reasons why the school is performing at an excellent state.
Sources
1. "JQS History 昆士學校歷史." Josiah Quincy School 約賽亞昆士小學. Accessed October 01, 2018. http://www.jqselementary.org/about-us/jqs-history-1.
2. "Massachusetts School and District Profiles." 2017 Report Card Josiah Quincy Elementary (00350286). 2018. Accessed October 01, 2018. http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/general/general.aspx?topNavID=1&leftNavId=100&orgcode=00350286&orgtypecode=6.
3. Sampan.org. (2018). Boston Chinatown’s old Josiah Quincy School placed on National Register of Historic Places. [online] Available at: https://sampan.org/2017/08/boston-chinatowns-old-josiah-quincy-school-placed-on-national-register-of-historic-places/ [Accessed 4 Oct. 2018].
2. "Massachusetts School and District Profiles." 2017 Report Card Josiah Quincy Elementary (00350286). 2018. Accessed October 01, 2018. http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/general/general.aspx?topNavID=1&leftNavId=100&orgcode=00350286&orgtypecode=6.
3. Sampan.org. (2018). Boston Chinatown’s old Josiah Quincy School placed on National Register of Historic Places. [online] Available at: https://sampan.org/2017/08/boston-chinatowns-old-josiah-quincy-school-placed-on-national-register-of-historic-places/ [Accessed 4 Oct. 2018].