Series Four: The Devastating Announcement

January 6, 2025—Just as students and educators returned from winter break, devastating news hit. It wasn’t delivered to families, staff, or students first—it was leaked to the media. Four Boston schools were proposed for closure, and two more were set to merge.

Among them was our own Paul A. Dever Elementary.

💥 The Schools Affected: A Punch to the Gut

The list felt like a betrayal:

Dever Elementary — Slated to become a swing space for the Ruth Batson Academy, with no future plans for the building.
Community Academy — To be restructured for students needing code-of-conduct placements.
Excel High School — Would become a new "anchor high school" and lose its name.
Mary Lyon High School — Elementary would expand into a K–8 and take over the building.

Proposed Mergers:

The Clap and The Winthrop — To be merged and folded into the Frederick School.

The worst part? The news leaked before families were informed. No warning. No explanation. Just loss. At the Dever, we were heartbroken, blindsided, and betrayed.

Many of us asked:
Had DESE just handed over the keys and let the district do whatever it wanted? Or did they secretly release the Dever over to BPS?

🌀 The First Response: From Confusion to Action

The announcement came suddenly. The air was thick with shock, grief, and unanswered questions. And just five days later, on January 11, BPS hosted a hastily organized Zoom meeting to “explain” the proposed closures.

But it wasn’t an explanation—it was an insult.
Confusing. Vague. Cold.
Disconnected from the real fears, real families, and real futures at stake.

There was no empathy. No transparency. No plan that reflected the lived experiences of our community.

So we acted.

On January 15, just four days later, we rallied.
Not with institutional support.
Not with funding.
Just us—parents, students, educators, neighbors—gathering outside the Dever in the bitter cold, fueled by love, rage, and one powerful message:

“We won’t go quietly. We are Dever Strong.”

Children stood side by side with adults, shivering in the arctic air but standing tall.
No scripts. No PR. Just truth.

They held signs. They chanted.
They told their stories. And they made it clear: They were not backing down.

Then, on January 22, we brought that same strength and clarity to the School Committee.
We showed up with testimony that was heartfelt and undeniable—calling not just for answers, but for humanity.

Our message was simple.
Merge us. Move us. But don’t erase us. Don’t close us.
Because closing Dever doesn’t just shutter a school—it shatters a community.

This wasn’t just resistance.
It was a movement.
And it started with us.

✊ The Birth of a Movement: Dever Strong

From heartbreak, a movement was born.
The Dever Strong Movement—also known as Save the Dever—rose not from politics or press, but from people.
From pain, yes—but more than that, from love.
From unity.
From purpose.

This wasn’t about nostalgia or clinging to the past.
This was about standing up for the present—and protecting the future.

We didn’t wait for someone else to step in.
We became the voice.
We rallied. We organized. We showed up—again and again.
At every meeting. Every press conference. Every chance to speak truth to power.
We told our stories. We demanded dignity. We fought back.

And somewhere along the way... I became the leader.

Not because I planned to.
Not because I had experience.
But because when the moment called—I answered.
Parents turned to me. They asked me to speak.
Reporters reached out.
Suddenly, I was standing in front of microphones, School Committee members, and city leaders—carrying the weight of our message, and the hope of our community.

And though I’d never led a movement like this before—I did it with pride.

Because what I saw around me wasn’t just resistance.
It was magic.

Students protecting their school with courage and clarity beyond their years
Parents becoming fearless advocates for their children and each other
Educators standing shoulder-to-shoulder with families, united in mission and love

This was more than a campaign.
This was real, grassroots power.
This was Dever Strong.

And no matter what happens—we’ll never be the same.
We are awake. We are organized. And we are not done.

💔 The Night That Broke Us

We all showed up one last time—tired, determined, and holding on to hope.
We gave it everything.
Our words were raw, emotional, and true.
It was one of the longest nights I’ve ever sat through at a School Committee meeting.

March 20, 2025. 10:30 PM.
A night forever etched into our memory.

That’s when the Boston School Committee voted 5–1 to close the Dever at the end of the 2025–2026 school year.

I sat frozen as the names were read.
Every "yes" vote landed like a blow.
And then... they reached the Dever.
They said the words out loud—and I broke.

Tears came fast, unstoppable.
My heart raced. My breath caught in my chest.
A voice whispered inside me, sharp and relentless:

Did I fail them?
What didn’t I do right? What more could I have done?

Deep down, I knew the answer was no.
We had done everything.
We had fought with all we had.
But leadership carries a weight.
And that weight is heaviest when the outcome hurts the people you love.

Because what haunted me wasn’t just the decision.
It was knowing I would have to look my 12-year-old son in the eye—
A boy who loved his teachers, who felt safe and seen at the Dever—
And tell him I couldn’t save his school.

How do you explain to a child that his sanctuary was voted away?

How do you tell a community that their voices, their truths, their existence—weren’t enough for those in power?

That night didn’t just close a chapter.
It cracked something open.

And while we were heartbroken, we were not defeated.
Because even in that moment of loss, something deeper rose:

Resolve.

🤔 The Justifications That Didn’t Add Up

The district gave us reasons.
But the more we listened, the less they held.

They said low enrollment —

Yet enrollment had risen by 39% in 2024. Families were coming back to Dever. That’s not decline. That’s momentum.

They said academic underperformance —

But the data told a different story.
Test scores had shown real, measurable growth. Progress was happening—in real time, against all odds.

They pointed to an aging building —

But Dever is far from the only old building in the BPS system. Many schools are older. Why single out ours?

They cited underutilization —

Even as parts of our building were quietly handed over to Ruth Batson Academy, without transparency or community consent.
How can a building be "underused" when you're giving away classrooms behind closed doors?

So we asked the question that still hasn’t been answered:

Was this really about performance?
Or were they afraid that Dever was about to succeed—on its own terms?

A school led by families of color.
A school embracing multilingual learners.
A school that didn’t just check boxes—but built community.
Is that what made us expendable?

Even in the face of weak justifications, we didn’t crumble.
We stood tall.
We faced the media with honesty and dignity.
We stayed united.

Because no one—not a single person—can say we didn’t fight with everything we had.
And everything we are.

❤️ To the Dever Community: My Heart Is Yours

To every student who showed up to protest...
To every parent who testified...
To every teacher who never gave up...
To every community partner who stood beside us:

I love you.
I thank you.
I see you.
And I carry you with me—always.

This fight wasn’t just about a building.
It was about dignity.
Justice.
And showing our kids what it means to stand up—even when the odds are stacked against you.

We may have lost the vote.
But we did not lose ourselves.
And we never will.

👀 Sneak Peek: Series Five — Honoring a Nearly 70-Year Legacy

How do you say goodbye to nearly 70 years of learning, love, and community?

You don’t simply close the doors.

You honor the legacy.
You carry it forward.

Paul A. Dever Elementary was never just a school.
It was a beacon of inclusion, equity, and compassion—long before those words were widely embraced.

It welcomed immigrant families.
It uplifted multilingual students.
It embraced children with disabilities.
It built a community where every voice mattered.

✨ Stay tuned for Series Five — where we honor Dever’s legacy and show the world that the spirit of this school can never be shut down.

📣 Join the Conversation

Were you part of this chapter in Dever’s story?
Do you have memories, photos, or messages to share?

Drop them in the comments—or share this post to keep the memory of Dever alive.
#DeverStrong #SaveTheDever #WeAreDever

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