We Change, We Grow: Remembering Dever Elementary School Through the Years

The Dever Elementary School held a Digitizing Day on March 26. The event was part of the Dever’s closing community engagement events to honor and celebrate the school’s legacy in its final year.

We Change, We Grow: Remembering Dever Elementary School Through the Years

MARCH 26, 2026: As participants walked into the auditorium, they were met with an explosion of color. Two hundred individual student-made butterflies, organized by the Dever’s art teacher Ms. Hermann, covered the walls of the auditorium where Dever Digitizing Day was held.

“These butterflies reflect who our students are: growing, changing, and finding their way. And in many ways, they reflect this school. The Dever has continued to grow and change to become a place where students are supported, challenged, and have the opportunity to grow. Digitizing Day is about capturing that,” said Dever Principal Margaret Reardon.

On March 26, the Dever Elementary School in Dorchester held a Digitizing Day in partnership with UMass Boston and Boston Public School’s (BPS) Capital Planning Team. The event was part of the Dever’s closing community engagement events to honor and celebrate the school’s legacy in its final year.

“The Dever has been a cornerstone of the Columbia Point community for nearly seven decades and this event reflects the connections and memories it has created for so many people,” said Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper. “It is incredibly meaningful to see former students, families and staff come together to share their stories and celebrate what this school has meant to them. By preserving these memories, we are honoring the legacy of the Dever and ensuring that its impact continues to be felt for years to come.”

Over a hundred people came to the event to share their memories with one another. Participants included multiple generations of students, staff, and family members as well as neighbors, community partners, and BPS central office staff. UMass Boston set up stations to gather and digitize attendees’ stories, photos, apparel, documents, and other artifacts, to be uploaded to a permanent, public collection in the UMass Boston online archives (openarchives.umb.edu) and be preserved for generations to come. When the collection is ready for public access in the coming months, all contributors and the current Dever community will be notified.

“La primera vez que caminé por los pasillos de esta escuela, sentí escalofríos. Me sentí conectada con los maestros, con los padres, con los estudiantes. Para mi, fue inspirador como la cultura de la escuela, como los padres y los maestros tenían esa conexión. Yo le decía ‘¿para quien juegan?’ Y dicen ‘somos lo mismo partido. Todos jugamos juntos.’” said Boston School Committee Member, Rafaela Polanco Garcia. “Sabemos que tenemos una comunidad fuerte. Unos maestros y padres unidos…Juntos podemos hacer la diferencia.”**

The Dever Community Engagement and Celebrations working group—a team made up of Dever staff, parents, and BPS Capital Planning—worked with UMass Boston over the past several months to plan the Digitizing Day. Mass Memories, the participatory archiving program based in University Archives and Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at the University of Massachusetts Boston, works with partners across Massachusetts to engage community members in contributing personal stories and photographs to a statewide digital collection. The UMass Boston archives also hold materials documenting the history of the Boston Teachers Union from two digitizing events in the past several years. The partnership between UMass Boston and the BTU prompted the Dever/UMass collaboration.

During the event, the new Dever memorial street sign was also unveiled to the community. The City of Boston installed the sign in honor of the Dever’s impact on the Harbor Point community.

“They all say all roads lead through [the] Dever, and for my family that’s certainly true. I attended here many years ago…and even more recently, my son [attended]. Watching him walk these halls, I could not be more proud. Today we are here celebrating a legacy of trueness, family, and community,” said Cheryl Buckman, member of the Dever Community Engagement and Celebrations Working Group and parent advocate, “The street sign is more than just a landmark. It’s a permanent tribute to history that we’re preserving, and a future that we’re building together.”

**“The first time I walked through the halls of this school, I felt chills. I felt connected with the teachers, with the parents, with the students. For me, I was inspired by the school culture, by the parents and teachers who had this connection. I said, ‘What team do you play for?’ They said, ‘We are on the same team. We all play together.’” said Boston School Committee Member, Rafaela Polanco Garcia. “I know that this is a strong community. Teachers and parents united. Together, we can make a difference.” (Translation from Spanish)

See All Photos From Event

III-B-1: Learning Expectations

Unsatisfactory	Needs Improvement	Proficient	Exemplary
Does not inform parents about learning or behavior expectations.	Sends home only a list of classroom rules and the learning outline or syllabus for the year.	Consistently provides parents with clear, user-friendly expectations for student learning and behavior.	Successfully conveys to most parents student learning and behavior expectations. Is able to model this element.

Coming Soon

What instructional practices should be observed? What student impacts should be expected?

For TEACHERS this may look like.
Teacher does not have a clearly defined way to share learning expectations with families.	Teacher shares learning standards and syllabus early in the year, using family friendly language and translations when necessary.	Teacher shares learning standards and syllabus early in the year and continues to provide updates on student progress toward meeting learning expectations. Updates are shared with families in a variety of ways.	Teacher engages families in academic and behavioral goal setting and progress monitoring cycles throughout the year. Teacher works with families to adjust goals and strategies as needed.
Teacher does not share classroom roles or other expectations for behavior.	Teacher shares classroom expectations around behavioral norms with families early in the year.	Teacher shares classroom expectations around behavioral norms and engages families in monitoring student progress.	Teacher shares developmentally appropriate behavior management strategies with families, and learns from families about what works for their child.

As a result, the IMPACT on STUDENTS may be...
Families do not receive clear information regarding learning and behavioral expectations.	Families receive information regarding learning and behavioral expectation.	Families receive information regarding learning and behavioral expectation in family friendly language and are actively engaged in monitoring progress.	Families collaborate with teacher to develop learning and behavioral goals, strategies to support students in meeting the goals, and a plan for jointly monitoring progress.

Name	Description	Type
Academic Meeting Invitation	Example of an invitation to a collaborative meeting on a child's academic progress that teachers might send to families	Letter
Values and Expectations Welcome Letter	Example of letter from a school to families outlining hopes and expectations on engagement and student learning	Letter

Coming Soon

Resource Name	Description	Resource Type
new! Teacher-Parent Communication Strategies to Start the Year Off Right	By prioritizing communication with families at the start of the school year, educators can foster strong parent engagement, break down barriers, and provide support for all students.	Article
new! BPS Family Capacity Building and Support	The BPS Office of Family and Community Advancement (OFCA) supports schools in assessing their engagement practices to meet district standards and requirements for high-quality engagement and supports building staff capacity to welcome and engage all families.	BPS Website
Culturally Responsive Classroom Management Strategies	Tips for teachers on how to manage classroom behavior in a culturally appropriate and effective way.	Article
Parent Expectations	Study exploring how parents expect and desire to be engaged by teachers	Article/research study
A Parent's Guide to Common Core Learning	Guide for parents on understanding the Common Core and supporting their children on these standards	Guide
Do you have a resource that you want to recommend for this element? Email us at eval@bostonpublicschools.org with the subject line "Interactive Rubric Resource Recommendation" in the email

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We Change, We Grow: Remembering Dever Elementary School Through the Years

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III-B-1: Learning Expectations