BPS wins statewide Terrific Tray recognition

Boston Public Schools shared several updates, including a statewide food recognition, details on a new Advanced Placement course, a recap of the district's annual address to families, and a teacher's new book.

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recognized BPS for the September Terrific Tray, a statewide competition run by Massachusetts Farm to School and DESE's Office for Food and Nutrition Programs that highlights school meals made with Massachusetts-grown ingredients. In June, BPS served a New England Fish Sandwich from Red's Best with house-made tartar sauce, kale and carrot salad, black beans from Joe Czajkowski Farm in Hadley, strawberries from Nourse Farm in Whately, and Hood milk. BPS serves more than 8 million meals a year, including breakfast, lunch, after-school and summer meals.

Mayor Michelle Wu delivered the second annual State of the Schools Address Oct. 19 at UMass Boston, beginning at 6:30 p.m. and streamed live on Boston.gov. Horace Mann School for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing senior Jean Carlos Rodriguez served as a student journalist, joining the press scrum after the speech. Wu and Superintendent Mary Skipper reported on district progress and outlined academic and partnership priorities for the year ahead.

BPS is now offering AP Cybersecurity, a new Advanced Placement course under the College Board's AP Career Kickstart initiative, at the Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers and the John D. O'Bryant School of Math and Science. The course covers digital safety, network security and real-world cybersecurity problem-solving. Students who earn a qualifying exam score can receive college credit and an employer-endorsed credential. According to the College Board's 2026 AP Score Reports, 4,069 BPS students took 7,277 AP exams this year, with 64% earning qualifying scores of 3 or higher.

Albert Holland School of Technology teacher Yolanda Depalo published "Nuestro Árbol de Tamarindo / Our Tamarind Tree," a bilingual children's book illustrated by Fernanda Monteiro and inspired by her childhood in the Dominican Republic. She has been reading the book in BPS classrooms during Hispanic Heritage Month, which ran Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.

Source: Boston Public Schools announcement, November 3, 2026.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the original announcement.