By many measures, the Eliot K-8 Innovation School is a notable bright spot for Boston Public Schools. Its students routinely — often dramatically — beat the state average on MCAS scores. Scattered across three buildings in the city’s North End, kids at the school have access to hands-on learning, enrichment programs, art, music and theater offerings, even classes in Italian.
The Eliot’s newest building, the Upper School for grades 5 to 8, opened in fall 2019 following a two-year, $20 million construction project. It sits on the mouth of the Charles River, with a view of Charlestown and the USS Constitution. It’s flanked by new playgrounds and ballfields, where — after school in April — dozens of students and their families gathered on the lawn to gaze at the partial solar eclipse.
Many wore eclipse glasses provided by the Friends of The Eliot School, a parent-run nonprofit with nearly $1 million in assets as of 2022.
