Boston Public School Superintendent Tommy Chang will recommend that the underperforming Mattahunt Elementary school in Mattapan be transformed into an “early childhood center" at a meeting with parents tomorrow evening in the Mattahunt cafeteria.

Mattahunt Elementary, which in 2012 was declared a Level 4 “turnaround school” for low MCAS scores, has for years been among the lowest-achieving and least-improving schools in the Commonwealth, according to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).

The department classified the school as “Level 4-under review” in September, Chang wrote, and has fallen into the first percentile of elementary schools statewide.

“It is clear that many of our students are not getting the education they deserve,” Chang wrote in the letter.

If the city does not take action, Chang said, the DESE can move the school into Level 5 status, placing the Mattahunt into state receivership. The Boston Public Schools system would no longer operate the facility.

“The two BPS schools that have been previously taken over by the state have shown little improvement while in receivership,” he wrote. “We refuse to let that happen to the Mattahunt.”

Chang proposes that the school which currently serves students in kindergarten through 5th grade, be turned into a "full-service early education" center serving students from pre-kindergarten (K0 and K1) to first grade.

The first of three community meetings on the Mattahunt school will take place tomorrow (Tuesday, Nov. 1) in the cafeteria at 6 p.m.