To the Editor:

My daughter, Monaisha Berry, was a student at the Marshall Elementary School in Dorchester in 2012. Her experience at the school was a bad one. Monaisha is a special needs student with serious academic and behavioral struggles. In the fall of 2013, an amazing thing happened to her school. The city of Boston restarted the Marshall as UP Academy Dorchester. At first, I was skeptical about the impact that this new school could make in my daughter’s life. But I was quickly proven wrong when Monaisha started at UP. From her first day of school, her teachers saw her potential. School leaders worked with me to give Monaisha the support she needed to succeed. This year, Monaisha is in a traditional second grade classroom and she is excelling. I am so proud of the leader and scholar that Monaisha has become at UP Academy Dorchester.

Our family’s experience at UP Academy is not unique. In just one year of operation, UP Academy Dorchester students have set records. Among public schools, UP Academy Dorchester has had the biggest one-year increase in state history in student achievement in Math and English Language Arts. UP Academy Dorchester ranked No. 1 among all elementary, middle, and high schools in Massachusetts for academic growth in math. UP Academy Dorchester has also seen a major decline in students dropping out before the end of the school year.

This year, my two younger daughters, Akira and Zaryaha, will join Monaisha at UP Academy Dorchester and I couldn’t be more proud. I only wish that all families in Boston had the same opportunity to attend a public school like UP.

Angell Williams,
Guardian of three children
at UP Academy Dorchester