Neighborhood House Charter School welcomed students back to their Centre Street campus on Thursday with warm greetings and big hopes that this academic year will be more peaceful and less menacing than last year, when the end of the term was interrupted by threats and a shooting incident near Shawmut station that police said targeted a student.

But, today’s first day vibe was upbeat and even joyful, with administrators, neighbors, and special guests on hand to cheer the teens’ arrivals. School leaders, who spent much of the summer planning for this day, said stronger bonds with neighbors and other stakeholders in the busy St. Mark’s Area has already born fruit.

Eighth graders Kheira Hresko and Nate Moskowitz walk into the Centre Street campus on Thursday. Seth Daniel photo

“We’re just trying to put the neighbor back into Neighborhood House,” said Edverette Brewster, the new NHCS Executive Director. A veteran Boston Public Schools (BPS) school leader, Brewster took the NHCS reins from long-time director Kate Scott in July. “Today is literally day one for that,” he added during the celebration.

Outside the school on Thursday morning, a crowd of adults from NHCS and the nearby Epiphany School were joined by local businesses and church leaders, who welcomed grades 8-12 back to the building. Students seemed shocked, but reassured, by the triumphant entry.

Students such as Ronnie Etienne, Jr., were surprised and shocked to find teachers and community members welcoming them back to school – but many also found comfort and encouragement in it. Seth Daniel photo

The NHCS campus, located in a building that once housed St. Mark’s Grammar School, was forced to go virtual for the final days of school last term due to threats of violence to students from outside the school community. School officials said the menace stemmed from an incident two years earlier between some students and young adults from outside the school that morphed into frequent threats on NHCS students.

In May, a brazen afternoon shooting outside Shawmut Station targeted at least one NHCS student, according to school and police officials. No one was physically hurt, but the gunfire prompted the school to move to online instruction for almost two weeks while police investigated.

Since then, Scott and Brewster — along with the school’s Director of Family Engagement Tanisha Cooper— reached out to community members for help. It came from Cynthia Loesch-Johnson, chair of the Codman Square Neighborhood Council and Friends of Loesch Family Park, as well as Michael Folan, president of St. Mark’s Area Civic Association. Also jumping in were leaders from the neighboring Epiphany School, local businesses, religious leaders, and abutting neighbors.

School and community leaders gathered to welcome back students to NHCS on Thursday morning after a rough ending to last year caused an unprecedented remote learning stint for students safety. (l-r) Chief Operating Officer Rick Grant, Michael Prince, NHCS Director of Family Engagement Tanisha Cooper, Councillor Erin Murphy, NHCS Trustee Janice Lewis, Dorchester Mayoral Liaison Maddie Foley, NHCS Director Edverette Brewster, and his wife, Natalya Brewster. Seth Daniel photo

“We’ve been meeting with community members and collaborated on a group effort to form what we call ‘Neighborhood Watch,’” said Brewster. “It’s formed of the schools, business owners, and community leaders and we’ve had two good meetings so far.”

Their plan includes a closer relationship with the nearby Epiphany School. NHCS leaders attended that school’s Back to School BBQ last week and Epiphany staff were on hand for the NHCS welcome celebration. Epiphany’s principal Michelle Sanchez stood in the NHCS welcome line with Bishop John Borders, of Morningstar Baptist Church in Mattapan, to encourage the teens filing in for their first day.

“Hopefully this will help with a lot of what happened,” said Sanchez. “When the kids see me, I’m not a stranger anymore. They will know me. We’re all in this together. They’re all our kids and it’s our job to take care of them.”

Added Borders: “I grew up in the Boston Public School system and I was never clapped for when I came to school. This is a memorable experience for the kids whether they admit it or not…It’s young people being encouraged to expand their consciousness and awareness by the village elders.”

Another important step, Brewster noted, will be staging the school’s annual Back to School Jamboree at the Rev. Loesch Family Park – formerly Wainwright Park— just a couple of blocks from the campus.

“We wanted to bring the community to the school,” he said. “We’re going to bring our Jamboree that is usually held at the Lower School to Loesch Family Park this year. A lot of times we invite people for the first day and then we don’t see them again. My belief is it is this is the beginning of a partnership that is sustained for years to come.”

NHCS opened in 1991 and hosts a lower campus of grades K1-7 on Queen Street in Pope’s Hill and an upper campus of grades 8-12 on Centre Street.

The ‘Neighborhood Watch’ gathered for a photo after welcoming students into their first day of school on Thursday. Seth Daniel photo