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Boston: Madison Park Technical Vocational High School Invited Into State's Major School Renovation Funding Process

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Mayor Michelle Wu and Superintendent Mary Skipper today announced that Boston Public Schools (BPS) has been invited into the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) Core Program Eligibility Period, the first step in the MSBA construction process to support a major redesign of Madison Park Technical Vocational High School in Roxbury.

For years, renovating Madison Park has been a priority of Mayor Wu. In 2018, Mayor Michelle Wu, then a member of the Boston City Council, began a series of public hearings to learn how the City of Boston and partners could improve and expand vocational educational opportunities at Madison Park. To learn from other Massachusetts vocational schools, then-Councilor Wu and colleagues led a tour of Worcester Technical High School so that City and BPS officials could bring lessons home to Madison, and convened several important public conversations with community stakeholders. In late 2022, Mayor Wu launched a community visioning process to gather feedback from Madison Park students, staff, families, and community partners about what they wanted to see in a redesigned facility. Earlier in 2025, the City submitted a Statement of Interest to the MSBA, based on that community vision. The invitation into the MSBA's Core Program Eligibility Period demonstrates important momentum to deliver this long overdue redesign.

Under the leadership of Principal Paul Neal, Madison Park offers 20 Chapter 74 Career Technical Education (CTE) programs across the construction, health sciences, human services, technology, and transportation sectors. Chapter 74 programs are designated by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and meet rigorous state standards for CTE program quality, structure, and funding, with in-depth training designed for direct entry into skilled jobs and apprenticeships. With academic coursework, technical training, and industry-immersion opportunities, students graduate with clear pathways into meaningful careers with good wages. The renovation will allow this school to grow its enrollment and expand to grades 7 and 8, aligning with the Boston Public Schools grade configuration policy, and launch new Chapter 74 CTE programs.

"Thank you to the MSBA for this momentous decision to partner with us for a transformational investment in Madison Park that will redefine the opportunities for our students and the trajectory of our economic future. I'm grateful every day for the leadership of Superintendent Skipper, Principal Neal, and the staff, alumni and students at Madison Park for their vision to connect Boston communities to the careers of the future. This is long overdue to deliver nation-leading facilities to train and support the next generation of our workforce, bringing our entire community into the opportunities of world-class vocational education," said Mayor Michelle Wu.

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"Boston Public Schools is excited to join the Eligibility Period phase of the MSBA's Core Program for Madison Park Technical Vocational High School," said Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper. "This is a significant and long-awaited milestone for the Madison Park community and for Boston's workforce future. As the City's only comprehensive technical-vocational high school, Madison Park plays a critical role in preparing our young people for high-demand careers, and we are committed to providing our students with the modern, world-class facilities they deserve. We look forward to advancing in this process in partnership with the City, the MSBA, and our school community."

"We are elated that Madison Park has been invited into the MSBA Core Program, which is a crucial first step toward realizing a long-needed, transformative redesign of our school," said Principal Paul Neal, Madison Park Technical Vocational High School. "This opportunity allows us to demonstrate our readiness for a project of this scale and to continue building on the City's and MSBA's strong track record of thoughtful, community-driven school design. We look forward to engaging our students, families, educators, and broader community to shape a shared vision for a modern Madison Park that fully supports high-quality vocational and technical education for generations to come."

"Today begins the exciting first step toward a new Madison Park High School representing another major investment through the MSBA's strong partnership with the City of Boston," said State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg, Chair of the Massachusetts School Building Authority. "The approval today ensures that its students will have a school where they can reach their full potential."

"We are proud of our ongoing collaboration with the City of Boston on multiple facilities and look forward to continuing our partnership with the invitation of the Madison Park High School project into the MSBA's Capital Pipeline," said Mary Pichetti, Executive Director of the Massachusetts School Building Authority. "We are pleased to support this investment in the City's vision for the transformation of Madison Park project which will directly benefit students pursuing career and technical training."

The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) is a state agency that offers competitive grants to school districts to support capital improvement projects in public schools across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Funded by one-cent of the state's 6.25 percent sales tax, the MSBA process involves close collaboration with school communities to design and build fiscally responsible and educationally appropriate solutions to create safe, sound, and sustainable learning environments.

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In addition to inviting Madison Park into the Core Program's Eligibility Period, the MSBA Board also voted to execute Project Funding Agreements for several BPS facilities projects: new windows and doors at the Everett Elementary School in Dorchester; new roof at the O'Donnell Elementary School in East Boston; new windows and doors at the Murphy K-8 School in Dorchester, and a new roof at the Kenny Elementary School in Dorchester. The estimated maximum total facilities grant for these four projects is nearly $4.7 million, or 50% of the estimated total budget of $9.4 million.

The invitation from the MSBA into the Eligibility Period means that Madison Park can enter the next phase of project development. Over the next 270 days, the district will work with Madison Park leadership and the MSBA to lay the groundwork for a large, capital project, supported by both local and state funding, that will deliver a state-of-the-art vocational campus aligned with Boston's core economic industries. The next step after the Eligibility Period is an invitation to Feasibility Study. Through the Feasibility Study process, the district and the MSBA will explore various options to deliver the Madison Park program, including new build and renovation options.

This marks the third time in three years BPS has been invited to take this step. The district was invited into the program in 2024 to support a major renovation of the Ruth Batson Academy in Dorchester. Additionally, the district was invited into the MSBA pipeline in 2023 for the Shaw-Taylor School. The MSBA has supported several other transformative BPS projects over the last few years – including the new Carter School, which opened in September 2025, the Josiah Quincy Upper School (2024) and the Boston Arts Academy (2022).

In May, Mayor Michelle Wu signed a landmark agreement with the Greater Boston Building Trades Unions and the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters to create a new and expanded direct pathway for graduates of Madison Park Technical Vocational High School to good-paying, stable union jobs in the construction trades. This commitment is part of a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) for the BPS Long-Term Facilities Plan, ensuring a consistent supply of skilled, union labor for major BPS capital projects. By signing the PLA, the City has secured a guarantee of up to 50 seats in the construction unions' Registered Apprenticeship programs for Madison Park graduates each year. Planning is currently underway for the first cohort of Madison Park graduates in the class of 2026 to begin this partnership.

Under the leadership of Principal Paul Neal, Madison Park has seen notable progress in a number of areas, including higher student enrollment and retention, lower absenteeism, and significant improvement in the state's accountability framework, demonstrating academic progress. Under a new admissions policy approved by the Boston School Committee in November 2025, Madison Park will use a weighted lottery system for admissions, with students' demonstrated interest as one component of the lottery. With a complementary rebranding and recruitment effort, Madison Park is boosting its enrollment with students who are making an informed decision to choose a Career and Technical Education pathway and are excited to enroll in Madison Park.

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