Kilmer School to begin K-8 expansion next year

The Joyce Kilmer Elementary School in West Roxbury will soon be expanded to span kindergarten through grade 8 (K-8). The School Committee approved a proposal to begin the Kilmer K-8 starting with a new grade 6 in September 2007, with grade 7 and 8 added in each subsequent year. The proposal creates a two-building campus for the Kilmer, with K1 through grade 3 housed at the school's current facility at 35 Baker Street, and grades 4 through 8 at the former Lyndon Elementary School on Russett Road (now vacant). The Kilmer will become the district's 20th K-8 program, up from only three K-8 programs in 1995. The Hurley School in the South End also will begin K-8 expansion next year with the addition of grade 6. Three other schools -- the Perry in South Boston, the Jackson/Mann in Allston-Brighton, and the Eliot in the North End -- began expansion this September and will each add a grade 7 next year. The school selection process for September 2007 is now underway, with registration beginning in January.