The Hurley School takes full advantage of Boston’s rich resources in the arts. Our students take many field trips to visit the city’s museums and performing arts venues. These include programs like the Boston Ballet School’s CityDance, where students who might have never been exposed to ballet to participate in dance classes. At the Museum of Fine Arts several of our classes participate in bilingual classes in the galleries of this world class museum. The Hurley hosts local performances, including presentations offered by Young Audiences, a non-profit organization that brings professional theater performances directly to the school, and the New England Conservatory opera program, which stages an opera production for our students every year. Hispanic arts play a critical role in our programming, of course. Students learn from renowned Hispanic artists at the Jorge Hernandez Cultural Center – located just around the corner from the school – and from Hispanic writers-in-residence every year who are sponsored by the University of Massachusetts.
Choosing the Hurley
Innovative Academics
Hurley teachers draw on both the most innovative components of the BPS curriculum and on specialized programming to provide an exciting academic experience for our students. In the elementary grades, we use:
- Writing: The Lucy Calkins Writing Curriculum
- Reading: The Reading Street Curriculum
- Mathematics: TERC Investigations
In addition, teachers develop project-based work that crosses disciplines and enhances learning. To support this teaching, the Hurley invites its many partners into the classroom to share their expertise and experience. Students also venture out of the school on field trips as close as the Villa Victoria Cultural Center to hear Colombian Jazz or as far as Lovells Island to explore tidal pools.
At the Hurley, we believe that science is an important key to the future, requiring teaching methods that thoroughly engage our students. Every grade at the Hurley has its own unique science program. In K–2nd, the classroom teacher brings a hands-on approach to earth science, using the Hurley’s garden as well as trips to the New England Aquarium as illustration. In 3rd– 5th grades, students work with a science specialist and benefit from STEM classes (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) such as robotics and woodworking to enhance the traditional science curriculum. In middle school, the dedicated science specialist uses the resources of our partners at Northeastern and MIT to bring science alive, with opportunities to see first-hand research on the human brain and to dissect sheep hearts. Fieldtrips to the Museum of Science, the New England Aquarium, local geological formations, and other science-related institutions are a key part of science education at the Hurley.
The Bilingual Advantage
By 5th grade, students who have studied at the Hurley since kindergarten can read, write and speak both Spanish and English with a high level of proficiency. Unlike traditional elementary school language programs that expose children to a foreign language for 40 minutes once a week, the Hurley School immerses its students daily in a stimulating bilingual and multicultural environment. Because Hurley students hear and read Spanish as often as English, they acquire a second language in much the same way that they learned their first.
Academic excellence goes hand in hand with language acquisition at the Hurley. All our teachers have extensive training in implementing a dual-language program as integral part of an academically rigorous education. As a result, the Hurley’s tested dual-language approach graduates well-educated students who are not only bilingual but also biliterate.
The Benefits of Bilingualism
- Academic: Our students, whether native speakers of English or Spanish, achieve high levels of success in both languages.
- Cognitive: Bilingual students perform better on tasks that call for creative thinking, pattern recognition, and problem-solving. Bilingual students also have greater linguistic awareness and a more complex understanding of their native language.
- Socio-Cultural: Proficiency in two languages also permits students to broaden their horizons by engaging with folk tales, songs, idioms, expressions, historical documents and other primary sources without the mediation of translation. Because our students are bilingual, they deepen their understanding of the world by communicating with people from other cultural groups.
- Economic: There is an increasing demand for bilingual employees. By the time Hurley’s students enter the workforce, this will be even more important.
Hurley School Core Values
live ’em!
Lead
BY BEHAVIOR.
Be respectful, thoughtful, helpful and trustworthy. Be involved in your learning. Inspire others to do the same.
Inspire
WITH CREATIVITY.
Take risks. Use your imagination. Try something new. Do what you set your mind to. Dream big!
Voice
YOUR OPINION.
Acknowledge your larger school community and contribute positively to it. What you say matters.
Own
THROUGH SELF-ESTEEM.
Take pride in your work. Be true to yourself. Be responsible for your own progress. Set high standards.
Master
THE ACADEMICS.
Finish your assignments. Be neat and organized. Stay focused. Always do your best.
The Hurley School strives to create a nurturing, respectful and engaged learning community. To achieve this, we focus on five core values and reinforce these principles through programs such as Open Circle and the Hurley High Fliers monthly award program.
Our Core Values
The Hurley academic experience is based on five core values (listed below) which students remember with the acronym LIVOM (Live’em!). Each morning, a Hurley student recites the values over the school intercom in both Spanish and English. We expect every member of the Hurley community to understand, explain and embrace these values.
Building Respect Through Open Circle
In grades K–5, we work to reinforce our core values by using Open Circle, an anti-bullying curriculum developed at Wellesley College. The Open Circle curriculum is designed specifically to support a respectful learning community and create ethical people, contributing citizens, and successful learners. Twice a week, teachers trained in the curriculum lead interactive workshops around topics such as respectful peer and adult relationships, and the power of positive classroom behavior.
Promoting Excellence Through Hurley High Flyer Awards
To recognize those students who exemplify the Hurley values, the Hurley School awards a monthly Hurley High Flyer Award in each grade. Nominated by classmates and/or teachers, Hurley High Fliers are those students that exhibit exemplary kindness, helpfulness, and an eagerness to learn. In addition to the accolades, Hurley High Fliers are treated to a pizza lunch with Principal Soto in her office. The Hurley High Flyer Lifetime Award, a new tradition at the Hurley School, is granted at graduation to that student which best exemplifies the Hurley values throughout his/her entire school career.
Bodega de Arte Afterschool Program
The mission of Bodega de Arte is to create a supportive bilingual environment where our students have opportunities for expanded academic support and unique enrichment programs. Here is a quick glimpse of our program (for a more detailed description download our brochure below):
- A typical schedule for full-time Bodega de Arte includes:
- 2:30–2:45: Community Meeting
- 2:45–3:45: Enrichment Clubs
- 3:45–4:00: Snack
- 4:00–5:15: ¡Progresa! (Academics)
- 5:15–5:45: ¡Actívate! (Health and Fitness)
- 5:45–6:00: Clean up & Ready for Pick up
The cost is $97 per week for full-time participants; vouchers accepted and financial assistance offered to families in need
Enhancements
We have many outside programs that are open to all Hurley students. These programs fulfill the specific needs of our student population and are offered at different times of the school year. Contact Karen González for more information on these programs.
Field Trips and Performances
Bodega de Arte Afterschool Program
The mission of Bodega de Arte is to create a supportive bilingual environment where our students have opportunities for expanded academic support and unique enrichment programs. Here is a quick glimpse of our program (for a more detailed description download our brochure below):
- A typical schedule for full-time Bodega de Arte includes:
- 2:30–2:45: Community Meeting
- 2:45–3:45: Enrichment Clubs
- 3:45–4:00: Snack
- 4:00–5:15: ¡Progresa! (Academics)
- 5:15–5:45: ¡Actívate! (Health and Fitness)
- 5:45–6:00: Clean up & Ready for Pick up
The cost is $97 per week for full-time participants; vouchers accepted and financial assistance offered to families in need
Enhancements
We have many outside programs that are open to all Hurley students. These programs fulfill the specific needs of our student population and are offered at different times of the school year. Contact Karen González for more information on these programs.
Each year, parents across the North Zone choose the Hurley for its outstanding commitment to academics, its unique Spanish-English dual immersion program, its small size and its impressive array of enrichment classes. At the Hurley School, parents also find a welcoming environment, fostered by our active parent groups, our energetic and dedicated teaching staff and our helpful bilingual administration.
Choosing the right school for your child requires having access to as much information as possible. If you can’t find the answers to your questions on our website, please contact us at 617-635-8489.
Academic Excellence
The Hurley School is dedicated to providing each child with an excellent education and the critical thinking skills necessary to excel in high school and beyond. We strive for academic excellence from kindergarten through 8th grade. At each step, our teachers ensure that every child receives tailored instruction and homework to challenge, support and promote confidence. Because we are a small school, each student receives individualized attention.
The Hurley School’s rigorous bilingual education provides each student with daily academic challenges which our students meet successfully. For instance, in 2012-2013 our third grade students achieved the highest MCAS scores in our district. Also, in 2010–2011, 65% of our 3rd graders tested into the Boston Public Schools’ Advanced Work Class(link is external) (AWC); all but one chose to stay at the Hurley to continue their bilingual education. And since the creation of our middle school in 2009, our students have gone on to succeed at high schools across the city, with an increasing number admitted to Boston exam schools in both 7th and 9th grades. Our excellent middle school teaching staff help our students thrive during this transitional time. Each year, our middle schoolers outperform their peers. In 2009, two Hurley 6th graders achieved the two highest scores in the city on the district-wide History Alive exam.