The Boston Public School Committee discussed Zum App improvements for bus transportation, Boston Arts Academy students’ recent achievements and the opening of the new Josiah Quincy Upper School building at its Wednesday meeting.
Superintendent Mary Skipper opened the meeting by addressing improvements to the BPS bus system app “Zum,” which allows parents to track when children get on and off the bus and updates bus routes based on road conditions, traffic and student ridership.
As of Wednesday, more than 12,000 parents and guardians representing nearly 16,000 students are using the Zum App, Skipper said. ParentSquare, an app that allows parents to receive communications from the school, currently has 9,300 families enrolled in the service.
“This technology is really providing us with unprecedented transparency for families,” Skipper said. “This transparency for all of us motivates us to do better for our students and families every day.”
Skipper said she’s grateful for parents’ “patience” and “understanding” as BPS continues to address ongoing transportation delays since the first day of school.
“We know that the beginning of school, and even now for some, has been difficult,” Skipper said. “We’re committed to this work, and we’ll continue to provide updates.”
Skipper also recognized the recent successes of Boston Arts Academy.
Lang Lang, an international classical musician, visited BAA students on Friday at the Boston Arts Museum, where he played a piano duet with Mayor Michelle Wu.
The event was in celebration of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation’s Keys of Inspiration program, which donated piano labs to nine BPS schools, including BAA, Skipper said.
The BAA Spiritual Ensemble also released its debut album, “Genesis,” on Aug. 30. The album hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts for classical albums and classical crossover albums.
Jonathan Anderson, a multi-award winning producer and BAA alum, co-produced the album with six-time Grammy Award winner Aaron Lindsey.
Skipper said the group made history as the first BPS music ensemble to ever reach the Billboard charts.
“We’re really proud and inspired by what this talented group of students has created, and hopefully we can get them to come and play at a school committee in the not-too-distant future,” Skipper said.
The BPS Committee also discussed the ribbon cutting ceremony on Sept. 12 for the new Josiah Quincy Upper School building in Chinatown.
The building is six stories, with the capacity to “accommodate 650 students in grades six through 12, 684 staff and 35 educational spaces and 29 classrooms,” Skipper said.
Some of the building’s features include a 435-seat auditorium, a 10,000 square foot gym and a 250-seat cafeteria.
“It’s just a gorgeous building,” Skipper said.
Committee Member Rafaela Polanco Garcia said using a translator that she had the opportunity to attend the ribbon cutting at Josiah Quincy and found many features of the new building “impressive.”
However, Polanco Garcia said she felt more students should have these conditions in school.
“While I was walking in the halls, I was thinking to myself, ‘This is impressive. This is what all our students deserve,’” Polanco Garcia said. “‘Why couldn’t we open up a new school, like this one, every two years in Boston?’”
BPS Vice Chair Michael O’Neill said he visited the school prior to the ribbon-cutting and feels both “gratitude” for the opportunities being granted to more students but also “profound sadness that so many of our students still are waiting for those opportunities.”
“I share Ms. Polanco Garcia’s dream that we have a building like that every year or every other year, but I’m heartened that we have a number of projects in the pipeline … as well as commitment from the city,” O’Neill said. “It shows we’re getting there, but we have so much more work to do.”
The BPS Committee will meet next on Oct. 9 at 6 p.m.
