Boston breaks ground on $97 million Carter School rebuild, expanding capacity to 60 students

BOSTON — July 19, 2026 — Boston breaks ground on a $97 million rebuild of the Carter School, a specialized school for students with disabilities. Mayor Michelle Wu, Massachusetts State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, BPS Superintendent Mary Skipper Casillas, and MSBA CEO Jim McDonald were among the officials at the Saturday ceremony, which doubles as the launch event for Wu's $2 billion Green New Deal for Boston Public Schools, a district-wide facilities initiative announced in May. The rebuilt school — designed by Perkins and Will and to be constructed by Bond Brothers — will expand enrollment capacity from 24 to 60 students and will add a therapeutic pool, a rooftop outdoor classroom, a sensory garden, and an early childhood and pre-K pathway. The MSBA formally invited the school into eligibility in December 2017 after site visits beginning in 2015. School Committee Vice Chair Michael O'Neill, the committee's designee to the building committee, said the expansion addresses students "who are so deserving" and noted that the project "probably doesn't happen" without years of sustained advocacy from Principal Mark O'Connor.