EHS Seniors lead the march into English High 2023 Graduation Ceremonies at White Stadium

June is indeed a glorious time of year for high school seniors as they experience a significant milestone in their lives—graduation, college matriculation and life’s challenges. Often forgotten are the teachers, coaches and parents behind the scenes, supporting students race to get to college. For English High seniors, this support also includes The English High School Association (EHSA), our 170 year-old alumni association.

English High Alumni were on hand last week to witness the 2023 graduation ceremonies held at White Stadium. Yes, that same Coliseum of football games past.  Watching from the bleachers brought back lots of pleasing memories for those of us who were there. But most importantly, English Alumni were there to support our Class of 2023 seniors as they celebrate overcoming COVID, and its restrictions, for most of their four high school years. So, it’s natural to ask how is our English High doing post-COVID?

My answer is the school is doing very well.  Graduation rates are up, colleges acceptances are up, and Alumni involvement is at an all-time high. Did you know EHSA is one of only three Boston high school alumni groups who support their alma maters financially?

EHSA supports English High via our four pillars of fundraising:
Alumni Scholarships – Alumni & Friends Tutoring Center – Career Pathways Programs – Arts & Music Programs

Only with your fundraising support can we do all this and more. Did you know that in the past year we helped refurbish the EHS Library with a collection of Spanish Classics donated by an alum, two lithographs by famous alumni artist Allan Rohan Crite ’23, and greenery donated by alums? While forty percent of BPS school do not have a library, English High has a vibrant and welcoming one headed by EHS Librarian, Dave Barry, would love to host your visit.

Since July, 2018, EHSA has grown into a reliable asset to our school and in our Alumni rank and file’s eyes. Our 200^th Anniversary Gala took a Herculean effort to plan and put on a first-class event…all with your alumni funding.

Our English High Alumni & Friends Tutoring Center (AFTC), funded by EHSA, had an especially successful 2022-23 school year with 90% of seniors who participated being accepted to college. AFTC needs your continued support as plans are in place to expand and reach more more students and increase the number of EHSA Scholarship Awards.  (Read about this year’s EHSA Scholarship recipients here)

And, I am thrilled to announce that for the second year in a row, thanks to the writing support she received from the AFTC, one of our EHS seniors was accepted to Wellesley College. My hope is a pipeline from English High to Wellesley College has been created.

As an alumni association, EHSA is proud of our work.  There is much more to do this year and the next.  One benefactor I met said to me, “It’s nice to have assets and not worry about the future too much but it’s way more fun to give funds away.”

We thank all who have given to our cause.  Just think of all the English High seniors you’ve helped.  We’d love to see more alumni come off the sidelines and make a gift this month. We accept all forms of donations: donor-advised funds, bequests, PayPal, automated monthly donations to make it easy to give.  There’s more information available on our website.

Help our English High School Association help students in their celebration, achievement, and transition as they embark on a new chapter in their educational journey. A gift from you will cement the alumni forever in their memories.  Growth is the key to our persistence while serving our students is our Mission.

My hope is together we can help make dreams come true.

Warmly,

Mike Thomas, ’67
President & CEO
The English High School Association
mthomas@englishhighalumni.org