Education and Youth Services

Mayor Katjana Ballantyne has been a champion in support of Somerville Public Schools for decades, both as a councilor and Mayor, and as a parent with two children attending Somerville Public Schools.

Historic Budget Increases for Schools

Mayor Ballantyne has decidedly resisted regional trends of cuts and layoffs. Instead, over the three years of her administration, she’s increased the school budget by 27 percent. In the fiscal year 2025 budget, she added over 35 net full-time equivalent positions to Somerville Public Schools. For our mayor,  investing in youth doesn’t stop at the classroom. Her administration has invested heavily in expanded after-school programs and new youth opportunities, and she started a school year expansion of the Mayor’s Summer Jobs Program.

She can be proud of her historic budget increases for schools, her expansion of out of school time programming, and opening Somerville’s spaces for teens. To increase youth enrichment, she opened the City’s first three teen centers and created a new Youth Services Division that hit the ground running, employing nearly 200 teens at 31 sites during our Summer Jobs Program.

Mayor Katjana is Connecting Students to Local Opportunities

Mayor Katjana understands that we need to connect our youth to the innovation and opportunity right here. She is developing partnerships with area businesses, for classroom visits, site tours, demos, internships, and work-study programs where youth can experience the possibilities all around them.
Recently, on a visit to Ultragenics, a new biotech lab in Brickbottom, Mayor Katjana ran into a Somerville High School graduate now working as a researcher there. Her parents immigrated here, and she has been able to continue to live with her family in Somerville because an exciting local employer hired her. This is the kind of opportunity that Mayor Ballantyne will be sure our kids can see and can reach.

Transition Coaching

To coach Somerville students as they make the transition out of high school and into their next step, be that college, training, or a career.  Her administration launched “Let’s Get Workin’: a partnership between DPW and SHS’s Center for Career and Technical Education to offer paid, hands-on job training in professions like , plumbing, and carpentry. And Katjana is planning for many more aids to education and youth in Somerville.

Mayor Katjana is Masterplanning the Future of Education in Somerville

To ensure we provide the quality school buildings needed to prepare our youth for a successful future, Mayor Katjana’s administration completed the City’s first K through 8 School Master Plan. With this work, we can better plan for today’s students and for tomorrow’s learning needs.
Her decisive leadership has also brought us quickly, one step closer to funding a new Winter Hill School by organizing the rapid and successful application process to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) funding program, which could provide up to $100 million in school building grant funds.

Mayor Ballantyne Integrates Equity In Education Policy

Mayor Katjana also makes equity an integral part of her education policy: she has removed opportunity gaps, promoted greater staff diversity, directed funding to the schools with the most challenges, while supporting bilingual learners with expanded and innovative programs.
For Families With Children
Mayor Ballantyne understands that for families with children, public schools are at the center of community life. They serve many vital functions:  they provide children with essential skills for life and work, advancement and opportunity, and they provide a social, nutritional and health safety net for the most vulnerable among us. They are a workplace for dedicated teachers and staff whose well-being is vital to the schools’ success. The opening of our spectacular new high school building demonstrates the city’s dedication to excellence in education and a vital future.

Continuing Education for Life

Mayor Katjana believes that our model for education should be expansive. Just as we educate the whole child in intellectual, emotional, social and physical growth, our schools should be part of their broader community. She’s working to enhance adult education and forge partnerships with businesses, universities, and organizations.

Education and Youth Services

To support youth and teachers Mayor Katjana Ballantyne

• Made historic budget increases in our schools, expanded out of school time programming, and opened Somerville's first three teen spaces
• Launched a new program to coach Somerville students as they make the transition out of high school and into their next step be that college, training, or a career
• Added over 35 net full-time equivalent positions to Somerville Public Schools
• Expanded after-school programs and new youth opportunities
• Completed first steps to funding a new Winter Hill School  by earning one of only four spots in the current Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) funding program, which can provide $100 million in building grant funds