Pilot Schools have influenced district practices within the Boston Public Schools in formal and informal ways.  Following the example of Pilot Schools, BPS converted four large, comprehensive BPS high schools (South Boston, Dorchester, West Roxbury, and Hyde Park) to 13 small schools from 2001 to 2005.  These schools share space and resources, and have limited budget autonomy. 
   The curriculum and assessment autonomy found in Pilot Schools informed a revised BPS graduation policy in 2004.  All BPS high schools may select a pathway (Pathway III) modeled after Pilot Schools.  In this pathway, if a school creates a set of standards or competencies that is equal or greater in rigor to the district’s standards, it is able to create its own set of courses and graduation requirements, which include portfolios and exhibitions.  The development of humanities curriculum in Pilot Schools, particularly at Fenway High School and Boston Arts Academy, assisted the district in developing Pathway II.  Superintendent Thomas Payzant described the policy and two pathways (a third traditional pathway also exists) in a March 2006 memorandum:

The new district graduation policy creates three different curriculum pathways to high school graduation, with the intent of providing the flexibility for BPS high schools to adopt innovative curriculum sequences that keep students engaged, equip them to pass the MCAS, and prepare them for post-secondary education.

• Pathway II: A four-year sequence of Humanities in place of English and History courses, plus the Pathway I requirements of Math, Lab Science, World Language, Arts, Physical Education, Health, and Computers
• Pathway III: A school may develop its own sequence of courses, mindful of state standards and comparable in rigor to Pathway I courses.