Dorchester man makes a difference in Pilot middle school
by Robert Frank, special to the Dorchester Community News

The kids call him “Mr. Todd.” One Thursday he’s in the hall of New Boston Pilot Middle School reminding the boys not to run, or to take off their hats, or he’s just quietly being a role model. Later that day he may be helping the front office with attendance.

Todd Meuse, of Rosseter Street in Dorchester, not far from the middle school on Columbia Road, is one of a new breed of community volunteers who want to make sure the schools are serving the needs of the children. Funding cutbacks in education have made New Boston especially dependent on its community and parent volunteers. However, even without the economic need, New Boston from its inception has been a community-driven school with parents and other adults part of its administrative fabric.

New Boston Pilot grew out of community meetings, and a community council selected founding Principal Debra Socia. As an autonomous Pilot school, free of centralized School Department administration, it is governed by its own Board of parents and community members. Meuse is a member of the Board as well.

The only male volunteer, as far as he knows, Todd tries to keep his commitment to one day a week of being in the school for whatever help is needed that day. Often enough, though, the time commitment just grows. Sometimes, he says, the school may be short a substitute teacher at the start of the day. Since the whole idea of this Pilot school is that education must stay personal, with every student known by every teacher, the school uses a known pool of substitutes who are familiar to the students. They don't want to bring in just anyone from a city-wide list of substitutes. So, instead, Todd’s phone rings: “Can you help us out?” He’ll be out the door and down to the school in a few minutes.

To keep the school small and personal, it is divided into four “academies” that run for the most part like separate, coordinated schools within the building. Each academy has its own Academy Leader. In Meuse’s first time substituting, he walked into a classroom in Academy 4 and wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. All the kids were looking at him expectantly. Seconds later Rasheed Meadows, the Academy Leader, followed him in and introduced him to the kids as “Mr. Todd.” The name has stuck. With a little guidance from Mr. Meadows, Meuse became comfortable acting as a mentor until a regular substitute arrived. Meuse praises Rasheed Meadows as a leader who has the pulse of the students, and admires the fact that Meadows is able to speak Spanish to students who still are struggling in English.

As a Board member, Meuse meets monthly on issues ranging from leaks in the roof to whether the principal is staying with the philosophy of the school. Asked whether his Board status might be intimidating to staff members when he comes into the building as a volunteer, he says he has made it clear to staff that he’s “not a Board member” when he’s volunteering.

Todd Meuse thinks the original council hit the jackpot when they hired founding principal Debra Socia. “Deb is so hands-on. If there’s a problem on the bus, she’ll go ride the bus. The best thing they did was pick her.”

The admiration is mutual. Asked about her one male volunteer, Socia laughed and said, “Todd is terrific.”

Even when he’s at work in Roxbury, where he’s a barber, his son’s school is never far from Todd’s mind. On a recent haircutting afternoon, his cell phone rang. It was one of his son’s teachers. She wanted to discuss an assignment that was a day late. Todd knew there had been a computer problem in trying to get the paper printed, but first he had to remind the teacher that he expected her to treat his son no differently from any other student. His concern was his son’s education, nothing less.

Pilot Press Release Selected Archives

Study Shows Pilot Schools making substantial gains - release of the first comparative study documenting higher performance and engagement by Pilot School students (January 18, 2006)

New Boston Pilot Middle School Awarded $50,000 by The Boston Foundation (October 30, 2003)

Study Finds Good Outcomes in Boston Pilot Schools (October 24, 2003)

13 Boston Schools Awarded $190,000 for Pilot School Planning Grants (February 7, 2003)