Weymouth School Committee Removes Capstone Project as Graduation Requirement

WEYMOUTH -- June 13, 2024, Weymouth School Committee votes unanimously to drop the Capstone project as a high school graduation requirement. The committee ended the 12-year policy at its June 13 meeting after a public hearing in which parents, students, and community members spoke nearly unanimously against the mandate, including a junior, Hannah Burke, who said the requirement "was not very supportive of my mental health" after she took three zeros on recent assignments. Principal Karen Monahan and a colleague had argued the program produced nearly 5,000 completers over its history with fewer than 10 cases where failure to finish affected graduation, and that an 84 percent student pride rating from a 625-person survey showed broad value. The course will remain available as an elective for the 2024-2025 school year, with the annual Capstone Fair eliminated, and the committee directed administration to bring amended Program of Studies language to the June 20 meeting. The board also voted unanimously to repurpose the Johnson School as a new kindergarten-through-fifth-grade primary school beginning in a phased approach in fall 2025, and to rename the Johnson Early Childhood Center the Weymouth Early Childhood Center.