Before you begin a dive into the resources in this section, it's important that we highlight the significance of the METCO program in Concord. The Concord Public Schools and Concord-Carlisle Regional School District enjoy a rich partnership with the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO) that began in 1967 when 20 students entered Concord-Carlisle High School. Our program services 140 students in grades K-12, and a team of caring, knowledgeable professionals ensures each child’s growth as a student and citizen of the world. METCO shines when students and families in each community – Boston, Concord, and Carlisle – benefit from the experience.

METCO'S ORIGINS IN CONCORD

• Concord/Carlisle joined the METCO program in the 1967-68 school year (the second year of METCO), and Concord in 1968-69. In 1975, as white resistance to desegregation in Boston reached crisis levels, “Twenty-seven citizens signed a letter to the Concord-Carlisle School Committee asking for an increase in the number of METCO students in their school districts, saying ‘We do not believe that our towns should ignore this problem as one that concerns only the city of Boston."

• In 2012, an online memoir of Amedio Armenti (1924-2019), who was involved in Concord's participation was published. In the publication, Armenti says:

"When word got out that the School Committee would hold a hearing on the program, the Town went into hyper shock. Emotions ran high. Letters to the editor appeared in the three Concord papers every week, raising questions, or opposing, the program The Concord Free Press editorial writer, under the pseudonym “Tom Paine” (presumed voice of reason), subtly hinted that the Town was facing a very grave decision: “Reduced to its basic minimum the question that the School Committee faces in the METCO proposal is: ‘Can Concord Schools absorb twenty-five additional students, with perhaps a radically different background from that of the present student body, on a long term basis, in a way that will prove educationally rewarding to all of the students?’”

• Armenti submitted a letter to the Concord paper at the 50th anniversary of Concord's METCO program. This letter can viewed below.

BOSTON EDUCATION ACTIVISM TOUR (B.E.A.T.): A YOUTH-LED VIRTUAL HISTORY OF THE STRUGGLE FOR THE RIGHT TO LEARN.

In the spring of 2020, eight high school students in the METCO program were selected for an internship program called B.E.A.T.: Boston Education Activism Tour. They researched in archives and libraries to uncover the history of activism for educational equality in Boston, including the founding of METCO itself. Join the students (in the video below), as they guide you through decades of untold history and introduce you to the brave organizers who envisioned a better world.