What happened to Kennedy-Longfellow?

The last fifth grade graduation at Kennedy-Longfellow School, June 18, 2025.

Kennedy-Longfellow, located at 158 Spring Street, was a sweet, “underperforming” elementary school in East Cambridge that mostly did a great job of helping a whole bunch of kids (and their caregivers) feel welcome. 

On December 17, 2024, the Cambridge School Committee voted to close the school. Why? I’ve been wrestling with that question for months. 

The school building has room for about 650 students, but was significantly underenrolled. A majority of the around 200 K-Lo general education students and about 90 sheltered English immersion students were mandatorily assigned to the school. This created a neighborhood school kind of feeling – but a neighborhood of circumstance, made up of folks who missed the city’s controlled choice kindergarten lottery deadline. Disproportionately high needs (low-income, English language learners, and students with IEPs), our kids have historically experienced more housing instability than most kids in the rest of the CPSD system. Test scores were very low. 

Finally, the building housed a succession of middle school populations over about 10 years as part of the Innovation Agenda capital building plan – first Putnam Avenue Upper School, then Cambridge Street Upper School, and finally, Darby Vassal Upper School. Few capital investments to 158 Spring Street were made in that time frame, and the building showed the hard use. With all new Innovation Agenda building construction now complete, the upper school space provided by 158 Spring Street for the past ten years is no longer needed. 

Our population of students will now attend schools across the district, with three primary cohorts at Tobin Montessori (the Sheltered English Immersion program); King Open School (rising grades 1 - 2); and Martin Luther King School (rising grades 3 - 5). 

You can find more details about the Kennedy-Longfellow transition plan on the CPSD website.