Who is Dr. Marchell Boston?
Dr. Marchell "Marc" Boston is a passionate about assisting people to reach their goals. Under his mentorship, several educators have been promoted to various positions to include principals, assistant principals, instructional coaches and lead teacher. Dr. Boston has 24 years of school-based leadership experience, which includes 20 years as a building principal. He also has principal supervisor experience.
Dr. Boston began his educational career as a third-grade teacher in 1996 in DeKalb County (Ga). As a first-year teacher, he was nominated for the Sallie Mae Outstanding First-Year Teacher Award. He was promoted to school counselor at Ronald E. McNair Middle School in 1997 and served as a counselor from 1997 to 2000. Dr. Boston was promoted to assistant principal in 2000. After serving as an assistant principal from 2000 to 2003, he was promoted to principal at Peachcrest Elementary in May 2003.
With a focus on building relationships and increasing stakeholder engagement, Dr. Boston was able to secure 12 business partners during his first year as principal at Peachcrest. His focus on student and stakeholder engagement resulted in Peachcrest meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in 2004, 2005, and 2006. Dr. Boston was assigned as principal of Terry Mill Elementary School in 2007. He was charged with creating cohesion between the Terry Mill and Leslie J. Steele communities as the schools would consolidate after the 2007-2008 school year. Terry Mill Elementary met Adequate Yearly Progress during the 2007-2008 school year.
Dr. Boston was appointed by the superintendent to serve as the first principal of the Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy, which was the consolidation of three low-performing schools in South DeKalb County (Terry Mill, Leslie J. Steele, and Tilson). He provided leadership that resulted in academic gains in the content areas of reading and math from 2008-2012. Dr. Boston was appointed to serve as principal of Stone Mill Elementary in 2012. Stone Mill’s College and Career Performance Index (CCRPI) score increased 10 points after his first year as principal. The ten-point increase resulted in Stone Mill Elementary being removed from the GA DOE’s Focus School List of Underperforming Schools in 2013.
Dr. Boston was appointed Freedom Middle School in July 2015. After his first year as principal, Freedom Middle School was removed from the GA DOE Chronically Failing School List. The 63% reduction in disciplinary referrals, improved staff and student attendance, and positive stakeholder perceptions, resulted in Freedom Middle School earning a three-star climate rating in 2016; (Freedom Middle had a two-star climate rating from 2012 to 2015). Freedom Middle School was removed from the GA DOE Focus List of Underperforming Schools in November 2017.
Dr. Boston's leadership which resulted in Freedom Middle being removed from the Failing School List was an especially notable accomplishment because of the school’s history of low student achievement, and the student ethnic diversity. Freedom Middle made AYP in 2005. Freedom Middle did not make AYP from 2006-2011. The accountability system changed from AYP to College and Career Performance Index in 2012. Schools that had a CCRPI lower than 60 points were identied as Failing School by the GA DOE. Freedom Middle School’s CCRPI was 56.2 in 2012, 59.2 in 2013, 52 in 2014 and 56.5 in 2015. Freedom Middle School’s 2016 CCRPI score was 61.5, which one the first time that Freedom had a score over 60. A 12- point CCRPI increase from 60.5 (2017) to 72. 3 (2018), resulted in Freedom being recognized by the Governor's Office of Student Achievement as a Beating the Odds School.
According to the Office to the Student Achievement of Georgia Schools Like Mine website (https://schoolslikemine.gosa.ga.gov), there was not another middle school in the state “like” Freedom Middle. Freedom’s 44% English Language Learners (ELL) percentage is the one of highest ELL percentages among all middle schools in the state. Twenty-six percent of Freedom’s ELL population are Asian, which makes Freedom the most diverse middle school in the state. Freedom Middle is the first US school experience for approximately 30% of Freedom’s English Language Learners.
Dr. Boston is a graduate of Leadership DeKalb (2009). He received the Organization of the DeKalb Educators Administrator of the Year Award in 2010. He was the DeKalb County School District Region III Principal of the Year in 2018. Dr. Boston is a 2024 graduate of the Men of Educational Leadership (MCEL) Fellowship Cohort. He is a former regional president of the Ga. Association of Elementary School Principals.
In 2021, Dr. Boston authored Finding Freedom: A Principal’s Journey. Finding Freedom. Finding Freedom: A Principal’s Journey is a blueprint for transformational, progressive, and sustainable leadership. Dr. Boston shares how he has applied 6 leadership principles to transform schools and inspire stakeholders. His essay, The Pandemic Line Leader, was published in Virtually Lost: Essays on Education in a Global Pandemic. Dr. Boston founded LIT Soluntions, LLC in 2021. This consulting frim speacializes in school culture and leadership development. He has served as an adjuct professor at the university level since 2006.
Dr. Boston often receives accolades and recognition for his extensive leadership career. His most fulfilling accomplishments involve helping students and adults reach their goals. He believes that positive relationships and support from others is essential for goal attainment. His passion is to lead with love and inspire as many people as he can.
His equation for success is Prayer + Hard Work =Success.
School Climate & School Tranformation ExperT Presenter
Finding Freedom: A Principal's Journey
Finding Freedom: A Principal’s Journey includes times of jubilation, as well as some of the darkest moments in Dr. Boston's career as a principal. Finding Freedom is the blueprint for transformational, progressive and sustainable leadership. Dr. Boston shares how he has applied 6 proven leadership principles.
AuthoR
Dr. Boston has authored, Finding Freedom: A Principals's Journey and The Pandemic Line Leader, an essay featured in Virtually Lost: Essays on Education in a Global Pandemic.
Finding Freedom: A PrincipaL's Journey - A Must Read
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NEXT LEVEL TEACHING PODCAST: PRINCIPLES FOR PRINCIPALS
Dr. Boston and Andre Mountian on first TBML Podcast
Black Male Leadership Experience
This episode explores the dynamics of black male leadership and defines what it means to be a black male leader.
InSpiring and TransForming through Engagement
A Servant... a relationship builder
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