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Boston School Committee approves Burke School name change to honor former principal

The Jeremiah E. Burke High School in Dorchester will be renamed the Albert D. Holland High School of Technology

By Molly Farrar

June 19, 2024

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The Jeremiah E. Burke High School in Dorchester will be renamed the Albert D. Holland High School of Technology after the Boston School Committee unanimously approved the name change Monday night.

Al Holland spent 50 years with Boston Public Schools. During the 1980s, he led the transformation of the neglected Burke High School to a high-performing school, current Head of School for Burke Amilcar Silva wrote to the School Committee earlier this year.

Holland told The Boston Globe earlier this month he felt thankful for the recognition.

“The Burke was a true blessing for me,” Holland said. “It took a whole village to come together to transform the Burke. I’m thankful I had great administrators, teachers, and students.”

Before Burke, Holland also worked as one of the first Black school administrators at South Boston High School, supporting many students who were bussed starting in 1974 to desegregate the public school system.

“Dr. Holland served heroically at South Boston High School,” Craig Lankhorst, a former BPS principal and Holland’s contemporary, told the School Committee Monday. “At the Burke, Dr. Holland blended safety and academics, making sure that all students were supported. He did everything, including roaming the corridors and attending most school events.”

A group of Burke alumni suggested the name change in the spring of last year, and the school community has hosted multiple public meetings about the idea since then. Dozens of people spoke about Holland’s impact, and 775 people signed a petition supporting the name change.

Jeremiah Burke was an educator who served as superintendent of schools in the 1920s through 1931. 

“For so many reasons, this is the right decision,” Superintendent Mary Skipper said on Monday.

Holland retired in 2008 but briefly came out of retirement to lead Madison Park Technical Vocational High School in 2014 and to assist at Boston Latin School and other BPS schools, Silva wrote.

“I’m not really sure if the word ‘no’ is in Dr. Holland’s vocabulary,” Committee Vice Chairperson Michael O’Neill said on Monday, “unless someone says, ‘Dr. Holland, have you done enough?’” 

The Burke High School’s name change comes on the heels of Boston Community Leadership Academy-McCormack School’s renaming to Ruth Batson Academy. In April, the School Committee approved the new name to honor the segregation-era activist who was also one of the creators of the Metco initiative. Previously, the South End McKinley Schools were renamed to honor civil rights activist Mel King.

In a presentation earlier this month, the school said next steps would include forming an internal committee to plan a celebration of the name change.