Pride in Ownership

The section of Boston that encompasses the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative is home to some of the city's least--and most--promising schools.

In December of last year, new district "report cards" placed several schools here in the middle or lower third of the pack in reading and mathematics. But the area also boasts a handful of the city's higher-performing schools, and still others have made strides under new leadership in recent years.

Principal Mary Russo at Roxbury's Samuel W. Mason Elementary has won recognition for the innovative programs that have transformed the once-failing school into one of the most sought-after in the district. But she's quick to acknowledge that she couldn't have done it alone. Community and business partnerships have helped her scout out funds for building renovations, computers, and even neighborhood improvements like the new playground in a...