Civics for Every Massachusetts Community
Know your government, know your rights, and get involved.
Find your city, see who holds power, and do your civics project.
Massachusetts asks every student for one, once in eighth grade and once in high school. Every community in the state has a page here naming the people who hold power locally.
Community Hubs
Choose your community
All 351 cities and towns have a guide. Tap yours.
Start here
Your civics project, one stage at a time
Massachusetts asks every student for a civics project, once in eighth grade and once in high school. This is the whole shape of it, so you can see the work before you start.
- Reflect
- Choose an issue
- Research
- Develop a plan
- Take action
- Reflect and present
Massachusetts House chamber. Photo by Lea-Kim Chateauneuf, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Explore
Learn it, do it, look it up.
Three ways in, depending on what you need today. Nearly two in three Massachusetts voters belong to no party, and you do not need one to use any of it.
How it works
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Town meeting, the select board or council, and the budget that pays for your school.
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160 House seats and 40 Senate seats. Two of them are yours.
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The Governor, the cabinet secretaries, and the agency that handles the thing you need.
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From the Supreme Judicial Court down to the district court that sits in your county.
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What the law owes you at work and where you live.
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The Declaration and the US Constitution, in five languages and a plain-English version of each.
Things you can do
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Testify at a hearing, volunteer, join a board, or run for office.
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Every bill filed at the State House gets a public hearing, and you can testify at one.
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The law does not ask your age or your reason, and the agency has ten business days to answer.
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You can sign up at 16, before you are old enough to cast a ballot.
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Massachusetts law lets 16 year olds serve as election officers, up to two students per precinct.
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How to take an idea to your legislators, and the programs that put students on Beacon Hill.
Look it up
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Type your town. Get your state representative and your state senator.
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Constitutional officers, district attorneys, sheriffs, and the Governor's Council.
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Contact details for all 324 Massachusetts public school districts.
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What your district spends per student, and where the state keeps the rest of it.
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The Commonwealth by topic, from the economy to the courts.
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The country's oldest public school, its first subway, and the rest of the list.
Take action
Write to the person who can act
Pick your issue, find the official whose job it is, and send it today.
Governor Maura Healey at the House rostrum. Photo by Joshua Qualls, Governor's Press Office.
Massachusetts, Right Now
The Civic Pulse
What is happening in the Commonwealth today: one thing to act on, one thing to remember.
Your Vote
Massachusetts State Primary: Tuesday, September 1, 2026
You can pre-register at 16. Register or update your address by Saturday, August 22, 2026 to vote in this election.
Your city or town also runs its own local elections, and those are the ones your single vote moves most. Your town clerk sets the date. Find your community to get there.
Cheshire's Mammoth Cheese for Jefferson
On July 20, 1801, the Berkshire town of Cheshire pressed a 1,235-pound cheese for President Thomas Jefferson, a gift from farmers who backed his vision of democracy and religious liberty.
Source: Mass MomentsMore from this day
1775Patriots Burn Boston LightFor teachers
Running the civics project this year?
All 351 cities and towns have a page that names the people who hold power locally and shows a student how to reach them. Open your district's page and hand it to a class tomorrow.
See the teacher guideFor schools and sponsors
A printed edition for your district
A printed edition and a custom hub for your district, co-branded for your school.
See how it works351communities 1,450live pages 2,721sourced statistics