Bring a Civic Handbook to Your City

Chapter 296 of the Acts of 2018 (M.G.L. c. 71, Section 2) requires every Massachusetts public school student to complete a student-led civics project at both the 8th grade and high school level. The mandate is statewide, but the civic life students are supposed to research and engage with is local.

That is the gap the community edition fills. Your students open a book that shows their own mayor, their own city council, their own departments and programs. They can look up who represents them, how to contact their school committee, and where their community meets. No searching. No dead links. No generic state content where their city should be.

DESE hosts regional Civics Project Showcases each spring, drawing students from across the state. Students who go in with a grounded understanding of their own local government produce stronger projects. The community edition is designed to be that foundation.

• Directly supports Chapter 296. Aligned with the civics project requirement at both the 8th grade and high school level, and ready for use from day one of the school year.
• Timed to the school calendar. Two delivery windows are keyed to the start of the civics project cycle and the core research phase. See Plan Your Timeline below.
• Puts your community on the page. Real local officials, departments, and contacts, in a book built for your city and no one else’s.

1. Scope. We confirm your city, quantity, and timeline, and send a fixed quote.
2. Build. We research and produce your edition, the print layout and community website together.
3. Approve. Your school or district signs off on the final proof, including any sponsor ads, before anything is printed.
4. Launch. Handbooks are printed and delivered, and the community website goes live.

Massachusetts civics projects launch in the fall and run through the spring DESE showcases. Because we deliver about four weeks after you commit, two deadlines line up with the school calendar:

• Commit by August 1. Editions are in students’ hands at the start of the school year, ready for day one of the civics project.
• Commit by October 1. Editions arrive in time for the core working phase of the project, while students are researching their topics and engaging their community.

Need a date in between? Tell us your project calendar and we will work backward from it.

Every edition goes home and stays there. In a district of 1,000 students, that is a thousand households carrying your name for the entire school year, inside a book the state requires students to open, backed by a full year on the community website. For a local business, that is presence you cannot buy on a billboard, a feed, or a thirty-second spot.

Every sponsor lands a logo on the front and back covers and a live web ad linking anywhere you choose. From there, the more you commit, the more of the edition becomes yours, and the harder your name works.

Choose your level

The dedicated letter (Silver and up) is your space: your local roots, a word to this year’s graduates, or the internships, jobs, and scholarships you offer.

Tier benefits vary by community, print run, and edition size, and multi-year commitments come at a reduced rate. Every placement is approved by the school or district before anything prints. Email us for current sponsorship rates.

For schools and districts

• What is the minimum order? The program starts at 500 copies. We can discuss smaller pilot runs for specific grade levels or programs on request.
• Can we see a sample before committing? Yes. We can share samples from comparable editions. Email us with your city and approximate student count and we will send the most relevant examples.
• Who handles distribution? We deliver printed copies to your school or district. Your team distributes to students, the same as any other classroom material.
• What if information changes after delivery? The community website can be updated at any time at no additional charge. Print editions reflect the information current at the time of proof approval, so we recommend finalizing content close to your commit date.
• Do we need to find sponsors? No. Sponsorship is entirely optional. Many editions are funded directly by the school or district. If sponsors participate, their contributions reduce your per-copy cost or grow the print run.
• How long does the full process take? About four weeks from commitment to delivery. See Plan Your Timeline above for the two windows that align best with the Massachusetts civics project calendar.
• What happens to the community website after the school year? The site stays live. We discuss renewal each year and can update content on request at any time.

For sponsors

• Does our ad need school approval? Yes. All sponsor content is reviewed and approved by the school or district before anything is printed or published online. Nothing runs without sign-off.
• Can we update our web placement during the year? Yes. We can update URLs and basic web ad content on request at no additional charge.
• What if our business is not based in the district? Regional and statewide businesses with a local presence or meaningful connection to the community are welcome. We review each case individually.
• Can we sponsor more than one community edition? Yes. Multi-community sponsors receive coordinated placement across editions and are recognized as regional partners.