The atrium is guarded by two terracotta warriors that invite students in as they open the doors to the high school. Stepping through the staircase in between them, a hallway leads to the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO) room: a place that welcomes students.

METCO is a program that buses students of color in Boston and Springfield to public schools with high academic achievement to gain equitable access to education. Brookline hosts the second largest METCO contingent with around 300 METCO students across its public schools.

The high school’s METCO coordinator J. Malcolm Cawthorne said his job is to look after and advocate for METCO students when they are struggling.

“They have a person who’s in their corner to help make sure that they have full access and a good experience at BHS,” Cawthorne said. “We have not just the space but the staff who are here to support you and help you go through everything you need at Brookline High.”

Cawthorne said that students in METCO have to understand and take advantage of the many opportunities the high school has to offer, including AP classes and trips.

“It’s our job to make every METCO kid feel like Brookline High is their high school. It’s really easy to sort of ‘other’ or make METCO kids feel foreign because they don’t live in town,” Cawthorne said. “It’s our job to know that so that we can bridge that gap so that they can feel ownership here. That’s my job but that’s also Brookline High School’s job.”

METCO provides academic, social, and emotional support to students. Brookline was one of the first suburbs in Massachusetts to take on METCO students in 1966, and current students take on that history.

Junior and METCO student Darin Grant said the liaisons and advisors are supportive and they’re like another guidance counselor for him.

“I go to the METCO room and talk to either Mr. Green or Mr. Jones about any problems that I have. It’s like an outlet that I can use,” Grant said.

Grant said he would tell freshmen in METCO to not be afraid to go into the METCO room. He said he was scared to go in there when he was a freshman, but he now walks in and is part of the METCO community.

Grant said he values the sense of community METCO has given him. He said that when he went to middle school (Driscoll), METCO made him feel part of a community.

Cawthorne said that METCO hosts their own events so that students can feel both whole and a part of Brookline.

While METCO coordinators do their best to make students feel welcome, METCO social worker and former Pierce math teacher Joeanna McPherson said that she recognizes that students who are a part of METCO face unique challenges.

“I have a team that I work with here at the high school, and we work collaboratively to make sure that we’re not missing students, that we’re checking in, that we’re emailing them, that we’re stopping in on classes,” McPherson said. “It’s been a really great support network for students.”

McPherson said that the METCO room is a space with a great community where it feels both like a family and an open community where students both in and not in METCO hang out.

“I think some people assume that all students of color, that black students, are part of the METCO program, but that’s not necessarily the case,” McPherson said. “It just so happens that a large majority of students identify as Black or African American are part of the METCO program, but not all.”

McPherson said that students in METCO have the additional benefit of having METCO support staff to help them, apart from guidance staff.

“I want to stress the importance of METCO students knowing that they do have a support system that’s here and that is ready to help them with whatever challenges, obstacles and questions that they have,” McPherson said. “We just hope that METCO students will just stop by the METCO space. I’m looking forward to connecting with them and developing some relationships.”

Cawthorne said that METCO serves as a home within a home, where students who are in METCO are both warriors and ‘METCO fans’.

“For the 9th graders: Welcome to Brookline High!” Cawthorne said. “You’re stepping into a legacy. You’re not just a student here, you’re a part of that METCO legacy. While we’ll hold you to high expectations to live up to that legacy, we also love you because you are a part of that legacy.”