Runkle School has a long and illustrious history in Brookline, dating back to its founding in 1897. The school is named for John D. Runkle, who was a chairman of the Brookline School Committee and an early advocate of mathematics and technical education. He was also a founder and the second president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The present Runkle School building was dedicated in 1963, with a new addition built in 1988 and a full renovation of the school library in 1996. In 2000, Runkle’s playground and field were renovated. The Millennium Sculpture and Amphitheatre, a project conceived and executed by the Runkle community, was dedicated in the spring of 2001. Landscaping around the amphitheatre and the adjacent Peace Garden was completed in the fall of 2002.