Charter School Seniors Among Comcast Foundation Scholarship Recipients

Five recent charter school graduates were among the 102 Massachusetts students who received scholarships from the Comcast Foundation this month. Through the Comcast Foundation’s annual Leaders and Achievers Scholarship Program a total of $111,000 was awarded to students across the state. Akilah Armstrong, graduate of Prospect Hill Academy Charter School, Antonia Calcaterra, graduate of North Central Charter Essential School, Zachary Fayne, graduate of Sturgis Charter School, Leandra Furtado, graduate of Mystic Valley Regional Charter School, and Daniel Howell graduate of Community Charter School of Cambridge were each awarded a $1,000 scholarship for their school and community involvement.

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Charter Schools Celebrate Graduations across the State

Congratulations to all of the seniors who graduated this spring! Check out our album of graduation photos on Facebook. If you have more, we would love to see them. Send your graduation photos to charternewsline@gmail.com and they will be added to the Facebook album.

Click here to go to the Facebook album.

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MCPSA Applauds Partnership With Lawrence; Calls For Charter Cap Lift

The Massachusetts Charter Public School Association issued a statement on the charter-district partnership in Lawrence calling for the Governor and the Legislature to work together to lift the remaining caps on charter public schools in low-performing districts. The Lawrence effort, while a big step forward, will not be sufficient to address the needs of all students. Lifting the cap in cities like Lawrence will allow for the expansion of independent Commonwealth charter public schools, which have already proven to be highly successful in Lawrence and should also be considered part of the solution.

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Charter Public Schools to Play Central Role in Turn Around of Lawrence Schools

As Massachusetts education officials develop a plan to overhaul Lawrence schools, charter public schools will play a pivotal role in restoring the ailing system.

The groundbreaking partnership, which was announced at a recent press conference, will bring together several successful charter public schools and the Lawrence schools with the goal of transforming underperforming district schools.

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Charter School Moratorium Lifted by State

State education officials lifted a temporary moratorium on proposals to open new charter schools in several cities across Massachusetts, including Boston and Lawrence where wait lists are at historic highs.

The Association worked hard to convince the state to release the frozen seats, rather than make parents in those communities wait even longer for opportunities to enroll their children in charters.

More than 1,000 seats will be available in Boston in the next application cycle. The state's decision has prompted new interest among existing charters to expand. The deadline for filing applications is at the end of July.

Nearly 20,000 children are on wait lists in Boston, and 4,500 are on wait lists in Lawrence. 

The state imposed the moratorium last year to ensure it did not grant more charters than are allowed under new cap limits. More than a dozen charters were approved in 2011 after the Legislature raised the cap. The new charters included the state's first charter networks. 

Click here to read the Boston Globe story.