Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School boasts spirited commencement

Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School graduate and Senior Class Speaker Graciella Maiolatesi addresses her class at the PVPA graduation held at the Calvin Theater. (Photo credit: Republican staff photo by David Molnar) The 63 graduating seniors from South Hadley's Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School did not march down the aisle at graduation ceremonies held at the Calvin Theater.

They danced, pranced and grooved - some barefoot - to the theme music from "Star Wars" played by the pit band comprised of students and teachers.

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Mayor Mitchell joins Global Learning Charter Seniors to Celebrate School's 10th Anniversary

Class valedictorian Marleen Jones-Pool, left, and Vera Mercurio watch as their classmates receive diplomas at the Global Learning Charter graduation ceremony. (photo credit: Don Cuddy/The Standard-Times)New Bedford's Mayor Jon Mitchell joined the Global Learning Charter Public School seniors at their graduation to celebrate the students achievements and praised the school, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, and the vision of its founders.

"This is the culmination of a long trek," the mayor told the 19 seniors of the class of 2012. "You deserve our congratulations and you have our respect."

"This school has been a pioneer in education in our region. Our city will rise or fall depending on whether people choose to live here, and the school system should not be a deal breaker in that," he said.

UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Jean MacCormack, who has been a member of the board of trustees at the Global Learning since it opened, gave the keynote address.

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Academy of the Pacific Rim holds 10th graduation at Faneuil Hall

Seniors from the Academy of the Pacific Rim recently became the Hyde Park-based charter school’s 10th graduating class and prepared to move on — every single one of them — to college in the fall.

The 38 students, who make up the largest graduating class so far for the 15-year-old school, will go to colleges and universities as close as Chestnut Hill and as far away as Los Angeles. Collectively they have been awarded $3.5 million in financial assistance.

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Group to apply to run charter high school

A non-profit organization hopes to open Lawrence's first charter high school - YouthBuild Charter Academy - next year.

YouthBuild Charter Academy will recruit students who have dropped out of school, have had problems while in school and possibly have had run-ins with the law, according to a statement by the Lawrence Family Development and Education Fund.

"We believe Lawrence families and students need more choice in education," said John R. Schneider, Director of Gateway Strategic Initiatives for the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association. "YouthBuild Charter Academy would meet a great need in Lawrence and help students achieve success in school. That's good for the students and good for the city."

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Charter school bids farewell to first space in Orleans

After almost 17 years of being crammed into a rabbit warren of rooms in the Orleans Underground Mall, Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School is saying goodbye to its beloved space, and hello to their new, spacious digs at the former movie theater on Route 137 in Harwich.

This past Sunday the school hosted a goodbye celebration for a throng of students, staff and board members both past and present as they said farewell to the space they’ve called home since the school’s inception, and which they’d outgrown.

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