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Commissioner Chester Formally Awards Charter to Gloucester Community Arts Charter School

Commissioner Chester hands charter to Peter Van Ness

photo by Anders Peterson, Director of Development
Boston Preparatory Charter Public School

On Thursday, May 7, 2009, Education Commissioner Mitchell D. Chester officially handed the charter to the Peter Van Ness, chair of the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School Board of Trustees in a ceremony hosted by Boston Preparatory Charter Public School.

Commissioner Chester also read a proclamation from Governor Patrick proclaiming the week of May 4-10 Charter School Week. Several other Massachusetts charter public schools received renewed charters, including the host school.

Maura O. Banta, Chair of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education spoke to the attendees along with Commissioner Chester. Both Chairwoman Banta and Commissioner Chester praised the Charter School Office for their excellent work over the years, noting that Massachusetts is recognized nationally for running one of the best charter school programs the US.

Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Approves GCA Charter

At their meeting on February 24, 2009, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted to approve the charter for the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School (GCA). All of us who have worked tirelessly to bring this opportunity to Gloucester parents and students are extremely grateful to the Board for their support.

We would especially like to thank Commissioner Chester for his courageous recommendation that recognizes the promise this new opportunity holds, and for seeing just how good a fit our school is for the students of Gloucester. The ultimate goal of our grass-roots effort is to see every Gloucester student's level of achievement rise as a result of the new educational model we are bringing to Gloucester.

We could not have prevailed without the broad coalition of support we received from hundreds of parents along with teachers, community and business leaders, arts and cultural leaders and leaders in the field of higher education. We look forward to working closely with the School Committee and the District Administration to re-vision education for Gloucester.

We see a day, in the not-too-distant future, when families begin moving to Gloucester just to get their children into our excellent public schools. This is a practical, achievable goal with measurable results that will benefit our entire City and Cape Ann as a region.

We encourage all who share this goal to get involved in making it a reality. Please click here and contact us.

Gloucester Daily Times Says, it's time for all to embrace charter school

it's time for city and school officials and others to stop fighting the charter school proposal. It's time to embrace it — and find out just how indeed it can bring about better education for all the city's children.

Gloucester Daily Times Editorial 2/26/09 see full editorial here

[Commissioner Chester] made it clear he believes a Gloucester charter school would be good not only for the students who would attend it, but the rest of the district as well, suggesting the innovative charter school would help "inform the rest of the system."

Gloucester Daily Times Editorial 2/17/09 see full editorial here

Gloucester schools need to do something to stop the exodus that's already costing city taxpayers an estimated $1.4 million a year for school choice. And the charter application provides the ideal impetus to tackle that problem.

Gloucester Daily Times Editorial 12/29/08 see full editorial here

Commissioner Chester Recommends Board Grant Charter to Gloucester

According to the Commissioner, ... this was a very strong proposal by a group of very capable people. There's a strong infusion of the arts in the curriculum and it is well thought out. (Boston Globe). Their focus represents a careful blending of both academics and the arts. I look forward to seeing this school open its doors and thrive. (Gloucester Daily Times).

See the official press release from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, here.

President Obama Supports Charter Schools

I think there are areas like education where some in my party have been too resistant to reform, and have argued only money makes a difference. And there have been others on the Republican side or the conservative side who said no matter how much money you spend, nothing makes a difference ... I think that both sides are going to have to acknowledge we're going to need more money for new science labs, to pay teachers more effectively, but we're also going to need more reform ... we should experiment with things like charter schools that are innovating in the classroom ...

President Obama in his First Press Conference 2/9/09

Boston Globe: Charters Will Bring More Money to Massachusetts

Obama has proposed doubling, to $400 million, the annual federal funding for charter schools. If this state isn't creating more charters or expanding existing ones, it may risk leaving significant federal dollars on the table. read full Op Ed piece here

Boston Foundation Study: Charters Outperform Pilot & District Schools

"The thing that was most surprising given other studies that have been done was the large magnitude of the charter effect in middle school math," said Thomas Kane, a Harvard education and economics professor who lead the research along with Joshua Angrist, an MIT economics professor. Read full article here. Get Boston Foundation study here.

Also see the January 10th Boston Globe Editorial: Raise the cap on Charters
Quoting from the editorial: For middle school students in Boston, the impact of attending a good charter school meant moving from the 50th to the 69th percentile on the MCAS math test. The study also dispatched the tired argument that charters succeed only because they attract students from education-minded families and leave district schools with the hardest-to-serve students.

Charter Schools Can Close the Education Gap

In a recent Wall Street Journal editorial, the Education Equality Project urges expanding support for charter schools along with other reforms championed by the Charter School movement. See editorial here.

Choose Gloucester ~ Choice In ~ Keep Your Children and Your Money in Gloucester

Gloucester Community Arts Charter School Public Statement

Gloucester Community Arts Charter School (GCA) is a small K-8 public school that is designed to educate students from all backgrounds and learning styles. The program will integrate the arts in all academic classes and draw on the unique cultural and maritime resources of Cape Ann. Students at GCA will demonstrate that they are academically accomplished, intellectually curious, and civically engaged. They will be prepared to succeed in higher education, and to contribute actively in their community. When fully enrolled, the school will have 240 students.

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