District/School Administration Administration
The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education

Charter School Applications

At the February meeting of the Board of Education, I may recommend that the Board grant charters for new charter schools. In the current application cycle, 18 Commonwealth charters and 41 Horace Mann charters are available. The Department received prospectuses, twenty pages long, from ten applicant groups in August 2007. One prospectus proposed a Horace Mann charter school, and the remainder proposed Commonwealth charter schools. Five applicant groups were invited to submit final applications, including the group seeking the Horace Mann charter. On November 13, 2007, all five groups submitted final applications, eighty-five pages long.

An executive summary, prepared by each applicant group, is included for your review. The names of the proposed charter schools, their enrollment capacity, and the district(s) they seek to serve are as follows:

• Dorchester Collegiate Academy Charter School, serving students in grades 4-12 from Boston. Enrollment capacity: 240.

• Gateway Collegiate Academy Charter School, serving students in grades 9-12 from Boston. Enrollment capacity: 240.

• Hampden Charter School of Science, serving students in grades 6-12 from Chicopee, Ludlow, Springfield, and West Springfield. Enrollment capacity: 350.

• International Charter School of Southeastern Massachusetts, serving students in grades K-12 from Abington, Avon, Bridgewater-Raynham, Brockton, East Bridgewater, Easton, Holbrook, Middleborough, Randolph, Stoughton, West Bridgewater, Weymouth, and Whitman-Hanson. Enrollment capacity: 1,300.

• Silver Hill Horace Mann Charter School, serving students from Haverhill. Enrollment capacity: 580.

The application review process for public school charters is rigorous and extensive.

• The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Charter School Office conducted review panels during which internal and external reviewers discussed each final application at length, comparing the applications submitted to the application criteria.
• Public hearings were held in Boston, Brockton, Haverhill, and Springfield, respectively.
• Written comment was solicited from superintendents, school committees, and the public.
• Applicant groups will be interviewed in the third and fourth week of January.

We consider all of this information in the application review process in formulating recommendations. A detailed description of the charter application review process is attached.

Based upon the merits of the applications, the feedback received from the review panels, public comment, and information from the final interviews, I will determine those applicants that meet the criteria for a Massachusetts charter school. At the February meeting, I will ask that the Board vote to grant charters to the applicant groups I decide to recommend.

If you have any questions on the applications or review process, please contact Mary Street, Director of Charter Schools, at 781-338-3200; Ruth Hersh, New Schools Development Specialist, at 781-338-3217; or me.

Enclosure:

	Description of the Charter Application Review Process
	Executive Summaries