Community Day Charter Public School: Meeting the Needs of Students, Families and the Community

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Community Day Charter Public School: Meeting the Needs of Students, Families and the Community

By Sheila Balboni, Executive Director
and Susan OâNeill, Director of Development

For Keeping the Promise: The Massachusetts Charter School Dissemination and Replication Project, a project of the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association, 2007

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Community Day Charter Public School (CDCPS) in Lawrence, MA opened in 1995 as one of the first independent charters in Massachusetts at a time when the city’s school district faced a state takeover due to chronic underperformance and the loss of accreditation for its only high school (Massachusetts Commissioner of Education, 1998). The visionary parents, teachers and community leaders who founded CDCPS sought to draw upon the community’s historical assets and cultural richness to provide a public school option with a challenging academic program. The majority of the 331 students who currently attend CDCPS are low-income and Latino (CDCPS Preliminary School Enrollment Report, 2007-2008).

To fulfill our mission, CDCPS employs a full time data analyst who helps teachers evaluate assessment data to design individualized learning goals. We also draw extensively on resources from the community to enhance learning, and we employ a full language-immersion model starting in early kindergarten. Contracting our management services with a successful non-profit, Community Day Care, allows us to streamline bureaucracy and administration. Our students’ consistently strong performance on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exams, and the admission of graduates to several of the most competitive college preparatory schools in the country has earned us national recognition.

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