Horace Mann Charter School
Final Application
November 8, 2010
Submitted for Review to the
Massachusetts Department of Elementary
and Secondary Education
HORACE MANN CHARTER APPLICANT INFORMATION SHEET
This form must be attached to the letter of intent, prospectus, and final application. Please type
information.
Name of Proposed Charter School: Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter School (a.k.a.
“Boston Green Academy”)
School Address (if known): TBD
School Location (City/Town - required): Boston, MA
Primary Contact Person: Jeffrey Liberty
Address: Parkway Academy of Technology and Health, 1205 VFW Parkway
City: West Roxbury
State: MA
Daytime Tel: (617) 308-9485
Zip: 02132
Fax: (617) 635-8927
E-mail: [email protected]
1. The proposed school will open in the fall of school year:
School Year
Grade Levels
First Year
Second Year
Third Year
Fourth Year
Fifth Year
9, 10, 11, 12
6, 9, 10, 11, 12
6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12
6-12
6-12
X 2012-2013
Total Student
Enrollment
340*
425*
510*
595*
595*
* Note: Student enrollment figures and grade size may change based on pending negotiations with BPS
over facility size, the total future enrollment of the BPS high school that BGA will replace, and other
factors. Enrollment figures will be finalized by Fall, 2011, as detailed in our MOU-A, and will not exceed
the numbers listed here.
2. Grade span at full enrollment: 6-12
3. Total student enrollment when fully expanded: 595
4. Age at entry for kindergarten, if applicable: N/A
5. The proposed Horace Mann charter school is:
X New
6. The proposed type of Horace Mann charter school is:
X Horace Mann III
HORACE MANN III CHARTER SCHOOL CERTIFICATION STATEMENT
Proposed Charter School Name __Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter School______
School’s Current Name
(If different from above) _____________________________________________________
School Address ___TBD_______________________ City/Town ___Boston, MA__
I hereby certify that this prospectus/application has received approval from a majority of the school
committee. The information submitted in this prospectus/application is true to the best of my knowledge
and belief; and further, I understand that, if awarded a charter, the proposed charter school shall be open to
all students, on a space available basis, and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin,
creed, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability, age, ancestry, athletic performance,
special need, proficiency in the English language or a foreign language, or academic achievement. I
understand that the final application for the proposed school shall include a signed memorandum of
understanding that describes the intended relationship between the proposed charter school and the school
district. I also understand that an agreement with the collective bargaining unit is not required prior to
Board approval of a charter, however the charter school’s board of trustees must negotiate with the
collective bargaining unit and the school committee in good faith regarding any modifications to
collective bargaining agreements following the award of a charter. If an agreement is not reached at least
30 days before scheduled opening, charter school operates under the terms of its charter until an
agreement is reached. I further understand that the information submitted in this prospectus/application
serves as an initial application for start-up assistance funding under the federal Charter Schools Program
grant. This is a true statement, made under the penalties of perjury.
I. School Committee
Signature___________________________________________ Date ______________
(Please label copy with original signature) Chairperson, School Committee
Print/Type Name: _Rev. Dr. Gregory G. Groover, Sr., Chairperson___
Address ___Boston School Committee, 26 Court St.___
City______Boston_______ State_MA___ Zip ____02108_____
Daytime Telephone __617-635-9014_____ Fax ___617-635-9689_____
STATEMENT OF ASSURANCES
This form must be signed by a duly authorized representative of the applicant group and submitted with
the final application. An application will be considered incomplete if it is not accompanied by the
Statement of Assurances.
As the authorized representative of the applicant group, I hereby certify under the penalties of perjury that
the information submitted in this application for a charter for _Boston Green Academy Horace Mann
Charter School to be located at TBD, Boston, MA is true to the best of my knowledge and belief; and
further, I certify that, if awarded a charter, the school:
1.
Will not charge tuition, fees, or other mandatory payments for attendance at the charter school,
for participation in required or elective courses, or for mandated services or programs (Mass.
Gen. Laws c. 71, § 89(m), and 603 CMR 1.03(3)).
2.
Will not charge any public school for the use or replication of any part of their curriculum subject
to the prescriptions of any contract between the charter school and any third party provider (Mass.
Gen. Laws c. 71, § 89(l)).
3.
Will permit parents to enroll their children only voluntarily and not because they must send their
children to this school (The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, Title
V, Part B, Subpart 1 — Public Charter Schools Section 5210(C)).
4.
Will enroll any eligible student who submits a timely and complete application, unless the school
receives a greater number of applications than there are spaces for students. If the number of
application exceeds the spaces available, the school will hold a lottery in accordance with
Massachusetts charter laws and regulations (Mass. Gen. Laws c. 71 § 89(n), and 603 CMR 1.06).
5.
Will be open to all students, on a space available basis, and shall not discriminate on the basis of
race, color, national origin, creed, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability,
age, ancestry, athletic performance, special need, proficiency in the English language or a foreign
language, or academic achievement (Mass. Gen. Laws c. 71, § 89(m)).
6.
Will be secular in its curriculum, programs, admissions, policies, governance, employment
practices, and operation in accordance with the federal and state constitutions and any other
relevant provisions of federal and state law.
7.
Will comply with the federal Age Discrimination Act of 1975 and Title IX of the Education
Amendments of 1972.
8.
Will adhere to all applicable provisions of federal and state law relating to students with
disabilities including, but not limited to, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, section
504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1974, and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
and chapter 71B of the Massachusetts General Laws.
9.
Will adhere to all applicable provisions of federal and state law relating to students who are
English language learners including, but not limited to, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974, and chapter 71A of the Massachusetts General
Laws.
10.
Will comply with all other applicable federal and state law including, but not limited to, the
requirement to offer a school nutrition program (Mass. Gen. Laws c. 69, § 1 (c)).
11.
Will meet the performance standards and assessment requirements set by the Board of
Elementary and Secondary Education for all students in public schools including, but not limited
to, administering the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) (Mass. Gen.
Laws c. 71, § 89(v), and 603 CMR 1.05(1)(i)).
12.
Will submit an annual report to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education on or
before the required deadline (Mass. Gen. Laws c. 71 § 89(jj)).
13.
Will submit an accountability plan no later than the end of the first year of the school’s charter,
establishing specific five-year performance objectives as specified in the state regulations (603
CMR 1.05 (1)(j)) and guidelines.
14.
Will submit an annual independent audit to the Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education and the Office of the State Auditor no later than January 1 of every year, as required by
the charter school statute (Mass. Gen. Laws c. 71, § 89(jj), or at such other time as may be
designated in 603 CMR 1.09 (3)).
15.
Will submit required enrollment data each March to the Department of Elementary and
Secondary Education by the required deadline (Mass. Gen. Laws c. 71, § 89(o), and 603 CMR
1.09(4)).
16.
Will meet enrollment projections through demonstration of support for the proposed charter
school in the communities from which students would be likely to enroll (603 CMR 1.05 (c)).
17.
Will operate in compliance with generally accepted government accounting principles (Mass.
Gen. Laws c. 71, § 89(jj)).
18.
Will maintain financial records to meet the requirements of Mass. Gen. Laws c. 71, § 89 and 603
CMR 1.00.
19.
Will participate in the Massachusetts State Teachers’ Retirement System (Mass. Gen. Laws c. 71,
§ 89(y)).
20.
Will employ individuals who hold an appropriate license to teach in a public school in
Massachusetts and meet all applicable staff requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act
(Mass. Gen. Laws c. 71 § 89(ii), and 603 CMR 1.07).
21.
Will provide the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with written assurance that
a criminal background check has been performed, prior to their employment, on all employees of
the school who will have unsupervised contact with children (Mass. Gen. Laws c. 71, § 38R, and
603 CMR 1.05(3)(d)).
22.
Will obtain and keep current all necessary permits, licenses, and certifications related to fire,
health, and safety within the building(s) and on school property (603 CMR 1.05(1)(p), 1.05(3)(g),
1.05(3)(h), and 1.09(6)).
23.
Will maintain uninterrupted necessary and appropriate insurance coverage (603 CMR 1.05(3)(j)).
24.
Will submit to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education the names, home
addresses, and employment and educational histories of proposed new members of the school’s
board of trustees for approval prior to their service (603 CMR 1.05(3)(a)).
25.
Will ensure that all members of the school’s board of trustees file with the Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education, the State Ethics Commission, and the city or town clerk
where the charter school is located completed financial disclosure forms for the preceding
calendar year according to the schedule required by the charter school office (Mass. Gen. Laws c.
71, § 89(u)). The disclosure is in addition to the requirements of said chapter 268A and a member
of a board of trustees must also comply with the disclosure and other requirements of said chapter
268A.
26.
Will provide the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with a federal taxpayer
identification number issued solely to the charter school and all required information regarding a
bank account held solely in the name of the charter school (603 CMR 1.05(4)).
27.
Will, in the event the board of trustees intends to procure substantially all educational services for
the charter school through a contract with another person or entity, submit such contract for
approval by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to provide for any necessary
revisions and approval prior to the beginning of the contract period (Mass. Gen. Laws c. 71, §
89(k)(5)).
28.
Will notify the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education immediately in writing of
any change in circumstances that may have a significant impact on the school’s ability to fulfill
its goals or missions as stated in its charter (603 CMR 1.09(7)).
29.
Will submit in writing to the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education a request to
amend its charter if the school plans to make a change to its operations as defined in 603 CMR
1.11.
___________________________________
Signature
Dr. Larry Myatt
___________________
Date
Chair, Board of Trustees of Boston Green Academy___________________________________
Affiliation
STATEMENT OF ASSURANCES FOR THE FEDERAL CHARTER SCHOOL
PROGRAM GRANT
These additional assurances are required to ensure compliance with requirements for the federal Charter
Schools Program grant:
1. Will annually provide the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Department of Elementary and
Secondary Education such information as may be required to determine if the charter school is
making satisfactory progress toward achieving objectives described in this application (The
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, Title V, Part B, Subpart 1 —
Public Charter Schools Section 5203(b) (3)).
2. Will cooperate with the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Department of Elementary and
Secondary Education in evaluating the program described in the application (The Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, Title V, Part B, Subpart 1 — Public Charter
Schools Section 5203(b) (3)).
3. Will provide other information and assurances as the U.S. Secretary of Education and the
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education may require (The Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, Title V, Part B, Subpart 1 — Public Charter
Schools Section 5203(b) (3)).
___________________________________
Signature
Dr. Larry Myatt
___________________
Date
Chair, Board of Trustees of Boston Green Academy___________________________________
Affiliation
Boston Green Academy
Public Statement
Boston Green Academy is an innovative Horace Mann charter school for grades 6-12 that will replicate
the successful practices of Boston’s Fenway High School to ensure that all students—especially those
who have struggled socially and academically—will graduate prepared for success in college and the
workforce. BGA will equip its graduates to be leaders in environmental stewardship and activism and to
take advantage of opportunities in the burgeoning “green” economy. The school will open in 2012, absorb
the student population of a current BPS high school to be identified by the Boston Public Schools, and
grow to maximum enrollment of 595 students in 2015.
Boston Green Academy: Summary of Final Application
Proposed Start Date
Initial Enrollment
Full Enrollment (SY2015)
Proposed Location
September 2012
340 (grades 9-12)*
595 (grades 6-12)*
To be determined. BGA will absorb the student population of an existing
BPS high school (TBD) after that school closes. Access to MBTA rapid
transit is essential to our long-term programmatic needs.
o
Our proposal closely aligns with the goals of Superintendent Johnson’s Acceleration Agenda, her
Five-Year Plan, and An Act Relative to the Achievement Gap recently approved by Governor
Patrick and the Massachusetts Legislature.
o
Boston Green Academy’s mission is to graduate all of our students prepared for success in
college and the workforce. We are especially committed to recruiting, enrolling, and supporting
off-track 6th and 9th grade students before they enter the “drop-out pipeline”. As a public school
that is deeply vested in cultivating a highly skilled and actively engaged global citizenry, we will
prepare all of our students to be leaders in local and global environmental stewardship and
activism, to live their lives responsibly and sustainably, and to take advantage of employment
opportunities in the burgeoning “green” economy.
o
We will replicate Fenway High School’s successful family and student support systems, its highquality instruction and performance assessments, and its systems for including students with
disabilities and English Language Learners. We will also add innovative approaches, e.g., a
pervasive “sustainability” theme, trauma readiness, community-based support systems, single-sex
programming, a Summer Academy, and Universal Design for Learning/graphic design strategies
that are woven into our pedagogy, assessments, and educational materials.
o
Boston Green Academy will open in 2012 with new students in grade 9 and students from a
closed BPS high school (TBD) in grades 10-12. Starting in 2013, we will add middle school
grades over three years until we reach full capacity (595 students) in 2015. To ensure a high
degree of personalization, enrollment in each grade will not exceed 85.
o
We will be a school that is accessible to all Boston students and families, but our recruitment
strategy will emphasize outreach to students and families who might never find their way to a
high quality educational option like Boston Green Academy. Our goal is to create a truly
heterogeneous student body in which 50% of our school’s entering 6th and 9th graders have not
experienced success in the previous academic year (per Parthenon & Balfanz reports).
o
Proximity to rapid transit will allow our students to access dual enrollment, internships, and offsite job training opportunities and will allow resources (tutors, guest speakers, mentors, etc.) to
flow freely into the school. Rapid transit access is also consistent with our “sustainability” theme
and will save the Boston Public Schools transportation costs.
o
In summary, Boston Green Academy will:
! graduate students who are at high risk of dropping out
! attract/re-enroll families who leave BPS
! improve the district’s fiscal health by increasing enrollment, reducing the number of
students who drop out, and implementing “green” practices throughout the school
! increase the district’s overall capacity to end the drop-out crisis by developing,
implementing, documenting, and sharing best practices that address the crisis early in
students’ academic careers
Boston Green Academy:
Overview of Academic Program
Boston Green Academy’s academic program is innovative and rigorous and will prepare all of our students
to be successful in college and the workforce. Our courses will adhere to the Massachusetts Frameworks
while cutting across traditional academic boundaries and using resources creatively. Our school’s “green”
theme will be woven into all courses. We plan to offer the following curricular areas:
o Science: Using the extensive resources of our partners, we plan to provide an inquiry-based
science education that prominently features our “green” theme. We plan to offer unified science in
grades 6-8 with a focus on building strong habits of mind and investigatory skills. Our high
school program includes Physics, Biology, Chemistry, and AP Environmental Science. We also
plan to offer robust internships, community-based fieldwork, and exploratory opportunities.
o Math: In keeping with the “habits of mind” approach to mathematics that the Boston Public
Schools has adopted, we plan to offer the Connected Math Program 2 in grades 6 and 7
supplemented by a program like Mathscape that supports math investigations more fully. We will
implement the new Center for Mathematics Education Project program for grades 8-11 with
Algebra I being the standard course for all grade 8 students. For seniors, we plan to offer AP
Calculus and to explore dual enrollment options at area colleges. A “Foundations of Math” course
will also be offered in grades 6 and 9 to shore up students’ identified skill and content gaps.
o Humanities: We will offer an interdisciplinary course of study for students in grades 6-12 that
integrates the frameworks for ELA and History into in-depth courses focused on essential
questions, literacy development, research-based writing, and critical thinking. We will also offer
“Foundations”, a supplemental literacy course in reading and writing, to all students in grades 6
and 9 and to students who need it in grades 8 and 10. Nationally acclaimed curriculum resources
developed by Facing History and Ourselves will be used in Humanities courses across all grades.
o World Languages: We plan to greatly exceed the BPS standard requirements in this area by
offering Spanish in grades 6 and 7 for a half-year, in grade 8 for a full year, and in grades 9-11 as
required courses. In addition, we are exploring ways to partner with cultural and academic
institutions to offer Mandarin Chinese, both as a way to support global awareness and to provide
native Spanish-speakers—and those who prefer another language option—an additional collegepreparatory experience.
o Arts, Entrepreneurship, and Physical Education: These powerful content areas inspire many
adolescents and will be offered in innovative ways to all students through our collaborative
partnerships and our core faculty, both as discrete courses and as essential elements of our core
curricular classes and Advisory.
o Advisory: Students at all grade levels will be supported academically and socially through the
implementation of an Advisory program that will feature ongoing study skills development, rolealike groups and field experiences, mentoring and tutoring, physical activity and recreation,
college application support, financial literacy training, and civic education. In most cases
advisories will be co-taught by one teacher who is a consistent advocate for a small cohort of
students and families over multiple years and another teacher who has expertise with students at
specific developmental levels.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
III.B FOUNDERS’ CAPACITY, HISTORY, GROUP PROCESS, AND COMMITMENT................................... 1
I. CHARTER SCHOOL MISSION, VISION, AND DESCRIPTION OF THE COMMUNITY TO BE
SERVED................................................................................................................................................................. 2
A. MISSION STATEMENT.......................................................................................................................................... 2
B. VISION STATEMENT ............................................................................................................................................ 2
C. DESCRIPTION OF THE COMMUNITY TO BE SERVED.............................................................................................. 3
II. HOW WILL THE SCHOOL DEMONSTRATE ACADEMIC SUCCESS? .............................................. 4
A. EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY ............................................................................................................................... 4
B. CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 6
C. PERFORMANCE, PROMOTION, AND GRADUATION STANDARDS ......................................................................... 16
D. ASSESSMENT SYSTEM ....................................................................................................................................... 23
E. SCHOOL CHARACTERISTICS............................................................................................................................... 26
F. SPECIAL STUDENT POPULATIONS AND STUDENT SERVICES ............................................................................... 35
III. HOW WILL THE SCHOOL DEMONSTRATE ORGANIZATIONAL VIABILITY? ........................ 40
A. ENROLLMENT AND RECRUITMENT ..................................................................................................................... 40
B. FOUNDERS’ CAPACITY, HISTORY, GROUP PROCESS, AND COMMITMENT..................................... 42
C. SCHOOL GOVERNANCE ...................................................................................................................................... 44
D. MANAGEMENT ................................................................................................................................................... 50
E. FACILITIES AND TRANSPORTATION .................................................................................................................... 54
F. SCHOOL FINANCES ............................................................................................................................................. 55
G. ACTION PLAN .................................................................................................................................................... 58
IV. HOW WILL THE SCHOOL DEMONSTRATE THAT IT IS FAITHFUL TO THE TERMS OF ITS
CHARTER? ......................................................................................................................................................... 58
A. PROCESS ............................................................................................................................................................ 58
B. ACCOUNTABILITY PLAN OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................................ 59
C. NARRATIVE........................................................................................................................................................ 60
D. DISSEMINATION ................................................................................................................................................. 61
V. A. REQUIRED ATTACHMENTS (COUNTED TOWARDS 40 PAGE LIMIT)..................................... 65
A. DRAFT BY-LAWS ............................................................................................................................................... 65
B. OPERATING BUDGET .......................................................................................................................................... 73
C. BUDGET EXPENDITURE DETAILS ....................................................................................................................... 80
D. COSTS FOR DISCRETIONARY BPS SERVICES ...................................................................................................... 89
E. RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION PLAN ............................................................................................................... 90
F. ENROLLMENT POLICY ........................................................................................................................................ 93
G. ACTION PLAN ..................................................................................................................................................... 96
H. EXIT STANDARDS .............................................................................................................................................. 98
I. SUMMARY OF PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS ......................................................................................................... 102
V. B. REQUIRED ATTACHMENTS (NOT COUNTED TOWARDS 40 PAGE LIMIT) ........................ 105
A. BGA FOUNDING GROUP MEMBERS’ STATEMENTS OF COMMITMENT.............................................................. 105
B. BGA FOUNDING GROUP MEMBERS’ RESUMES ................................................................................................ 113
C. BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS STATEMENT OF COMMITMENT ............................................................................... 148
D. CURRICULM APPENDICES ................................................................................................................................ 149
E. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING – TYPE A ............................................................................................... 156
F. MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING – TYPE B ................................................................................................... 166
III.B FOUNDERS’ CAPACITY, HISTORY, GROUP PROCESS, AND COMMITMENT
Members of Boston Green Academy’s Founding Group first came together in the winter of 2007 as a
gathering of experienced and concerned educators committed to creating new schools in response to two
groundbreaking studies released earlier that year. These studies detailed the scope of Boston’s drop-out
crisis, the earliest data markers most highly correlated with predicting drop out, and the capacity of the
current schools and programs within the Boston Public Schools to meet the needs of the students most
vulnerable to dropping out. Falling Off the Path to Graduation: Middle Grade Indicators in Boston—
written through a collaboration with Robert Balfanz, Achieve, Jobs for the Future, and the Boston Public
Schools—is a study that focused on the connection between middle school performance and dropping out
of high school. Strategic Planning to Serve Off-Track Youth was a detailed analysis of the drop-out crisis
in the Boston Public Schools conducted by The Parthenon Group, the Boston Public Schools, Jobs for the
Future, and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. “The Balfanz Report” and “The Parthenon Report”,
as these studies respectively became known, produced three key findings that have served as cornerstones
of the work of Boston Green Academy’s Founding Group since its inception:
1) For many students, the process of dropping out begins in middle school with erratic
attendance and/or core course failure in sixth and eighth grades.
2) Fenway High School is one of the most successful schools in the Boston Public Schools in
graduating students who would likely have dropped out of other high schools.
3) The BPS needs additional schools that have a capacity to support and accelerate the
academic achievement of the many students who are “young and far” from graduation.
Since the spring of 2008, members of the group that has come to be known as the Boston Green
Academy’s Founding Group and our partners have been meeting and planning regularly. We
gather as a large group on average once a month for several hours at a time, mostly on Saturdays.
We meet much more frequently in subcommittees, which bear the main responsibility for
researching and writing about specific elements of our school’s design. We spend substantial
time in conversations with our collaborative partners, including members of the Boston Public
Schools’ central office staff. Jeffrey Liberty, Boston Green Academy’s Lead Founder, is the final
editor of all public documents. However, the writing process for all school documents is
collaborative and includes many voices and points of view. For the last two years, we have used
an online project management tool to share and store documents and to facilitate online
participation when in-person meetings are challenging to schedule.
The diverse members of Boston Green Academy’s Founding Group are uniquely qualified to understand
and replicate Fenway’s successes as a Horace Mann charter school. Our commitment to the students and
families of Boston is the glue that has bound us to one another and to the mission of Boston Green
Academy. As our attached statements of commitment and resumes reveal, our deep personal and
professional experiences as teachers, school leaders, public school students, central office employees,
urban school creators, college professors, parents and caregivers, policy makers, and community activists
have shaped the choices we have made in how we have designed our school. Our varied life experiences
have also provided us with the creative and collaborative energies needed to understand the complex
problems secondary schools and students face, to develop innovative solutions that extend our design
beyond the excellent core of Fenway’s High School’s practices, and to imagine a school that is good
enough for the students, staff, and families for whom it is intended. We are proud of the school we have
designed and are pleased to offer the fruits of our labor for your consideration.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
1
I. CHARTER SCHOOL MISSION, VISION, AND DESCRIPTION OF THE COMMUNITY TO BE SERVED
A. MISSION STATEMENT
Boston Green Academy’s mission is to graduate all of our students prepared for success in college and the
workforce. We are especially committed to recruiting, enrolling, and supporting off-track 6th and 9th
grade students before they enter the “drop-out pipeline”. As a public school that is deeply vested in
cultivating a highly skilled and actively engaged global citizenry, we will prepare all of our students to be
leaders in local and global environmental stewardship and activism, to live their lives responsibly and
sustainably, and to take advantage of employment opportunities in the burgeoning “green” economy.
B. VISION STATEMENT
Boston Green Academy is proposed as a new 6-12 Horace Mann charter school that will replicate and
extend many of the successful practices of Fenway High School. A Boston Pilot school, Fenway has
served thousands of diverse students well for the last twenty-seven years, resulting in consistently high
academic achievement. Boston Green Academy will build upon this foundation both to serve the general
student population and to recruit off-track students at an early age in order to help them succeed. We will
also improve the academic opportunities for the students we will absorb from the closed BPS high school.
Boston Green Academy’s Board of Trustees and Founding Group members are committed to providing a
rigorous, relevant education in a caring environment and to empowering all of our students, staff, and
families with the tools, strategies, knowledge, habits, and dispositions they need to be successful. We are
especially committed to supporting and accelerating the learning of students who may have struggled
academically, students who are learning English, students with disabilities, and those who have become
disengaged from school and society. We will deliberately design our physical plant, assignments,
materials, support services, and assessments in order to maximize these students’ access, growth, and
achievement. We will design educational experiences that help our students translate what they learn in
school to the outside world, and we will prepare them for a variety of challenges, including public
demonstrations of authentic intellectual achievement.
As part of our commitment to the broader concepts of sustainability and environmental stewardship, we
will provide a safe, peaceful educational environment that invites healthy dialog among diverse points-ofview. We will equip our students with strategies for de-escalating conflict and for responding to trauma.
Since we understand the connection between the relational trust among the faculty to student
achievement, we will develop a professional community dedicated to reflective practice, to continual
improvement, and to acknowledging and responding to each student’s strengths and needs. Through a
sustained and intentional effort, we will cultivate a mindset, a whole-school culture, and attitudes, actions,
and values that keep the environment, students’ health, and the interaction between them in focus at all
times. We want our students and their families to understand and participate in the green movement as a
political, economic, and moral movement that is especially relevant to this generation of young people.
We seek to cultivate a love for the natural world, responsible environmental stewardship, and student
leadership that has the capacity to design effective, sustainable solutions to global, regional, and local
challenges. Our emphasis on sustainability, collective responsibility for the common good, and the
consequences of individual choices on long-term outcomes will be both a compelling moral and
intellectual platform for students who are drawn to our school due to their interest in environmental issues
and a strategy for re-engaging students with recent histories of disengagement and under-achievement.
Our goal is to ensure that these students become virtually indistinguishable from their peers by the time
they enter college.
We envision all of our students, partners, staff, and families participating meaningfully in the governance
of our school. Boston Green Academy will be a truly global school, both with respect to the diversity of
our students and the skills, habits, and dispositions they develop while they are in our care. We see our
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
2
school as being seamlessly connected to the neighborhood in which it is situated and the neighborhoods
in which our students live. We will broaden our students’ perspectives and base of experience by
ensuring that they have opportunities to interact with individuals and institutions in parts of the city, state,
and nation with which they are unfamiliar. In this way, the school will be a resource to the community
and the community will be a resource to the school, an approach that is congruent with our understanding
of sustainable resource use and the “green” society we expect our graduates to build and lead.
C. DESCRIPTION OF THE COMMUNITY TO BE SERVED
The Board of Trustees and Founding Group of Boston Green Academy have consistently sought to design
a school that is good enough for our own children to attend while keeping the needs of the city’s most
vulnerable secondary school students clearly in mind. As a Horace Mann charter school, we will be
accessible to all families within the City of Boston. By absorbing the student population of a closed BPS
high school, we will improve the academic opportunities for those students. Given our mission and our
commitment to off-track youth, we will target our recruitment of new students in such a way to ensure
access to our school by the students and families who most need a high-quality college-preparatory
education and who are the least likely to find their way to existing high-quality options. It is our goal to
enroll as approximately 50% of our student body students who can be identified as being at “high-risk” of
drop-out per the metrics of the Balfanz and Parthenon Reports (i.e., failing core subjects and/or coming to
school less than 85% of the time in the sixth and ninth grades). Our overall theory of action is that we
will significantly stem the tide of students dropping out of school by providing excellent teaching and
timely, intensive, and supportive interventions at key transitional moments in students’ academic careers.
We also want to create a truly diverse school that is attractive and stimulating to students who are
prepared academically and dispositionally to do grade-level work.
Fenway High School has been truly diverse school community of this variety for many years. Fenway
was founded in 1983 as an alternative academic program for disengaged students who were failing at The
English High School. After being recognized in 1993 by the U.S Department of Education as a “New
American High School”, the school won initial charter status from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
in 1994 but chose instead to lead reform efforts within the Boston Public Schools. Twenty-seven years
later, Fenway remains true to its initial purpose as evidenced by numerous national accolades, including a
citation by the National Association of Secondary School Principals/Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in
2003 as a “Breakthrough School”. According to the Parthenon Report, Fenway is also the most
successful school within the BPS in serving 9th graders who are predicted to drop out based on their “risk
factors” during their middle school careers. The same study found that Fenway has the fourth-highest
“over-performing” graduation rate among all BPS high schools, which suggests that students at risk of
dropping out do much better at Fenway than they would be expected to do almost anywhere else.
Given its success with students at all points on the achievement spectrum and its relatively small size (270
students), it is not surprising that family demand for seats at Fenway has far outstripped supply for many
years. Approximately 500 students apply annually for the 70+ seats in Fenway’s freshmen class.
According to Family and Student Choices in Boston Public Schools, a 2008 analysis of school choice data
by the Center for Collaborative Education (CCE), Pilot schools like Fenway are the most sought-after
non-exam schools in the district. According to CCE’s analysis, close to a third of students and families
who list Pilots as their first choice and are not admitted to a Pilot school leave the BPS system altogether,
exacerbating the general trend of declining enrollment within the BPS.
As our name suggests, Boston Green Academy’s innovative “green” theme, in the context of a rigorous
college-preparatory curriculum with a focus on real-world problem solving and skills, will prepare all of
our students to participate in the burgeoning “green economy”. Many economic experts believe that
“green collar” technologies will be the New England’s next economic engine of change for decades to
come. Boston is in a leadership position in this emerging industry. Green-collar workforce development
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3
represents a significant opportunity to create high quality jobs with relatively low barriers to entry for
low- to moderate-income Americans, as President Obama’s “Pathways out of Poverty” initiative has
underscored. It is our intention to equip our graduates not only to take part in this economic revolution
but also to be leaders in local and global environmental stewardship and activism.
We believe that our “green” theme and our replication of Fenway, one of the most highly chosen and
most successful schools within the BPS, will excite and attract students and families from all over the
city. Enrolling students who have struggled academically alongside students who arrive in middle and
high school better prepared is not only a manifestation of our commitment to equity and a truly diverse
community, it is also a strategy for creating a stable, scholarly environment in which students who would
most benefit from a high-quality option will thrive.
II. HOW WILL THE SCHOOL DEMONSTRATE ACADEMIC SUCCESS?
A. EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
Boston Green Academy’s Board of Trustees and Founding Group members believe that authentic
learning and student efficacy develop best in structures that facilitate personalization and which are
staffed by highly skillful teachers who care deeply about and trust each other, their students, and their
families. These beliefs are borne out by Fenway’s long track record of success as well as by the extensive
professional literature about what makes urban secondary schools successful.i We also subscribe to one
of the longstanding tenets of the Coalition of Essential Schools: “Less is more.” Accordingly, students at
Boston Green Academy will experience a “core curriculum” of a relatively small number of courses with
longer blocks of learning time. Through interdisciplinary approaches in Science and Humanities, for
example, otherwise disparate content and concepts will cohere better and students will experience the
curriculum as more organically integrated.
Extensive research has been done on the success of Fenway’s model. A 2004 report from the National
Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) featured Fenway as one of twelve “Breakthrough
High Schools”. The NASSP praised Fenway as a school that is highly successful with at-risk students of
color and, in the words of Executive Director Gerald N. Tirozzi, as one of the most effective urban high
schools nationally “that serve as attainable models for other schools to raise student achievement, prevent
dropouts, increase graduation rates, and prepare their students for postsecondary education”. ii In 2006, a
report produced by The Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy
identified Fenway as a school “where Latino students succeed” within the Boston Public Schools. Fenway
was characterized by the study’s authors as a school:
“ . . . where the climate is affective, developmentally appropriate, and socially and
physically safe . . . where failure is not an option, where learning is challenging and fun, and
where there are high expectations and a high degree of collaboration . . . where (Latino)
families are treated with respect . . . where there are clear and agreed-upon roles for
Headmasters and for teachers, where teachers are proud of their craft and excel in it, and
where there is a climate of innovation and forward movement.”iii
While many of the core practices of Boston Green Academy trace their roots to Fenway High School,
there are several elements of our school that will be unique and innovative. Three such elements—a
“trauma-informed” culture, a pervasive “design consciousness”, and a commitment to Universal Design
for Learning (UDL) across the school—are both wholly consistent with our mission and core values and
supported by research in a variety of academic disciplines. For example, we believe that all students,
even students who have experienced significant traumatic events, can thrive academically in the right
environment and with the right supports provided by culturally competent staff members. These ideas are
consistent with human development theorists like Abraham Maslow; child psychologists like A.S. Masten
and J.D. Coatsworth; “culturally responsive teaching” theorists like Gloria Ladson-Billings; and the day
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4
to day work of community-based social service agencies like Massachusetts Advocates for Children and
The Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC)—including the work of BPHC’s Courtney Mark Grey, an
internationally respected trauma expert and a Boston Green Academy Founding Group member. We are
committed to being a “trauma-informed” school. We will train all staff members to utilize trauma
recognition and response tools and approaches so that trauma that originates outside the school building is
contained and does not prevent our students from achieving academic success.
Since many students do not thrive in the traditional classroom environment that uses primarily verbal and
text-based approaches to teaching and learning, Boston Green Academy will draw upon the Special
Education, assistive technology, and graphic design expertise of our Founding Group members and
partners to create a design-based, multi-sensory instructional model that employs a wide range of
strategies and tools to address the needs of our diverse student population. Clearer, more visually
appealing teaching materials will help our students organize themselves and focus, while also reducing
discipline issues and increasing student engagement. Incorporating an intentional, holistic “design
consciousness” that permeates the teaching and learning process—from the physical environment, to
course and unit design, to a student’s learning plan, to the layout of teachers’ handouts—will assist all
learners in accessing the curriculum at all levels.
Both linguistic and non-linguistic approaches will be used to address individual learning preferences and
needs. Our non-linguistic strategies will include low-tech tools like graphic organizers and high-tech tools
like text reader software that allow texts to be read aloud and become flexible and enhanced with multiple
fonts, colors, and images. A Universal Design for Learning (UDL) approach will be used across the
school, providing multiple flexible pathways of access to the curriculum, including how students are
engaged in learning, how materials are presented to them, and how they demonstrate their learning.
Additionally, graphic design principles will be incorporated into the UDL model. By utilizing strategies
such as differentiation and tiered “responses to intervention” (discussed in detail in later sections), the
individual academic needs of every Boston Green Academy student will be addressed.
There is a substantial research base regarding the use of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and
graphic design strategies to support all students, but especially students who are over-represented in the
drop-out pipeline: students with disabilities, English Language Learners, and students with histories of
academic under-achievement and disengagement. UDL’s general principles are derived from modern
neuroscience and the cognitive science of learning and are deeply rooted in the foundational work of Lev
Vygotsky and Benjamin Bloom. Vygotsky emphasized a key point of a UDL approach—that supports or
“scaffolds” are gradually removed as an individual becomes an expert learner. iv The Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that all “textbook and related print materials” materials be
made accessible for “print-disabled” students as flexible, digital text files. v Boston Green Academy
intends to comply with the spirit and the letter of IDEA legislation through our use of UDL, assistive
technologies, and graphic design strategies.
For students with limited vocabulary development, English Language Learners, and students who are
more visual and kinesthetic learners, non-linguistic strategies are essential. Tools that integrate welldesigned text and images will help our students to access material, engage with learning, and build
comprehension. The ongoing original research of Founding Group member Kristina Lamour Sansone,
Design Professor at Art Institute of Boston, has shown that non-linguistic approaches benefit all of
students, but especially those with learning disabilities and English Language Learners for whom visual
learning is extremely important. Other well-respected international educational theorists and brain
scientists have corroborated the significance of visual learning including Robert Marzano and his
colleagues in What Works in Classroom Instruction; Jane Hill in Classroom Instruction That Works with
English Language Learners; Eve Clark, in “How Language Acquisition Builds on Cognitive
Development”; and neuroscientist Stanilas Dehaene’s brain imaging research.
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B. CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION
Replicating and expanding successful curricular and instructional practices from Fenway High School is
at the core of Boston Green Academy’s academic program. As discussed in earlier sections, Fenway’s
success with at-risk students and English Language Learners has been well-documented. Most recently,
Fenway’s four-year graduation rate (87.5%-2009), annual dropout rate (2.0%-2009), mean student growth
profile in ELA (45) and Math (69), and overall 10th grade MCAS scores (ELA- 93% Advanced/Proficient;
Math- 85% Advanced/Proficient) placed it among the highest-performing schools within the BPS.
Our Founding Group has expanded on Fenway’s curricular practices using a rigorous vetting process. Our
team created several subcommittees (one for each of the major content areas, assessment, special student
populations, and “green” curriculum) to research best practices in the field and to document Fenway’s
approach in each area. These teams included current and former Fenway teachers, BPS curriculum
leaders, academic researchers, and non-profit leaders to identify curricular practices that will be
supportive of our mission and successful with our target population. These subcommittees have
completed preliminary reports for each subject area and will continue to refine their work as we prepare
for our charter school application. In each curricular area below, we present four consecutive grades to
demonstrate our thinking about vertical alignment. However, a detailed description of each content area
at each grade level can be found in the appendices. In general terms, our high school curriculum focuses
on cultivating students’ college-readiness, and our middle grades curriculum focuses on preparing all
students to do high school-level work at grade level by the time they reach the 9th grade.
A Vision of ‘Green’ Education
The “green” aspect of BGA’s mission extends deeply into our vision of what a meaningful 21st century
education should be. We believe that it is essential for our students to understand and be able to succeed
in an interconnected, global community that grapples with important scientific, social, and economic
issues. To accomplish this, we have constructed a core curriculum at BGA that focuses on subjects
(Humanities, Science, Math, World Languages) we believe are most crucial for students to master if they
are to be competent global citizens. Within each subject area, we have selected texts, pedagogies, and
Habits of Mind that empower our students and give them the tools to understand and impact our world.
BGA’s emphasis on problem solving, grappling with complexity, mastery of skills in science and math,
and strong emphasis on argument, public exhibitions of mastery, and college-preparatory experiences
encompass what a “green” education should be. In conjunction with our partners’ efforts (see “Partners”
section in the appendices), our students will graduate prepared to engage and influence a world
desperately in need of strong and responsible “green” leaders.
Humanities
Humanities is an interdisciplinary curriculum focusing on making connections between history and
literature to increase student literacy and writing skills, critical thinking, and college preparedness. The
Humanities programs at Fenway and other BPS schools have produced impressive student achievement
results. vi Nationally, Humanities has been cited as a best practice by the Coalition of Essential Schools. vii
Guided by essential questions and themes, Boston Green Academy (BGA) students will: study
Humanities in double blocks of time, regularly read challenging works of literature, analyze original
documents and interpretive texts from throughout history, articulate and substantiate their own opinions,
and produce college-preparatory projects, portfolios, and exhibitions. BGA’s Humanities curriculum will
include the core content areas of English, the arts, civics and government, economics, history, and
geography and will align with the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks (MCF).
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6
Grade
9
10
11
12
Course(s)
Humanities 9
+
Foundations*
Humanities
10
Humanities
11
Humanities
12 and/or AP
Literature**
Essential Questions/Content
! What does it mean to be human?
! Focus on major ideas in philosophy,
the roots of early America, and
development of American identity
through Reconstruction
! US History I standards
! Literature of the period and
thematically related authors
! Who built America?
! Focus on development of 20th
century America and major social
movements
! US History II standards
! Literature of the period and
thematically related authors
! Preparation for 10th Grade ELA
MCAS exam
! How do you do right in the face of
injustice?
! Curriculum from Facing History and
Ourselves
! Focus on World Wars, Cold War,
and modern era
! US History II/World History II
standards
! Literature of the period and
thematically related authors
! How should we govern ourselves?
! Comparison of regions and countries
! World History II, Civics, and
Government
! Literature from world authors
! Independent position paper required
for graduation
Skills
! Over four years, students will
become proficient in the skills
outlined in the MCF for ELA
(Language, Reading &
Literature, Composition and
Media strands)
!
All Humanities courses will
incorporate the appropriate
concepts and skills as outlined
by the MCF for History grades
6-12 (pp. 49-50)
!
All courses will be aligned with
the national Common Core
Standards’ focus on reading
challenging and varied texts,
writing in specific genres
(argument, informational, and
narrative), and preparation for
college-level work
!
In each year, students will
produce several major written
products and oral presentations
that publicly demonstrate their
mastery of these skills
!
All students will pass the 10th
Grade ELA MCAS exam
* Foundations is an additional course required for all 6th and 9th graders that focuses on building core
literacy and writing skills across all content areas. If students cannot decode at grade level upon entry,
they will take Foundations of Reading, which will utilize a research-based reading support program such
as the Wilson Reading System or Reading Recovery. Other students will take Foundations of Literacy,
which will focus on mastery of the conventions of standard written English and genre-specific writing.
** AP Literature will follow the standards set out by the College Board and will culminate in the AP
Exam for all enrolled students. AP Literature may either supplement or substitute for Humanities 12.
Mathematics
Boston Green Academy’s approach to mathematics education reflects a strong belief that all students
must master not just mathematical content but also mathematical thinking in order to be effectively
prepared to confront the challenges of college, the workforce (not least jobs in the “green” sector), and
our increasingly complex world. We are committed to developing strong mathematical thinkers via a
standards-based, problem-solving curriculum for grades 6-12. To accomplish this, we have chosen to
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7
adopt two innovative, well-researched, and rigorous math programs. Both the Connected Mathematics
Program (CMP2) and the Center for Mathematics Education (CME) program from the Education
Development Center share a core approach to teaching math as a series of themes and complex
challenges, rather than a rote series of discrete ideas. This approach aligns well with BGA’s mission to
equip students with sophisticated, college-preparatory skills that push them to solve real-world problems
in an inter-disciplinary fashion.
Both CMP2 and CME are aligned with the MCF for Mathematics and reflect the ideas embedded in the
national Common Core Standards. CMP2, for grades 6-8, was funded by the National Science Foundation
(NSF), meeting their standards for a rigorous program, and is aligned with the best practice guidelines
identified by the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). The development of CME, for
grades 8-12, was also funded and vetted by NSF and was designed by a world-class group of math
educators at EDC. Both have been adopted by the Boston Public Schools, allowing us to take advantage
of district-wide professional development and support, and both conform to the Criteria for Evaluating
Instructional Materials and Programs in Mathematics laid out in the MCF for math.viii
Grade
8
Course(s)
CMP2 or
Algebra I
9
Algebra I or
Foundations*
or Geometry
10
Geometry or
Algebra II
Content
CMP2: Linear and Inverse Variation,
the Pythagorean Theorem, Exponential
Relationships, Quadratic Relationships,
Symmetry and Transformations,
Symbols, Linear Systems and
Inequalities, Data and Statistics
Algebra I: Arithmetic to Algebra,
Expressions and Equations, Graphs,
Lines, Functions, Exponents,
Polynomials, Quadratics
Geometry: Computer Modeling,
Proofs, Area and Dissections,
Similarity, Circles, Coordinates and
Vectors, Optimization
Skills
! Each course will teach the
corresponding skills in the
MCF for Math: Number
Sense & Operations,
Patterns, Relations and
Algebra, Geometry,
Measurement, Data
Analysis, Statistics and
Probability.
!
In each course, students will
present and defend their
solutions to mathematical
problems in both public
exhibitions and portfolios.
Passing portfolio and
exhibition are required to
advance to the next level of
mathematics.
Algebra II: Functions and Tables,
!
All students will pass the
Polynomials, Complex Numbers, Linear
Algebra, Exponential and Logarithmic
10th Grade Math MCAS
Functions, Graphs and Transformations,
exam.
Sequences and Series, Introduction to
Trigonometry
11
Algebra II or Pre-Calculus: Trigonometry, Complex
Pre-Calculus Numbers, Functions, Combiantorics,
Analytic Geometry, Probability and
Statistics, Ideas of Calculus
* Students entering 9th grade with skills below-grade level in math will take an additional Foundations of
Mathematics course, using CMP2 and supplements to address their needs. This course will also be offered
in 6th grade for entering students with similar needs.
Note: Grades 6/7 will use CMP2; 12th graders will have the option to take AP Calculus or Pre-Calculus.
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8
Science
The study of science is essential to the mission of Boston Green Academy, especially given the school’s
focus on sustainability. Through curious inquiry, diligent observation, and technical skill, our students
will be prepared not merely to articulate the scientific issues that face our world but to help solve them as
well. To do so requires knowledge of the bedrock disciplines of science as well as an understanding of the
fact that science is, at core, interdisciplinary. Our school will provide a seven-year series of rigorous,
interesting, and inspiring courses in both unified science and specific topics that require students to
demonstrate their mastery and explore the real world of science research and practice beyond the
classroom. With that in mind, at the end of each year all students will participate in the BGA Science Fair
where they will publicly present and defend their science research to external audiences from the
scientific community. Passage of Science Fair is required to advance to the next Science course. We will
also leverage resources from the original Fenway High School and our other partner organizations to
provide students with the best possible science training so they can participate in both the green economy
and the interconnected world. Please refer to our partners’ contributions in the “Capacity” section.
In the middle grades, the kit-based Full Option Science System (FOSS) curriculum will be the backbone
of our Unified Science courses, each of which will have several “green” investigations and inquiry-based
laboratory experiences. FOSS was developed by the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of
California-Berkeley and is widely recognized as one of the leaders in inquiry-based science education.
Forty-nine research studies have been performed on aspects of the FOSS curriculum, yielding a consensus
that FOSS is a strong program that embodies the kind of scientific thinking and growth in student
achievement that we wish to see at Boston Green Academy. The Boston Public Schools has adopted
FOSS kits for the middle grades, enabling us to access their extensive professional development and
support for FOSS materials. In our high school program, we will offer subject-specific courses that
utilize college-preparatory textbooks, lab-based experiences, and the resources of our many science and
environmental partners. With the assistance of the staff at Boston Museum of Science and our Founding
Group and Board members who possess deep science education backgrounds, we plan to identify specific
high school curricular materials using MCF criteria in the coming months. Our Science curricula for
grades 8-11 are highlighted here with further details in the appendices.
Grade Course(s)
8
Unified
Science
(1 Year)
9
Physics
10
Biology or
AP Biology
Content
! Planetary Science (FOSS)
! Populations & Ecosystems (FOSS)
! Chemical Interactions (FOSS)
Motion and Forces, Momentum, States
of Matter, Heat and Transfer,
Electromagnetism, Waves and
Radiation
Characteristics of Living Things, Cell
Biology and Biochemistry, Anatomy
and Physiology, Genetics, Evolution,
Ecology
Skills
! All courses will be lab- and
experience-based, enabling our
students to acquire and
demonstrate the skills of scientific
thinking identified as essential by
the MCF and the National Science
Teachers Association.
!
All courses will include the
appropriate Skills of Inquiry,
Experimentation, and Design
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9
11
Chemistry
or
AP
Chemistry
Properties of Matter, Kinetics,
Thermochemistry, Elements,
Compounds and Mixtures, Atomic
Structure and Nuclear Chemistry,
Periodicity, Chemical Bonding,
Reactions and Stoichiometry,
Reactions, Acids and Bases, Re-Dox
Reactions
outlined in the MCF for Science
(pp. 11-12).
!
The Common Core Standards for
literacy in Science will guide all
writing and projects in science.
!
Through our partnerships, all
courses will incorporate hands-on
science opportunities that model
the skills needs for real-world
science practice.
!
At the end of each year, all
students will participate in the
BGA Science Fair where they will
publicly present and defend their
science research and demonstrate
their skills. Passing Science Fair is
required to advance to the next
level of Science.
!
All students will pass one of the
Science MCAS exams (Physics,
Biology, or Chemistry).
Note: Grades 6 and 7 will be Unified Science using FOSS kits. Grade 12 will be an internship, an AP
course (Chemistry, Biology, or Environmental Science), or a dual enrollment experience with one of our
higher education partners.
World Languages
Knowledge of world languages and cultures is essential for all students in our interconnected world. We
believe that those students who come to us already bilingual must have access to a high-quality world
languages experience that broadens their skill sets. In support of these goals, Boston Green Academy will
offer a full seven-year menu of World Language courses to prepare our students to participate
successfully in the global economy, higher education, and the diverse communities of the City of Boston.
All middle school students at BGA will study two academic years of world languages. Spanish will be
the only language offered in the middle grades, however there will be specific strands for native- and nonnative speakers. In high school, all students will be required to take at least three years of a foreign
language in either Spanish or Mandarin Chinese, reflecting the global prominence of both languages and
cultures. We are exploring a partnership with UMass-Boston to offer a high-quality Mandarin program at
low cost as well as affordable programs for our students to travel abroad to enhance their world languages
studies and explore global environmental issues. Finally, we will consult with leaders in the field to
identify the programs and materials that are best aligned to the MCF in World Languages. Our courses
for World Languages in grades 8-11 are detailed below.
Grade Course(s)
8
8th Grade
Spanish (one
year)
Content
! Native and non-native strands
! Builds upon 6th and 7th grade semester-long
courses to support entry into Spanish I or
strengthens fundamentals of native speakers
! Focuses on cultural awareness and basic
communication skills
Skills
! All courses focus on
improving reading,
writing, and speaking
skills in a non-native
language, as well as
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10
9
Spanish I or
Mandarin
Chinese I
!
improving
Portfolio-based courses focusing on essential
understanding of
questions such as “How does Spanish or
world cultures and
Chinese culture compare with American
linguistic diversity.
culture?”
! Emphasis on reading, writing, listening,
! All courses support
speaking with an emphasis on basic oral
and incorporate the
communication and pronunciation
guiding principles
10
Spanish II or ! Study of the immigrant populations in Boston
and skills standards
Mandarin
and the United States and links to Humanities
outlined in the MCF
Chinese II
class topics
for World Languages.
! Focus on present, past, and imperfect tenses
11
Spanish III or ! Real-world communication opportunities with
Mandarin
native speakers; focus on history and culture of
Chinese III
the Spanish- and Chinese-speaking world
! Advanced vocabulary and speaking
experiences, coupled with a stronger emphasis
on writing in the non-native language
Note: Grades 6 and 7 will require Spanish for a semester each year in native and non-native speaker
strands. Grade 12 will be an internship, an AP course, or a dual enrollment experience.
The Arts
As has been suggested in earlier sections, visual learning and arts integration is one of our key strategies
for re-engaging disengaged students, English Language Learners, and students with disabilities. In
addition to discrete arts courses, all courses at BGA—but especially Humanities, World Languages, and
Advisory—will draw heavily on the “Habits of Mind” (detailed in later sections) that incorporate the
principles of graphic design and visual thinking strategies. In this way, the arts and the skills they
engender will become part of all students’ experience at BGA and an essential part of their worldview.
Our arts integration approach is consistent with the vast body of research that suggests that studying the
arts increases student achievement and has other powerful positive effects on students. ix Successful
completion of at least one Arts course for credit will be a graduation requirement for BGA, as suggested
in the MassCore framework. Our 6-12 Arts continuum is presented below.
Grades
6-8
9-12
All
Course(s)
Arts Elective
and afterschool
program
Arts Elective
and afterschool
program
Project Week
Summer
6&9
initially; Academy
other
grades
as
needed
Content
! Performing Arts (Dance, Drama,
or Chorus)
! Visual Arts or Graphic Design
!
!
Performing Arts (Dance, Drama,
or Chorus)
Visual Arts or Graphic Design
!
Arts experiences offered during
week-long project-based course
!
Arts experiences offered during
three-week intensive academic
program
Skills
! All arts courses will embody the
appropriate discipline-specific
skills laid out in the MCF for the
Arts.
!
All arts courses and experiences
will incorporate the BGA Habits
of Mind, which include the skills
inherent in graphic design and the
Visual Thinking Strategies
program offered through our
partnership with the Isabella
Stewart Gardner Museum, The
Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and
VUE
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11
Non-Academic Goals for BGA Students
While academic preparation and achievement are central to the mission of Boston Green Academy, we
have an equally strong commitment to our students’ personal development. Given the complex challenges
faced by urban adolescents, we see it as our mission to help our students learn to survive, persist, and
thrive. Specifically, our non-academic goals for students include:
Professional, Civic, and Social-Emotional Growth and Personal Wellness: Our Advisory program
will be organized to cultivate and support students’ health and wellness; the productive dispositions
embedded in our school’s motto, our “Habits of Mind”, and our “Safety Guidelines” (see “Instruction”);
the interpersonal and study skills required in college and the workplace; and the civic-mindedness and
financial and critical media literacies required of all citizens. Through Advisory, we intend to provide our
students opportunities to explore important social issues and other topics of personal concern and
relevance. We will also train students to set and attain personal non-academic goals that could include
establishing healthy sleep, fitness, substance use, and nutrition habits; getting to school regularly and
promptly; appropriately and safely responding to negative peer influences; effective communication; time
management; appropriate uses of technology; managing sexuality and romantic relationships
appropriately; spending money prudently; reducing stress and anxiety; establishing work-school-familysocial balance and boundaries; dealing productively with anger and shame; and taking appropriate
intellectual, artistic, and interpersonal risks.
Internalization and Daily Manifestation of Fenway’s motto “Work Hard. Be Yourself. Do the Right
Thing”: We believe that an emphasis on character development and the development of “soft skills” like
persistence and resilience are key to establishing a positive school culture and a sense of ownership for
our students. All BGA students will live this motto every day, both in and out of school.
Commitment to Safety, Community, Respect, and Dignity: As our school mission, culture, and
“Safety Guidelines” (see “Instruction”) suggest, we have high standards for the conduct and character our
students and we expect them to live up to our community ideals. To support this goal, our students will
practice restorative justice, self-discipline, and peer-mediated dispute resolution so that they are able to
maintain their dignity while confronting difficult choices and their consequences.
Community Service Learning: BGA will require 100 hours of community service learning hours prior
to graduation in order to foster leadership skills, good citizenship, and altruism in all of our students.
Opportunities to serve and learn will be offered both on- and off-campus.
Ventures: Once we have juniors and seniors, BGA will replicate Fenway High School School’s
successful school-to-career-and-college “Ventures” program. In their junior year, Ventures students will
research, develop, and “pitch” a proposal for a business or service needed in their communities.
The Pitch is held at a workplace site and is judged by outside adults acting as would-be investors. In
senior year, students do career exploration and job shadowing. In their last term of high school, seniors
will arrange six-week, full-time unpaid internships at professional worksites, which will include a major
project that benefits the worksite. Successful completion of the senior internship will be a graduation
requirement at BGA and will be an additional way we will concretize our “green” theme.
Plan for the ongoing development, improvement, refinement, and evaluation of the curriculum.
Because BGA will open with grades 9-12, our faculty and leadership will need to implement the bulk of
our curriculum right away, while also planning for the future phase in of the middle grades. Prior to the
opening of BGA, the Founding Group will convene teams of teachers, BPS staff, and leaders in the field
to identify and adopt rigorous and appropriate curricular models in areas where we have yet to do so. As
new teachers are hired for BGA, they will join this work, and we will provide stipends to team leaders to
insure its completion. These teams will meet regularly throughout SY2011-2012. Special attention will be
paid to designing the curriculum for the Summer Academy, our required three-week summer program for
all 9th grade students and others in academic distress. During the summer of 2012, prior to the opening of
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BGA, all staff will be required to participate in meetings and professional development over several
weeks to finalize the curriculum in all areas. During the first school year, BGA’s schedule will have
built-in time for full-faculty and departmental meetings, which will be supplemented by after-school
meeting time. Departments will meet weekly to discuss and improve curriculum; individual teachers will
have at least one period each day to plan. At key points in the year, the faculty will review student
achievement data and other indicators to assess the effectiveness of the curriculum and plan
improvements. In each of the first four summers, teams of faculty will design, reflect upon, and refine
curriculum in the summer for new grade levels in all relevant content areas. Departments will each have
annual summer retreats to review curriculum, set goals, and plan for the upcoming school year.
BGA will continuously monitor student growth and achievement in all programs. In order to gauge
the effectiveness of our curriculum and its implementation, we will collect and analyze both academic
(MCAS scores, grades, formative and summative assessments, diagnostic exams, etc.) and social (student
evaluations, parent surveys, discipline incidents, etc.) data. As a Horace Mann charter school, BGA will
be required to articulate its goals for student achievement within its charter and Accountability Plan.
These goals will form the foundation of our evaluation of curriculum and instruction. The school’s
leadership, faculty, and Board of Trustees will review our progress towards these goals regularly. Charter
reauthorization will provide a similar opportunity every five years. Teams of teachers will engage in
cycles of inquiry throughout the year to investigate the best ways to improve student achievement by
looking at data. These teams will follow a series of protocols from Critical Friends Groups (National
School Reform Faculty) and the Collaborative Coaching and Learning Model. These inquiry groups will
identify necessary curricular adjustments. BGA is committed to making teaching and learning transparent
throughout our school and beyond its walls. To achieve this, there will be regular cycles of peer visits and
frequent, announced and unannounced observations of all teachers by school leaders to assess the state of
curricular implementation and to identify supports our teachers need. BGA will seek accreditation by the
New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) and will use the accreditation process as an
additional opportunity to assess the effectiveness of our programs.
Process for aligning BGA’s curriculum to the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks (MCF)
BGA has already spent significant time designing and adopting curricula that are aligned to the MCF in
all content areas and will continue to do so. All curriculum documents for our school will reference
specific standards from the MCF. Teacher evaluations, observations, and curriculum discussions will
focus on our ability to teach the standards effectively. As part of our ongoing process of inquiry around
curriculum, we will continue to revisit the MCFs and the new Common Core Standards to make sure our
courses are aligned. We will also utilize MCAS data and formative and summative assessment systems
(detailed below) to gauge student performance by standard, enabling us to measure the degree of our
MCF alignment and student performance much more frequently than annual MCAS exams allow.
Formal Responsibilities for Curriculum
The Headmaster of BGA is ultimately responsible for the successful implementation of the academic
program. In addition, the Assistant Headmaster for Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment will be
responsible for planning, implementing, and supervising the overall curriculum design and revision
process on a day-to-day basis. Department heads and teams of teachers will play a prominent role in
curricular decisions and will develop mutual accountability with their colleagues within their content
areas. A subcommittee of the Board of Trustees will monitor the academic program as well.
Instruction at Boston Green Academy
Many aspects of our instructional platform—inquiry; teachers coaching students to prepare for highstakes public demonstrations of their knowledge and skills; and daily opportunities for students to
practice, consolidate, and extend what they have learned—are either explicit or implied in the Curriculum
section of this document. Our commitment to longer blocks of learning time requires a shift away from
teacher-centered pedagogies towards more collaborative, group-based approaches. As stated in the
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Assessment sections of this document, regular assessment of students’ work will be a core component of
daily instruction as will a requirement that our students reflect upon and be accountable for their time,
choices, and growth. BGA teachers will assist students to make connections among and between
curricular content, their own lives, and the wider world. This focus on relevance is one of our many
strategies for re-engaging students who have become disconnected from their educational experience as
well as for maintaining the interest and excitement of students who come to us more prepared to do gradelevel work. In addition to these more general instructional expectations, every Boston Green Academy
teacher will employ the following longstanding cross-school practices from Fenway High School:
Safety Guidelines promote peaceful interactive classroom culture, a sense of fairness, and strong student
voice and engagement and ensure that BGA is a welcoming environment, especially for students who
have previously felt alienated or unsafe at school or in the community. Fenway’s Safety Guidelines,
which the entire BGA community will embrace in all school talk and activities, are: Try it on, It’s OK to
disagree, No shame, blame, or attack, Take 100% responsibility, and Maintain group confidentiality.
Habits of Mind encourage broad, ongoing critical thinking and deep study in all subjects and they help
students connect what they learn in school with their own lives. Fenway’s Habits of Mind are:
Perspective, Evidence, Relevance, Connection, and Supposition. These Habits will be used to structure
everyday academic conversations, assessment, and curriculum. BGA students will be expected to become
fluent in our Habits and articulate their presence in their work in all disciplines.
Graded Seminar is a one-period, structured, formal seminar that builds student capacity to participate in
full-class academic discussions. Designed to build the communication skills of all students, regardless of
personality, English language facility, or ease with participation, Graded Seminar will be used routinely
for whole-class discussions. On the day before the seminar, students choose or are assigned roles (i.e.,
talker, questioner, connector, supposer, summarizer, and seminar chair) and prepare for them for
homework. A student chair runs the seminar as the teacher takes notes and keeps track of who has talked.
The seminar is graded; each student must talk twice and must refer to the text and to other students’ ideas.
M.E.A.L. (Main Idea, Evidence, Analysis, and Link) is a format that offers struggling writers a solid,
easily grasped framework for writing for writing effective expository paragraphs and full essays in any
subject. BGA teachers will teach this format, which was developed at Boston Arts Academy, to increase
students’ procedural knowledge of and skills in expository writing.
Our Foundations curriculum combines whole-language pedagogy with phonetic instruction and practice.
The skills our students develop through this course will make them stronger readers and writers in all
content areas. The M.E.A.L. format, grammar, mechanics and usage will be taught in Foundations to
improve students’ writing skills. In addition, we will draw upon best practices of the Reading
Apprenticeship model to teach and reinforce reading strategies across the curriculum.
Instructional Innovations
As discussed above, we plan to create a culture of intentional “design consciousness” throughout BGA.
Our goal is to increase proficiency in design strategies among our faculty, thereby increasing our
students’ access to the curriculum. Our emphasis on visual and kinesthetic modalities will support all of
our students, especially ELLs and students with disabilities, many of whom have not been successful in
traditional oral and text-based classrooms.
The designed learning environment: In the last several decades, “Universal Design” (UD) guidelines
within the field of architecture have been developed to support the creation of accessible physical
environments. Using UD principles, BGA staff members will work with our partners, staff, students, and
families to design our physical plant to maximize access and invitation to all members of our school
community. Specific examples include: visual communication that supports learning (e.g., anchor
charts); productive workspaces for students, families, and staff; public displays of student work; and highand low-tech provisioned “studios” incorporated in all of our classrooms.
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Universal Design for Learning (UDL): As discussed in the “Educational Philosophy” section, BGA
teachers will design instructional tools so all students have access to quality curriculum regardless of their
individual learning challenges or preferred modalities – auditory, visual, or kinesthetic. In addition,
students will use a range of low-tech, mid-tech, and high-tech tools (e.g., visually enhanced handouts;
word rings/sentence strips; battery-operated timing devices; talking dictionaries; and text readers).
BGA will employ graphic design pedagogies that harness the power and relevance of visual
communication in order to improve the educational experiences of students. Through acquiring basic
visual communication expertise common among graphic designers, BGA teachers will develop innovative
and intentional ways of using color, typestyles, layout, and presentation and will design classroom
materials that are visually appealing, legible, clear, and un-crowded—ultimately making these materials
more accessible to all students. In addition, these approaches will develop sophisticated critical media
literacy skills among our students, which will in turn prepare them to be more savvy consumers and
producers of media messages as well as more active and informed citizens.
Teacher Support and Evaluation
BGA will build a growth-oriented, collaborative, mutually accountable, and reflective professional culture
and will ensure that all of our teachers have ample time to study, teach, discuss, practice, and master our
instructional methods. In order to immerse the entire staff in BGA’s values, philosophy, and teaching
methods, time to collaborate will be built into the school year. All BGA staff members will gather for 10
days in the summer, two days in January, and two days in June. In these “retreats,” all staff will use
readings, data, and support from expert practitioners to deepen their understanding of BGA’s pedagogical
model, to build their capacity to implement new practices, and to increase their ability to support and
advise our students. During the school year, BGA teachers and support staff will meet in two different
teams each week: on Tuesday mornings for student support and on Thursday mornings for full-faculty
discussions and teacher-led content team planning. Each team will have a staff member who has been
fully trained in UDL methodology, and each team will regularly collaborate with a graphic design
specialist from The Art Institute of Boston. Our own staff trainings will consistently model the
instructional practices we want to implement in our classrooms so teachers experience learning in
multiple modes and with different technologies. Over time, expertise will emerge in the staff so that
BGA teachers will teach these essential practices to new staff.
Teachers will experience frequent peer visits to their classes followed by structured peer feedback. The
object of all classroom visits will be to increase reflection about improving practice. Administrators will
participate in these visits in two cycles each year, once as interested observers and once as evaluators.
BGA’s evaluation tool will be based on the Dimensions of Effective Teaching rubric used by New
Teacher Developers in the BPS. Administrators will use the tool initially to mark strengths and areas for
growth in a teacher’s practice and to cite any “critical concerns”. Administrators and teachers will then
mutually develop appropriate strategies to address critical concerns and will re-assess the teacher’s
growth using the rubric. If the teacher’s performance improves, the administrator will begin to focus on
other aspects of the teacher’s performance. If performance does not improve, a second round of
suggestions for change and more intervention will be offered. Lack of improvement in this second round
will result in more intensive interventions, including termination as a last resort.
Determining the professional development needs of BGA staff
BGA will use its professional development time to build common beliefs, understandings, language, and
capacity in its foundational practices with all staff in the first year of operation. Decisions about the
scheduling, sequencing, and content of activities of this early professional development will be made by
school leadership through the Leadership Team, with input from staff derived from a needs assessment.
Once teachers and other staff have experience with BGA’s foundational practices, a Teaching and
Learning committee will form to identify staff’s needs and will structure professional development
around those needs. BGA will require and structure an extra week of summer orientation for all new staff
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and will conscientiously induct new staff members into our culture and practices. Once the school is
underway, all new staff will co-plan at least one class with an experienced BGA teacher, so that their
entry into the BGA culture will be enhanced by teaching “at the elbow of another”. BGA plans to
develop an on-site teacher and mental health clinician training program through its partnership with Tufts
University. All interns will participate in all BGA professional development, including new staff
trainings.
C. PERFORMANCE, PROMOTION, AND GRADUATION STANDARDS
Graduation Requirements
Boston Green Academy’s standards for student performance, promotion and graduation are designed to
incorporate and exceed the college readiness standards established by the Boston Public Schools
(graduation standards) and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (MassCore and Common Core
Standards) to insure that all students are prepared appropriately for post-secondary work, as embodied in
our mission statement and assessment system. They also closely mirror the graduation requirements of
Fenway High School that have proven so successful at preparing students for college. Our high school
graduation requirements are detailed below:
Humanities
Mathematics
Science
Science Fair
World Languages
The Arts
Physical Education
Portfolios
Position Paper
Internship
Boston Green Academy
High School Graduation Requirements
Pass four years (which include current standards for ELA and History)
Pass four years (including Algebra II)
Pass four years of lab sciences
Pass one science fair for each year attended
Pass three years
Pass one year
Complete two semesters
Complete a portfolio in Math, Humanities, Science and World Languages
that demonstrates mastery of standards for each content area
Complete a position paper in the Senior year
Complete a six-week internship in the Senior year
Community Service
Complete 40 hours of Community Service
MCAS
Earn a Competency Determination (CD) in MCAS ELA, Math, and Science
BGA’s curriculum will also incorporate additional academic experiences that are part of the Boston
Public Schools graduation requirements to provide an equivalent level of rigor: Health (pass one
semester) and technology (pass one semester). Health will be incorporated into Advisory, and
technology will be infused into all academic courses, negating the need for specific courses.
In addition, to be promoted from the BGA middle school division to the high school program, the
following requirements must be met:
Humanities
Mathematics
Science
Science Fair
World Languages
Physical Education
Portfolios
Boston Green Academy
Middle School Promotion Requirements
Pass three years (which include current standards for ELA and History)
Pass three years
Pass three years
Pass one science fair for each year attended
Pass four semesters
Complete two semesters
Complete a portfolio in Math, Humanities, Science, and World Languages
that demonstrates mastery of standards for each content area
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Like the high school division, BGA’s middle school will also offer Health as part of Advisory
(equivalent to two semesters) and the Arts as part of the Project Week, before- and after-school
experiences (equivalent to three semesters) in order to equal the promotion requirements of the Boston
Public Schools
For both sets of requirements above, the Headmaster, in consultation with parents, teachers and the
student, may waive certain portions if it is appropriate to do so (excluding MCAS and CD provisions set
out by DESE). Examples of this include the waiver of the World Languages requirement for native
speakers, the substitution of ESL courses for Humanities for English Language Learners, or modifications
required by a student’s IEP. BGA students from the closed BPS high school may also receive waivers
from the above requirements as appropriate. The BGA Leadership Team will develop a process to
determine graduation requirements for these students prior to the opening of school with approval from
the Board of Trustees. In all cases, the BPS Graduation Requirements will be the minimum standard
necessary to graduate.
Promotion Policies and Milestones
BGA strongly believes that students should be allowed to advance in all academic areas in which they
show proficiency and receive support in areas where they struggle, without forcing students to repeat
entire grade levels inappropriately. We will use grade levels for administrative purposes but not as the
first priority for academic grouping. Students will be grouped in courses based on their preparedness to
do the work and they will advance within a content area based on their ability to demonstrate proficiency.
We will intervene with struggling students long before they fail a course (as detailed in other sections)
and offer them a range of supports that include in- after-school tutoring, additional support courses (such
as Foundations), and our Summer Academy program. For students who do not pass despite these
supports, we will also take advantage of the BPS Credit Recovery program and other district initiatives
that allow students to make up courses such as night school and summer school.
BGA recognizes the importance of “gatekeeping” moments that confirm a student’s proficiency and
capability before they may be promoted or graduate. Course completion will serve as the ultimate
determinant of advancement and no student will be promoted to the 9th grade or graduate from BGA
without satisfying the requirements detailed above. It may take students longer than three years to be
promoted out of middle school and longer than four years to graduate from the high school program.
Students and their parents will be notified throughout and at the end of each year as to whether they are
on- or off-track to advance. To pass a course, a student must receive an overall grade of 70% or higher
(proficiency) from the instructor and meet attendance benchmarks (to be determined by the school’s
leadership team). Students who meet these benchmarks may still be asked to repeat a course, or be
required to seek additional supports before being certified to pass, if the instructor and the Headmaster
agree that the student is not ready to advance.
Beyond these requirements, BGA will ask students to demonstrate their knowledge, reflect upon their
growth, and present their ideas to the community at key junctures in their school careers. The original
Fenway’s promotion policies embody these values through the practice of Junior Review and the Senior
Institute. At each of these junctures, students will demonstrate their qualifications to advance and
articulate what they need to do to move forward. BGA will replicate these practices and will also add a
similar review experience for students moving out of middle school to high school as well as a “minireview” for sophomores focusing on documenting and presenting personal growth and interests.
Eighth Grade Review
Eighth grade students will review their work and reflect upon their growth and development in writing
and in a presentation to their families, teachers, and advisors. This Review will serve to honor their
progress as they move into the high school program and to examine carefully what challenges they have
faced so far and what supports they will need. Eighth Grade Review will be pass/fail as a part of
Advisory.
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Sophomore Spotlight
The Parthenon Report concluded that a significant number of students in the BPS drop out of school at
the end of their sophomore year; therefore we believe that it is very important to focus upon and
recognize the growth and development of BGA sophomores in order to keep them invested in and
connected to the school community. Building on the idea of “documentation” as practiced at the Reggio
Emilia schools in Italy and the Digital Storytelling Initiative created by Facing History and Ourselves, our
students will document their growth and development from the time they enter BGA (either in 6th or 9th
grade) until they reach the end of the sophomore year using video and text. At the end of their sophomore
year they will review their collection of videos and writings and produce a reflective piece to be presented
to their parents, peers, teachers, advisors, and community members. Sophomore Spotlight will allow the
school both to honor and to pay attention to the experiences of this group of students who are at a critical
juncture in their schooling and development. Sophomore Spotlight will serve as an important rite of
passage within our school community, will be pass/fail, and will count as part of the Advisory grade.
Junior Review
The end of junior year is the time when many students turn their attention to the future in a more serious
and deliberate way. The foundation laid during this year will have a significant impact on a student’s
ability to complete senior year successfully and get into the college of his/her choice. Much of advisory
time during 11th grade will be spent preparing for Junior Review, which takes place at the close of the
year before graduation. The process of preparing for Junior Review is as important as the actual event. It
is meant to be self-reflective and informative, but also evaluative.
During Junior Review, each student must comment on and demonstrate his/her readiness for the
challenges of senior year. Important criteria include good attendance, time management, strong portfolios
and successful exhibitions, and intellectual and social maturity. Outside collaborators and families will be
invited to participate in Junior Review by reviewing student documents and assuring that our standards
are consistent with those of the community, business, and higher education. Junior Review helps students
focus on their learning styles, challenges and patterns of behavior, and individual goals and community
responsibilities. Junior Review will be a pass/fail part of Advisory in 11th grade and students who do not
pass will not be promoted to the senior year at BGA.
Stepping Up
Upon successful completion of Junior Review, BGA students will participate in Stepping Up. This formal
ceremony celebrates students’ achievements and recognizes their readiness to become members of the
Senior Institute. Families and other students will be invited to attend this moving rite of passage.
Senior Institute
The final stage of study for students who have successfully completed three previous years of coursework
and passed Junior Review is Senior Institute, which encompasses the entire senior year’s course of study.
This experience crystallizes the skills and intellectual maturity developed during the previous three years
at BGA. It will not always be possible or advisable for students to finish Senior Institute in one year and
some students and families opt to stay for a second year to be fully prepared for life after high school.
Senior Institute requires the successful completion of the following:
• Course work in Math, Science, and Humanities. Courses can be either at the high school or college
level. Additional courses may also be included.
• Senior Portfolios in each major subject area, including a valid Senior Science Fair project and the
completion of the Humanities Position Paper.
• Senior Internship – all BGA seniors will be required to complete a full-time six-week pre-professional
internship during the last term of Senior Institute. The internship will deepen students’ understanding of a
particular field of work, often connected to one’s House theme, and preparation for the professional
workplace generally. A portfolio that documents the Internship experience, including a research
component, will be required.
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• Standardized tests- A variety of standardized tests are offered to students in their senior year. Some are
required and others are optional. The tests include: SAT, TOEFL, PSAT, and MCAS in rare cases.
• Planning for the Future – More than 90 percent of Fenway High School students go on to college and
we expect similar outcomes for BGA students. An important part of senior year is spent thoroughly
researching post high school options and keeping track of college application and financial aid processes
and deadlines.
Graduation
Students who have successfully completed all of their requirements and have the approval of their House
team and the signature of the Headmaster become eligible for the BGA diploma. BGA will have two
graduations –one in June and one in August. Students who complete their requirements after August but
before December will be allowed to graduate upon completion of outstanding coursework and major
products, provided they have fulfilled all the requirements listed above.
Performance Standards
BGA’s performance standards are based on its educational philosophy, rigorous curriculum, and
commitment to college preparedness for all students as outlined by its mission. They also reflect the MCF
for the appropriate subject areas. Both general and subject-specific performance standards for grading will
be used at BGA. They will all be reviewed and improved by the incoming staff and will be discussed on
an annual basis as a faculty. The performance standards include:
General Performance Standards (Grades 6-12)
% Score Grade
Performance standard
90-100
A- to A+
The student has demonstrated mastery of the content and skills of the
assignment/unit/course. Mastery includes evidence of creativity,
independence, thorough and consistent understanding of the standards
taught, and skillful application of ideas/concepts.
80-89
B- to B+
The student has demonstrated proficiency of the content and skills of the
assignment/unit/course. Proficiency includes evidence of consistent
understanding of the standards taught and skillful but imperfect application
of ideas/concepts.
70-79
C- to C+
The student has demonstrated competent understanding and application of
the content and skills of the assignment/unit/course. Competency includes
evidence of basic understanding of the standards taught and the ability to
apply ideas/concepts appropriately, albeit with some errors.
69 and
F
Student approaches competency but does not meet performance standards
below
for this assignment/course/unit.
These general performance standards will be used in all classes, but will be adapted into course-specific
expectations that align with the MCF for each content area. Grading for specific assignments will use
rubrics (examples below) or conform to these general expectations when percentage grading is used.
These performance standards will be used for the quarterly and final grades on report cards and will be
publicized to our entire school community.
Course-Specific Performance Standards
Performance-based assessment using standards is a hallmark of Fenway High School and a practice that
we seek to widely replicate at BGA. Our staff will spend a great deal of time refining these assignments
and assessment tools so that they are both reliable and valid across entire grade levels. Below are
examples of specific performance standards for 8th grade assignments used in Humanities (of which ELA
is a part), mathematics, and science. They are written to easily communicate performance standards to
students, teachers, and parents and have been successful both at Fenway and across the BPS.
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Humanities Position Paper
BGA gives special prominence to the genre of argumentative writing throughout its curriculum, both
continuing the work of Fenway High School, which has required a position paper as a graduation
requirement for years, and supporting the principles of the Common Core Standards, which emphasize the
importance of mastering argumentative writing. As an example, in 8th grade BGA students will study
Civics and Government in their Humanities classes so they can answer the essential question “what does
it mean to be a citizen?” One of the core units for this work is the “Choices at Little Rock” unit created by
Facing History and Ourselves, one of BGA’s core partners. This historical analysis of the desegregation
of Little Rock High School in Arkansas is paired with reading “Warriors Don’t Cry”, a memoir by Melba
Patillo Beals, one of the first African-American students to attend the school. At the end of this unit,
students in Humanities 8 will be asked to write a persuasive multi-draft essay answering a question such
as “What enabled the Little Rock Nine to persevere despite the injustice around them?” This unit and
project will ask students to master the following ELA standards from the MCF:
Reading & Literature Strand: Composition Strand:
8- Understanding a Text (8.27) 19- Writing (19.22, 23)
23- Organizing Ideas (23.10)
9- Making Connections (9.6) 21- Revising (21.6, 7)
24- Research (24.4)
13- Nonfiction (13.18, 20, 22) 22- Standard English Conventions (22.8)
The rubric used for this assignment will be a modified version of the one below, which is used for
position papers that are part of the BPS Common Writing Assignment initiative. The rubric contains
performance standards linked to the MCF standards above and the Common Core Standards for Writing
in ELA and History:
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Algebra I Math Projects
Most 8th graders at BGA will be studying Algebra I using the CME curriculum, a project-based approach
to learning mathematics. This curriculum is already aligned with the MCF for Mathematics and is
reflective of the thinking embodied in the Common Core Standards for Mathematics. As an example,
Chapter 5 “Introduction to Functions” includes a project called “Managing Money” which asks students
to use a spreadsheet program to explore the concepts of interest, payments, and loans within real-world
contexts (CME, Algebra I, pp. 494-5). This is exactly the kind of project that a student might present at
one of BGA’s Math Exhibition nights where students demonstrate their understanding of math content to
the school community. The following rubric is used at Fenway to assess math exhibitions; a similar rubric
will be used by BGA:
To succeed at this assignment, students would need to demonstrate their understanding of the following
MCF Mathematics content standards:
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Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
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Science Fair Presentations
As detailed above, Science Fair is an annual event that each student at BGA is required to pass. This
performance-based assessment compels students to demonstrate their mastery of scientific content and
skills in a public forum through the sharing of their guided or original scientific research. The event also
brings the community together to celebrate student accomplishments. The rubric below is given to all
judges at Fenway’s Science Fair and counts for a portion of the final Science Fair grade (there is a
separate rubric for the written lab report):
This rubric embodies several specific science standards from the MCF. They include:
SIS1. Make observations, raise questions, and formulate hypotheses.
SIS2. Design and conduct scientific investigations.
SIS3. Analyze and interpret results of scientific investigations.
SIS4. Communicate and apply the results of scientific investigations.
In addition, 8th graders will study Unified Science at BGA, using FOSS kits to study Planetary Science,
Populations & Ecosystems, and Chemical Interactions. Their Science Fair projects will reflect knowledge
of specific content standards in the MCF for these areas and will be assessed by their teacher as part of the
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
22
Science Fair final grade. The performance standards for Science Fair also align with the Common Core
Standards for Literacy in Writing in Science and Technical Subject, Grades 6-12 (pp. 64-66).
Exit Standards
The graduation and promotion requirements for BGA embody the content and skills that we expect
students to master. Our Senior Institute description details the specific performance tasks that students
must complete in addition to course completion and our non-academic goals for students are detailed in
other sections. Specific examples of exit standards for BGA’s middle school (grades 6-8) and high school
(grades 9-12) divisions in Mathematics, Humanities/ELA, and Science are detailed in the appendices .
D. ASSESSMENT SYSTEM
Our integrated assessment system will allow our teachers and administrators to measure what our students
know and are able to do as a result of our delivery of curriculum and instruction and reflects how we will
link curriculum and instruction to assessment by measuring the academic progress of individual students
and cohorts of students over time with the goal of continual school improvement. The Headmaster of
Boston Green Academy is ultimately responsible for the successful implementation of the assessment
system. On a day-to-day basis, the Assistant Headmaster for Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment will
be responsible for designing, scheduling, implementing, and supervising assessment at the school.
Department heads and teams of BGA teachers will also play a prominent role in designing and
implementing our assessment system. Boston Green Academy will collect five different types of
achievement data for various purposes:
Diagnostic- During Summer Academy, all incoming students will be assessed in ELA and Math to
determine their skill levels. Prior to our opening, all incoming students from the closed BPS high school
will be assessed as well. This data will be used to determine course placement, to identify students for
deeper diagnoses, to help craft support plans, and to provide teachers with baseline information about
each student. Diagnostic assessments will be given at other points in students’ careers (e.g., promotion
from lower to upper school) in order to gauge growth and progress. MCAS data from years prior to
enrollment at BGA will be considered diagnostic and will be used for purposes listed above. Likewise,
AP exams, while summative by design, will be monitored as diagnostic data for college preparedness.
Formative- Once enrolled, BGA students will be assessed for ELA, Math, and other content area skills
several times per year in their courses. As detailed in our MOU (Type A) with the BPS, BGA will
participate in the district’s on-line formative assessment system (Galileo from ATI) and administer two
externally-normed formative assessments each in Math and ELA in our first year and beyond. BGA will
also explore the possibility of giving other kinds of formative assessments using or in addition to the
Galileo system. This data will be used to monitor student progress, construct early, tiered interventions to
support students before problems worsen, and to give teachers data to evaluate what happens in their
classrooms. External tests such as the PSAT and SAT exams will also be used as diagnostic data.
Summative- Teachers will give major assessments throughout the year that mark the end of a unit, term,
and course. These will include mid- and end-of-course exams, portfolios of student work, public
exhibitions (e.g., Science Fair, Humanities portfolio defense), the 8th grade and Junior Review processes
(outlined later and required for promotion), and other content-based exams. High school MCAS exams
will be considered summative and will be used to determine graduation eligibility.
Social/Behavioral- Academic performance is clearly linked to the frequency of suspensions, parent
contacts, office referrals, progress reports, and phone calls home. Therefore, BGA will capture this data
and display it with other metrics so that teachers, student support staff, and school leaders can be as
informed as possible when designing interventions for our students.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
23
Student Growth Data (SGD)- Provided by the state, SGD will be a powerful metric with which to gauge
the progress of our students. We will use the state’s Data Warehouse to analyze our SGD, which will
inform all of our decisions about curriculum, instruction, and evaluation.
As stated above and in our MOU-A, BGA will utilize the BPS’ web-based assessment and student
information management systems. The assessment system (ATI) offers access to standardized item banks
of ELA and Math questions that have been liked to the MCF and can be used to predict MCAS
performance. Since these assessments can be administered more frequently and analyzed more quickly
than annual MCAS exams and since our capacity to support our students is predicated on timely
information, we plan to use web-based assessment and student information systems to monitor our
students’ progress and plan our “tiered” interventions (described more fully below). In order to assess in
an ongoing way the extent to which our program is preparing students for college, we plan to administer
the PSAT and the SAT to all juniors and seniors and give AP exams to students in AP courses. We are
also exploring the benefits of administering the AccuPlacer exam in a similar way. We will also purchase
one or more commercial, standardized products for use as diagnostic assessments of ELA and Math (see
below) in order to have accurate and useful information to inform placement of students and early
academic interventions. We do not plan to use standardized summative assessments beyond the MCAS at
this time, although the “performance tasks” envisioned by the Partnership for the Assessment of
Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) to assess the national Common Core Standards are of great
interest to us.
Examples of Assessments
We will adopt a suite of diagnostic assessments, including initial reading assessments such as the GatesMacGinitie Reading Tests, the Reading Inventory & Student Evaluation (RISE), and the GRADE reading
assessment, to gauge incoming students’ ELA and Math skills. Each of these research-based assessments
will provide an initial data set that will help us differentiate between students who cannot comprehend
what they read and those who cannot decode text. This distinction will be crucial for BGA to accurately
place and support our students who come to us below grade-level. Students who can decode but not
comprehend will receive supports in our Foundations classes. Students who cannot decode will be given a
more detailed suite of assessments such as the DRP (oral reading fluency), Peabody (vocabulary), or
Rosner (phonological skills) in order to identify their needs more precisely. Those students will receive
reading support via the Wilson Reading Program, a research-based reading recovery program pioneered
by Massachusetts General Hospital. BGA will use a combination of BPS math assessments and one of the
commercially available math skills inventory exams to diagnose and place students in a similar fashion.
Research has shown both the power and benefits of performance assessments x and the success of Boston
schools that use these practices. xi BGA’s assessment system will be rooted in these ideas and will
replicate Fenway’s authentic performance assessments, which have proven highly successful with
students who are both on- and off-track for more than twenty-five years. Examples of authentic
performance assessments at BGA will include: the annual Science Fair; Family Math Night; 8th Grade and
Junior Reviews where students must present and defend portfolios of their work; the Senior Position
Paper that showcases students’ writing and analytic skills; Ventures and Project Week; and portfolio
assessments in Humanities, World Languages, and Math. Assessments of student performance on these
assignments will be used for formative, summative, and promotional purposes. Using best-practice
models from Fenway and other successful schools, BGA teachers will design and implement this schoolbased performance assessment system that will, in tandem with traditional assessments, assess the full
range of students’ abilities and enable them to demonstrate efficacy and mastery via multiple measures.
Measuring student progress toward attaining non-academic goals
Student progress toward attaining non-academic goals will be monitored and tracked by BGA students
themselves, their Advisors, and the Student Support Team. Each Advisor will have no more than 15
students for the year, allowing all of our students and their families to have meaningful relationships with
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
24
an adult who is responsible for guiding their growth over multiple years. Advisors will receive regular
updates on their advisees’ academic achievement and will be the conduit for all major communication
with family members about student behavior and demeanor. Advisors will often be the first to know when
a student isn’t living up to the BGA motto, has attendance issues, is engaged in risky behavior, or isn’t
living up to our Safety Guidelines. At that point, the Advisor will be able to access that data quickly via
our Student Information Management System and, after consulting with other staff members, will then
address the challenge through conferences, creating a student contract, arranging emotional support, etc.
Given our diagnostic assessments, our commitment to periodic formative assessments, and our
performance assessment system, BGA will be able to report out sophisticated multiple measures of
student performance on a regular basis. We will be able to measure student growth within a year’s time
based on the formative assessments, measure student growth from year to year based on the growth data
from DESE, and be able to report absolute standards-based performance based on the rubrics of the
performance assessments. Combined with course grades, quarterly report cards, and other measures, we
will develop clear pictures of individual and aggregate student performance on a regular basis that is
dynamic and accessible through a robust Student Information Management System.
Communicating School and Student Progress
BGA will use data to inform teachers and families regularly about student performance so they can help
students make timely adjustments and celebrate growth and achievement. We plan to share student-level
data with families every quarter. A “narrative report card” written by each subject area teacher will
include grades, attendance, and effort/attitude assessments. This document will also include a summary
of progress towards both academic and non-academic goals from each student’s Advisor. We will
maintain data fields that show each student’s “risk factors” (based on Balfanz’s risk indicators) so that
everyone is aware when a student is off-track. We are exploring ways of making these reports available
online so teachers and families can access a longitudinal record of achievement for each student.
BGA’s Accountability Plan (created in conjunction with BPS and DESE during our first year) will outline
the metrics by which our school will be judged vis a vis our mission. We will make our Plan and our
annual progress towards our goals transparent and accessible to all BGA stakeholders and the general
public. This public snapshot of our efforts will include multiple measures of data such as: MCAS data by
subgroup, drop-out and graduation rates, average attendance, course passage, the number of students
exhibiting “risk factors”, and student growth data from DESE. In addition to our yearly “school report
card”, BGA will produce an annual report to the BGA community, the BPS, DESE, and our own Board of
Trustees that will elaborate upon, analyze, and articulate our response to data in the school report card.
This document will be given to every student and family, will be translated into our community’s major
languages.
All BGA stakeholder groups will use student achievement data regularly and for various purposes. The
Board of Trustees will assess BGA’s progress towards fulfilling the terms of our charter and our
mission; evaluate the Headmaster; make high-level decisions about capital and strategic investments and
fundraising; and review any proposed changes to the school’s program. School administrators will
evaluate staff; choose curriculum; make programmatic investments; determine staff development needs;
seek external funding; form partnerships; and manage the school on a day-to-day basis. Teachers will
make instructional choices; target groups or individual students for additional support; engage in inquiry
groups; communicate with parents and students; create support plans for students; and create classroom
experiences that help students succeed. Students will gauge their progress towards and graduation;
identify their social and academic needs; and develop an objective assessment of their growth and their
readiness for each new grade, for college, and for the workforce. Families will gain a clear picture of
their child’s academic and social growth; be able to engage with BGA staff to better advocate for and
support their children; and better understand the school’s educational program and performance.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
25
E. SCHOOL CHARACTERISTICS
School Calendar and Schedule
BGA will make extensive use of its scheduling autonomy to maximize time for in-depth student learning
experiences, sustained high-quality professional development, and community events that promote and
celebrate student achievement. In order to achieve our mission, we will extend our school year for
students to 195 days, which includes a required 15-day Summer Academy before the start of the school
year for incoming 6th and 9th grade students and students in other grades deemed in need of extra support.
All other students will attend a 180-day school year, although we will explore expanding the Summer
Academy to include all students in future years. To support students who demonstrate the most intensive
needs or a desire for accelerated academic opportunities, we will explore collaborating with our partners
to offer Saturday School and Acceleration Academies during school vacation weeks. Additional elements
of our calendar include: required summer professional development time; Project Week in the spring for
middle and high school students to explore in-depth learning experiences of their choosing; new student
overnight retreats; and teacher retreats on shortened days, school vacations, and weekends.
Boston Green Academy’s Daily Block Schedule
Note: DEAR = Drop Everything
And Read
Time
Monday
Time
Tuesday
Time
Wednesday
Time
Thursday
Time
Friday
8:309:20
Advisory
(DEAR)
8:309:40
8:309:20
Advisory
(DEAR)
8:309:40
E
A
9:4210:53
10:5311:58
12:001:00
1:021:31
1:332:33
2:353:35
Faculty
Meeting/
Late
Start for
Students
D
8:309:45
9:2210:37
10:3711:42
11:4412:49
12:511:19
1:212:26
2:283:35
Faculty
Meeting/
Late
Start for
Students
B
9:4710:53
10:5311:58
12:001:05
1:071:38
1:402:43
2:453:35
E
A
B
Lunch
C
D
9:22C
9:4210:37
10:53
B
10:37- C
10:53- D
(DEAR) 11:42
11:58 (DEAR)
C
11:44- D
12:00- A
12:49
1:00
Lunch
12:51- Lunch
1:02Lunch
1:19
1:32
D
1:21E
1:34B
2:26
2:34
E
2:28A
2:36C
3:35
3:35
3:35-4:00 Tutoring and After-school Activities
A
B
Lunch
C
Advisory
(DEAR)
To be responsive to documented adolescent sleep needs and the realities of youth culture, we will
implement a later-starting/later-ending daily block schedule that “tumbles” so that no one class always
occurs first thing in the morning or at the end of the day. As discussed in previous sections, our teachers
will have ample time to plan and assess curriculum, make decisions, and support students collaboratively.
We will hold faculty meetings in the morning on Tuesdays and Thursdays to ensure a uniform end-time
for school every day. We will implement Drop Everything and Read (“DEAR”) five times a week, three
of which will be during Advisory and two of which will occur during core classes on Tuesdays and
Fridays. Our long instructional periods and weekly double-blocks will give BGA teachers time to use
multiple modes of instruction within a single class and to give attention to students who are struggling
with the skills or content of the lesson. Since BGA teachers will have just three classes plus an Advisory,
they will have responsibility for the academic work of 85 students, allowing them to spend more time
with each student. Given what we know about the efficacy of regular contact in supporting young
adolescents, we will re-work the middle school block schedule to allow Advisory to meet every day for
shorter amounts of time than the three-times-per-week Advisory schedule in the high school. The
frequency of middle school advisor-advisee contact will allow our middle school faculty to monitor,
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
26
assess, and support our youngest students more thoroughly, reinforce academic skill development, and
create opportunities for culture-building and recreation that will enhance our students’ academic
achievement.
Admission to BGA
In accordance with Massachusetts Law and DESE Regulations, students will be admitted to BGA by
lottery (see appendices for our detailed Enrollment Plan). However, we guarantee all students from the
closed BPS high school a seat at BGA and we are committed to helping all of them successfully move
through the enrollment process. In the BGA lottery, students from the closed BPS high school will have
first priority, siblings of those students will have second priority, students enrolled in the Boston Public
Schools will have third priority, and fourth and final priority will be given to any student residing in the
City of Boston. All applicants must fill out an application and meet all deadlines in order to participate in
the lottery. We expect that for our opening year the vast majority of seats in grades 10-12 will be filled by
students from the closed BPS high school. All 9th grade seats and any open seats in other grades will be
filled by lottery and wait list procedures.
Boston Green Academy’s Collaborating Partners/External Programs
Our rich collaborating partners will provide valuable supports, programs, and opportunities to our
students, staff, and families. Their commitments to BGA are detailed in the “Summary of Partnerships”
in the appendices.
Daily and weekly organization of students and faculty
BGA students will be grouped into multi-year Advisories and multi-year looping “Houses” (small
learning communities with distinct identities and staff), which will reduce student and staff anonymity;
create a core academic and student support team that knows each student and family well; increase staff
accountability; create healthy competition within the school; and ensure that no student falls through the
cracks. As discussed in the Special Student Population section below, all BGA classes will be grouped
heterogeneously so students can learn from their peers and avoid the negative experiences associated with
tracked classes. Our rotating schedule will allow each course to meet for a double-block once per week,
enabling quality science labs in addition to extended activities in other courses.
Methods and strategies for supporting students with a wide range of needs
In order to meet the social, emotional, and academic needs of our students, we will build upon Fenway’s
successful student support platform, which minimizes the number of students per counselor
(approximately 100 to 1) and allows for students who need it to receive more intensive case management.
At full capacity, we will have at least four full-time counselors (2 female and 2 male) on the Student
Support Team (SST), a significant investment that matches our belief in the centrality of student support
to our school’s success. Employing approaches that weave prevention, intervention, and recuperation,
BGA’s SST will be responsible for creating the trauma-informed culture we seek and for advising the
Headmaster regarding all issues of student well-being, including the resources needed to support students
and staff in coping with students’ out-of-school lives and planning for “life after Boston Green
Academy”. In assembling our SST, we will recruit, hire, and retain counselors who reflect the class,
racial and ethnic, and linguistic diversity of our student body. The SST will collaborate closely with the
Department of Social Services case workers, the Boston Department of Youth Services, representatives of
the Community Based Juvenile Justice Round Tables, parents, legal guardians, and other community
organizations serving youth. These contacts will expand the impact counselors can make alone in our
school setting and will create a seamless network of support in and out of school.
Group counseling will be offered for both the middle and high school population. Organized by gender as
well as age and facilitated by BGA staff with support from SST, boys and girls groups will address
relevant and developmentally appropriate topics (e.g., community violence, grief, divorce, kinship care,
self-esteem, substance abuse, and healthy living). BGA peer counselors, trained and supervised by our
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
27
Student Support Counselors, will facilitate peer mediation and restorative justice sessions during Town
Meeting, Advisory, and before/after school so the academic achievement of participants is not interrupted.
Academic support for students will be the main concern of classroom teachers, Advisors, and the
Learning Center staff. In addition, SST staff will facilitate peer mentoring between upperclassmen and
underclassmen and in Advisory throughout the school year. Student Support Counselors and Advisors
will discuss academic concerns of students and mediate any teacher-student conflicts. Student Support
Counselors will also be co-Advisors to the 6th, 9th, and 12th grade Advisory classes, ensuring additional
support and expertise at those critical developmental junctures.
Special Education students’ and English Language Learners’ (ELLs) needs will be met through close
collaboration among Student Support Counselors, the Special Education Coordinator, parents, Advisors,
Learning Center staff, and teachers. Diverse learners will receive appropriate academic support though
before- and after-school tutoring, teacher mentorship, and course and teacher assignments. ELLs and
students who have IEPs will have access to services in the school’s Learning Center (LC). Equipped with
high- medium-, and low-tech learning tools, the LC will offer academic support during and after school.
BGA will hire and retain LC staff and other faculty who are Special Education certified and ESL licensed
or category trained. LC staff and our partner organizations will lead professional development on
inclusive practices, effective modifications and adaptations, Sheltered English Instruction, and UDL and
graphic design strategies. ELLs will be assisted by their teachers to access the curriculum and will be
given all supports to which they are entitled by law.
Some of our additional support strategies include: single-sex activities (e.g., boys’ retreats, girls’ groups)
and courses (e.g., single-sex math classes in middle school) and affinity groups for students of specific
racial and ethnic backgrounds. In addition, all teachers will incorporate culturally proficient methods of
serving struggling students and the principles of UDL and graphic design into their teaching practice.
A “typical” day for a Boston Green Academy student
Terrence is a 9th grader in Alpha House who failed many of his core academic classes in the 8th grade at
his former school. He gets to school just as first period is about to begin and is greeted by Mr. James, the
Student Support Coordinator, who shakes his hand and acknowledges his effort to get to school on time
despite the heavy rain. Terrence’s Advisor, Ms. Varela, meets him at the door and steers him to the circle
where his 14 classmates are sitting and writing. He likes that Ms. Varela doesn’t “put him out there” for
being late. Terrence slaps hands quietly with some of his friends and takes his seat. Joceneia whispers
that they are working on making a list of things that they did well first term and need to do better to be
more successful in the second marking term. After he finishes and checks his list, he pulls out Drown, the
book Ms. Varela recommended to him for Drop Everything and Read. Terrence uses a yellow “reading
helper” to track the text. He is so engrossed in the book that he is surprised how quickly Advisory ends.
Ms. Varela is also Terrence’s Foundations of Literacy teacher, so he stays in her room for the next block.
He’s glad to see Mr. James at the door with juice and a raisin bagel. Terrence gobbles down his breakfast
and gets his thumb drive out of his bag. In his electronic portfolio, he opens the file he needs to update
the language in the fight scene between the two families in Romeo and Juliet for a contemporary urban
audience. At first he thought the play was “mad corny”, but Ms. Varela made it fun by asking them to do
choral reading and by drawing visual representations of unfamiliar words and phrases on the whiteboard.
Using headphones to listen to the text of what he has written read aloud by a text reader, Terrence begins
editing the parts of his M.E.A.L. graphic organizer that don’t seem to “flow”.
In Humanities, he participates in the first half of the double block in a Graded Seminar about the
mistreatment of Native Americans in the Caribbean by European colonialists. “That’s just YOUR
perspective,” he says to Kevin. “There’s no evidence in this reading that THEY thought it was wrong.”
He thinks the reading might have something to do with the essential question for the year his teacher
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
28
posted in the front of the room. In the second half of the block after lunch, Mr. Minnitti asks him to take
notes for the Graded Seminar on the laptop connected to an LCD projector. Terrence likes this role since
he usually remembers more of what he has learned in class when he takes notes with the class computer.
In Foundations of Math, he joins his Engineering Group that has been designing a physical model for a
“green” roof for the community center in his neighborhood. At first, he didn’t like the environmental
theme of the school and was angry that his mom had made him come, but now he sees it isn’t all about
saving the polar bears and he has started to be more interested in all the different types of jobs you can do
that he never even knew about. Math used to be his weakest subject in middle school, but Mr. Blanton
always finds ways of explaining things that makes sense to him.
After school, he changes into sweats and goes to his capoeira class Mr. James teaches. It feels good to
break a sweat before he heads home on the train to take care of his little brother and prepare for his Math
exhibition. He makes up his mind to get to school on time tomorrow, but for now all he’s thinking about
is getting his ducks and kicks right when it’s his turn to be tapped into the capoeira circle.
A “typical” BGA teacher’s day
Ms. Fortas is a 9th grade Advisor and Humanities teacher. Before school she adapts materials for her
students with her intern from Tufts. Based on their anticipation that their students will struggle to
understand Shakespearean language in Romeo and Juliet, they decide to create a multimedia presentation
that includes a clip from the film version set in contemporary Los Angeles. She will project the
presentation so that students can interact with the text and the film by writing responses on the
whiteboard. At the faculty meeting, “green” job opportunities through the Mayor’s office are discussed
before a discussion of first quarter data with the other 9th grade teachers. Ms. Fortas leaves with a list of
three of her advisees whose families she needs to call. After the meeting, Ms. Fortas greets students in
the hallway as they file to their first period classes. She doesn’t have a double-block class, so she takes a
few minutes to make sure her advisees get to their classes on time before making her parent phone calls,
logging the results of her conversations in the SIMS database, and finishing her planning with her intern.
After her classroom visit debrief with Mr. Campana, the Assistant Headmaster, who observed her clas s
and gave her helpful feedback on “checking for understanding”, an area of her practice she identified as
needing some attention, Ms. Fortas heads to lunch to eat with some of the students in her girls group. The
girls tell her about a problem they’re having with another group of girls who have been spreading rumors
that they are lesbians. Once she establishes that there is no immediate danger, Ms. Fortas convinces them
to talk with Ms. Valencia, their Student Support Counselor, after school.
In C-Block, she presents the Romeo and Juliet lesson, to which her students respond enthusiastically—
except Dante, who has recently become sullen and withdrawn after a very strong start first quarter. She
resolves to check with Dante’s other teachers and call his mom that night. Ms. Fortas teaches her DBlock class and makes a few adjustments based on the previous class and Mr. Campana’s
recommendations. All students appear to be engaged in the activity; a quick scan of their “Tickets to
Leave” suggests that they all were able to adapt the language of the scene without losing the meaning.
After school, Ms. Fortas and Ms. Valencia meet with the girls from lunch to hear more about what is
going on. When one of the girls calls one of the other girls an inappropriate name, Ms. Valencia reminds
her that there is “No shame, blame, or attack at this school” and works out a plan to bring all the girls
together with a peer mediator. “In the meantime,” Ms. Fortas adds, “Do the right thing, OK?”
“Yesssssss, miss,” the girls say with a smile. A few minutes later, Ms. Fortas leads a yoga class for ten
students and a few of her colleagues before picking up her daughter from daycare.
The culture of Boston Green Academy
Boston Green Academy will be collaborative, respectful, resourceful, hard-working, and culturally
competent. We will be united in our focus on healthy human development and excellent teaching and
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
29
learning. We will create an authentic environment that is optimistic, fun, invitational, caring, and
adaptable. We will maintain the dignity and worth of each individual without losing focus on the needs
and priorities of the school as a whole. Members of our community will think of BGA as a safe place
where interesting things worth doing happen all the time. We will cultivate a culture of risk-taking,
problem-solving, compassion, and resilience. Students, staff, and families will be known well and will
fiercely maintain the fabric of the community when it is threatened. We will also work diligently to
establish this culture among the students from the closed BPS high school through special programs and
events. There are many systems and structures that we will employ to ensure that the culture of Boston
Green Academy is vibrant, systematic, and automatic. Some of these elements (e.g., Habits of Mind,
Safety Guidelines, interdisciplinary studies, external partnerships, Advisory, multi-year looping, our
“green” theme, the House system, our student support structure, etc.) are described throughout this
prospectus. A plan for the establishment and maintenance of the BGA’s culture after the school has
received its charter is outlined below.
" January/February/March 2012: Board Strategic Planning Retreat; recruit and hire leadership and
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staff with mission in mind; community meetings/media campaign to get word out about BGA; recruit
students and families; information sessions for students and families at the closing BPS high school
with focus on building a new culture and navigating the enrollment process
April 2012: home visits to new 9th grade students’ homes to promote family-school partnership and
Summer Academy participation; partner retreat and orientation to school practices
May/June 2012: Family Retreat—asset mapping, needs assessment, resources and available support;
First Staff Retreat/induction: build trust and common purpose/language; interact with
partners/available community resources; focus on team building, experiential learning; Professional
Development Series led by BGA staff and partners on core BGA practices begins; Outreach to and
events for students of the closing BPS high school who will enroll at BGA
July/August 2012: Summer Academy—induction & culture building, academic assessment, and
Summer “House Games”; Second Staff Retreat: focus on planning, professional development, and
designing welcoming environments; Second Family Retreat—welcome and orientation to newer
families, school systems and practices fully explained, “phone tree”/family support cohorts
established
September 2012: On-site Student Orientation; launch Advisory/BGA Family Groups, “Houses”,
Weekly Town Meetings; visible presence of collaborative partners; off-site activities RE:
green/community activism
October 2012: Monthly student self-assessments begin; Family-staff potluck: progress reports and
study skills strategies; Fall “House Games”
November 2012: Family-staff potluck: student-led First Quarter Review and Growth Plans; 1st
Partner Roundtable
December 2012: Family-staff potluck: Math Exhibitions; Vacation Programming: mix of fun,
remediation/skill building, and interesting off-site academic experiences (some facilitated by partners)
January 2013: Family-staff potluck: student-led Mid-Year Review and Growth Plans; 2nd Partner
Roundtable; Staff Retreat: “State of BGA”
February 2013: Family-staff potluck—Humanities Exhibitions: Black History Month Celebration
and Performances; Vacation Programming: remediation/skill building, Winter “House Games”, and
interesting off-site academic experiences (some facilitated by partners)
March 2013: Family-staff potluck: student-led third quarter assessment review and growth plans; 3rd
Partner Roundtable; Student-, staff- and family-led recruitment outreach to prospective families and
students; Recruit and hire additional staff with mission in mind
April 2013: Family-staff potluck: welcome new faculty; Vacation Programming: mix of fun,
remediation/skill building, and interesting off-site academic experiences (some facilitated by
partners); Recruit and hire additional staff with mission in mind; Portfolio revision begins
May/June 2013: Home visits to new 6th and 9th grade students’ homes who will enter in the fall; New
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Staff Retreat/Induction; Science Fair; End-of-Year Partner Roundtable; Family-staff potluck:
Caregiver Celebration/Student-led Portfolio Review & Growth Plans; “Stepping Up” promotion
ceremony followed by Spring “House Games”; New Family Retreat
Student Behavior and Discipline
In order to meet Boston Green Academy’s vision and goals, we will create a safe, caring, and productive
community for all students. The school’s disciplinary approach is built upon a foundation of
collaboration, trauma-readiness, and respect—toward teachers and administrators, toward fellow students,
for each other’s differences and cultures, and toward the school community. Indeed, many of the
structures and habits of our school regarding student behavior will be led, modeled, and enforced by our
students themselves. Over time, BGA’s upper-house students will be expected to assume an increasing
amount of responsibility in this regard.
All BGA students will feel safe at school, and all students will be held accountable for their behavior.
Any transgression that endangers a community member’s safety—either physical or emotional—will be
dealt with in a firm, constructive manner. A significant way to instill respect toward the community and
community members is to instill the sense that students are stakeholders in the school. Rules are not
arbitrary and are not in place to oppress students. Rules are in place to assure a harmonious community,
where learning and high achievement are paramount. The Town Meeting is the initial place where
students will see how these rules govern their community and their own behavior within it.
Because of our deep commitment to student support and the systems we will put in place to ensure the
development and maintenance of trusting relationships across the school community, we will anticipate
and preempt a number of potential conflicts. Through Advisory, the Student Support Office, our
relationships with families and community-based organizations, and students’ individual relationships
with faculty and school leadership, we will create an environment in which students and community
members proactively communicate traumatic events in the community such as shootings, loss of loved
ones, eviction, etc. to adults in the school community. Errant school behavior often follows immediately
after a traumatic personal or community event. As a “trauma-ready” school, BGA will be prepared to
respond to these traumatic events and to prevent them from resulting in disruptive behavior and
disciplinary action on behalf of the school. This proactive, collaborative approach will make it much
easier for teaching and learning to take place.
BPS Code of Conduct
Since BGA will be part of the Boston Public Schools, all students will abide by the Boston Public
Schools’ Code of Conduct. A copy of the letter acknowledging understanding of the Code of Conduct
and agreeing that the student will abide by its parameters must be signed by each student and his/her
parent or guardian and be on file in the BGA office by the start of Summer Academy. Students’
constitutional rights (e.g., due process, freedom of expression, orderly assembly, privacy of person,
freedom from discrimination, and so forth) will, of course, be maintained. Students with disabilities will
be held to the same high standards of good community membership as all other students. BGA’s teaching
staff will ensure that students’ disabilities and the frustrations that sometimes emerge as a result of a
failure to make academic progress do not get misdiagnosed as a lack of caring on behalf of the students.
In all discipline proceedings, BGA staff will be aware of students’ disabilities and will determine whether
a student’s disruptive behavior is a manifestation of his/her disabilities. In all cases, the school will seek
to implement an approach to discipline that is progressive, restorative, and focused on strategies for deescalation and dealing productively with frustration, disrespect, and differences of opinion.
Town Meetings
Since we are proposing to start a new school, we are keenly aware of the need to establish the proper tone
and culture in the school from the outset. Summer Academy will provide a unique opportunity to shape
the school’s culture in ways that will have a lasting positive impact for years to come. With this in mind,
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BGA faculty, leadership, families, and students will work together in a deliberate way within the context
of the school’s first Town Meetings to develop the school’s norms, values, and rules in these early weeks.
Subsequently, at the start of each school year, the school will hold an initial Town
Meeting where some school-wide policies will be set for the coming year. By bringing the school
community together to discuss these policies, we will begin the process of defining students as members
of the school community and as stakeholders in its success. Students, administrators, faculty members,
Board members, and parents will be invited to take part in the initial Town Meeting.
Through the opportunity to discuss policies, students will be exposed to the rationale behind proposed
rules, which otherwise may seem arbitrary and unfair to them. They will have the chance to co-develop
the rules in this public forum and to propose constructive alternatives when they disagree with a rule that
is proposed by the faculty, families, or administration. Thenceforth, students will be held—and will hold
themselves and each other—to the standards that they themselves agreed to and helped to define at the
outset. Our hope is that this level of involvement will reduce infractions and will make rule enforcement
easier on staff, families, and other students.
Each subsequent quarterly Town Meeting will start with a review of the previous quarter’s policies.
Community members will have the opportunity to reflect on the school’s policies—as well as the
infractions and consequences since the last meeting— and to propose changes. At the start of each Town
Meeting, faculty and administrators will clearly define the parameters of the policy discussion, i.e., which
policies are negotiable and which are not. They are encouraged to leave as much up to discussion as they
find acceptable. Following each Town Meeting, the agreed-upon policies will be written in the form of a
contract to be signed by each student.
Over time, we will train and support our students to facilitate most of the Town Meetings, thereby
reinforcing their stake in the school and providing them with meaningful, authentic opportunities to
prepare for their participation in the wider democratic community.
Student Support Office
Students who demonstrate consistent misbehavior despite repeated attempts at reconciliation and positive
intervention will be referred to the Student Support Office, which will specialize in case management and
coordination with and referral to social services as appropriate. “Level A” transgressions will be handled
directly by the Student Support Team. Student Support will handle discipline regarding “Level B”
transgressions in consultation with the staff member or administrator involved. Teachers may also elect to
handle Level B transgressions themselves.
Exclusion from Class
There will be times when a teacher feels that a student must leave the room during an instructional period.
This decision may result from a disagreement, a lack of student participation, manifest disrespect, etc. A
teacher, administrator, or other staff member always has the right and the authority to ask a student to
leave any area of the school, and the student must do so immediately and without delay or disruption.
Students can and should use their rights to challenge a staff member’s request after the fact and through
proper channels. Violations of this rule are considered a Level A transgression.
There may also be times when a student feels that he or she cannot remain in class without being
disruptive to other students. Students have the right to ask a teacher, in private, for permission to leave the
class to seek out an advisor, administrator, or a Student Support Counselor. However, students may only
leave class with the permission of the teacher. Students will not be disciplined for asking to leave class.
All students have a right to appeal disciplinary action, or a request to leave a class, to their Advisor or
Student Support Counselor. They can also request a conference with a teacher to address the issue.
Students will not be disciplined for exercising their right to appeal.
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Transgression Levels
Level A: Serious Transgressions
Infractions that violate the law or that endanger community members’ safety include:
• Acts of violence—real, attempted, or threatened
• Violations of state and federal law
• Failure to leave a space when requested by staff
• Repeated instances of Level B transgressions
Disciplinary measures following a Level A transgression may include:
• Suspension
• Expulsion
• Student Support may offer peer mediation or another restorative option as an alternative to suspension
or expulsion
Level B1: Non-Negotiable Medium Transgressions
These infractions include transgressions that do not immediately endanger the community’s safety but are
nevertheless serious. They violate rules that are not negotiable at Town Meeting and will have been
defined by the founding faculty before the first Town Meeting. These transgressions may include:
• Insubordination
• Disrespect
• Oppression, including oppressive speech and actions
• Violation of students’ and teachers’ fundamental rights
• Intentional academic dishonesty
• Persistent interference with the learning of others
Level B2: Negotiable Medium Transgressions
These are subject to negotiation at Town Meeting:
• Repeated instances of Level C transgressions
• Violation of students’ and teachers’ rights, as defined at Town Meeting
Disciplinary measures following a B1 or B2 transgression may include:
• Student/teacher meetings
• Student/teacher/parent meetings
• Student Support intervention
• Peer mediation
• Joint projects (in cases where there is conflict between/among community members)
• In-school suspension—reflective time; opportunity to rectify offense
• Following two or more collaborative interventions following level B transgressions, Student Support
may opt for out-of-school suspension or expulsion.
Level C: Minor Transgressions
• Minor disruptive behavior in class
• Violations of policies negotiated at Town Meeting, e.g., hats, gum, use of electronics, etc.
• Missing homework
• Class cutting
Disciplinary measures following a Level C transgression may include:
• Reminder from staff of school covenants, signed contract
• Rectification (e.g., public apology, completing work covered in class during a disruption)
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• Completion of homework, plus additional assignments
Proportional Disciplinary Response
All BGA staff members will be expected to exercise proper judgment when disciplining a student, in
accordance with the transgression classifications outlined above. Staff will implement disciplinary action
in proportion to the transgression committed. Students have the right to appeal disproportionate
disciplinary action. In the case of a disproportionate response to a student transgression, staff may be
asked to rectify that response. In some instances, flagrant or repeated disproportionate staff responses may
be construed as compromising the physical or emotional safety of students and will be dealt with
accordingly.
Consistency across Classrooms
Though some teachers may have special requirements for their classrooms, BGA faculty will be mindful
of maintaining consistent policies across classrooms. For many students coming from environments of
disorder, it can be difficult to abide by policies that conflict from one classroom to the next. Many of
these issues can and will be resolved within the context of each House within the school.
Teachers will be encouraged to raise their ideas for classroom policies in the Town Meeting. If a teacher
feels the need to apply a new policy in the middle of the year, though s/he will have the freedom and
authority to implement rules, s/he will be expected to explain and discuss the change with the class before
its implementation.
Family Partnership at BGA
BGA believes that authentic family partnership is essential for the academic success of our students.
Because our Board and Founding Group contain a number of members who are parents of school-age
children, we know that all families and community members need an authentic voice in the school. We
have actively sought design advice regarding best practices in family partnership from local and national
experts such as Dr. Karen Mapp at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Charlotte Spinkston, a
Founding Group member and the Executive Director of Urban PRIDE, an organization that advocates for
the needs of families of students with disabilities, contributed substantially to the school’s design. Our
approach to family and community partnership rests largely on two critical best practices: 1. Explicitly
linking family and community partnership activities to academic achievement, and 2. Determining what
our families and community members need from the school and what they have to offer to the school and
using that information to inform our family and community partnership practices as well as what we do
generally at the school.
To that end, BGA will hire a Headmaster who is committed to family and community partnership best
practices and understands their connection to student achievement. In addition, BGA will hire a Family
Liaison Coordinator (FLC) to manage family outreach and focus on meeting the needs of the family
members. Our FLC will be a member of our Leadership Team and will coordinate family engagement
across the school, including building capacity of faculty to partner with families. BGA’s FLC, Advisors,
and Student Support Counselors will provide health service and other resource referrals to families. The
FLC will seek to coordinate transportation for families who need it to enable them to attend school
activities. BGA will employ phone conferences and parent activities held within students’ neighborhoods
to reach parents whose students are struggling academically. We will work diligently to ensure that
outreach, engagement, and intervention will be tailored to our families’ cultural and linguistic needs.
Caregivers will be recruited to join the Family Council, which will be run by our FLC.
Consistent with best practices nationally, we will share tools with caregivers about how to
support students when they aren’t in school. Each year, BGA will conduct a family needs and
assets inventory. This survey will ask family members to tell us what specific supports they need
and want, what can they contribute to the school community and their child’s education, and how
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the school’s staff can be helpful to them. We will align the data from our annual needs and assets
inventory with our whole-school goals. Students’ work will go home regularly with scoring
guides attached and parents will be invited to review this work with their children’s teachers.
Student-led family-teacher conferences will be held twice a year. Parents will be invited to be
active participants and evaluators during Math Night, Humanities Exhibitions, Science Fair, etc.
We will establish a Family Center, which will be open to families throughout the school day, after
school, and during vacations. Our Family Center will serve as a one-stop information depot for
our families and will include a lending library on topics that are of interest to families. We will
regularly honor families’ contributions to the life of our school in our publications and public
ceremonies. At a minimum, BGA teachers and Advisors will contact families monthly to discuss
student progress. If it is agreeable to the family, we will make home visits to every new family in
our school community within the first month of a student’s arrival at our school. If a home visit
is not appropriate or possible, we will look for ways to arrange a meeting close to the student’s
home. At school events, we will ensure that translators and trained Student Government
babysitters are available. Going forward, we intend to deepen our formal collaboration with
family engagement organizations and experts such as Boston Parent Organizing Network, Boston
Special Education Parent Advisory Council, La Alianza Hispana, and Michele Brooks, BPS
Assistant Academic Superintendent for Family and Student Engagement.
Parental Feedback
Parental feedback about their satisfaction with their children’s education is of paramount importance to
Boston Green Academy. Understanding the socio-cultural diversity of our school, we will gather this
feedback in a variety of ways—through formal surveys (both written and online); parent “straw polls”
using “clicker” technology at BGA family events; through a dedicated voice mail box and a dedicated email for family comments, questions, and concerns; through family conferences; and through family
participation in formal governance structures at the school (e.g., Family Council, Board of Trustees, etc.).
Family satisfaction results will be publicized on the school’s website; in all meetings and public
documents of the Board of Trustees, including the Annual Report; in the school’s recruitment materials
and grant applications; in gatherings of the full faculty for professional development and the Leadership
Team, as appropriate; and in all school newsletters and other formal publications.
F. SPECIAL STUDENT POPULATIONS AND STUDENT SERVICES
BGA is committed to serving the full population of students in Boston, which includes significant
numbers of English Language Learners (ELLs) and students with special needs/disabilities, and strongly
believes the best way to do this is to integrate these students into supportive regular education classrooms
as much as possible. This “mainstreaming” approach, combined with a continuum of more specialized
support, insures that our ELL and SPED students, including all of those from the closed BPS high school,
will have full access to the regular, rigorous BGA curriculum and all the services and supports they are
entitled to. We believe that SPED and ELL supports are services, not dead-end destinations, and that our
special student populations can achieve, with support, at the same level as their regular education peers.
Our plan to support both groups, in compliance with all state and federal laws and regulations, is
summarized below:
Services for All Students
All of our general education curricula and classroom experiences will be deliberately designed to serve
the needs of all students, including those of special student populations. To do this, BGA will train all
staff in the “Response to Intervention” model of tiered supports for all students. In general, the RTI
approach at BGA comprises the following:
DESIGN FOR RESPONSIVE GENERAL EDUCATION CLASSROOMS – “TIER I”
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We believe that what is good for Special Education students is good for all students: personalized, quality
support provided without shame or stigma helps students succeed. Therefore, all BGA classes will be
heterogeneously grouped so that students can learn from their peers and avoid the negative experiences
and performance associated with segregated, tracked classes (where classes differentiate in terms of
content, such as AP or advanced math courses, they will be open to anyone who is interested and/or
capable of attempting the work). All general education teachers will provide support for different learning
styles, teach using technology and multiple modalities, and provide accessible assignments and supports
to all students.
To the extent possible and except where it is prohibited by a student’s IEP, we will include all students
with disabilities into general classrooms, providing “push-in” support. In cases where students require
special services, we will provide them in the least restrictive environment possible. To do this, we will
rely upon the structures and systems that have been described in previous sections: utilizing the
technology and support offered by the Learning Center (LC), the Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
program, Graphic Design training (GD), the Student Support Team (SST), trauma protocol training,
careful monitoring of student progress, Advisory, and our Foundations classes. All teachers will also take
the ELL Category Training required by the BPS so that they may support ELLs in a general education
setting. These Tier I services will allow almost all of our SPED and most ELL students (depending on
their level of fluency in English) to access the general education curriculum.
DESIGN FOR GENERAL EDUCATION CLASSROOMS – “TIER II”
Some students will require additional support within or in addition to the general education classroom in
order to succeed. An example of such Tier II support would be differentiated groups for reading in
Humanities, highly scaffolded materials for a student project in Science, or the Foundations of Reading
course (designed for students who are reading significantly below grade level and who lack the ability to
decode unfamiliar words for reading and spelling). Students will be identified in the summer of their
incoming year to assess their literacy needs and will be placed in this class in place of Foundations of
Literacy. Research-based adolescent reading interventions, such as Wilson Reading System and Reading
Recovery will be used. These methods empower struggling readers to increase overall reading fluency
and to incorporate new and useful reading strategies into their core classes. The SST will determine when
additional support is required to address specific skill areas, and this support will be provided in the LC
through tutoring and technology, such as Lexia Reading software for phonetic and comprehension support
and FASST Math software for math remediation. For ELLs, an example of Tier II support would be an
ESL class in addition to their Humanities class (see specific ELL supports listed below).
DESIGN FOR “TIER III” SUPPORTS
Tier III supports are for students who primarily require separate, specific instruction outside of the regular
education classroom. With UDL, LC specialists, and support from Special Education staff, nearly all
students with disabilities in BGA will be included in general education classes. Exceptions are students
who must take the Foundations of Reading class and those who will take Foundations of Mathematical
Thinking (a similar course for students who cannot do the work required in a basic on-grade-level math
class upon entry to BGA). BGA will strive to support students with disabilities in part by building a coteaching model across the school with two adults in each classroom; those two adults could be an intern
and a mentor teacher, a special educator and a general education teacher, or a general education teacher
and a paraprofessional. The Special Education Coordinator, related service providers, and at least six
Special Education teachers will provide additional support once the school is at full capacity.
The LC staff will support the BGA community by: coordinating students’ services, IEPs, and meetings;
ensuring that the key aspects of students’ IEPs will be highlighted on a single, summary sheet and shared
with all teachers who service the student; delivering quality professional development; providing push-in
and pull-out support for students who need it; planning and strategizing with teachers about how to best
serve all students; providing a space for students to study with support and assistive technologies;
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facilitating partnerships with universities, community organizations, and volunteers to provide staff
development and tutoring for students; and working closely with the BPS Office of Special Education and
Student Supports to provide appropriate related services—e.g., Speech and Language (S/L), Occupational
Therapy (OT), Physical Therapy (PT), psychological services (including assessment, consultation, and
individual and group therapy), etc.—and any assistive technologies required by students’ IEPs.
For ELL students, an example of Tier III supports would be the separate ESL class required for students
with very low levels of English proficiency (see below for details). The curriculum in that course will
focus on English acquisition through content-based learning, a necessary prerequisite for participation in a
regular Humanities courses.
The effectiveness of Tier III interventions will be evaluated through a variety of progress monitoring data,
e.g., LC and SST reports and SIMS data, formative and summative assessment data, IEP progress reports,
etc. Information will also be collected via ongoing teacher, student, and parent feedback, including
observations, grades, parent/teacher conferences, student/teacher conferences, and staff consultations.
Other indicators of the success of these services will include data regarding reduction in services, in
length of services, and in intensity of interventions.
Services for English Language Learners
BGA will fully support all students with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) as required by state and
federal laws, DESE regulations, and also in accordance with federal Department of Justice monitoring of
ELLs in the Boston Public Schools. All potential LEP students (as identified by a home language survey
or other information) will be assessed upon entry to BGA using the Language Assessment Scales test and
by state MEPA and MELA-O exams each year. All students from the closed BPS high school will
maintain their levels of support. The following services will be provided to ELL students at BGA based
on data from these assessments:
English Language
Development (ELD) level
Level 1-2
Assessment Scores
Supports and Services Provided
!
!
MEPA level 1&2
LAS “Not Proficient”
Level 3
!
!
MEPA Level 3
LAS “Approaching
Proficiency”
Level 4-5
!
!
Formerly Limited English
Proficient (FLEP)
!
MEPA Level 4&5
LAS “Approaching
Proficiency” +
proficient/advanced on
the MCAS exams
LAS Speaking (8+) and
LAS Listening (5+)
2.5 hours/day of separate ESL instruction taught by
an ESL certified teacher & content area teachers
trained in Category 1,2 and 4 professional
development (Tier III RTI supports)
1 hour/day of separate ESL instruction taught by an
ESL certified teacher & content are teachers trained
in Category 1,2 and 4 professional development
(Tier III RTI supports)
2.5 hrs of ESL support per week embedded in
Humanities and Foundations of Literacy courses
(Tier II RTI supports)
Students who attain FLEP status do not require any
additional supports beyond those provided in the
general education setting (Tier I RTI supports)
Note: This is aligned with the BPS policy for ELL assessment and services
Because of the importance of serving ELLs well, BGA has agreed to a discretionary purchase of BPS
services from the Office of English Language Learning Services (OELLS) in order to support this work.
OELLS will assist with assessment, professional development, and technical support to insure that every
member of our school can support ELLs legally and effectively.
To ensure strong ELL services at BGA, at least two ESL-certified teachers in our first year will teach ESL
pull-out courses (an RTI Tier III strategy). These ESL courses will meet for 1-2 blocks per day using a
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content-based ESL curriculum and meeting the standards set out in the Massachusetts English Language
Benchmarks and Proficiency Outcomes (ELPBO) for ELLs. These teachers will also teach our World
Languages courses (for salaries please see our budget appendices). One of these teachers will have a
course release in order to provide ongoing coaching, planning, and professional development to staff who
teach ELLs within the general population (this person will be the Qualified MELA-O trainer for BGA and
administer ELL testing each year). By Year Four, we expect to have at least six ESL-certified World
Languages/ESL teachers and we will have our entire staff Category trained each year from Year One
onward (it will be preferred for new hires in subsequent years). Ultimately, all BGA teachers who teach
ELL students will be either ESL licensed or category-trained. Depending on our enrollment, we may need
to develop a language-specific SEI program, but our initial plan is to offer a multilingual ESL program.
While the Assistant Headmaster is responsible for the day-to-day quality of ELL services, the ESL and
SEI programs will be evaluated by the Board of Trustees Teaching & Learning subcommittee, the BGA
Leadership Team and the Headmaster and Assistant Headmaster. Collectively, they will examine student
gains in ELD categories, formative and summative assessments, attendance, and other markers of
achievement in order to assess and improve the effectiveness of our ELL services.
Services for Special Education Students
In addition to the supports mentioned above through RTI, BGA will offer a strong set of services
specifically for Special Education students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs). The Coordinator
of Special Education, a certified special educator and administrator, will oversee all aspects of our SPED
program, including compliance with all federal and state laws and regulations (such as IDEA and Mass.
General Law c.71B, viz., 603 CMR 28.00), identification and assessment of students with disabilities, and
delivery of support services by SPED staff at BGA. Specifically, the Coordinator will administer all
testing for students to determine their eligibility for an IEP. Some of the SPED Teachers (Resource or
Substantially Separate) will assist with this process. Once students are assessed, the Coordinator will
write, manage, and share IEPs with all necessary BGA staff to ensure that the provisions of the IEP are
honored in all classes. Students with IEPs from the closed BPS high school will maintain their supports,
although their IEPs will be reviewed upon enrollment in BGA.
As per federal law (IDEA), all students will be placed in the least restrictive environment possible using
the RTI framework described above. In most cases, this will be the general education classroom and all
BGA teachers will be trained in numerous pedagogies that support students with disabilities in
heterogeneous classrooms (UDL, GD, VTS, and RTI, all of which are detailed above and in other
sections). SPED Resource Teachers and/or Paraprofessionals will work as push-in supports to provide
specialized instruction, if needed, for students with disabilities and assistive technology will be available
to all students (such as Kurweil, Alphasmarts, etc.). BGA will offer separate SPED Resource Room
classes during one block of a student’s schedule as needed to support general education work (RTI Tier
II). BGA plans to dedicate staff (up to four at maximum enrollment) to provide substantially separate selfcontained SPED classrooms for students whose IEPs require it (for salaries and titles of all staff, please
see the budget appendices and staffing chart). As always, the goal will be to give all students maximum
access to the general curriculum no matter what the setting and to help students move towards selfmanagement of their disabilities whenever possible. Given the over-diagnosis of students with disabilities
in Boston and most urban districts, BGA will continually monitor students with disabilities to assess
whether they have been properly placed and will work with families to determine the least restrictive
environment possible, including demission from SPED when appropriate.
Evaluation of BGA’s SPED program will come from three areas: The Teaching and Learning
subcommittee of the Board of Trustees, the Headmaster and Assistant Headmaster, and our external
partners. The Board subcommittee will look at the results, expenses, and general quality of the program as
it helps inform the Board as a whole about how to invest its resources to best serve our mission. The
Headmaster and Assistant Headmaster will focus on the quality of classroom instruction, identify the
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professional development needed by all staff to best serve SPED students, and set evaluation goals for all
staff who deliver SPED services. Finally, our partners such as URBAN Pride and professional developers
who specialize in RTI or UDL will be called upon to regularly assess the quality of our SPED program in
order to strengthen it over time. BGA will also invite representatives from the BPS, DESE, and our higher
education partners to work with us to design the best possible special education services.
Special Education Staffing Levels
Boston Green Academy SPED Staffing Plan
Area
Teachers
Special Education Coordinator
(Licensed for SPED teaching and
SPED administration)
SPED Resource Teacher
(Licensed for SPED-Moderate
or Severe Disabilities or other
appropriate categories)
SPED Teacher (Sub. Sep.)
(Licensed for SPED-Moderate
or Severe Disabilities or other
appropriate categories)
SPED Paraprofessional
(required license)
Year One
Grades
9-12
1
Year Two
Grades
6, 9-12
1
Year Three
Grades
6-7, 9-12
1
Year Four
Grades 6-12
3
4
5
6
2
3
3
4
2
3
4
4
Year Five
Same as
Year Four
1
All BGA Special Educators will spend 100% of their academic time serving special education students,
although it may be in an inclusive general education setting. Administrative work will be done during
prep time and before and after school. SPED staff will also be asked to lead an Advisory that includes
some of their students with disabilities. If a student enrolled at BGA requires highly specialized supports
(such as physical or speech therapy), BGA will consult and coordinate with the Office of Special
Education Services of the BPS to outsource these services. BGA may contract with the BPS to provide
services, if appropriate.
Nutritional Services
As a school with extended hours, we will offer two healthy meals— hot and cold breakfast and lunch—to
all students as well as an afternoon snack of fruits, yogurt, and other nutritional foods that comply with
current nutritional standards. Our Food Services staff (provided by BPS; see staffing chart and budget)
will provide these meals using the facilities of the closed BPS high school we will occupy. We intend to
participate in the BPS’ Healthy Meals and Healthy Schools Initiatives, which will bring locally grown
food to our students. Staff from The Food Project, one of our partners, will work closely with BGA
students, families, and faculty to develop a healthy lunch program. The Food Project also plans to expand
their “Build a Garden” program for growing their own produce, which could be used to prepare meals for
the entire school community. Long term, we would like to have a full-service kitchen that can serve as a
center of food production, a classroom for “green cooking”, and a service-learning site. Collection of
forms to document eligibility for free and reduced lunch will be a school-wide effort, coordinated through
each Advisory. The Business Manager will handle all administration and documentation relative to this
program and Title I funds.
Ancillary Support Services
BGA seeks to create a trauma-sensitive, student-empowering and family-supportive environment. To do
this we will offer a strong network of supports for students and families (see appendix for a list of
community partners and earlier sections detailing our support for families) both in and out of school. We
will hire a Coordinator of Student Support and Student Support Counselors who are also trained mental
health counselors, licensed social workers, school adjustment counselors, and clinical psychologists.
These staff will provide a strong web of support for students in school and will coordinate services for
students with external partners beyond BGA’s doors. BGA will also develop relationships with local
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
39
community organizations that can provide alternative approaches to mental and emotional health services,
including access outside of school to yoga and meditation instruction, stress counselors, support groups,
and local mentoring programs. Depending on our location, BGA will also explore the feasibility of
partnering with a local health care clinic to increase our capacity to deliver on-site health services for
students and faculty. As required by law, BGA will employ a school nurse who will also deliver health
and support services for students and assist in the work detailed above.
BGA will access BPS programs as needed to increase opportunities for students. To further support
student development and as agreed to in the MOU-Type A with the BPS, BGA has committed to
purchasing athletic service from the district, which will enable BGA teams to play in the BPS sports
leagues and access their insurance. BGA will also consult with the BPS about arts opportunities,
particularly those available through the EdVestors Arts Expansion Initiative, and other city-wide arts
programs to complement those offered at BGA (see curriculum section for further details).
III. HOW WILL THE SCHOOL DEMONSTRATE ORGANIZATIONAL VIABILITY?
A. ENROLLMENT AND RECRUITMENT
Boston Green Academy will replicate the personalization that has always been a hallmark of the Fenway
High School experience while absorbing the student population of the closed BPS high school we will
occupy. Fenway’s size—270 students in grades 9-12—has allowed the school to lower its teacher and
student support loads while reducing student alienation and increasing meaningful family-school
partnership, all of which has contributed substantially to Fenway’s long-term academic success. While
we will be slightly larger that Fenway due to our absorption of an existing student population, BGA can
still have a relatively small high school population (340) while adding a similarly sized middle school
(255 in grades 6-8). By enrolling 85 students per grade, we will ensure that no teacher in the 6-12
continuum will have a student load greater than 100 students and no class will exceed 28 students (most
will be much lower), maximizing personalization and reducing teacher burnout and turnover that is often
characteristic of start-up schools and charter schools.
By ultimately enrolling 595 students, we will also enjoy certain economies of scale unavailable to small
schools of 400 students or fewer without losing our intimate and supportive school culture. The
additional fiscal resources that result from a slightly larger enrollment will allow us to offer expanded
World Language choices, very robust and expensive student supports, and arts and physical education
opportunities seldom available in small schools with bare-bones budgets. By starting with grades 9-12 in
our first year, we will be able to hire most of the school’s teachers and administrative staff right away,
which will facilitate a successful “launch” of our school culture, and will ensure that there are enough
teachers in each academic content team to collaborate with colleagues who teach similar content.
Moreover, by delaying the middle school’s start until our second year, we will cement a solid school
culture and an array of strong programs before our youngest (and potentially most vulnerable) students
arrive. In all phases of our work, we will maintain our focus on students in grades 6 and 9, the grades in
which students most frequently demonstrate warning signs that suggest that they are at-risk of dropping
out of school.
As the following chart indicates, initially Boston Green Academy will absorb students in grades 10-12
from the closed BPS high school while also enrolling a new 9th grade (repeating 9th graders from the
closed high school will also be absorbed, which will impact our 9th grade lottery). We will admit new 6th
graders starting in our second year (2013). Eventually we expect to admit nearly all of our students in the
sixth grade and to graduate those same students seven years later. In the fifth year, our original sixth
graders will have become our ninth graders, and the few seats that will become available due to student
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
40
mobility will be made available to transfer students from the lottery-generated waiting list as required by
Massachusetts law.
School Year
Grade Levels
Total Student Enrollment
2012-2013
9-12
340*
2013-2014
6, 9-12
425*
2014-2015
6, 7, 9-12
510*
2015-2016
6-12
595*
2016-2017
6-12
595*
Note: Student enrollment figures and grade size may change based on pending negotiations with BPS
over facility size, the total future enrollment of the BPS high school that BGA will replace, and other
factors. Enrollment figures will be finalized by Fall, 2011, as detailed in our MOU-A, and will not exceed
the numbers listed here.
Given BGA’s mission and commitment to off-track youth, we will target our recruitment in such a way to
ensure access to our school by the students and families who most need a high-quality college-preparatory
education and who are the least likely to find their way to existing high-quality options, especially those
who live within the “Circle of Promise”. In the early years before our reputation as a school is well
established, our recruitment efforts will rely heavily upon our partnerships with area non-profits—both as
recruitment sites and as well-networked recruitment sources. For example, we plan to have information
sessions co-organized with Hyde Square Task Force and Sociedad Latina to ensure that Spanish-speaking
families know about the opening of our school and the proven track record of our model for Latino
students in Boston and understand BGA’s application process. We expect to generate a great deal of
applications among students with disabilities in BGA through our relationship with Urban PRIDE, one of
BGA’s core partners, whose mission is to provide advocacy for families of students with disabilities. We
also intend to get the word out about our school through family advocacy organizations that maintain
close ties to families of underserved families such as Massachusetts Advocates for Children, Project
Right, and Boston Special Education Parent Advisory Council. Our Founding Group members’
relationships with other educators, judges, faith workers, public safety officials, trauma networks, and
youth workers citywide will help develop the public identity of BGA as an accessible and innovative
school where students’ intellectual and social development is undertaken with support, innovation, and
high expectations.
All high schools within the Boston Public Schools are citywide and BGA and the BPS Transportation
Department will negotiate to provide MBTA passes to all of our students 6-12 so that they can access the
school by public transportation. As a Horace Mann charter school within the BPS, Boston Green
Academy will be especially well positioned to leverage our relationships within the district and the
district’s substantial school-choice mechanisms to facilitate our outreach and recruitment efforts to
underserved families and communities. Strategies we will employ in this regard include: direct outreach
to elementary and middle school principals and guidance counselors; information sessions during BPS
School Preview Time at BPS elementary and middle schools, especially those schools that enroll high
percentages of low-income students who are English Language Learners, students of color, and/or
students with disabilities; being listed in the BPS Student Assignment Handbook; presenting at the annual
BPS Showcase of Schools and the Pilot Schools Showcase; making BGA’s application materials in
multiple languages available at Family Resource Centers and public libraries throughout the city; and
being featured on the BPS website. In addition, many BPS students in grades K-8 are involved in the
School Community Consultation and Treatment (SCCAT) program, whose case managers, specializing in
whole-family counseling, will be able to facilitate outreach to students and families who would be well
served by BGA’s unique educational model.
We also plan to work closely with Fenway High School to encourage families of eighth grade students
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
41
who have applied to Fenway to consider applying to BGA as well. Given that Fenway has to turn away
many more students than it can admit in any given year, we are confident that many families will be
interested in applying to our school as well, since we are replicating many of Fenway’s core practices and
since applying to BGA will in no way jeopardize their application to Fenway or any other BPS school. In
the same way, we are aware that many families choose to send their students to outlying cities and towns
through the METCO program. For many years, the demand for seats in METCO, like the demand for
seats at Fenway, has vastly outstripped supply. We will collaborate with Jean McGuire, METCO’s
Executive Director, to ensure that families who are interested in the METCO program know about and
apply to Boston Green Academy as a high-quality option that is closer to home than many METCO sites.
To maximize the reach and impact of our efforts and to ensure that the recruitment materials we develop
and disseminate speak to a variety of audiences, including to students themselves who respond to
different methods, media, and messages than the adults in their lives, we will leverage the graphic design
expertise of our partners at the Art Institute of Boston as well as the significant contacts of our many
community-based partners who are involved in the seamless web of support and care we will establish.
Our recruitment materials will be designed in order to persuade young people that BGA is a school that is
built with them in mind. We will do outreach through local radio stations like Touch 106.1 FM, WILD,
106.9 FM, WERS 88.9, and Rumba 1200 AM and other Spanish-language programming. We will also
maintain a lively social media presence through our school’s website, DESE’s Charter School website,
YouTube postings, and Facebook and MySpace pages. We will get the word out about our school at
neighborhood youth centers such as the Dorchester and Roxbury/Yawkey Boys and Girls’ Clubs; at
cultural and sporting events; through our citywide trauma network contacts; through neighborhood
development corporations; through the Boston Housing Authority; and through local churches, mosques,
and newspapers.
In order to attract the many students who are interested in the social justice and environmental
stewardship aspects of our school, we will tap into existing networks of youth who may have an interest
in applying to Boston Green Academy (e.g., Boston Latin School's Youth Climate Action Network,
Boston Youth Environmental Network, Teen Empowerment, Youth on Board, Boston Student Advisory
Council, Youth Opportunity, the Mayor’s Youth Zone, Bikes Not Bombs, etc.).
As with most successful schools, our most effective recruitment after our first year will happen through
word-of-mouth across complex community and kinship networks. We expect that families will seek to
send siblings and cousins to BGA once one family member has enrolled and has been successful. Indeed,
after the first year, we expect to let our students, partners, and families “do the talking” to a large extent in
our formal and informal recruitment efforts.
B. FOUNDERS’ CAPACITY, HISTORY, GROUP PROCESS, AND COMMITMENT
The diverse members of BGA’s Founding Group are uniquely qualified to understand and replicate
Fenway’s successes as a Horace Mann charter school. Our commitment to the students and families of
Boston is the glue that has bound us to one another and to our mission. As our attached statements of
commitment and resumes reveal, our deep personal and professional experiences as teachers, school
leaders, public school students, central office employees, urban school creators, college professors,
parents and caregivers, policy makers, and community activists have shaped how we have designed our
school. Our varied life experiences have also provided us with the creative and collaborative energies
needed to understand the complex problems secondary schools and students face, to develop innovative
solutions that extend our design beyond the excellent core of Fenway’s practices, and to imagine a school
that is good enough for the students, staff, and families for whom it is intended. Please see p.1 and
appendices.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
42
Board Members’ Qualifications
The members of Boston Green Academy’s Board of Trustees possess formidable educational experience,
substantial organizational development skills, and a demonstrated commitment to equity and social
justice. The school’s current Board members are (** = Founding Group Member)
Board
Member
Dr. Larry
Myatt, Board
Chairperson**
Brenda
RodriguezAndújar
Richard A.
Johnston
John Belcher
Molly
Schen**
Chris Stokes
James W.
Hunt, III
Barbara Fields
Jeffrey
Liberty**
Professional Credentials
o Founder and Headmaster, Fenway High School (retired)
o Co-Founder, Center for Collaborative Education
o Senior Fellow for Leadership and Education Ventures, Northeastern
University
o Director of School-Based and Cultural Programs, Hyde Square Task Force
o Former bilingual education teacher and curriculum developer
o Former educator, Boston Juvenile Court
o Partner, WilmerHale
o Member, Board of Advisors, George Washington University College of Arts
& Sciences
o President, Focus on Tanzanian Communities
o President, Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts
o President, Dennis Conservation Trust
o Professional Development Specialist, TERC
o Co-developer, “African Drums and Ratios Curriculum”, The Algebra Project
o Co-founder: CrossPulse Consultants; Dougouto Nganya Percussion Ensemble
o Former elementary and secondary school mathematics teacher
o Former coach/staff developer for middle and high school mathematics teachers
o Director of Program Growth and Development, Facing History and Ourselves
o Former President, Learning Journeys
o Former Director of New School Development, Big Picture Company
o Former Director of Learning and Teaching, Auburn, ME School Department
o Associate Electronics Engineer, Rowland Institute at Harvard University
o Instructor, Harvard University Freshman Seminar
o Board Member, The Eyebeam Atelier
o Founder, Scenario, Inc.
o Chief for Environmental and Energy Services, City of Boston
o Mayoral Appointee, Mass. Water Resources Authority Board of Directors
o Trustee, Boston Groundwater Trust
o Former Assistant Secretary, Mass. Executive Office of Environmental Affairs
o Board Member: Boston Harbor Association, the Massachusetts Ocean
Partnership, and the Dorchester Youth Academy
o Senior Officer, Boston Public Schools, Office of Equity (retired)
o Board Member: Black Educators’ Alliance of Massachusetts, Citizens for
Public Schools, and the Racial Imbalance Advisory Council of the
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
o Former BPS elementary school teacher
o Headmaster, Parkway Academy of Technology and Health
o Lead Founder, Boston Green Academy
o Former Senior Program Coordinator, BPS Office of High School Renewal
o Former Assistant Headmaster, Boston Community Leadership Academy
o Former Boston Principal Fellow
o Former BPS high school teacher (Fenway and Madison Park TVHS)
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
43
Proposed School Leader
Jeffrey Liberty, Headmaster of Parkway Academy of Technology and Health and the Lead Founder of
Boston Green Academy, is presumed to be BGA’s founding Headmaster when the school opens in 2012,
although no formal action on his appointment by the school’s Board of Trustees or Superintendent
Johnson has been undertaken at this juncture. Mr. Liberty’s resume is included in the appendices.
C. SCHOOL GOVERNANCE
Note: BGA’s By-Laws, MOU-Type A and MOU Type-B are included in the appendices.
Governance Structures
The Board of Trustees will be composed of no fewer than thirteen members: three parents, one of
whom is the President of the Family Council, serving two-year terms; two teachers, one of whom will
also serve on the Leadership Team, voted upon by their colleagues and serving terms of one year, unless
recommended otherwise, and representing the high school and the middle school; two students, one from
the middle school and one from the high school, both of whom are also members of the Student
Government, voted upon by their peers to serve on the Board for a term of one year; six community
members/collaborating partners, not limited by a specific term; additional members as agreed upon
by the Board in a formal act. The Headmaster will attend each meeting of the Board in a non-voting
capacity and will provide presentations of data, school programs, finances, etc. as requested. The Board
will serve as the School Site Council and will review regularly the finances and academic performance of
the school, and will also guide, support, and evaluate the Headmaster.
The Headmaster will bear responsibility for day-to-day decision-making and operations. Her/his duties
will conform to existing parameters of the Boston Public Schools and the school’s charter. The
Headmaster will consult regularly with faculty, students, and families regarding all aspects of the school.
The Leadership Team will meet at least every two weeks to advise the Headmaster RE: the internal
workings of the school and will consist of: at least one teacher who also sits on the Board of Trustees;
Student Support Coordinator; Special Education Coordinator; House Coordinators; Family Liaison
Coordinator, the Assistant Headmaster, and Director of Development and School Partnerships.
As the voice of the caregivers, the Family Council, advises the administration, disseminates information
about the school, and may solicit at any time information from the administration and/or the Board of
Trustees. The Council will also survey families and suggest activities that support school/parent
partnerships, cross-cultural understanding, recruitment, public relations, and support for students and
families. Two members, including the President, will also sit on the Board of Trustees.
As the formal voice of students, Student Government will consist of one member voted upon by each
Advisory and at least three at-large representatives, two of whom will be members of the Board of
Trustees. Student Government will: survey and represent students’ perspectives to the school
administration, review and comment on policies and programs, plan and organize events and activities,
raise funds, lead the annual Student Government Day, help facilitate Town Meetings, and participate in
recruitment and public relations.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
44
Boston Green Academy’s Organizational Chart
This chart depicts a fully staffed school. In BGA’s first few years, our organization will be
streamlined to reflect a lower level of resources until we reach full enrollment.
!
!
!
!
Board of Trustees
Three parents (including
President of the Family
Council)
Two students (from Student
Government)
Two faculty members (one
from Leadership Team)
Six community
members/partners
Headmaster is hired and evaluated
by the Board of Trustees.
Superintendent ratifies Board’s
selection. Superintendent may
terminate Headmaster by
recommendation of the Board.
BPS
Superintendent
Director of
Development and
School Partnerships
Headmaster
Leadership Team
• At least one teacher who also
sits on the Board of Trustees
• Student Support Coordinator
• One House Coordinator from
each division with the school
• Family Liaison Coordinator
• Assistant Headmaster
• Director of Development and
School Partnerships
! Special Education Coordinator
Assistant Headmaster for
Curriculum, Instruction,
and Assessment
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
Teachers
Classroom
Assistants
ELL Support
College Counselor
College Preparatory
and Admissions
Programs
Supplemental
Academic Programs
Library/Media Staff
Student
Support
Coordinator
!
!
!
Student
Government
Family
Council
Student
Support
Counselors/
SST
Family Liaison
Coordinator
Supplemental
Student
Support
Programs
Special
Education
Coordinator
!
!
!
Learning
Center Staff
SPED
Teachers
SPED
Support Staff
Director of Budget
and Operations
!
!
!
!
!
!
School
Secretaries
School Safety
Officers
Food Services
Custodians
School Nurse
Technology
Director
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
45
Roles and Responsibilities
The Board of Trustees of Boston Green Academy will bear responsibility for ensuring that the school and
its Trustees comply with all applicable laws and regulations, that the school is an academic success, and
that the school is viable as an organization and faithful to the terms of its charter. The Board will be
organized in such a way as to oversee effectively matters of governance and to work collectively and
collaboratively on behalf of the school and its mission.
In service to the disposition of their essential duties, the responsibilities of the members of the Board of
Boston Green Academy will include:
o The selection, evaluation, and removal of the Headmaster;
o The determination of general school policies;
o Management of the financial affairs of the school;
o Approval of the annual budget.
The composition of the Board, which will include no fewer than thirteen members, will consist of three
caregivers from the school community, one of whom is President of the Family Council, serving two year
terms; two teachers, one of whom will also serve on the Leadership Team of the school, voted upon by
their colleagues and each serving terms of one year unless recommended otherwise, and representing the
high school and the middle school; two students, one from the middle school and one from the high
school, both of whom are also members of the Student Government, voted upon by their peers to serve on
the Board of Trustees for a term of one year; six community members /collaborating partners, not limited
by a specific term; and additional members as agreed on by the Board in a formal act. The Headmaster of
the school will attend each meeting of the Board in a non-voting capacity and will serve to provide the
Board with information and data on school operations, program, finances, student achievement, or any
other information as requested by the Board.
The Board will serve as the School Site Council and will conduct regular and substantive reviews of the
school’s finances and its performance relative to its mission and annual goals. The Board will also guide,
support, and evaluate the Headmaster on an annual basis.
The structure and composition of Boston Green Academy’s Board of Trustees is deliberately designed to
represent all constituent groups and thus create a governance structure that both reflects and ensures our
commitment to our mission. The active and meaningful participation in the school’s governance by the
range of individuals on the Board will help to ensure that all stakeholders are a part of the decisionmaking processes that will most significantly impact the design and direction of the school.
BGA’s Board seeks to hire a founding Headmaster who is an urban educator with a proven track record as
an effective classroom teacher as well as an experienced leader. Our first Headmaster should embody a
commitment to the school’s mission and should be able to manage skillfully the development of a new
educational institution. As such, our first Headmaster should possess deep organizational development
skills, including strategic planning, distributive leadership, sound fiscal management, and a capacity to
attract, cultivate, and sustain a talented staff and leverage other resources, including fiscal resources and
high-value institutional partnerships. In addition, the Board will seek to hire a Headmaster with
impeccable ethical standards and a demonstrated capacity to work effectively in a diverse community.
Finally, the Board will seek to hire a founding Headmaster who is deeply knowledgeable of the school’s
principles and history and who possesses an unwavering commitment to the off-track youth for whom the
school is chiefly designed and the themes of environmental stewardship and sustainability that are core
elements of BGA’s identity and design.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
46
The Board has unanimously coalesced around Jeffrey Liberty, BGA’s Lead Founder for the last three
years, as the logical and best choice to be the school’s founding Headmaster. Mr. Liberty’s candidacy
will be publicly vetted once the school’s charter is granted and will need to be ratified by the
Superintendent of the Boston Public Schools prior to his being announced as the school’s leader.
The Board will name a sub-committee to address “Support and Evaluation” of the Headmaster. The
committee will be comprised of the Board Chairperson and two other Trustees. Teachers on the Board
will not be named to this committee. The committee will develop an evaluation process and set of tools to
measure the performance of the Headmaster that will include the following elements:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
A process for setting annual goals for the Headmaster prior to the start of the school year;
Ongoing discussion with and support of the Headmaster throughout the school year as evidenced
by periodic meetings with the Support and Evaluation Committee;
A process for reflection and self-evaluation of the Headmaster relative to annual goals;
Survey/data collection from Board members, school staff, parents, and students on the
Headmaster’s performance;
Collating and synthesis of data by the Support and Evaluation Committee;
Conferences with the Headmaster;
Final Evaluation Report by the Support and Evaluation Committee.
The evaluation of the Headmaster will focus on the stated and agreed upon goals established and
articulated at the start of the school year. This exhaustive process will be undertaken annually for the first
three years of the school’s existence and biannually thereafter and will solicit feedback on the
performance of the Headmaster from all members of the BGA community.
As outlined in the school’s By-Laws, the role of the Board of Trustees is to oversee and ensure the
school’s compliance with regulations and laws and to create general policies that govern the operation of
the school. The Board of Trustees will play no role with regard to personnel matters, including but not
limited to decisions about whom to hire or promote and the evaluation of individual members of the
school staff. All such matters will be placed in the hands of the Headmaster. Should the Headmaster seek
the advice or counsel of the Board, the Board will serve in a support role to the Headmaster as s/he
grapples with and enacts decisions regarding school staff and the day-to-day operation of the school.
Similarly, while the Board serves to ensure the academic success of the school, the responsibility for the
school’s academic program, its program of study, and its curriculum shall be considered as part of the
day-to-day operation of the school. The Board will fulfill its central responsibility to ensure that the
school’s academic program is a success and, as part of this commitment, will be actively engaged with the
Headmaster and other school staff in discussions regarding student achievement and performance in a
variety of arenas. The Board reserves the right to direct the Headmaster variously in the event that
intervention is warranted.
As agreed in our attached Memorandum of Understanding with the Boston Public Schools, BGA will
receive an annual lump sum budget from the BPS after which point the school retains autonomy and
responsibility for its financial affairs. As agreed, BGA will submit an annual accounting of its budget to
the Boston Public Schools. As a Horace Mann Charter School, BGA will retain autonomy with respect to
its purchasing of goods and services as well as its curriculum. As a practical matter, however, the school
will benefit from continuing to work in close partnership with the BPS in these regards.
The Headmaster of the school serves on the Board as an ex-officio member. All other Trustees are voting
members of the Board. The Chair of the Board of Trustees will undertake and assume responsibility for
the establishing the agenda for all meetings in consultation with the Headmaster and presiding over all
meetings.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
47
The Chair shall have such other powers or responsibilities as the Board of Trustees shall determine. In
the absence of the Chair at any meetings of the Board, the Vice-Chair shall exercise the rights and
perform the duties and function of the Chair.
Officers of the Board, including the Chair, shall serve a term of two years. At the conclusion of that term,
the Board’s Governance Committee will compile a slate of officers for election by formal vote, with new
officers named or returning officers running for re-election by formal vote, to the position of Board
officer.
Policy Development
A draft copy of our complete bylaws is included in the attachments.
The Board of Trustees of Boston Green Academy will strive for consensus in decision-making. In matters
necessitating a Board decision, we will always begin our work by identifying the issue at hand,
articulating the objective and purpose of our involvement, and ensuring that it is indeed a matter requiring
a Board decision. From there, we will undergo a process designed to bring all pertinent and relevant
information to a discussion. We will undertake potential policy decisions by utilizing a system of “first
readings” and “second readings”, wherein we will first examine and understand a proposal during one
Board meeting, and revisit the possible decision at the next Board meeting, thus ensuring that Board
members have had adequate time to process and understand proposals and their implications and for due
diligence on the part of all Trustees. We will follow Roberts Rules of Order as a process for the framing
of a motion, its seconding, discussion, and eventual decision. We seek to create and sustain an
environment that supports full-fledged discussion, invites dissention, and seeks to arrive at consensus for
major decisions. Failing that, majority opinion, as expressed by Board members who are present for a
given meeting, will be the process by which decisions are made at the Board level.
Approximately a year and a half ago, the Founding Group was contemplating the merits of becoming a
single-sex middle school for boys due to the obvious over-representation of boys of color in various
achievement gaps and in the drop-out crisis in Boston. Although we did not follow Roberts Rules as the
BGA Board will, the Founding Group did explore the idea with great care and thoughtfulness, including a
presentation of widely differing points of view and research on the subject over the course of several
meetings. In the end, it was impossible to arrive at consensus on the issue and the team voted not to
become a single-sex institution. After the decision was taken, the team reflected on the process and
recommitted itself to close collaboration, which has been a hallmark of the team’s work together since its
inception.
In matters requiring the Board to create policy, all proposals will be posted to the community via the
school’s listserv and website, recorded phone messages, and mailings to students’ homes when necessary
and appropriate. The community will be actively encouraged to attend BGA Board meetings and provide
input and feedback via the designated “public comment” portion of Board meetings. Members of the
community will be invited to write or call Board members to voice their opinions. Inside the school, the
Headmaster and staff trustees will be the conduits between Board and staff and will, through regular
faculty meetings, keep staff apprised of pending Board action and encourage and invite feedback and
input as policies are formed and developed. This kind of community participation is vital to our school’s
development as a responsive and successful agent in the engagement of our students and their families.
The governance of the BGA will be as authentic and participatory as possible and the strong engagement
of the community will be central to the development of the school.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
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The Board has not yet identified formal legal counsel or an independent auditor. It will do so
immediately upon granting of the school’s charter and the allocation of funds to support these critical
functions.
Board Development
The Governance Committee of the Board will bear responsibility for the orientation of new Board
members. New Trustee orientation will take place preceding the first two meetings of the school year and
will be conducted by returning members of the Governance Committee and an officer of the Board. The
process will include, but not be limited to:
o An overview of the school’s charter, its mission, central beliefs, practices, and program and any
and all relevant documents that provide background on its program, finances, and operations;
o An overview of the rules and regulations of Board membership as defined by the Commonwealth,
including but not limited to the school’s by-laws, regulations regarding open meeting and conflict
of interest laws, and financial disclosure affidavits for official filing.
o New Board members will engage in text-based discussions of the school’s program and practices
as reported in the school’s Annual Report and a discussion of its strategic goals and objectives as
articulated in its Accountability Plan. In addition, new members will have the opportunity to tour
the school facility and ask any questions they have regarding the mission, operation, or
performance of the school.
o Finally, new Board members will complete all necessary paperwork in order to gain approval by
the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for membership on the
Board of Trustees.
At the start of each school year, in synchrony with the development of the goals of the Headmaster, the
Board of Trustees will develop its annual goals. These goals will serve as the Board’s objectives for the
year, as well as its statement of intent and public commitment to the success of the school. Progress on
each of the articulated goals will be discussed at each Board meeting, and a Board self-evaluation will
take place at the end of each school year as a way to take stock of the Board’s progress toward its stated
goals. In addition to this self-evaluation, the community will be surveyed annually to gauge its level of
understanding of and satisfaction with the Board of Trustees. The community survey will be an addendum
to the Headmaster survey to the community and data will be collected in this way so that the community
does not undergo “feedback fatigue” associated with multiple surveys at year’s end.
The Governance committee of the Board will be responsible for the development of the survey questions
for the self-evaluation and community evaluation of the board, and will compile the data and reflect its
results back to the Board of Trustees. This data will then inform the next iteration of annual goals.
In order to cultivate and perpetually seat a Board that demonstrates and enacts its qualifications, we will
actively seek, identify, cultivate, and recruit new members to the BGA Board. The Governance
Committee of the Board of Trustees will provide structures and processes that allow for potential new
members to be identified and approached by current Board members. The BGA Board will regularly
evaluate its own efficacy in terms of analyzing and evaluating the school’s needs and the skills,
experiences, and attributes of its Board members. This critical analysis will lead to the identification of
needs, and the Governance Committee will undertake nominations for new members with specific
experiences, skills, and/or qualifications and will vet various candidates. This process will focus on the
mission and the developmental stages of the school as well as each candidate’s ability and willingness to
attend all meetings and actively work on behalf of the school. The Governance Committee will bring
forth a slate of nominees for Board members, and new members will be admitted to Board membership
by a formal vote.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
49
D. MANAGEMENT
Management Structure
The BGA Founding Group wanted to create a management structure that combined the successful
structure used by Fenway High School with the requirements of Horace Mann charter school status and
new strategies meant to support our mission. As a Boston Pilot School, Fenway has a Board of Trustees,
Leadership Council, Family Council and a Student Government (all defined earlier). These structures
have proven to be empowering, flexible, and key to the school’s success, making them deserving of
replication at BGA. The Massachusetts law authorizing Horace Mann charters requires BGA’s board of
Trustees to have a relationship with the BPS Superintendent when selecting the school’s leadership (also
detailed in earlier sections). Most importantly, to support our mission we sought to concentrate resources
in three key areas: academics, student support, and Special Education services. An additional cluster of
key management personnel (Development, Budget, and Technology support) enables us to deliver a
robust program without diverting staff from their core responsibilities by serving in multiple roles. We
believe this collective structure will enable us to serve our mission effectively.
As our organizational chart shows, BGA’s management structure strikes a balance between inclusiveness
and efficiency. The Headmaster reports to the Board of Trustees and has several advisory groups that help
she/he create strategy such as the Leadership Team, Family Council and Student Government. Four
deputies report to the Headmaster: the Assistant Headmaster for Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
the Coordinators of Student Support and Special Education, and the Director of Budget and Operations.
Each deputy is responsible for implementing a key pillar of BGA’s mission and has numerous staff who
report to them. The Director of Development and School Partnerships also reports directly to the
Headmaster (see chart for details).
Large decisions about curriculum and instruction are made by the Headmaster, the Assistant Headmaster
for Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, and the Leadership Team, while the Assistant Headmaster is
responsible for their effective implementation and day-to-day leadership in this area. The Board of
Trustees also has a subcommittee on academics that will advise and support this process. Student
achievement will be monitored by the same groups as part of continued inquiry and data-driven decisionmaking around teaching and learning. Long-term fiscal planning will be directed by the Finance
Subcommittee of the Board of Trustees in consultation with the Headmaster and supported by the
Director of Development and School Partnerships and the Director of Budget and Operations. Finally,
decisions about school operations such as food and custodial services, school safety, and technology will
be made by managers and deputies with the Headmaster supervising and handling larger issues. Important
capital improvement and facilities projects will also involve the Board of Trustees on many levels.
Roles and Responsibilities
The Headmaster is the school’s leader, reporting key information to the Board of Trustees, supervising
and working with deputies and leadership teams, and serving as the public face of the institution. She/he
is the ultimate authority for all educational, operational, personnel and spending decisions, although the
Headmaster is accountable to the Board for the results. The Assistant Headmaster for Curriculum,
Instruction and Assessment (AH) serves as the school’s day-to-day manager of the academic program
and is responsible for the quality of teaching and learning at BGA on the classroom level and professional
development for the staff. The AH supports and supervises all general education teachers and classroom
support staff, staff who serve English Language Learners, the College Counselor and academic support
programs such as tutoring. The Coordinator of Student Support leads and supervises BGA’s team of
counselors, family outreach worker, and the Student Support Team. She/he also coordinates clinical and
external support for students and their families and serves as the leader in our efforts to have a traumasensitive school. The Coordinator of Special Education supervises all of BGA’s SPED personnel and
our efforts to support students with special needs in all aspects. They also coordinate professional
development for teachers on UDL, RTI, and other student support systems. All three of these Deputies
have budgets, evaluate personnel, and are collectively responsible for making sure student achievement
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
50
improves despite the numerous challenges our students face. Other key school leaders include the
Director of Development and School Partnerships (responsible for grants, fundraising, and external
relations), the Director of Budget and Operations (financial management and facility operations), and
the Technology Director (technology infrastructure, library/media resources and staff, and assistive
technology).
Educational Leadership
BGA is committed to aligning all of our resources to support student achievement, and to revising our
approach as needed. Both prior to and during Year One, the Headmaster, the Assistant Headmaster, and
the Coordinators will provide significant leadership and time to staff both for professional development
with partners and for internal curriculum planning. This should allow us to have a strong first year of
curricular implementation. Professional Development in our pre-opening and Year One phases will focus
on the pedagogy of RTI, GD, and VTS (explained in earlier sections), support for ELLs, and building our
school community and culture. Constant inquiry around student data (which we will collect often, as
mentioned previously), both within academic departments and across the school as whole, will allow us to
make mid-year adjustments based on student performance. Our daily schedule deliberately allows us two
long blocks of faculty time to do this work. We will also include our operations managers of business,
technology, development in all major conversations about teaching and learning (including professional
development around data, UDL, GD, and RTI) so that they can best understand the core of our work and
prioritize theirs accordingly.
Our budget, fundraising, and capital investments (like technology) will all be focused on improving
student achievement based on data, as will decisions about smaller operational programs like food service
(How can it be more healthy so students can focus and thrive? How can it support learning?), custodial
services (How can we have an appealing building that students take pride in? How can we reduce our
environmental footprint?), and school safety (How can we support students rather than punish them? How
can we build proactive relationships that diffuse tension?). All departments will have annual goals, set
with the Headmaster, that are aligned to BGA’s mission and operational leaders will be evaluated based
on how well they achieve them. This cycle of reflection and improvement will form the core of our work
as employees of a public service institution.
The Headmaster of BGA is the instructional leader of the school, and the qualities of a desirable candidate
are listed above. However, the Assistant Headmaster for Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment will also
be a strong educational leader for the school. An ideal candidate for this position should have significant
experience as a successful classroom teacher in a setting similar to BGA, expertise in curriculum and
instruction, and administrative experience as a curricular leader on the school and/or district level. This
candidate should have a strong commitment to BGA’s mission, students and families, as well as
innovative ideas for how to move the work forward, strong managerial, written, and communication
skills, and the ability to work well with the Headmaster and run the school in her/his absence. The
Coordinators of Special Education and Student Support will also provide educational leadership for the
school and would need similar qualifications as well as expertise in their fields.
Human Resources
BGA’s staffing plan flows directly from our mission, our belief in replicating successful structures from
Fenway High School, and our desire to make significant investments early on to support student
achievement. To create this plan, we started with our mission, curricular program, promotion and
graduation requirements, and data about the needs of our incoming student population (extrapolated from
BPS data on similar students and high schools we might possibly replace). We then met with the BPS
Budget Department to match our ideal staffing plan with realistic estimations of revenue and
expenditures, using current salary figures, costs, and systems for supporting existing Horace Mann charter
schools in the BPS. Out of this process, we refined our organizational chart and established positions and
responsibilities.
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51
Based on our estimated budgets for our opening year and beyond, we will implement the following
staffing plan:
Boston Green Academy Staffing Plan
Area
Teachers
Humanities
Science
Math
World Languages/ESL
Foundations/ELA
Foundations/Math
Arts
Internship/Ventures
Year One
Grades
9-12
4
4
4
4
2
2
2
1
Year Two
Grades
6,9-12
5
5
5
5
4
3
3
1
Year Three
Grades
6,7, 9-12
6
6
6
6
5
4
3
1
Year Four
Grades
6-12
7
7
7
7
6
4
4
1
Same as
Year Four
Administrators and
Department Staff
Student Support Coordinator
1
1
1
Student Support Counselors
3
4
5
6
Family Liaisons
2
3
3
3
Special Education Coordinator
SPED Resource Teacher
1
3
1
4
1
5
1
6
SPED Teacher (Sub. Sep.)
2
3
3
4
SPED Paraprofessional
2
3
4
4
Headmaster
Asst. Headmaster
Director of Development and
School Partnerships
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Director of College Counseling
1
1
1
1
Director of Budget and
Operations
Technology Director
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Library/Media Staff
1
1
1
2
Other Employees
School Secretary
1
1
2
2
Cluster Substitute Teacher
1
1
2
2
Nurse
Food Services Employees
1
1
1
1
2.0
2.0
2.0
2.0
Total BGA FTE
49
62
73
82
BPS Provides
In-Kind
BPS Provides
In-Kind
BPS Provides
In-Kind
BPS Provides
In-Kind
BPS Provides
In-Kind
BPS Provides
In-Kind
BPS Provides
In-Kind
BPS Provides
In-Kind
In-Kind Employees
Custodian
School Safety Officer
Year Five
Same as
Year Four
Same as
Year Four
Same as
Year Four
Same as
Year Four
82
Same as
Year Four
In Year One, BGA plans to open with a full group of teachers in grades 9-12 in major content areas,
establish a strong student support platform, provide support for ELL and SPED students, and put into
place the administrative infrastructure needed to build a school over several years. This includes
investments in development and business management right from the start. In Year Two, as enrollment
increases to include middle school, we will expand our teaching staff proportionately and increase student
support and SPED staffing. In Year Three, middle school enrollment will double and we will again
expand our core content, SPED and student support staffing. In Year Four, BGA will reach full
enrollment for grades 6-12, and our teaching, support, SPED, and counseling staff will reach their
maximum. Year Five is expected to have approximately the same budget and staffing pattern as the
previous year, although changes may be made based on need. Because of services we will purchase from
BPS (see budget section), our custodial and school safety employees will be provided as an in-kind
service for a yearly fee. BGA will not pay salaries for these centrally provided employees. Food services
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
52
workers will be staffed according to BPS guidelines but their full cost will be reimbursed to BGA through
a federal grant.
Recruitment and Retention
BGA strongly believes that we need a talented, diverse, and experienced group of teachers and staff in
order to effectively implement our mission. We plan to recruit both within and outside the BPS, taking
advantage of our staffing autonomy, to find the best candidates while also complying with all local, state
and federal laws that rightfully prevent discrimination and abuses in hiring. Our recruitment efforts will
include utilizing the BPS Human Resources department, networks such as the Coalition of Essential
Schools, the Boston Teacher Residency (BTR), the Black Educator’s Alliance of Massachusetts (BEAM),
higher education partners with teacher preparation programs (such as UMass-Boston, Tufts, Lesley, and
Harvard), and the strong community partners we have who can bring us non-traditional but talented
candidates, particularly for student support positions. Teachers from the closed BPS high school will have
the opportunity to apply for positions at BGA, but no one will be guaranteed to return.
An ideal teacher in our school will be a talented and motivated educator with experience working in
schools like BGA (diverse, urban, small, committed to results, and socially conscious) and have strong
content and pedagogical knowledge with experience supporting special education and ELL students in a
mainstreamed setting. Strong candidates will also collectively reflect the diversity of Boston, have a
strong commitment to BGA’s mission, be excited to attend robust and lengthy professional development
on many topics, and be interested in building a school from the ground up. BGA will develop a ‘career
ladder’ approach to staff retention and advancement, working with each staff member to identify their
long-term goals. We have a strong interest in using our autonomies to develop unique job descriptions
that can keep our staff and faculty energized, challenged, and employed at BGA for the long term. BGA
is also committed to creating a ‘pipeline’ of BGA-ready candidates by partnering with universities and
community partners to create a corps of interns who may one day work at BGA.
Working Conditions
Teachers at BGA will have teaching programs that maximize collaboration and reduce their teaching load
significantly due to our tumbling block schedule. A typical full-time teacher at BGA will teach three
blocks out of five, plus advisory, and have an estimated student load of 85, plus 15 for Advisory. On days
where teachers do not teach a double block (see daily schedule for details), they will teach for
approximately three hours and fifteen minutes, plus fifty minutes of Advisory, for a total of just over four
hours. On days with a double block, teachers may teach as many as four hours and twenty minutes, plus a
fifty-minute Advisory, for a total of five hours and ten minutes. Before- and after-school duties will be
required and shared amongst all staff on a rotating basis, as will lunch duty. Teachers will also have
required common planning time with their subject area during one block and after-school duties for
tutoring and working with student groups.
We will provide large amounts of professional development to our staff through our partners (detailed in
previous sections that outline major curricular and pedagogical initiatives) and we will work with each
staff member to provide more personalized PD opportunities based on their needs and interests. We will
strongly encourage and support teachers to seek additional certification in ESL and Special Education if
they do no have them already, and to attend category training for ELL support. We will also encourage
our staff to take advantage of leadership training programs. Our daily schedule provides ample
opportunity within the school day and week for school-based professional development.
BGA’s working conditions, salaries, and personnel procedures are detailed in the MOU-Type B included
with this application. There is one for each union we expect to negotiate with (BTU, BASAS, SEIU 888Administrative Guild, etc.). “Acknowledgement of Working Conditions” agreements, which further
define working conditions, will be drafted based on the MOU-B for each employee to sign upon being
hired. For all unionized staff, BGA will waive all provisions of collective bargaining agreements except
for those governing salaries, benefits, and the right of employees to accrue seniority and transfer back to
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
53
the BPS if they leave BGA, as well as those required by law. These waivers are authorized under the
Education Reform Act of 2010 authorizing Horace Mann Charters (M.G.L. c. 71, § 89). For employees in
unionized job categories, base salaries and step increases will be determined according to the appropriate
collective bargaining agreement between the union and the BPS. For non-unionized positions, BGA will
determine fair market salaries based on similar positions in different schools or districts. Raises for nonunionized staff will be negotiated in good faith on an individual yearly basis. We believe that the salaries
and benefits paid to unionized employees of BPS are fair and attractive to candidates, enabling us to
recruit and retain a deep pool of qualified applicants for all positions. BGA will design its own evaluation
tool (detailed in other sections and in the MOU-B) based on highly effective models and all employees
will be evaluated annually based on the BGA organization chart.
The MOU-B also details other aspects of personnel management. To briefly summarize, BGA may hire
without regard to seniority, may hire from outside the BPS for all job categories, will evaluate all teaching
and non-teaching staff annually using appropriate tools developed by BGA, and will hire and dismiss
employees pursuant to all state and federal laws. All unionized employees accrue BPS seniority while at
BGA and may return to the district if they leave voluntarily or are excessed, and all employees will work
on one-year “Acknowledgment of Working Conditions” agreements to be drafted by BGA. All of this is
very similar to the policies currently employed by the two existing Horace Mann Charters within BPS, as
well as BPS Pilot Schools. BGA agrees to communicate regularly and in a timely manner with the BPS
regarding the posting, hiring, evaluation, and dismissal of any employees so that both parties can be
coordinated and well informed. In the event of a reduction in force within BPS, BGA will coordinate with
the BPS but will not be subject to any collective bargaining agreement provisions with any union that
impact staffing (i.e., seniority-based bumping or a recall list). Also, BGA will be exempt from any and all
agreements, side letters and/or past practices between the Boston Public Schools and any collective
bargaining unit regarding attachment rights to specific buildings, schools or facilities including but not
limited to Appendix B of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Boston School Committee
and the Boston Teachers Union
E. FACILITIES AND TRANSPORTATION
BGA’s students deserve a high-quality facility that supports student achievement and that is also
accessible to all students who reside in the City of Boston. To accomplish this, BGA has agreed to absorb
the student population of an existing high school within the BPS in order to support the district’s
Redesign and Reinvestment Initiative, absorbing the students and inheriting part or all of that facility.
While the exact facility has yet to be determined (we anticipate that a decision will be made by January,
2011), BGA believes that the eventual location will be accessible, of high-quality, and allow us to deliver
the program as intended. We expect to have a full compliment of classrooms and offices, a sound
technology infrastructure, access to a cafeteria, auditorium, and gymnasium, and additional spaces. We
are confident that all of the facilities options that we have discussed with BPS leadership have enough
space for our full high school program; with some additional negotiations, our middle school can be
housed in the same building as well. Because the middle school program will not start until Year Two
(2013), we have ample time to work out these details with BPS. BGA’s Founding Board of Trustees is
completely committed to being a full 6-12 school and will explore a split campus or a move to another
facility if our initial home proves unsuitable for our full program.
By being located in a BPS building, our facilities costs will be approximately $965 per student per year,
resulting in costs to BGA of $328,100 in Year One, $410,125 in Year Two, and $492,150 in Year Three.
These costs are all accounted for in our balanced budgets for Years One-Three (appendix D).
If major renovations are needed for our eventual building, we will seek support from the MSBA, BPS,
City of Boston, and all other potential resources. We do not anticipate taking on any significant debt
within our first five years of operation.
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BGA’s budget (see following section for details) is based on the best available information. We know that
we will be in a BPS building, enabling us to purchase facilities support (custodial and maintenance
services at ~$965 per student) and to budget with confidence in this area. Consistent with our mission to
be a green school and our programmatic needs to have students access partnerships around the city, we
are firmly committed to being located near one of the MBTA’s subway stations in Boston. BPS has
expressed strong support for this decision, which may enable us to decline the purchase of non-SPED
busing from the BPS for middle school students and purchase only T passes for them (high school nonSPED students are already given only T passes in the BPS). As part of our MOU-A with the BPS, BGA
will negotiate this arrangement prior to opening in 2012. Because we believe such transportation savings
are achieveable, we estimate our overall transportation costs to be ~$566 per student, rather than the
almost $1600 per middle school student we would otherwise pay. This saves BGA approximately $1000
per middle school student, or more than $255,000 per year at full enrollment, a sizeable amount that we
will completely reinvest into our academic program to better serve our mission. If we occupy a BPS
building without transit access or if declining full bus transportation for middle school students proves
unworkable, BGA could make up the budgetary difference easily by deferring or eliminating hiring of
less important positions (1 FTE in Year Two, 2 FTE in Year Three, and 3 FTE in Year Four and beyond).
BGA is strongly committed to providing an accessible school facility to all students, including those with
disabilities, in accordance with all state and federal laws. All eligible SPED students will receive busing
to and from BGA no matter what our facility ends up being. If our eventual facility lacks features like
elevators or ramps, we will deploy staff to assist students with disabilities so they can access the school.
We will also schedule classes for disabled students in the most accessible rooms possible so that they will
have equal access to our school’s academic program and work with families on other accommodations
required by an IEP. Once we determine our facility, we will work with the BPS, special educators, and
our community partners (Urban Pride and others) to create short- and long-term accessibility plans for our
building so that any student (disabled or not) may attend.
F. SCHOOL FINANCES
BGA’s mission is important and ambitious. Sound fiscal management is necessary to ensure that we can
fulfill it. We have fully aligned our budget with our mission and planned ahead based on prudent and
conservative assumptions. We will not waste any of our limited funds, thereby earning and keeping the
trust of our community and the public by spending our money wisely. To do this, we will implement a
variety of financial strategies and practices, all focused on maximizing student achievement and ensuring
BGA’s future as a viable institution.
The MOU-Type A between BGA and BPS outlines, among other things, the financial arrangement
between the two organizations. In brief, the MOU-A details how BGA is an autonomous entity from the
BPS and how the BPS will give BGA an annual lump sum payment in four quarterly installments on a set
schedule (January, April, July and October). This payment will be based on per pupil spending levels for
the BPS using the Pilot School funding formula (see MOU for details) minus required and optional
purchases of district services. A list of these specific services and their costs (“buybacks”) is included in
the appendices.
Effectively organizing and managing our finances is of great importance. BGA will open and maintain
bank accounts independent from the BPS as required by law and will deposit tuition funds there. Grant
funds, such as Title I or DESE Charter School support, will flow directly to BGA and will also be
deposited in BGA bank accounts. BGA will then transfer funds for personnel salaries back to the
BPS/City of Boston, which will handle payroll functions (a management service that BGA is required to
purchase from the BPS). The remaining funds in BGA’s bank account will be managed and accounted for
by BGA. The BPS has its own budgeting system and financial controls that will allow it to keep a
separate accounting for BGA and audit or reconcile accounts with BGA.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
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BGA will institute strong, standard financial controls and accounting procedures to effectively manage its
funds. The Board of Trustees will approve each annual budget and will establish a Finance Subcommittee
to oversee the school’s budget and finances, including audits from outside firms. This subcommittee will
work with the Headmaster, the Director of Development and School Partnerships, and the Director of
Budget and Operations to implement the annual budget, manage unexpected circumstances, and plan
effectively for future years. While the Director of Development will lead all fundraising and grant efforts,
the Budget Director will oversee all daily aspects of the schools fiscal operations, including requisitions,
purchase orders, and invoices/payments, and generate all required financial reports for DESE, the Federal
Government, BPS, and others using a widely-used financial accounting program such as QuickBooks.
BGA will also contract the services of a part-time Bookkeeper who will handle the school’s general
ledger, generate checks, and record transfers. Following standard safeguarding practices, the Bookkeeper
will be the only employee who handles the ledger, the Budget Director will be the only one who handles
the purchasing system, and the Headmaster will be the only one who signs checks (unless they are over a
certain amount, determined by the Board, which would require the co-signature of the Chair of the Board
of Trustees). The Board will establish additional financial control practices consistent with those
recommended in the “Massachusetts Charter School Recommended Fiscal Policies & Procedure Guide”
so that all of BGA’s accounts are properly managed. BGA will pay for an annual audit by an independent
firm with charter school experience to insure our financial management is sound.
Budget Narrative
BGA’s budget is designed to support our mission by investing heavily in resources and practices linked to
increased student achievement. To that end, we will reduce class sizes, increase student and family
support, concentrate our staffing in key areas that support our college-preparatory curriculum, and create
a supportive but efficient administrative structure. We will also reduce costs (such as transportation), link
all purchases to our mission and vision, increase revenues through private fundraising, and create a
balanced and sustainable budget every year. Our budget is based on conservative, pragmatic assumptions
and guidance given to us by the BPS, DESE, and others, and specific budget tables are included in the
appendices and as a separate electronic Excel file. The narrative below summarizes our major budget
assumptions and choices for the first three fiscal years of BGA’s life.
Revenue
BGA’s revenue estimates follow guidance given to us by the BPS Budget Department and are based on
the budgets of existing BPS Horace Mann Charter and Pilot Schools. Our general assumption is that
revenue per pupil will be flat over all three fiscal years. Our major categories of revenue are:
Per Pupil Tuition: amounts were based on the BPS per pupil allocation formula for FY11 ($8,244.01 for
middle school; $9,651.01 for high school). To be conservative, we used this as the baseline figure for
FY13, FY14 and FY15 with no increases, even though it is likely to rise over time. We assumed 100%
enrollment in all years as we expect to run a waitlist, much like most of the Pilot and charter schools in
Boston. Enrollment is projected to be 340 (FY13), 425 (FY14), and 510 (FY15).
Grants: We expect to receive several different state and federal grants. Based on guidance from the BPS
Budget Office and indications that charter school support grants will be available from DESE, we
estimate that we would receive $100,000 (FY13), $150,000 (FY14), $200,000 (FY15) in state grants.
For federal grants, Title I, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and Title IIA funding will
also be available to us. For all three grants, we use the same base per pupil estimates for FY13-15,
resulting in proportional increases in funding as our enrollment grows each year.
!
For Title I (funding to support low-income students), our assumption is that we will enroll
approximately the same amount (70%) of low-income students as the BPS average (74%) of
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
56
!
!
students who qualify for free or reduced lunch. Title I provides $2500 per eligible low-income
student (FY11), giving BGA an estimated total of $595,000 from Title I in FY13.
For IDEA, we estimated that BGA would enroll 20% Special Education students, almost identical
to the BPS average (21%). IDEA provides $3479 per student (FY11), giving BGA a total of
$236,572 for FY13.
Title IIA, a federal grant for improving educator quality through professional development, is
funded at a flat rate per student. Title IIA provides $98 per student (FY11), yielding $33,320 for
BGA in FY13.
Finally, we expect that the Federal Nutrition Grant will reimburse us for the cost of full time Food
Services workers. Using BPS average salary data for FY11, we estimate receiving $21,169.00 (FY13, 1.0
FTE) and $43,608.14 (FY14, 2.0 FTE), and $44,916.38 (FY15, 2.0 FTE).
Fund Raising: We expect to have a robust fund raising program, led by our Director of Development and
School Partnerships and our Headmaster. We believe that given the school’s mission, its theme, the target
population, and our own estimates of what Board of Trustees members and Foundations may contribute,
that we will be able to raise approximately $100,000 (FY13), $150,000 (FY14), and $200,000 (FY15)
respectively. This amount has been raised successfully by other charter schools with smaller enrollments
and with a full-time development director we expect to be able to meet our targets through grants and
private donations.
Total Operating Revenue: Based on these assumptions, we expect to have total operating revenue levels
of $5,884,600 (FY13), $7,472,000 (FY14), and $9,068,090 (FY15).
Expenditures
BGA’s assumptions for expenditures are also based on the existing budgets of BPS Horace Mann and
Pilot Schools, as well as guidance from BPS and our own estimates of major costs like instructional
materials. Our general assumption is that costs will rise by 3% per year, a standard inflationary
assumption. Our major categories of expenses are:
BPS In-Kind Contributions: This represents the per-pupil costs (FY11) for services we elect to or are
required to purchase from BPS. These include benefits for personnel ($2,229.00), facilities ($965.00,
which includes maintenance and custodial services), and nondiscretionary management services such as
payroll ($481). Notably, as we have mentioned before, we have chosen to purchase only special education
busing for middle and high school student and T passes ($200 per student per year) and have declined
regular busing services for general education students. By doing this we have lowered the transportation
costs for middle school students from $1766 per student to approx. $766, resulting in overall per pupil
costs for transportation of $566. This new estimate was provided to us by the BPS Budget Office and has
allowed us to save a substantial amount of money that we have reinvested into our school’s program (as
mentioned before, should this arrangement prove unworkable, BGA can adjust its budget accordingly).
Additional discretionary ‘buy backs,’ such as access to summer school, athletics, and technology support,
total $83.01 per student in FY12, with 3% increases in future years. Overall, the cost of in-kind
contributions totals $1,402,325 (FY13), $1,927,005 (FY14), and $2,481,506 (FY15).
Personnel: As our staffing pattern indicates, we are choosing to invest heavily in teaching and support
staff both to lower class size (25:1 or lower) and to offer a more robust program of support for students
both academically and socially/emotionally. Our administrative costs are highest, proportionally, in the
first year but grow slowly in subsequent years. We believe it is a smart investment to build a strong and
efficient leadership infrastructure early on that will pay dividends for the school later. For budgeting
purposes, we have used estimated actual salaries in some cases rather than BPS average salaries in order
to have a more realistic picture of actual personnel costs. We based these off of the FY11 salary scales for
BTU, BASAS, Guild and management employees provided to us by the BPS Budget Office. We are
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required to employ at least one Guild member (due to BPS policy) and hire one school nurse for every
750 students. Two full-time food service workers are also required. Please refer to our staffing pattern
(above) and our budget appendices for detailed descriptions of personnel expenses. Total personnel
expenses are estimated to be $3,602,669 (FY13), $4,654,468 (FY14), and $5,566,886 (FY15).
Non-Personnel: This includes expenditures for books, lab materials, technology, and other tangible items
that are necessary to run the quality academic program we envision for our students. It also includes
contracts for professional development, management support, and auditing. Finally, administrative
support such as copy machines, paper, etc. is also included. We assume that by moving into a BPS
building that basic furniture (desk, chairs, tables, etc.) will be provided at no direct cost to BGA. Details
for non-personnel expenditures can be found in the budget appendices. Total non-personnel expenses are
estimated to be $2,303,099 (FY13), $2,817,532 (FY14), and $3,501,203 (FY15).
Contingency Fund: In keeping with recommended practice for Charter Schools, BGA has set aside a
contingency fund equal to 2% annual revenue for each fiscal year. In this event this fund is not depleted
by the end of the fiscal year, it will be rolled into the operating budget for future years, unless otherwise
utilized by the Board of Trustees.
Overall Budget Forecast
We project a balanced budget for BGA in FY13, FY14, and FY15. If our projections prove to be
misguided or if anticipated funding (such as state and federal Charter School grants) does not materialize,
we will explore cutting our costs rather than seeking more revenue through additional fund raising so as
not to overburden or outstrip our donors. As a last resort, we will access the contingency fund to cover
shortfalls, but not on an ongoing basis. The Board of Trustees will closely monitor our fiscal situation and
make appropriate decisions based on our mission and conservative financial assumptions.
G. ACTION PLAN
The Action Plan for 2011-2012 is included in the Required Attachments section of the appendices. It
outlines the detailed steps BGA will take to successfully open the school and comply with all DESE
requirements.
IV. HOW WILL THE SCHOOL DEMONSTRATE THAT IT IS FAITHFUL TO THE TERMS OF
ITS CHARTER?
A. PROCESS
The Accountability Plan for Boston Green Academy will be developed collaboratively by the school staff,
leadership, and the Board of Trustees. Primary responsibility for the development of the plan will reside
with the Headmaster of the school, who will set an appropriate timeline and convene a planning group
who will work together over Year One to articulate the plan. The Headmaster will collaborate with the
Assistant Headmaster for Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, the Coordinators of Student Support
and Special Education, and various members of the faculty to develop the Accountability Plan to be
approved by the DESE.
The development of the Accountability Plan will occupy a central role in our leadership planning during
Year One. The Assistant Headmaster for Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment will coordinate schoolwide collection of data during the enrollment process, Summer Academy, and the early weeks of the
school year in order to provide baseline data on student ability. In addition to student performance data,
the Headmaster will plan and coordinate the collection of data relating to constituents’ experiences with
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the school over the course of its first year of operation. The Headmaster, in consultation with school staff,
will develop student and family surveys, which will provide invaluable data about the academic program,
the emergence of the BGA community, and attitudes, opinions, and beliefs about the school. School
leadership will gather the data and together with staff and Board of Trustees, analyze it, form the
hypotheses, questions, and conclusions that will inform the school’s Accountability Plan.
B. ACCOUNTABILITY PLAN OBJECTIVES
(1) Academic Success
! In keeping with Dr. Johnson’s Acceleration Agenda targets, the percentage of students scoring
Proficient and Advanced on 10th grade ELA, Science, and Math MCAS will increase by 5% in
Years Two, Three, Four, and Five
! 75% of our students will be in the Advanced or Proficient category of MCAS in ELA and Math
within four years of our opening (similar to Fenway’s performance)
! 80% of ELLs will move one or more MEPA steps between grade spans across both of the
school’s levels (middle and high)
! BGA’s school-wide Student Growth Profile (SGP) will be above 60 for both ELA and Math
(Note: DESE identified SGP above 60 as being above average; very few BPS schools reach this
target).
! 90% SPED and ELL students will have SGPs equivalent to or exceeding their peers at BGA.
! 90% of Students at Boston Green Academy will demonstrate /achieve “satisfactory progress” by
our internal assessment measures sufficient to attain promotion in the areas of the Humanities and
in Mathematics to the next academic grade/division.
! School achievement data will reflect that Boston Green Academy will make AYP by the end of
Year Three in aggregate and for all statistically significant subgroups (NB: DESE cannot
compute AYP until Year Two of BGA’s existence and AYP comparisons cannot be made until
Year Three).
(2) Organizational viability
! Boston Green Academy will be meet its annual enrollment goals and demand will exceed seat
capacity, resulting in a waitlist
! In keeping with its mission, BGA will enroll highly similar proportions of ELL, SPED, lowincome, and ethnically diverse students as the Boston Public Schools
! 90% of parents and families will report satisfaction in the school’s mission and its program
through a comprehensive family survey given annually
! Student attrition (not related to families moving out of the City of Boston) will be below 5%
annually; new students will be enrolled from the school’s waiting lists.
! As evidenced by annual audits, the school will demonstrate adequate financial controls and sound
financial practices
! The school will receive affirmation of a “clean” audit with no management letter.
! The school’s governance will be intact and stable as evidenced by consistency of its Board of
Trustees. The Board sets annual goals and evaluates itself on those goals. At least 90% of the
Board meetings will have a quorum and at least 75% of the Board members will contribute
annually to BGA.
! BGA will annually approve a balanced budget, and fundraising goals will be set and met every
year in order to maintain the highest quality program possible.
! The school’s Board of Trustees will approve the annual goals of the Headmaster and will conduct
annual evaluations of the Headmaster.
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(3) Faithfulness to charter
! At least 50% of BGA’s incoming students each year will be academically at-risk as measured by
Balfanz indicators, Parthenon data categories, overage for grade, trauma-exposed, and other
indicators of academic risk
! 90% of all Boston Green Academy students will report, via student survey, that they are known
well by at least one adult within the school community;
! 90% of parents/ guardians will report, via comprehensive annual family survey, that their child is
known well by at least one member of the BGA staff;
! 90% of students and parents/guardians will report satisfaction in the area of academic support.
! Significant improvements will be made to “green” our school setting, no matter where we are
located, and measureable reductions in the environmental impact of our school community will
occur
! The Student Support Office, Learning Center, and Family Center will be operational, widely
utilized, and earn consistently high ratings of satisfaction from its users
! Students who experience trauma in their school or home life will receive adequate and effective
support services and will suffer no negative long-term academic impacts.
! Boston Green Academy will serve as a working laboratory for best and promising practices for
urban schools, as evidenced by a fully functioning GreenLab that attracts visitors throughout the
year.
! 90% of visitors to GreenLab will report, through written feedback, that GreenLab sessions are
helpful and useful to them in their educational practice.
! 60% of GreenLab’s educator visits and sessions will be attended by educators and others
interested in urban education reform.
C. NARRATIVE
1. When Boston Green Academy is visited for its Renewal of Charter, we will eagerly engage with
our visiting team in order to share the progress of our school community. We hope that during our
three-day visit, it is evident that our school is successful in terms of its ability to attract, retain and
support the learning of a diverse population of students and have a solid reputation for delivering
upon its core promises about its academic program. We hope that our visiting team will see a
school that is fully enrolled and that that those students are coming to school and staying in
school. It is our hope that our program and practices support student growth and achievement,
and that growth and success is reflected in both external and internally designed measures and
assessments. We want to know and show that the school is doing what it said and saying what it
does and learn from the visiting team their collective thoughts and impressions of the ways in
which we are living our mission and where we might look to further develop practices related to
our stated mission. Finally, with regard to the academic program, we want to present evidence
that there are enough of the right kinds of supports in place to help students who are struggling to
make progress in the program.
2. In addition to the aspects of the school related to program, and practices, we will also want the
visiting team to see evidence that we are making progress with regard to establishing a school
community that is accessible and transparent, where all stakeholders feel invited, needed, and
compelled to play an active role in the development of our school. We aspire to be the kind of
school that provides opportunities for families to interact meaningfully with the school and that
there is an evident sense of community. We want to live our mission in a transparent way and
effectively disseminate our experiences and successes and engage in ongoing dialogue about
schools and schooling. We hope to demonstrate that the school’s program relates to its mission:
there is an emphasis on environmental stewardship and activism and there is ample opportunity
got students to meaningfully experience this commitment. By the end of our fourth year, we
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expect ourselves to have begun to develop relationships with our “external collaborators” in ways
that directly and indirectly benefit students and the school community. Finally, when our visiting
team gathers at BGA, we hope they will see that there is satisfaction in the school’s program and
practices by students and their families and that the members of the school’s staff are engaged,
confident, and inspired by their work at the school and by the school’s direction and leadership.
We expect that that the school is a financially viable institution and that our annual audits reveal
no management letters and the business practices are pristine, transparent, and current.
D. DISSEMINATION
Through our own process of start up and the myriad discoveries made as the founding staff of the Boston
Green Academy forge the cornerstones of the school’s newfound traditions, ways of being, and methods
of operation and governance, we will thoughtfully begin the work of dissemination and collaboration. We
intend to be as transparent as possible throughout our start up period, using this experience as the
foundation for our initial efforts to disseminate our practices. We will not wait until the school is “settled”
to begin to reflect upon, draw from, and utilize what we have learned, nor do we intend to wait to share
our learning with interested others.
A Public School
As part of Boston Green Academy’s opening moves to disseminate its practices to the wider educational
community, we will begin during our first year of operation to invite educators and interested others to the
school to observe, question, and provide feedback on our emerging operations within the school.
BGA/GreenLab
Boston Green Academy’s GreenLab will be the primary dissemination arm of the school, offering varying
levels and types of information about the school’s practices and program, and myriad opportunities for
area educators to visit the school, learn about BGA, and to engage in vigorous practitioner-based
professional development, in-depth conversation, and collaborative work.
In addition to serving the important role as “host” to visitors to the school, Boston Green Academy,
GreenLab will serve as a meeting place for educators and others interested in education reform, the
emergence of innovative practices, and the exchange of ideas that lead to success for all students,
everywhere. The mission of BGA’s GreenLab is to serve as a center for inquiry and the advancement of
teaching practice on behalf of student achievement and student success. GreenLab will serve equally as a
dissemination platform for Boston Green Academy as well as a gathering spot for teachers, school
leaders, community members, and interested others to convene critical conversations about education,
teaching, and learning.
Throughout the development of Boston Green Academy’s GreenLab, students, teachers, school
leadership, and parents will play a role in communicating with all who come to the school, with student
ambassadors serving as greeters and tour guides who welcome and orient visitors to BGA. In addition to
serving in these roles, student ambassadors will be active members of the BGA’s “GreenLab” Institute,
serving alongside their teachers and other members of the BGA community to support the informational
visits, educator sessions, and custom workshops designed to enhance and develop the professional
practice of visiting educators from area schools. It is our intention to utilize elements of our key
discoveries and learning throughout our period of start-up as well as our successes over time at the
primary material of GreenLab. We will make transparent our own development as a school and
community, and allow our learning to serve as a catalyst for critical conversation and a courageous form
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of dissemination: open inquiry and reflection. We will not wait until the Boston Green Academy is
“settled” before we open the dialogue about schools and schooling; we will commence with the opening
of our school to raise up and explore the most urgent and pressing concerns of educating our most at-risk
students. Neither they, nor we can afford to wait.
GreenLab: The First Three Years
Among other initiatives that will be largely determined by those most closely associated with the school,
GreenLab will, over the course of Boston Green Academy’s first three years of operation, introduce three
signature programs that will bring together visitors and the school community. Through the introduction
of Informational Visits, Educator Sessions, and Custom Visits, GreenLab will create and support
Boston’s educational community by serving as a center for dissemination, and for the study of teaching
and learning.
Informational visits:
! Exploring BGA’s core principles and beliefs and the ways in which those beliefs are expressed
through the school’s policies, procedures, and principles in action;
! Understanding BGA’s academic program and the structures that support it;
! Examining BGA’s unique approach to supporting individuals and personalization of the learning
experience.
Educator Sessions:
! Facilitated, topic-centered workshops or roundtable discussions concerning curriculum,
instruction, and assessment, or any aspect of school-based operations. Educator Sessions will be
offered periodically, and will be facilitated by members of the BGA faculty.
Custom Workshops
! Inquiring educators may arrange for a customized visit that focuses on a particular area of need or
interest. BGA faculty and staff will work with colleagues from visiting schools to create a oneday or two-day intensive session based on selected aspects of school design, program
development, or educational practice.
! Custom visits will be personalized to accommodate the needs of the visiting team, and activities
will be tailored to maximize the presence of a fully operational school, which will serve as a
laboratory for teacher learning.
Year 1
Over the first three years of Boston Green Academy’s existence, GreenLab will establish and expand its
efforts to share its own learning as a “deliberately different” start up charter school, as well convene area
educators for substantive conversation about teaching and learning. By looking inward through the careful
documentation of the start-up process, and by establishing the process of writing and then publishing an
annual “white paper”, Boston Green Academy will make transparent its initial practices. In addition to
creating the paper, GreenLab will establish the first of three types of visits to the school. These
“informational visits” will provide opportunities for educators and interested others to visit Boston Green
Academy in order to observe the school in action and order to learn from and understand its core
commitments, principles and practices, and to share their own experiences in school development. In
addition to serving as a means through which to share BGA’s practices, GreenLab will serve as a kind of
laboratory, a place for reciprocal learning in a collaborative, collegial setting.
During the first year of GreenLab’s operation will see:
! The development of GreenLab’s organizational processes and procedures for visits to the school;
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!
!
The development of “Informational Visits” to enable educators and interested others to see the
school as it operates and to understand its practices and core principles;
The development of a published paper that details the school’s planning and opening, providing
an analysis of the challenges met and overcome in translating planning into practice.
Year 2
During the second year of Boston Green Academy’s operation, GreenLab’s efforts will expand to the
development of its second tier of dissemination offerings, “educator visits”. In addition to “Informational
Visits” launched in year 1, “Educator Visits” will further open Boston Green Academy’s practices to
include practitioner-led professional development sessions focused on topics of importance to teachers
and school leaders.
During year 2, teachers and leaders at BGA will develop two distinct half-day or full-day sessions to be
offered through GreenLab. Sessions will be designed to illuminate elements of BGA’s core practices
(possible topics include BGA’s Advisory program, Establishing Community Partnerships, Building
Relationships with Families, and Curriculum Development with a Green Focus, or any area of BGA’s
experience that is most relevant /helpful to visiting educators). The sessions will be designed as active
workshops where teachers and staff of BGA will present BGA practice and then facilitate the learning of
visiting teachers as they confront and address the issues they face in their own practice.
Year 3
As BGA gathers momentum and gains stability even as it continues start-up, GreenLab will expand its
efforts to disseminate its best practices as well as critical lessons learned along the way, making the
learning of the school visible and public.
During Year 3, services to the larger educational community will grow to include “Custom Visits”.
Custom Visits will build on the practice of Educator Visits by offering area educators the opportunity to
delve into a particular area of school design, program, or operation through a day-long (or more),
personalized visit, designed and facilitated by BGA staff to meet the unique needs of the requesting
group. Custom Visits will allow for in-depth inquiry on important topics such as performance –based
promotion, designing student assessments that encourage student growth and progress, school-wide
assessment systems, curriculum development, instructional practices, serving at-risk students, fostering
participatory decision-making within schools, etc.
Custom visits will utilize the Boston Green Academy as a working laboratory, as visitors will have access
to classrooms and staff, to students, and artifacts and exemplars of innovative practice. GreenLab will
provide a workspace for educators to grapple with their most pressing issues related to student learning
and student success in their own schools by serving as a place for meaningful collaboration and critical
friendship.
Educators as Writers: Documentation as Collaboration
In addition to the development of GreenLab, we will cultivate the notion of practitioners as writers as we
introduce a program designed to both support the documentation of the school’s development and the
emerging practices and program, but allow teachers at Boston Green Academy the opportunity to publish
their work. Beginning in the summer of 2013, after the school’s first year of operation is complete, we
will engage in faculty-wide reflection to document the first year of Boston Green Academy. Teachers will
be asked to write an essay on a topic of professional relevance that describes an element of the school’s
first year. These early works will become the first volume of BGAWrites, a professional journal.
Subsequently, the school will foster the development of additional educator essays and eventually,
scholarly action/school -based research by offering stipends to members of the faculty and staff who are
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interesting in continuing to be writing practitioners. BGA’s GreenLab will undertake the collection and
publishing of this work beginning in Year 2.
Furthermore, members of the Boston Green Academy staff will participate in the dissemination efforts of
the Massachusetts Charter School Association by applying for grants associated with sharing practices
and ideas in Massachusetts Charter Schools.
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V. A. REQUIRED ATTACHMENTS (COUNTED TOWARDS 40 PAGE LIMIT)
A. DRAFT BY-LAWS
BY-LAWS
OF
BOSTON GREEN ACADEMY - A HORACE MANN CHARTER PUBLIC SCHOOL
SECTION 1
General Provisions
1.1
Charter.
Boston Green Academy is a Horace Mann Charter Public School, chartered by
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, pursuant to Chapter 71 Section 89 of the Massachusetts General
Laws. The name and purposes of the School shall be as set forth in its Charter, as amended from time to
time with approval of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The Charter is hereby
made a part of these by-laws, and the powers of the School and of its Trustees and officers, and all
matters concerning the conduct and regulation of the affairs of the School, shall be subject to such
provisions in regard thereto, if any, as are set forth in the Charter. The Board of Trustees is a public
entity, and as such, individual members are considered special state employees of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts. In the event of any inconsistency between the Charter and these by-laws, the Charter
shall be controlling. All references in these by-laws to the Charter shall be construed to mean the Charter
as from time to time amended
1.2
Location. The principal office of the School shall initially be located at the place set forth in the
Charter of the School. The Trustees may change the location of the principal office in the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts; provided, however, that no such change shall be effective until the appropriate
certificates or other documents are filed with the Secretary of State and/or the Secretary of Education of
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts specifying the street address of the new principal office of the
School in The Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
1.3
Fiscal Year. Except as from time to time otherwise determined by the Trustees of the School,
the fiscal year of the School shall end on the last day of June in each year.
1.4
School Seal. The common seal is, and until otherwise ordered and directed by the Board of
Trustees shall be, an impression upon paper bearing the name of the School, the date "2012" and such
other device or inscription as the Board of Trustees may determine.
SECTION 2
Trustees
2.1
Powers.
A Board of Trustees holds the charter for the school from the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, and is therefore responsible for ensuring that the school and its Trustees comply with all
applicable laws and regulations, and ensure that the school is an academic success, organizationally
viable, and faithful to the terms of its charter. The Board shall manage the affairs of the School and shall
have and may exercise all the powers of the School, except as otherwise provided by law, by the Charter
or by these by-laws, including selection, evaluation, and removal of the Executive Director/Headmaster;
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determination of general school policies; management of the financial affairs of the school; and approval
of the annual budget. The Board does not exercise managerial powers over the day-to-day operations of
the school.
2.2 Number. The Board of Trustees will be composed of no fewer than thirteen members: three
caregivers, one of whom is the President of the Family Council, serving two-year terms; two teachers, one
of whom will also serve on the Leadership Team, voted upon by their colleagues and serving terms of one
year, unless recommended otherwise, and representing the high school and the middle school; two
students, one from the middle school and one from the high school, both of whom are also members of
the Student Government, voted upon by their peers to serve on the Board for a term of one year; six
community members/collaborating partners, not limited by a specific term; additional members as agreed
upon by the Board in a formal act. The Headmaster will attend each meeting of the Board in a non-voting
capacity and will provide presentations of data, school programs, finances, etc. as requested. The Board
will serve as the School Site Council and will review regularly the finances and academic performance of
the school, and will also guide, support, and evaluate the Headmaster. The Trustees may, at any special
or regular meeting by an affirmative vote of Trustees then in office, increase the number of Trustees and
elect new Trustees to complete the number so fixed, or they may by a similar vote decrease the number of
Trustees, but only to eliminate vacancies existing by reason of death, resignation, removal, or
disqualification of one or more Trustees. The Trustees may by an affirmative vote of a majority of
Trustees then in office fill any vacancy in the Board and may exercise all their powers notwithstanding
any vacancy or vacancies in their number.
2.3
Election of Trustees.
All Trustees shall be elected by a formal vote of the Board of Trustees
to accept new members. The Board of Trustees may not discriminate against potential members on the
basis of age, sex, sexual orientation, race, national origin, ancestry, religion, marital status, or nondisqualifying handicap or mental condition.
2.4
Resignation and Removal. Any Trustee may resign by delivering a written resignation to the
Chairperson of the Board, with a copy to the Executive Director/Headmaster of the school and the Board
Documentarian. Such resignation shall be effective upon receipt unless it is specified to be effective at
some later time. To facilitate the election of new Trustees, the School formally encourages Trustees
intending to resign or to decline nomination to provide notice of the Trustee's intent at least 60 days prior
to the annual meeting. Any Trustee may be removed from office with or without cause by an affirmative
vote of a majority of the trustees then in office. A Trustee may be removed for cause only after reasonable
notice and an opportunity to be heard by the Board of Trustees.
2.5
Open Meeting Law. All meetings of the Trustees shall be conducted in accordance with
Section 23B of Chapter 39 of the Massachusetts General Laws, as amended from time to time, or any
successor statute. Except as otherwise permitted by such Section 23B, (i) no quorum of the Board of
Trustees shall meet in private for the purpose of deciding on or deliberating toward a decision on any
matter and (ii) no executive session (as hereinafter defined) shall be held until (a) the Board of Trustees
shall have first convened in an open session for which notice shall have been given in accordance with
law, (b) a majority of the Trustees at such meeting shall have voted to go into executive session, (c) the
vote of each Trustee shall have been recorded on a roll call vote and entered into the minutes, and (d) the
Chairperson (or other person presiding over the meeting) shall have cited the purpose of the executive
session and shall have stated whether or not the Board of Trustees shall reconvene after the executive
session. Executive sessions may be held only for purposes permitted by law. "Executive Session" means a
session of the Board of Trustees closed to the public.
2.6
Annual Meeting. The Trustees shall meet annually immediately following the first regularly
scheduled Board meeting of each calendar year at the principal office of the School, or at such place,
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within or without The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and at such time as the Board of Trustees shall
determine, except that such date shall not be a legal holiday. If the annual meeting is not held on the
specified day, the Trustees may hold a special meeting in place thereof, and any business transacted or
elections held at such meeting shall have the same force and effect as if transacted or held at the annual
meeting. Notice of the annual meeting setting forth the date, time, and place of any such meeting shall be
mailed to all Trustees at the Trustees' usual or last known business or home address not less than seven
(7) days prior to the date.
2.7
Regular Meetings. Regular meetings of the Trustees may be held without call or notice to the
Trustees at such places and times as the Trustees may from time to time determine; provided, however,
that any Trustee who is absent when such determination is made shall be given notice as provided in
Section 2.9 of these by-laws. The Trustees shall hold no fewer than four regular meetings during the
academic year. The School formally encourages Trustees to attend every meeting of the Board of
Trustees.
2.8
Special Meetings. Special meetings of the Trustees may be held at any time and place when
called by the Chairperson of the Board, if any, the Executive Director/Headmaster, or by two or more
Trustees. Notice of any special meeting shall be given as provided in Section 2.9 of these by-laws.
2.9
Notice of Meetings. Public notice of meetings shall be given as required by law pertaining to
the open meeting of governmental bodies. Notice of the date, time and place of all regular and Special
meetings of the Trustees shall be given to each Trustee by the Documentarian or, in case of the death,
absence, incapacity or refusal of the Documentarian, by the officer or one of the Trustees calling the
meeting. Such notice shall be given to each Trustee in person or by telephone, telegram, facsimile
transmission or electronic mail sent to such Trustee's usual or last known business or home address at
least twenty-four (24) hours in advance of the meeting, or by mail addressed to such business or home
address and postmarked at least forty-eight (48) hours in advance of the meeting, unless shorter notice is
adequate under the circumstances. Except as required by law, notice of any meeting of Trustees need not
be given: (i) to any Trustee who, either before or after the meeting, delivers a written waiver of notice,
executed by the Trustee or the Trustee's attorney thereunto authorized), which is filed with the records of
the meeting; or (ii) to any Trustee who attends the meeting and who, either prior to the meeting or at its
commencement, fails to protest the lack of such notice. Except as otherwise required by law, the Charter,
or these by-laws, a notice or waiver of notice need not specify the purpose of any regular or special
meeting unless such purpose is (i) the amendment or repeal of any provision of the Charter of these bylaws or (ii) the removal of a Trustee or an officer.
2.10
Action at Meetings. A majority of the Trustees then in office shall constitute a quorum, but a
lesser number may, without further notice, adjourn the meeting to any other time. Action by the Board of
Trustees requires a majority vote of a quorum of seated trustees. Trustees may not participate in meetings
by proxies.
SECTION 3
Officers
3.1
Officers and Agents.
The officers of the Board shall consist of a Chairperson, Vice
Chairperson, the Executive Director/Headmaster, and Treasurer, and such other officers as the Trustees
may determine from time to time. The officers of the school may meet as the Executive Committee of the
Board of Trustees, and may act in lieu of the Board of Trustees between meetings, provided that their
actions are ratified by the full Board at the next regularly scheduled meeting. Notice of any such meeting
must be in compliance with the Open Meeting Law.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
67
3.2
Election and Tenure.
The Chairperson, Vice Chairperson , and Treasurer shall be
elected by the Trustees at the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees. Any other officers deemed
necessary of desirable by the Trustees may be elected by the Trustees at any time. Except as otherwise
provided by law, the Charter or these by-laws, all officers shall hold office until the next annual meeting
of the Trustees or the special meeting held in lieu thereof, and thereafter until their respective successors
are chosen and qualified, unless a shorter term is specified in the vote electing or appointing them. If the
office of Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, or Treasurer becomes vacant, the Trustees shall elect a
successor; if any other office becomes vacant, the Trustees may elect a successor. Each such successor
shall hold office for the unexpired term and in the case of the Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, and
Treasurer until a successor is chosen and qualified, or in each case until the officer sooner dies, resigns,
is removed or becomes disqualified.
3.3
Resignation and Removal. Any officer may resign by delivering a written resignation to the
Chairperson, with a copy to the Executive Director/Headmaster at its principal office and such
resignation shall be effective upon receipt, unless it is specified to be effective at some later time. The
Trustees may remove any officer, with or without cause, by a vote of the majority of the Trustees then
in office. Any officer may be removed for cause only after reasonable notice and an opportunity to be
heard by the Board of Trustees.
3.4
Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of the Board.
The Trustees shall elect a Chairperson
and Vice-Chairperson of the Board of Trustees. Except as otherwise provided by law, the Charter or these
by-laws, the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson shall hold office for two years, unless a shorter term is
specified in the vote electing or appointing them. The Chairperson shall establish the agenda for all
meetings of the Board of Trustees in consultation with the Executive Director/Headmaster and, as
appropriate in the discretion of the Chairperson, other members of the Board of Trustees. The
Chairperson shall preside over all meetings of the Board of Trustees and shall have such other powers as
the Board of Trustees shall determine. In the absence of the Chairperson at any meetings of the Board, the
Vice-Chairperson shall exercise the rights and perform the function of the Chairperson.
3.5
The Executive Director/Headmaster. The Executive Director/Headmaster shall be the chief
executive officer of the School and, subject to the direction and control of the Board of Trustees, shall
have general charge of the affairs of the School. The Executive Director/Headmaster shall be evaluated
annually by the Board. The Executive Director/Headmaster shall have such other powers and duties as
are usually incident to that office and as may be vested in that office by these by-laws or by the
Trustees.
3.6
Treasurer.
The Treasure is responsible for general oversight of the financial affairs of the
school. The Treasurer shall chair the Financial Committee and present to the Board of Trustees a
quarterly report on the financial condition and affairs of the School. The Treasurer shall oversee all
filings required by The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Internal Revenue Service, and any other
governmental agency. The Treasurer shall have such other powers and duties as are usually incident to
that office and as may be vested in that office by these by-laws or by the Trustees.
3.7
Documentarian. An Administrative Assistant of the school will serve as the Documentarian
of the Board and shall record and maintain records of all proceedings of the Trustees in a book or series
of books kept for that purpose and shall give such notices of meetings of Trustees as are required by the
Charter, these by-laws, or by law. Such records shall include the date, time, and location of the
meeting, the members present or absent, and all action taken at the meeting. No later than seven days
before any meeting of the Board of Trustees, the Documentarian shall distribute to the members of the
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
68
Board of Trustees copies of any minutes of prior meetings of the Board of Trustees that have not been
approved by the Board of Trustees. The Documentarian of the Board is not a voting member of the
Board.
3.8
Other Officers. Other officers shall have such duties and powers as may be designated from
time to time by the Trustees.
Section 4
Compensation, Personal Liability, and Contracts
4.1
Compensation. No Trustee or officer shall receive any compensation for services rendered as a
Trustee or officer. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any Trustee or officer may receive reasonable
compensation for services rendered as an employee of the school, and any Trustee or officer may, if
authorized by the Executive Director/Headmaster or the Board of Trustees, be reimbursed for necessary
expenses, including travel expenses, reasonably incurred by the Trustee or officer in the performance of
duties as a Trustee or officer.
4.2
No Personal Liability. The Trustees and officers of the School shall not be personally
liable for any debt, liability, or obligation of the School. All persons, corporations, or other entities
extending credit to, contracting with, or having any claim against the School may look only to the funds
and property of the School for the payment of any such contract or claim; or for the payment of any
debt, damages, judgment, or decree; or for any money that may otherwise become due or payable to
them from the School.
4.3
Contracts. The School shall not enter any contract or transact any business in which any
part of the assets or net earnings, if any, of the School shall inure to the benefit of, or be distributable
to, any Trustee or officer of the School or other private individual, except that the School may pay
reasonable compensation for services rendered and may make payments and distributions in
furtherance of its purposes as set forth in the Charter. The School may, however, enter into contracts
and transact business with one or more of its Trustees or officers or with any corporation, organization,
or other concern in which one or more of its Trustees or officers are Trustees, officers, stockholders,
partners, or otherwise interested; and, in the absence of fraud, no such contract or transaction shall be
invalidated or in any way affected by the fact that such Trustees or officers of the School have or may
have interests which are or might be adverse to the interest of the School even though the vote or action
of Trustees or officers having such adverse interest may have been necessary to obligate the School
upon such contract or transaction. In the absence of fraud, no Trustee or officer of the School having
such adverse interest shall be liable to the School or to any creditor thereof or to any other person for
loss incurred by it under or by reason of such contract or transaction, nor shall any such Trustee or
officer be accountable for any gains or profits realized thereon.
SECTION 5
Amendments
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
69
These by-laws may be altered, amended or repealed, or new by-laws may be adopted, by an affirmative
vote of a majority of Trustees then in office at any annual meeting of the Trustees or special meeting of
the Trustees; provided, however, that notice shall be given in the notice of the meeting that an alteration,
amendment, or repeal of the By-Laws, or that new by-laws may be adopted, will be proposed. Changes to
these by-laws as voted by the Board of Trustees must then be approved by the Boston School Committee
before they can be approved by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
SECTION 6
Miscellaneous Provisions
6.1
Generally. The school shall indemnify each person who may serve or who has served at any
time as a Trustee, Treasurer, Documentarian, or other officer of the School; each person who may serve
or who has served at the request of the School as a Trustee, officer, employee, or other agent of another
organization; and each person who may serve or has served at its request in a capacity with respect to any
employee benefit plan (collectively, "Indemnified Officers" or individually, "Indemnified Officer”),
against all expenses and liabilities, including without limitation, counsel fees, judgments, fines, excise
taxes, penalties, and settlement payments, reasonably incurred by or imposed upon such person in
connection with any threatened, pending or completed action, suit, or proceeding whether civil, criminal,
administrative or investigative (a "proceeding") in which an Indemnified Officer may become involved
by reason of serving or having served in such capacity (other than a proceeding voluntarily initiated by
such person unless a majority of the full Board of Trustees authorized the proceeding); provided,
however, that no indemnification shall be provided to such Indemnified Officer with respect to any matter
as to which such Indemnified Officer shall have been finally adjudicated in any proceeding (i) to have
breached the Indemnified Officer's duty of loyalty to the School, (ii) not to have acted in good faith in
the reasonable belief that such Indemnified Officer's action was in the best interest of the School, (iii)
to have engaged in intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law, or (iv) to have engaged in any
transaction from which the Indemnified Officer derived an improper personal benefit; and further
provided, that any compromise or settlement payment shall be approved by the School in the same
manner as provided below for the authorization of indemnification. Any person who at the request of
the School may serve or has served another organization or an employee benefit plan in one or more of
the foregoing capacities and who shall have acted in good faith in the reasonable belief that his or her
action was in the best interests of such other organization or in the best interests of the participants or
beneficiaries of such employee benefit plan shall be deemed to have acted in such manner with respect
to the School.
6.2
Execution of Instruments. All contracts, deeds, leases, bonds, notes, checks, drafts, and
other instruments authorized to be executed by an officer of the School on its behalf shall be signed by the
Executive Director/Headmaster or Treasurer except as the Trustees may generally or in particular cases
otherwise determine. Any recordable instrument purporting to affect an interest in real estate, executed in
the name of the School by the Executive Director/Headmaster and the Treasurer, who may be one and the
same person, shall be binding on the School in favor of a purchaser or other person relying in good faith
on such instrument notwithstanding any inconsistent provisions of the Charter, by-laws, resolutions, or
votes of the School.
6.3
Corporate Records.
The records of all meetings of Trustees, the names and addresses
of the Trustees and officers of the School, and the originals or attested copies of the Charter and the by-
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
70
laws of the School shall be kept in Massachusetts at the principal office of the School or of the Clerk, but
such corporate records need not all be kept in the same office.
6.4
Guarantees and Suretyships. The School shall make no contracts of guarantee or suretyship.
6.5
Advances/Repayment.
Such indemnification may, to the extent authorized by the
Board of Trustees of the School, include payment by the School of expenses, including attorneys' fees,
reasonably incurred in defending a civil or criminal action or proceeding in advance of the final
disposition of such action or proceeding, upon receipt of an undertaking by the Indemnified Officer to
repay such payment if not entitled to indemnification under this Section which undertaking may be
accepted without regard to the financial ability of such Indemnified Officer to make repayment.
6.6
Authorization.
The payment of any indemnification or advance shall be conclusively
deemed authorized by the School under this Section and each Trustee and officer of the School
approving such payment shall be wholly protected, if:
(i)
the payment has been approved or ratified (1) by a majority vote of the Trustees who are not
at that time parties to the proceeding or (2) by a majority vote of a committee of two or more Trustees
who are not at that time parties to the proceeding and are selected for this purpose by the full Board (in
which selection Trustees who are parties may participate); or
(ii)
the action is taken in reliance upon the opinion or independent legal counsel (who may be
counsel to the School) appointed for the purpose by vote of the Trustees in the manner
specified in clauses (1) or (2) of subparagraph (i) or, if that manner is not possible, appointed
by a majority of the Trustees then in office; or
(iii)
the Trustees have otherwise acted in accordance with the standard of conduct applied to
Trustees under Chapter 180 of the Massachusetts General Laws, as amended from time to time;
or
(iv)
a court having jurisdiction shall have approved the payment.
6.7
Heirs, Executors, and Administrators. The indemnification provided hereunder shall inure to
the benefit of the heirs, executors, and administrators of any Indemnified Officer entitled to
indemnification hereunder.
6.8
Non-Exclusive Rights. The right of indemnification under this Section shall be in addition to
and not exclusive of all other rights to which any person may be entitled. Nothing contained in this
Section shall affect any rights to indemnification to which School employees, agents, Trustees, officers,
and other persons may be entitled by contract or otherwise under law.
6.9
Adverse Amendments. No amendment or repeal of the provisions of this Section which
adversely affects the right of an Indemnified Officer under this Section shall apply to that Indemnified
Officer with respect to the acts or omissions of such Indemnified Officer that occurred at any time prior to
such amendment or repeal, unless such amendment or repeal was voted for by or was made with the
written consent of such Indemnified Officer.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
71
6.10
Employees and Agents.
To the extent legally permissible , the School may indemnify any
employee or agent of the School to the extent authorized by the Board of Trustees by an affirmative vote
of a majority of the Trustees entitled to vote.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
72
B. OPERATING BUDGET
APPENDIX D—PAGE 96 & 97
Pre-Operational Period
FY 2012
Year 1
FY 2013
Year 2
FY 2014
Year 3
FY 2015
17,369.91
17,581.18
17,780.57
MAJOR ASSUMPTIONS
A
Per Pupil Tuition
B
Student Enrollment
C
Facility Size (square footage)
D
Cost per square foot
E
Staff FTE (1.0 FTE= 40 hours)
340
425
510
0
0.00
0.00
n/a
n/a
n/a
E1. Administrative (Professional)
7.00
7.00
7.00
E2. Administrative (Support/Clerical)
3.00
4.00
5.00
E3. Instructional: Teachers
30.00
40.00
48.00
E3. Instructional: Other (Professional)
E5. Instructional: Paraprofessionals
2.00
3.00
4.00
E6. Instructional: Salaries-Support/Clerical
4.00
5.00
6.00
E7. Other Student Services
3.00
3.00
3.00
49.00
62.00
73.00
E8. Operation and Maintenance of Plant
F
Staff FTE:
Subtotal:
0.00
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
73
Pre-Operational Period
FY 2012
OPERATING REVENUES
Year 1
FY 2013
Year 2
FY 2014
Year 3
FY 2015
1
Tuition
3,396,214.19
4,120,271.84
4,844,329.49
2
Grants-State
100,000.00
150,000.00
200,000.00
3
Grants-Federal
864,892.00
1,081,115.00
1,297,338.00
4
Grants-Private
100,000.00
150,000.00
200,000.00
5
Nutrition Funding-State and Federal
42,338.00
43,608.14
44,916.38
6
Program Fees
0.00
0.00
0.00
7
Contributions, in-kind
1,402,325.42
1,927,005.64
2,481,506.65
8
Contributions, in-cash
0.00
0.00
0.00
9
Investment Income
0.00
0.00
0.00
10 Transportation Reimbursements
0.00
0.00
0.00
11 Other:
0.00
0.00
0.00
12 Other:
0.00
0.00
0.00
5,905,769.61
7,472,000.62
9,068,090.52
13 TOTAL OPERATING REVENUES
0.00
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
74
OPERATING EXPENDITURES
Administration
Pre-Operational Period
FY 2012
Year 1
FY 2013
Year 2
FY 2014
Year 3
FY 2015
14 Salaries-Administrative (Professional)
675,000.00
692,500.00
710,000.00
15 Salaries-Administrative (Support/Clerical)
146,215.00
197,601.45
255,558.99
15,000.00
15,500.00
16,000.00
8,000.00
8,500.00
9,000.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
30,000.00
30,900.00
31,800.00
200.00
200.00
200.00
53,000.00
55,500.00
60,000.00
16 Accounting-Audit
17 Legal
18 Payroll
19 Other Professional Services
20 Information Management and Technology
21 Office Supplies and Materials
22 Professional Development, Administrative/Board
0.00
0.00
0.00
500.00
500.00
500.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
25 Recruitment/Advertising
3,000.00
3,000.00
3,000.00
26 Travel Expenses for staff/board
2,000.00
3,000.00
3,000.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
163,703.20
210,767.87
260,509.09
5,000.00
6,000.00
8,000.00
23 Dues, Licenses, and Subscriptions
24 Fundraising
27 Bank Charges-Current (short term)
28 Purchased Management Services
29 Other: Food and Catering
30 Other:
31
Subtotal:
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
1,101,618.20
1,223,969.32
1,357,568.07
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
75
APPENDIX D—PAGE 98
PreOperati
onal
Year 1
Year 1
Year 2
Year 2
Year 3
Year 3
FY 2012
FY 2013
General
Education
FY 2013
Special
Education
FY 2014
General
Education
FY 2014
Special
Education
FY 2015
General
Education
FY 2015
Special
Education
Instructional Services
32 Salaries: Teachers
$1,844,642.00
$400,000.00
$2,511,340.00
$577,500.00
$3,101,910.40
$680,000.00
33 Salaries: Other (Professional)
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
34 Salaries: Paraprofessionals
$0.00
$54,478.00
$0.00
$84,168.51
$0.00
$115,591.42
35 Salaries: Support/Clerical
$320,000.00
$0.00
$412,500.00
$0.00
$510,000.00
$0.00
36 Contracted Services, Instructional
37 Instructional Technology in
Classrooms
$25,000.00
$0.00
$25,000.00
$0.00
$25,000.00
$0.00
$65,000.00
$45,000.00
$65,000.00
$45,000.00
$251,555.78
$50,000.00
38 Instructional Supplies and Materials
$171,959.49
$40,000.00
$148,223.45
$40,000.00
$150,000.00
$40,000.00
39 Testing and Assessment
40 Professional Development,
Instructional
41 Dues, Licenses, and
Subscriptions
$10,000.00
$0.00
$15,000.00
$0.00
$20,000.00
$0.00
$30,000.00
$10,000.00
$45,000.00
$10,000.00
$45,000.00
$15,000.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$76,000.00
$0.00
$112,000.00
$0.00
$128,000.00
$0.00
42 Staff Stipends in addition to base
salary
43 Purchased Management Services
$25,502.22
$31,877.77
$38,253.32
44 Other: Substitutes
$33,941.70
$46,613.27
$57,614.00
45 Other: Field Trips
$20,000.00
$0.00
$25,000.00
$0.00
$35,000.00
$0.00
$2,622,045.41
$549,478.00
$3,437,554.49
$756,668.51
$4,362,333.50
$900,591.42
45
Subtotal:
$0.00
PreOperation
al Period
Other Student Services
FY 2012
47 Salaries-Other Student Services
48 Health Services-Includes both
sped and regular education
Year 1
FY 2013
General
Education
$0.00
$86,055.00
Year 1
FY 2013
Special
Education
$0.00
Year 2
FY 2014
General
Education
$0.00
Year 2
FY 2014
Special
Education
$0.00
$88,636.65
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
Year 3
FY 2015
General
Education
$0.00
Year 3
FY 2015
Special
Education
$0.00
$91,295.75
76
49 Student Transportation (to and from
school)-Includes both sped and regular
education
50 Food Services-Includes both
sped and regular education
51 Athletic Services-Includes both
sped and regular education
52 Purchased Management Services-
$192,440.00
$240,550.00
$288,660.00
$42,338.00
$43,608.14
$44,916.38
$2,720.00
$3,400.00
$4,080.00
Includes both sped and regular
education
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
53 Other:
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
54 Other:
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$323,553.00
$0.00
$376,194.79
$0.00
$428,952.13
$0.00
55
Subtotal
$0.00
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
77
APPENDIX D—PAGE 99
Pre-Operational Period Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
FY 2012
FY 2014
FY 2015
FY 2013
Operation and Maintenance of Plant
56 Salaries-Operation and Maintenance of Plant
150,926.00 194,317.23 194,317.23
57 Utilities
101,711.00 130,952.91 161,857.80
58 Maintenance of Building and Grounds
75,463.00 97,158.61 120,088.05
59 Maintenance of Equipment
0.00
0.00
0.00
60 Rental/Lease of Buildings and Grounds
0.00
0.00
0.00
61 Rental/Lease of Equipment
0.00
0.00
0.00
62 Capital Debt Services
0.00
0.00
0.00
63 Renovation and Construction
0.00
0.00
0.00
64 Acquisition of Capital Equipment
0.00
0.00
0.00
65 Purchased Management Services
0.00
0.00
0.00
66 Other:
0.00
0.00
0.00
67 Other:
0.00
0.00
0.00
68
Subtotal:
0.00 328,100.00 422,428.75 476,263.07
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
78
Fixed Charges
Pre-Operational Period Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
FY 2012
FY 2014
FY 2015
FY 2013
69 Payroll taxes
0.00
70 Fringe Benefits
0.00
0.00
857,860.00 1,100,744.75 1,356,020.51
71 Insurance (non employee)
0.00
0.00
0.00
72 Purchased Management Services
0.00
0.00
0.00
73 Other:
0.00
0.00
0.00
74 Other:
0.00
0.00
0.00
75
Subtotal:
0.00
857,860.00 1,100,744.75 1,356,020.51
Pre-Operational Period Year 1
Community Services (Including Dissemination) FY 2012
76 Dissemination Activities
77 Civic Activities
78
Subtotal:
79 Contingency Fund
80 Total Operating Expenditures
81 Surplus/(Deficit)
FY 2013
Year 2
Year 3
FY 2014
FY 2015
5,000.00
5,000.00
5,000.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
5,000.00
5,000.00
5,000.00
118,115.00
149,440.01
181,361.81
5,905,769.61 7,472,000.62 9,068,090.52
0.00
0.00
0.00
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
79
C. BUDGET EXPENDITURE DETAILS
FY2013 Projected Expenditures
Total Personnel
$3,602,669.70
Total FTE's
49.00
Total Per Pupil Allocation
5,905,769.61
Total Non Personnel
$2,303,099.91
Total
Teacher
FTE's
30.00
Spent
5,905,769.61
Balance
0.00
Description
105,000
FTE for
Personnel/$
for Non
Personnel
4.00
420,000.00
Administrative
Professional
14
Professional Support
85,000
3.00
255,000.00
Administrative
Professional
14
Secretarial/Clerical
46,215
1.00
46,215.00
Administrative
Support/Clerical
15
Technical Support
50,000
2.00
100,000.00
Administrative
Support/Clerical
15
Family Liaison Salary
$15,000.00
15,000.00
AdministrativeAccounting-Audit
16
Administrative-Legal
$8,000.00
8,000.00
Administrative-Legal
17
Administrative-Other
Professional Services
$30,000.00
30,000.00
Administrative-Other
Professional Services
19
Required annual
external audit for
DESE (Est. Cost-HCA
Audit was $14k in
2009)
Insurance for Board of
Trustees, School
Admin (MIIA Policycost same as HCA '09)
Part-time Bookkeeper
(Contracted Services)
$200.00
200.00
Information
Management and
Technology
20
Quick Books and
support
$53,000.00
53,000.00
Office Supplies and
Materials
21
0.00
AdministrativeProfessional
Development,
Administrative/Board
22
Copy machine
($40000/yr), paper (8
cartons/wk * 50 wks *
$25 per=$10000),
supplies ($3000)
(Included in PD
contracts for schoolno additional cost)
$500.00
500.00
Administrative-Dues,
Licenses, and
Subscriptions
23
Website license
($500/yr)
Recruiting/Advertising
$3,000.00
3,000.00
Recruiting/Advertising
25
Radio ads, print,
posters, fliers
Travel Expenses for
staff/Board
$2,000.00
2,000.00
Travel Expenses for
staff/Board
26
Leadership
Retreats/Conferences
High School
Administrator
AdministrativeAccounting-Audit
Information
Management and
Technology
Office Supplies and
Materials
FY2011 Avg.
Salary + 3%
AdministrativeProfessional
Development,
Administrative/Board
Administrative-Dues,
Licenses, and
Subscriptions
Total
Category of
Expense
Line
#
Comments
Salary for Headmaster,
Asst. Headmaster,
Director of
Development and
Technology Dir.
Salary for SPED
Coordinator, Budget
Director, Dir. Of
College Counseling
Salary for Guild Staff
Asst.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
80
AdministrativePurchased
Management
Services
163,703.20
Administrative-Food
and Catering
$5,000.00
5,000.00
AdministrativePurchased
Management
Services
28
Services provided by
BPS for central admin
support calculated on
a per pupil basis
Administrative-Food
and Catering
29
Food for staff,
fundraisers, family
meetings, etc.
Reg. Ed. Teacher
Salaries- see staffing
pattern for details
Library/Media Staff
Salary
Regular Education
Teacher
75,000
23.00
1,725,000.00
Instructional
Teachers
32
Librarian
91,642
1.00
91,642.00
Instructional
Teachers
32
Sped Resource
Teacher
80,000
3.00
240,000.00
Instructional
Teachers
32
SPED Resource
Teacher Salaries
Sped Sub Sep
Teacher
80,000
2.00
160,000.00
Instructional
Teachers
32
SPED Sub Sep
Teacher salaries
Cluster Substitute
Teaching position
28,000
1.00
28,000.00
Instructional
Teachers
32
Dedicated Building
Substitute salary
Sped Resource Aide
27,239
2.00
54,478.00
Instructional
Paraprofessional
34
SPED Para Salary
Program Support
80,000
3.00
240,000.00
Instructional
Support/Clerical
35
Student Support
Counselor Salary
Guidance
80,000
1.00
80,000.00
Instructional
Support/Clerical
35
Student Support
Coordinator Salary
Contracted Services,
Instructional
$25,000.00
25,000.00
Contracted Services,
Instructional
36
Instructional
Technology in
Classrooms
Instructional
Technology in
Classrooms
Instructional Supplies
and Materials
$65,000.00
65,000.00
37
$45,000.00
45,000.00
$171,959.49
171,959.49
Instructional
Technology in
Classrooms
Instructional
Technology in
Classrooms
Instructional Supplies
and Materials
Curriculum
Development Stipends
for core content areas
(5 x $5000)
Computer Lab/Laptop
Purchases
Instructional Supplies
and Materials
$40,000.00
40,000.00
Instructional Supplies
and Materials
38
Testing and
Assessment
$10,000.00
10,000.00
Testing and
Assessment
39
Instructional
Services-Professional
Development,
Instructional-Regular
Education
$30,000.00
30,000.00
Instructional
Services-Professional
Development,
Instructional
40
Instructional
Services-Professional
Development,
Instructional-Special
Education
Staff Stipends in
addition to base
salary
$10,000.00
10,000.00
Instructional
Services-Professional
Development,
Instructional
40
Contract with partners
to support UDL
$76,000.00
76,000.00
Staff Stipends in
addition to base
salary
42
Summer Academy
stipends ($4000 each
x 9 teachers = $36k);
Add'l roles ($4000 x
10)
37
38
SPED assistive
technology to support
UDL
Books, textbooks,
materials, digital
projectors, etc. for
classrooms
Books, textbooks and
materials to support
RTI/SPED students
Diagnostic Testing
(Gates-McGinitie,
RISE, etc.)
Contracts with partners
to provide PD (Graphic
Design and VTS)
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
81
25,502.22
Instructional
Services-Purchased
Management
Services
43
33,941.70
Instructional
Services-Substitutes
44
$20,000.00
20,000.00
Instructional
Services-Other
45
1.00
86,055.00
Health Services
48
$192,440.00
192,440.00
Student
Transportation
49
2.00
42,338.00
Food Services
50
Athletics
51
Instructional
Services-Purchased
Management
Services
Instructional
Services-Substitutes
1,131
Instructional
Services-Other
Nurses
86,055
Student
Transportation (to
and from school)Includes both sped
and reg ed
Full Time Food
Service Worker
21,169
Other Student
Services: Athletics
2,720.00
Central instructional
services that BGA is
buying from the BPS
(FY11 buy-back prices
+ 3%)
This represents 9 days
sick time for each
teacher (BPS policy on
subs)
Student
Orientation/Overnights,
other events
Required Nurse
staffing based on BPS
formula (.5FTE under
250 enrollment;1.0FTE
for 251-750)
Cost of MBTA passes
and SPED busing for
MS and HS students
(BPS prices)
BGA staff that are
funded via the Federal
School Lunch Grant
(Food Services)
Amount it costs for
BGA to purchase
athletics from BPS
BPS facility costs by
Salaries (per pupil
calculation)
Operation and
Maintenance of Plant
:Salaries-Adding
funds to formula
150,926.00
Operation and
Maintenance of Plant
:Salaries-Adding
funds to formula
56
Operation and
Maintenance of Plant
:Utilities-Adding
funds to formula
101,711.00
Operation and
Maintenance of Plant
:Utilities-Adding
funds to formula
57
BPS facility costs by
Utilities (Per pupil
calculation)
Operation and
Maintenance of Plant
:Maintenance of
Building and
Grounds-Adding
funds to formula
Fixed Charges:
Benefits
75,463.00
Operation and
Maintenance of Plant
:Maintenance of
Building and
Grounds-Adding
funds to formula
Fixed Charges:
Benefits
58
BPS facility costs by
Maintenance (per pupil
allocation)
70
Per pupil benefit
amount in addition to
extra dollars to fund
positions on grants
and external funds
Printing, dissemination
expenses
Community Services:
Dissemination
Activities
Contingency Fund
$100,000.00
857,860.00
$5,000.00
5,000.00
$118,115.00
118,115.00
Community Services:
Dissemination
Activities
76
Contingency Fund
78
Contingency Fund (2%
of FY13 Revenue)
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
82
FY2014 Projected Expenditures
Total Personnel
$4,654,468.02
Total Non Personnel
2,817,532.60
Total FTE's
Total
Teacher
FTE's
62.00
Total Per Pupil Allocation
7,472,000.62
40.00
Spent
7,472,000.62
Balance
0.00
Description
FY2011
Avg.
Salary +
6%
FTE for
Personnel/
$ for Non
Personnel
Total
Category of
Expense
Line #
High School
Administrator
107,500
4.00
430,000.00
Administrative
Professional
14
Professional Support
87,500
3.00
262,500.00
Secretarial/Clerical
47,601
1.00
47,601.45
Technical Support
50,000
3.00
150,000.00
Administrative
Professional
Administrative
Support/Clerical
Administrative
Support/Clerical
AdministrativeAccounting-Audit
$15,500.00
15,500.00
AdministrativeAccounting-Audit
Administrative-Legal
$8,500.00
8,500.00
$30,900.00
30,900.00
$200.00
200.00
$55,500.00
55,500.00
Administrative-Other
Professional Services
Information
Management and
Technology
Office Supplies and
Materials
$6,000.00
6,000.00
Office Supplies
and Materials
AdministrativeProfessional
Development,
Administrative/B
oard
AdministrativeDues, Licenses,
and
Subscriptions
Recruiting/Adver
tising
Travel Expenses
for staff/Board
AdministrativePurchased
Management
Services
AdministrativeFood and
Catering
31.00
2,402,500.00
Instructional
Teachers
AdministrativeProfessional
Development,
Administrative/Board
0.00
Administrative-Dues,
Licenses, and
Subscriptions
Recruiting/Advertising
Travel Expenses for
staff/Board
$500.00
500.00
$3,000.00
3,000.00
$3,000.00
3,000.00
AdministrativePurchased
Management Services
210,767.87
Administrative-Food
and Catering
Regular Education
Teacher
77,500
AdministrativeLegal
AdministrativeOther
Professional
Services
Information
Management
and Technology
14
15
15
Comments
Salary for Headmaster,
Asst. Headmaster,
Director of
Development and
Technology Director
Salary for SPED
Coordinator, Budget
Director, Dir. For
College Counselor
Salary for Guild Staff
Asst.
17
Family Liaison Salary
Required annual
external audit for DESE
(Est. Cost-HCA Audit
was $14k in 2009)
Insurance for Board of
Trustees, School
Admin (MIIA Policycost same as HCA '09)
19
Part-time Bookkeeper
(Contracted Services)
16
21
Quick Books and
support
Copy machine
($40000/yr), paper (10
cartons/wk * 50 wks *
$25 per=$12500),
supplies ($3000)
22
(Included in PD
contracts for school- no
additional cost)
20
23
25
26
28
29
32
Website license
($500/yr)
Radio ads, print,
posters, fliers
Leadership Retreats,
travel for staff
Services provided by
BPS for central admin
support calculated on a
per pupil basis
Food for staff,
fundraisers, family
meetings, etc.
Reg. Ed. Teacher
Salaries- see staffing
pattern for details
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
83
Librarian
Sped Resource
Teacher
Sped Sub Sep
Teacher
Cluster Substitute
Teaching position
80,000
1.00
80,000.00
82,500
4.00
330,000.00
82,500
3.00
247,500.00
28,840
1.00
28,840.00
Sped Resource Aide
28,056
3.00
84,168.51
Program Support
82,500
4.00
330,000.00
Guidance
82,500
1.00
82,500.00
Contracted Services,
Instructional
Instructional
Technology in
Classrooms
Instructional
Technology in
Classrooms
$25,000.00
25,000.00
$65,000.00
65,000.00
$45,000.00
45,000.00
Instructional Supplies
and Materials
$148,223.45
148,223.45
Instructional Supplies
and Materials
$40,000.00
40,000.00
$15,000.00
15,000.00
Testing and
Assessment
Instructional ServicesProfessional
Development,
Instructional-Regular
Education
Instructional ServicesProfessional
Development,
Instructional-Special
Education
Staff Stipends in
addition to base
salary
$45,000.00
45,000.00
$10,000.00
10,000.00
$112,000.00
Instructional ServicesPurchased
Management Services
Instructional ServicesSubstitutes
Instructional ServicesOther
Nurses
Student
Transportation (to and
from school)-Includes
both sped and reg
ed
112,000.00
31,877.77
Contracted
Services,
Instructional
Instructional
Technology in
Classrooms
Instructional
Technology in
Classrooms
Instructional
Supplies and
Materials
Instructional
Supplies and
Materials
Testing and
Assessment
Instructional
ServicesProfessional
Development,
Instructional
Instructional
ServicesProfessional
Development,
Instructional
Staff Stipends in
addition to base
salary
Instructional
ServicesPurchased
Management
Services
$25,000.00
25,000.00
Instructional
ServicesSubstitutes
Instructional
Services-Other
1.00
88,636.65
Health Services
1,165
88,637
Instructional
Teachers
Instructional
Teachers
Instructional
Teachers
Instructional
Teachers
Instructional
Paraprofessional
Instructional
Support/Clerical
Instructional
Support/Clerical
46,613.27
$240,550.00
240,550.00
Student
Transportation
32
32
32
32
34
35
35
36
Library/Media staff
SPED Resource
Teacher Salaries
SPED Sub Sep
Teacher salaries
Dedicated Building
Substitute salary
SPED Paraprofessional
Salary
Student Support
Counselor Salary
Student Support
Coordinator Salary
Curriculum
Development Stipends
for core content
areas(5 x $5000)
39
Computer Lab/Laptop
Purchases
SPED assistive
technology to support
UDL
Books, textbooks,
materials, digital
projectors, etc. for
classrooms
Books, textbooks and
materials to support
RTI/SPED students
Diagnostic Testing
(Gates-McGinitie,
RISE, etc.)
40
Contracts with partners
to provide PD (Graphic
Design, VTS, etc.)
37
37
38
38
44
48
Contract with partners
to support UDL
Summer Academy
stipends ($4000 each x
14 teachers = $56k);
Add'l roles ($4000 x 14)
Central instructional
services that BGA is
buying from the BPS
(FY11 buy-back prices
+ 3%)
This represents 9 days
sick time for each
teacher (BPS policy on
subs)
Student events,
overnights, etc.
Required Nurse staffing
based on BPS formula
(.5FTE under 250
enrollment;1.0FTE for
251-750)
49
Cost of MBTA passes
and SPED busing for
MS and HS students
(BPS prices)
40
42
43
45
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
84
Full Time Food
Service Worker
21,804
2.00
Other Student
Services: Athletics
Operation and
Maintenance of Plant
:Salaries-Adding
funds to formula
43,608.14
Food Services
50
3,400.00
Athletics
Operation and
Maintenance of
Plant :SalariesAdding funds
to formula
Operation and
Maintenance of
Plant :UtilitiesAdding funds
to formula
Operation and
Maintenance of
Plant
:Maintenance of
Building and
Grounds-Adding
funds to
formula
51
BGA staff that are
funded via the Federal
School Lunch Grant
(Food Services)
Amount it costs for
BGA to purchase
athletics from BPS
56
BPS facility costs by
Salaries (per pupil
calculation)
57
BPS facility costs by
Utilities (Per pupil
calculation)
194,317.23
Operation and
Maintenance of Plant
:Utilities-Adding
funds to formula
130,952.91
Operation and
Maintenance of Plant
:Maintenance of
Building and GroundsAdding funds to
formula
97,158.61
Fixed Charges:
Benefits
$125,000.00
1,100,744.75
Community Services:
Dissemination
Activities
$5,000.00
5,000.00
Contingency Fund
$149,440.01
149,440.01
Fixed Charges:
Benefits
Community
Services:
Dissemination
Activities
Contingency
Fund
58
70
76
78
BPS facility costs by
Maintenance (per pupil
allocation)
Per pupil benefit
amount in addition to
extra dollars to fund
positions on grants and
external funds
Printing, dissemination
expenses
Contingency Fund (2%
of FY14 Revenue)
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
85
FY2015 Projected Expenditures
Total Personnel
Total Non Personnel
$5,566,886.94
Total FTE's
73.00
Total Per Pupil Allocation
9,068,090.52
3,501,203.58
Total
Teacher
FTE's
48.00
Spent
9,068,090.52
Balance
Description
110,000
FTE for
Personnel/$
for Non
Personnel
4.00
440,000.00
Administrative
Professional
14
Professional Support
90,000
3.00
270,000.00
Administrative
Professional
14
Secretarial/Clerical
49,029
2.00
98,058.99
Administrative
Support/Clerical
15
Technical Support
52,500
3.00
157,500.00
Administrative
Support/Clerical
15
Family Liaison
Salary
$16,000.00
16,000.00
AdministrativeAccounting-Audit
16
Administrative-Legal
$9,000.00
9,000.00
Administrative-Legal
17
Administrative-Other
Professional Services
$31,800.00
31,800.00
Administrative-Other
Professional Services
19
$200.00
200.00
Information
Management and
Technology
20
Required annual
external audit for
DESE (Est. CostHCA Audit was
$14k in 2009)
Insurance for Board
of Trustees, School
Admin (MIIA Policycost same as HCA
'09)
Part-time
Bookkeeper
(Contracted
Services)
Quick Books and
support
$60,000.00
60,000.00
Office Supplies and
Materials
21
0.00
AdministrativeProfessional
Development,
Administrative/Board
22
$500.00
500.00
Administrative-Dues,
Licenses, and
Subscriptions
23
Website license
($500/yr)
Recruiting/Advertising
$3,000.00
3,000.00
Recruiting/Advertising
25
Radio ads, print,
posters, fliers
Travel Expenses for
staff/Board
$3,000.00
3,000.00
Travel Expenses for
staff/Board
26
Travel, leadership
retreats
High School
Administrator
AdministrativeAccounting-Audit
Information
Management and
Technology
Office Supplies and
Materials
FY2011 Avg.
Salary +9%
AdministrativeProfessional
Development,
Administrative/Board
Administrative-Dues,
Licenses, and
Subscriptions
Total
Category of Expense
0.00
Line
#
Comments
Salary for
Headmaster, Asst.
Headmaster,
Director of
Development and
Technology
Director
Salary for SPED
Coordinator,
Budget Director,
Director of College
Counseling
Salary for Guild
Staff Asst.
Copy machine
($42000/yr), paper
(12 cartons/wk * 50
wks * $25
per=$15000),
supplies ($3000)
(Included in PD
contracts for
school- no
additional cost)
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
86
AdministrativePurchased
Management Services
260,509.09
Administrative-Food
and Catering
$8,000.00
8,000.00
AdministrativePurchased
Management Services
28
Services provided
by BPS for central
admin support
calculated on a per
pupil basis
Administrative-Food
and Catering
29
Food for staff,
fundraisers, family
meetings, etc.
Reg. Ed. Teacher
Salaries- see
staffing pattern for
details
Library/Media Staff
Salary
Regular Education
Teacher
80,000
37.00
2,960,000.00
Instructional Teachers
32
Librarian
82,500
1.00
82,500.00
Instructional Teachers
32
Sped Resource
Teacher
85,000
5.00
425,000.00
Instructional Teachers
32
SPED Resource
Teacher Salaries
Sped Sub Sep
Teacher
85,000
3.00
255,000.00
Instructional Teachers
32
SPED Sub Sep
Teacher salaries
Cluster Substitute
Teaching position
29,705
2.00
59,410.40
Instructional Teachers
32
Dedicated Building
Substitute salary
Sped Resource Aide
28,898
4.00
115,591.42
Instructional
Paraprofessional
34
Program Support
85,000
5.00
425,000.00
Instructional
Support/Clerical
35
SPED
Paraprofessional
Salary
Student Support
Counselor Salary
Guidance
85,000
1.00
85,000.00
Instructional
Support/Clerical
35
Student Support
Coordinator Salary
$25,000.00
25,000.00
Contracted Services,
Instructional
36
Instructional
Technology in
Classrooms
Instructional
Technology in
Classrooms
$251,555.78
251,555.78
37
$50,000.00
50,000.00
Instructional
Technology in
Classrooms
Instructional
Technology in
Classrooms
Curriculum
Development
Stipends for core
content areas(5 x
$5000)
Computer
Lab/Laptop
Purchases
SPED assistive
technology to
support UDL
Instructional Supplies
and Materials
$150,000.00
150,000.00
Instructional Supplies
and Materials
38
Instructional Supplies
and Materials
$40,000.00
40,000.00
Instructional Supplies
and Materials
38
Testing and
Assessment
$20,000.00
20,000.00
Testing and
Assessment
39
Instructional ServicesProfessional
Development,
Instructional-Regular
Education
$45,000.00
45,000.00
Instructional ServicesProfessional
Development,
Instructional
40
Instructional ServicesProfessional
Development,
Instructional-Special
Education
$15,000.00
15,000.00
Instructional ServicesProfessional
Development,
Instructional
40
Contracted Services,
Instructional
37
Books, textbooks,
materials, digital
projectors, etc. for
classrooms
Books, textbooks
and materials to
support RTI/SPED
students
Diagnostic Testing
(Gates-McGinitie,
RISE, etc.)
Contracts with
partners to provide
PD (Graphic
Design and VTS)
Contract with
partners to support
UDL
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
87
Staff Stipends in
addition to base salary
$128,000.00
128,000.00
Staff Stipends in
addition to base salary
42
38,253.32
Instructional ServicesPurchased
Management Services
43
57,614.00
Instructional ServicesSubstitutes
44
$35,000.00
35,000.00
Instructional ServicesOther
45
1.00
91,295.75
Health Services
48
$288,660.00
288,660.00
Student Transportation
49
2.00
44,916.38
Food Services
50
Athletics
51
Instructional ServicesPurchased
Management Services
Instructional ServicesSubstitutes
1,200
Instructional ServicesOther
Nurses
91,296
Student Transportation
(to and from school)Includes both sped
and reg ed
Full Time Food Service
Worker
22,458
Other Student
Services: Athletics
4,080.00
Summer Academy
stipends ($4000
each x 16 teachers
= $56k); Add'l roles
($4000 x 16)
Central instructional
services that BGA
is buying from the
BPS (FY11 buyback prices + 3%)
This represents 9
days sick time for
each teacher (BPS
policy on subs)
Student Events,
overnights,, etc.
Required Nurse
staffing based on
BPS formula
(.5FTE under 250
enrollment;1.0FTE
for 251-750)
Cost of MBTA
passes and SPED
busing for MS and
HS students (BPS
prices)
BGA staff that are
funded via the
Federal School
Lunch Grant (Food
Services)
Amount it costs for
BGA to purchase
athletics from BPS
BPS facility costs
by Salaries (per
pupil calculation)
Operation and
Maintenance of Plant
:Salaries-Adding
funds to formula
194,317.23
Operation and
Maintenance of Plant
:Salaries-Adding
funds to formula
56
Operation and
Maintenance of Plant
:Utilities-Adding funds
to formula
Operation and
Maintenance of Plant
:Maintenance of
Building and GroundsAdding funds to
formula
Fixed Charges:
Benefits
161,857.80
Operation and
Maintenance of Plant
:Utilities-Adding funds
to formula
Operation and
Maintenance of Plant
:Maintenance of
Building and GroundsAdding funds to
formula
Fixed Charges:
Benefits
57
BPS facility costs
by Utilities (Per
pupil calculation)
58
BPS facility costs
by Maintenance
(per pupil
allocation)
70
Per pupil benefit
amount in addition to
extra dollars to fund
positions on grants
and external funds
76
Printing,
dissemination
expenses
Contingency Fund
(2% of FY15
Revenue)
Community Services:
Dissemination
Activities
Contingency Fund
120,088.05
$150,000.00
1,356,020.51
$5,000.00
5,000.00
$181,361.81
181,361.81
Community Services:
Dissemination
Activities
Contingency Fund
78
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
88
D. COSTS FOR DISCRETIONARY BPS SERVICES
Central
Buy
Back
Services
AthleticsBPS
Leagues
OIIT
Onsite
Technical
Support
OIIT
Laptops
for
Learning
(Mac
Laptops
for all
teachers)
Office of
English
Language
Services
(support
for ELLs)
BPS
Summer
School
and
Credit
Recovery
Amount
per
pupil
FY13
#
Studs
FY14
#
Studs
FY15
#
Studs
$8.00
340
425
510
1
$2.59
340
425
510
1
$23.02
340
425
510
$44.45
340
425
$ 4.95
340
425
$420.86
Buy
Service
(1=Yes,
0=No)
FY 13
Potential
Buy Back
FY 14
Potential
Buy Back
FY 15
Potential
Buy Back
$ 3,400.00
$ 4,080.00
$ 879.22
$ 1,099.02
$1,318.83
1
$ 7,827.16
$ 9,783.96
$ 11,740.75
510
1
$ 15,113.28
$ 18,891.60
$ 22,669.92
510
1
$ 1,682.55
Total
Central
Buy Back
deduction
$2,720.00
$143,093.01
$2,103.19
$173,465.36
$ 2,523.83
$203,837.71
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
89
E. RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION PLAN
I. Recruitment Plan
While our Recruitment Plan focuses on incoming 9th graders who will be admitted via the lottery, we also
have strategies to recruit, transition, and retain students from the closed BPS high school that we will
replace. Details of these efforts exist throughout our proposal. Once we admit incoming 6th graders in
Year Two, these same targets and strategies will be used.
List the strategies the school will use during the upcoming school year to attract and enroll a student
population that reflects the demographics of the school’s sending district(s) in the following categories:
Demographic Group
Special Education
Students
BPS = 21% students
with disabilities
Limited EnglishProficient Students
BPS = +/- 29% LEP
BPS = 39% Latino
BPS = 38% English
Language Learners
Students eligible for
free and reducedprice meals
BPS = 74%
BGA Recruitment Goals and Activities
Recruitment Goal: 21% of students in grade 9 (18/85 students) will be
students with identified disabilities.
Recruitment strategies to support this goal:
1) Recruitment events co-planned and co-hosted by Urban PRIDE. On-site
application support.
2) Outreach to students and families through Urban PRIDE and SPED PAC.
3) Networking and direct outreach to current BPS students and families
through the BPS Office of Student Support Services.
Recruitment Goal: 29% of students in grade 9 (25/85 students) will be
Limited English Proficient.
Recruitment strategies to support this goal:
1) Recruitment events co-planned and co-hosted by Hyde Square Task Force.
On-site application support.
2) Direct outreach to students and families through Hyde Square Task Force
and Sociedad Latina.
3) Networking and direct outreach to current BPS students through the BPS
Office of English Language Learners.
4) Multi-lingual radio and local newspaper advertising and recruitment
materials, including BGA’s website.
Recruitment Goal: 85% of students in grade 9 (72/85 students) will be
eligible for free and reduced-price meals.
Recruitment strategies to support this goal:
1) Networking and direct outreach to students through the BPS Office of Food
and Nutrition Services and the Mass. Department of Transitional Services.
2) 100% of community-based recruitment events in high-poverty
neighborhoods within the “Circle of Promise” (e.g., Hyde Square Task Force,
Grove Hall Public Library, and Dorchester Boys and Girls Club). On-site
application support.
3) Networking and direct outreach through guidance counselors and school
leaders in high-poverty middle schools, K-8 schools, and high schools.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
90
Students who are subproficient
Recruitment Goal: 50% of students in grade 9 (43/85 students) will not have
reached proficiency on the 8th grade MCAS exams.
Recruitment strategies to support this goal:
1) Collaborate with the BPS Office of Research and Evaluation and the
Achievement Gap Office to identify target students.
2) Networking and direct outreach through guidance counselors and school
leaders in middle schools, K-8 schools, and high schools that have not made
AYP. On-site application support.
Students at risk of
dropping out of
school
35% of dropouts
exhibited multiple offtrack indicators in 6th
grade (Balfanz)
26% of dropouts
exhibited one or more
8th grade risk factors
(Balfanz)
Recruitment Goal: 50% of students in grade 9 (43/85 students) will exhibit
predictive risk factors associated with high school dropout.
Recruitment strategies to support this goal:
1) Collaborate with the BPS Office of Research and Evaluation and the
Achievement Gap Office to identify target students.
2) Networking and direct outreach through guidance counselors and school
leaders in middle schools, K-8 schools, and high schools with significant
percentages of students who exhibit any/all of these risk factors. Recruitment
events at these schools with on-site application support.
3) Collaboration with School Community Consultation and Treatment
(SCCAT) case managers, specializing in whole-family counseling, to facilitate
outreach to students and families who would be well served by BGA’s unique
educational model.
Students who are overage for grade in 6th
grade have only a 25%
graduation rate
(Balfanz)
18% of dropouts had
multiple course
failures in 9th grade
(Parthenon)
II. Retention Plan
List the strategies the school will use during the upcoming school year to maximize the number of
students who successfully complete all school requirements and to prevent students from dropping out.
Student Retention
Plan
Annual goal for
student retention
95% student retention in all grades
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
91
Retention Strategy 1
Retention Strategy 2
Retention Strategy 3
Retention Strategy 4
Retention Strategy 5
Coherent School Mission, Vision, Belief System, and Culture:
o Relentless focus on preparation for college and the workforce.
o Caring, welcoming, and assets-based community.
o Belief in all students’ capacity to succeed irrespective of previous
challenges.
o Obvious and pervasive faculty commitment to and responsibility for
students and their families.
Extended Learning Time:
o 3-week Summer Academy
o Extended school day
o Extended school year
o School vacation supports and programs
Excellent Teaching and Learning:
o Recruit, hire, and retain teachers who are licensed Special Educators,
content specialists, category-trained/ESL licensed, multi-lingual, and
culturally proficient.
o High-quality professional development before, during, and after each
school year. Focus on high-leverage strategies (e.g., UDL, graphic
design, Sheltered English Instruction, etc.).
o Regular assessments that lead to focused conversations about student
growth and real-time instructional adjustments to meet students’ needs.
Powerful Student Engagement and Customized Support:
o Co-Advisors for every student.
o Arts and wellness integration throughout the curriculum.
o Authentic student voice in school governance.
o Learning Center for all students, especially English Language Learners
and students with disabilities.
o Highly qualified and experienced Student Support Team that is
integrated into the fabric of the school and well connected to
community-based resources.
o Opportunities to develop leadership and research skills through
pervasive focus on sustainability and community improvement.
o After-school tutoring, snacks, and activities.
Authentic Family and Community Partnership:
o Regular systems for keeping families informed of students’ progress.
o Regular family events focused on strategies for improving academic
achievement.
o Robust, value-added community partnerships that provide unique
opportunities for students and families that would otherwise be
unavailable in a traditional school model.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
92
F. ENROLLMENT POLICY
Introduction
Boston Green Academy is committed to effectively and equitably serving all students who reside in the
City of Boston. Our Enrollment Policy is designed to meet that goal in compliance with all applicable
federal and state laws and regulations. Below is a summary of the key elements of this important policy.
Enrollment Plan and Eligibility
As a Horace Mann Charter School, BGA will be open to all students legally residing in the City of
Boston. BGA will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, creed, sex, ethnicity, sexual
orientation, mental or physical disability, foreign language, or prior academic achievement when
recruiting or admitting students (M.G.L. c. 71, § 89(1); 603 CMR 1.06(1)). BGA’s enrollment lottery will
give preference to certain groups of students as required to by law (see below for details) and all eligible
applicants must complete the BGA application in order to be entered in the lottery.
Boston Green Academy plans to enroll students in the following pattern:
School Year
Grade Levels
2012-2013
9-12
Total Student
Enrollment
340*
2013-2014
6, 9-12
425*
2014-2015
6-7, 9-12
510*
2015-2016
6-12
595*
2016-2017
6-12
595*
Enrollment Details
Students admitted by lottery for grade 9-12 (85
students per grade); students in grade 10-12
from the closed BPS high school are guaranteed
enrollment; any open seats filled via lottery and
wait list
Students admitted by lottery for grades 6 (85
students) and 9 (85 students); Open seats in
other grades filled via wait list process
Students admitted by lottery for grades 6 (85
students) and 9 (85 students); Open seats in
other grades filled via wait list process
Students admitted by lottery for grades 6 (85
students) and 9 (85 students); Open seats in
other grades filled via wait list process
Students admitted by lottery for grade 6 only (85
students); Open seats in other grades filled via
wait list process
Note: Student enrollment figures and grade size may change based on pending negotiations with BPS
over facility size, the total future enrollment of the BPS high school that BGA will replace, and other
factors. Enrollment figures will be finalized by Fall, 2011, as detailed in our MOU-A, and will not exceed
the numbers listed here.
Outreach
Consistent with its mission, BGA is committed to enrolling a heterogeneous and diverse student
population that is representative of Boston’s population, while targeting outreach efforts to the ‘at-risk’
and off-track population of students that we seek to serve. To support these goals, our outreach efforts
will include:
! Specific, targeted recruitment of off-track students (i.e. students showing one or more warning
indicators in 5th or 8th grade) at BPS schools that have large clusters of them, such as Turnaround
Schools and specific schools identified through data from the BPS Office of Research and
Evaluation.
! A multi-lingual website with enrollment information available year-round (we plan to launch the
website in Fall, 2010)
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
93
!
!
!
!
Participation in BPS-wide enrollment events such as the Showcase of Schools (Reggie Lewis
Center, Roxbury) in October, 2011 and inclusion in district enrollment materials
At least three meeting in Fall, 2011 for families of prospective students in areas of Boston where
our targeted populations reside (based on BPS data). These sites include the Hyde Square Task
Force (Jamaica Plain), the Grove Hall Branch of the Boston Public Library
(Roxbury/Dorchester), and the Dorchester Boys & Girls Club, among others. Additional
enrollment sessions will be scheduled in February and March, 2012.
Advertising on radio, in print, and through nonprofit, church, and community partner networks
and mailing lists (detailed further in our application).
Specific recruitment events and efforts will also focus on Special Education students and English
Language Learners, using community partners such as the Hyde Square Task Force and advocacy
groups such as URBAN Pride and SPED PAC, in order to insure that our enrollment
demographics mirror that of the BPS and meet the targets set out in our Recruitment and
Retention Plan.
Application and Enrollment Process
BGA will develop an easy-to-complete application for all students and families interested in enrolling.
This application will be approved by DESE’s Charter School Office and will be available to students in
fall, 2011, and will be widely disseminated via our website and enrollment meetings. It will be available
in all the major languages spoken in Boston Public Schools (English, Spanish, Cape Verdean, Haitian
Creole, Somali, Vietnamese, and other languages). The BGA application may ask students to identify
whether they have any ‘off-track’ or ‘at-risk’ indicators (based on Balfanz, Parthenon, and other research)
or if they are entitled to receive or have ever received SPED or ELL services so that we may track our
recruitment efforts for target populations. The application may also ask for standard demographic
information such as race/ethnicity and eligibility for free or reduced lunch/low-income services for datatracking purposes. Any information will be used solely to collect information on the applicant pool and
will in no way be used to discriminate against applicants. We will work with the DESE Charter School
Office to determine what is appropriate so as not to present any barriers to applying.
BGA will collect applications from prospective applicants starting in fall, 2011 and will make a special,
concerted effort to have all students in the closed BPS high school apply. The deadline for submission of
the application will be approximately February 1, 2012. The final date will be finalized by the BGA
Board of Trustees in December, 2011 and will be widely publicized at least one month in advance of the
actual deadline, as required by DESE regulations.
If there are more applicants than seats available, BGA will conduct a lottery process to enroll students
(603 CMR 1.06(7)). BGA expects to hold this lottery approximately in mid-February, 2012. The date of
the lottery will be finalized by the BGA Board of Trustees in December, 2011 and will be publicized at
least one week prior to the lottery as required by DESE regulations. The lottery will be conducted by a
disinterested third party with no connection to BGA (to be determined) and will assign each and every
eligible applicant a number using the following process as mandated by law (Ch. 79 § 89 (m); 603 CMR
1.06(5)(a)):
Year One Lottery
Group
Students enrolled in the
closed BPS high school
that BGA will replace
Priority
First (all students
guaranteed a seat)
Statutory Authority
Ch. 79 § 89 (m); 603
CMR 1.06(5)(a)
Spaces Available
85- Grade 9
85- Grade 10
85- Grade 11
85- Grade 12
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
94
Siblings of students from
the above group
Students enrolled in the
Boston Public Schools
Students who reside in the
City of Boston
Year Two Lottery
Group
Siblings of students
currently enrolled in BGA
Students enrolled in the
Boston Public Schools
Students who reside in the
City of Boston
Second
Ch. 79 § 89 (n)
Third
Ch. 79 § 89 (m); 603
CMR 1.06(5)(b)
Ch. 79 § 89 (m); 603
CMR 1.06(5)(c)
Fourth
Priority
First
Statutory Authority
Ch. 79 § 89 (n)
Second
Ch. 79 § 89 (m); 603
CMR 1.06(5)(b)
Ch. 79 § 89 (m); 603
CMR 1.06(5)(c)
Third
Any remaining seats in
grades 9-12
Any remaining seats in
grades 9-12
Any remaining seats in
grades 9-12
Spaces Available
85- Grade 6, 85- Grade
9, and empty seats in
other grades
Any remaining seats in
grades 6, 9-12
Any remaining seats in
grades 6, 9-12
Applicants whose numbers correspond with available seats (1-85) will be offered admission (via phone,
email and mail) and will have until approximately March 1, 2012, to accept enrollment (date to be
finalized by BGA Board of Trustees). All remaining applicants will be assigned to a wait list in the order
of their lottery numbers. This process will insure that BGA is able to transmit enrollment information to
DESE by March 15, 2012 as required by statute.
Waiting List Policy
If there are still open seats after the enrollment commitment deadline, students will be admitted from the
waitlist in order of their lottery number until BGA is fully enrolled. If there are openings in grades other
than 6th and/or 9th, BGA will use the waitlist to fill them. The waitlist will be rolled over from year to year
and all those on the waitlist will be asked annually to update their contact information. Once on the
waitlist, applicants do not need to re-apply. If a student is offered enrollment and declines, he/she will
lose their place on the waiting list.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
95
G. ACTION PLAN
Key: CBOT= Chair, Board of Trustees; BOT= Board of Trustees; HM= Headmaster; AH= Asst.
Headmaster; BM= Business Manager; CAL= Content Area Leaders; LT= Leadership Team, SSC=
Student Support Coordinator; SPEDC= SPED Coordinator
Action
Point Person
Deadlines (2012
unless otherwise
noted)
Governance
Finalize organizational chart; obtain BOT approval; submit to DESE
HM, BOT
Due 30 days after
charter is granted
(March, 2011)
Due 30 days after
charter is granted
(March, 2011)
Complete board recruitment so that minimum membership
requirements (as defined by the bylaws) are met; obtain approval from
DESE for new BOT members; submit financial disclosure forms to
DESE for BOT members; finalize and approve by-laws and submit to
DESE
Establish 501c3 for BGA; set fund raising goals and begin efforts
Create and staff BOT roles, form subcommittees, and establish strategic
goals for the BGA
Finalize job description for the HM; recruit, interview and hire the HM
(with the approval of the BPS Superintendent)
Enrollment Policies and Application for Admission
Publicize BGA and recruit students for new 9th grade admissions
Insure that all students from the closed BPS high school complete
applications to BGA and participate fully in enrollment events
Hold lottery for student admission in compliance with DESE
regulations; finalize enrollment
Prepare the Enrollment Policy and Application for Admission; obtain
BOT approval; submit to DESE; Prepare to file Pre-Enrollment Report,
due in mid-March of the spring prior to opening.
Academic Topics & Procedures
Form curriculum teams in all major areas; establish Team Leaders and
deadlines; identify, adapt, write, and document curriculum for all major
areas; Design Advisory curriculum using similar process
Create student support platform for ELLs and SPED students; meet as a
team to create systems, analyze data, and plan for the upcoming year
Identify SPED population; acquire and review IEPs; meet with parents
and students to establish services; conduct assessments; contact service
providers as needed; purchase appropriate assistive materials
Identify ELL population; meet with families and students to establish
services; conduct assessments; purchase appropriate materials
Plan for Summer Academy; arrange for assessment of incoming
students; secure materials, logistics, and funds for Summer Academy
Finalize school calendar and student schedule; obtain BOT approval;
submit to DESE
Finalize Code of Conduct, Student Handbook, and policies; obtain BOT
approval; submit to DESE
Design professional development plans for school leaders, teachers, and
all staff; contract with PD providers; submit to DESE
Finalize curriculum, instructional materials, and district curriculum
accommodation plan (DCAP) for all content areas; purchase materials;
submit DCAP to DESE
Create and finalize master schedule based on students needs
Develop Special Education Program Plan & Submit to DESE
Develop plan for Title I funds (school-wide or targeted assistance
program) & submit copy to DESE
CBOT, BOT, HM
CBOT, BOT, HM
CBOT, BOT, HM
March, 2011 onward
April, 2011
CBOT, BOT
April, 2011
HM, BOT, all
Fall, 2011-February,
2012
January-February
HM, AH, SSC,
SPED
HM, AH, SSC
February or March
HM, AH, SSC
March 15
HM, AH, CAT
March 2011-June,
2012
HM, AH, SPED C
SPEDC
Summer, 2011Sumer, 2012
March-onward
AH, ESL staff
March-onward
HM, AH, all staff
July
BOT, HM, AH
August 1
BOT, HM, SSC
August 1
HM, AH
August 1
HM, AH, SPEDC,
BM
August 1
HM, AH
SPED Coordinator
AH & BM
August 1
August 1
August 1
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
96
Create unit and lesson plans for all content areas for first quarter; create
assessment calendar and plan for the year
Acquire student records of enrolled students; establish Student
Information Management Systems w/ BPS
School Culture & Outreach
Establish and update school web-site
Specifically recruit all students from the closed BPS high school
through events, counseling, and school visits
Contact all families of students; hold welcome events and orientation
prior to Summer Academy; create and disseminate student/parent
handbook
Establish student support platform; analyze incoming student data to
identify needs; detail supports to be provided by school partners,
specifically student support providers, and staff; finalize contracts and
coordinate services; begin work
School Facility and Building Safety
Finalize facility location with BPS or negotiate and finalize lease;
contract with legal and real estate services as needed
Secure all needed furniture and supplies; decorate facility; establish
utilities/maintenance/food services procedures
Design and construct school technology infrastructure, including
servers, internet access, and classroom technology
Assess ADA compliance of facility and submit documentation to DESE
Conduct appropriate inspections, receive certificates and approvals
from City of Boston and/or BPS; submit documentation to DESE
Personnel
Finalize staffing plan and complete BPS Probable Organization
procedure to plan for budget and staffing
Recruit, interview, and hire highly qualified teachers, paraprofessionals,
special educators and all academic and non-academic positions; submit
qualifications and licenses to DESE
Create a CORI policy, obtain BOT approval, conduct CORI checks on
all staff in conjunction with BPS; submit assurances and documents to
DESE
Determine performance evaluation criteria and evaluation plans for
school leadership and all staff (instructional and non-instructional);
obtain BOT approval; submit to DESE
Health
Recruit and hire a School Nurse, set up Nurse’s Office, and create
relationship with local physician; Send documentation to DESE
Create required school health and medication plans and submit to
DESE
Transportation
Consult with BPS Transportation Office; arrange for transportation for
all students; purchase MBTA passes; create plan for distribution;
submit transportation plan to DESE
Nutrition & Wellness
Organize and plan for participation in the National School Lunch
Program
Coordinate with BPS Food Services and community partners for
implementation of school food service program; purchase and install
needed equipment; submit plan to DESE
Create School Wellness Policy, obtain BOT approval, and submit to
DESE
School Procedures
Create a school complain procedure based on guidance from DESE,
obtain BOT approval, and submit to DESE
Financial Organization
AH, CAL
September 1
AH
September 1
HM, AH, others
HM, AH, others
Ongoing
Fall, 2011- February,
2012
June
HM, AH, SSC
HM, SSC
Summer 2011- June,
2012
BOT, HM
Ongoing; Finalize by
March/April, 2011
June-July
HM, AH, BM, all
staff
HM, AH, staff
July
HM, BM
BOT, HM, BM
August 1
August 1
HM, AH
January, 2012
HM, AH
Ongoing- Hire
starting in March,
2012; DESE
documents due
August 1
March, 2012; DESE
documents due
August 1
August 1
HM, AH, BM,
BOT
HM, AH, BOT
Student Support
Coordinator & BM
Student Support
Coordinator & BM
August 1
HM & BM
August 1
BM
July 1
BM
August 1
HM, SSC
August 1
HM, BM
August 1
August 1
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
97
Clarify retirement status and payments for staff with BPS and Mass.
Teacher Retirement System; arrange appropriate payments and
systems; submit evidence to DESE
Research and contract with external auditing firm (to be performed by
Jan., 2013)
Create and adopt school Fiscal Policies and Procedures; open bank
accounts; submit to DESE; arrange training for appropriate staff
Purchase and utilize financial software; establish procedures for
funding with BPS; update and revise BGA three-year budget; create
detailed cash flow projections; obtain BOT approval and submit to
DESE
Identify appropriate state, federal, and private grants, deadlines; apply
for all grants
Research and procure appropriate insurance for BGA; submit to DESE
Memorandum of Understanding
Finalize MOU-A with BPS; obtain BOT approval; send to DESE
Finalize MOU-B’s with each union; obtain BOT approval; send to
DESE
BM
July 1
BM
July 1
BOT, HM, BM
August 1, 2011
BOT, HM, BM
August 1, 2011
HM, AH, LT
August 1, 2011
BM
August 1, 2011
BOT, HM
Draft -July 1; Final August 1, 2011
Draft -July 1; Final August 1, 2011
BOT, HM, AH
H. EXIT STANDARDS
Math
Most students in 8th grade will complete Algebra I before moving forward to high school (see the Math
curriculum section and appendix for full details). By the end of Algebra I they will have developed the
skills and ‘habits of mind’ of mathematicians, which is a focus of the CME Algebra I curriculum.
Through BGA’s Math Exhibitions, context-based math problems in the curriculum, and a strong focus on
understanding the MCF Mathematics standards, graduates of 8th grade at BGA will know and be able to
do the following as exemplified by the MCF standards:
AI.N.1 Identify and use the properties of operations on real numbers, including the associative, commutative, and
distributive properties; the existence of the identity and inverse elements for addition and multiplication (10.N.1)
AI.P.5 Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between various representations of a line. Determine a
line’s slope and x- and y-intercepts from its graph or from a linear equation that represents the line. Find a linear
equation describing a line from a graph or a geometric description of the line, e.g., by using the “point-slope” or
“slope y-intercept” formulas. Explain the significance of a positive, negative, zero, or undefined slope. (10.P.2)
AI.P.8 Demonstrate facility in symbolic manipulation of polynomial and rational expressions by rearranging and
collecting terms, factoring (e.g., a2 – b2 = (a + b)(a - b), x2 + 10x + 21 = (x + 3)(x + 7), 5x4 + 10x3 – 5x2 = 5x2 (x2
+ 2x – 1)), identifying and canceling common factors in rational expressions, and applying the properties of positive
integer exponents. (10.P.4)
AI.P.12 Solve everyday problems that can be modeled using systems of linear equations or inequalities. Apply
algebraic and graphical methods to the solution. Use technology when appropriate. Include mixture, rate, and work
problems. (10.P.8)
By the end of high school, students will have completed four more years of math (see the Math
curriculum section and appendix for full details). The final course for most should be either Pre-Calculus
or AP Calculus, depending upon how a student has progressed. Therefore, BGA graduates will show
strong understanding of the MCF math standards and will demonstrate their readiness for college-level
math through their Senior Math Portfolios, four years of math exhibitions, and course work. While
students in AP courses will demonstrate proficiency based on AP-program standards, the basic level of
math achievement for a BGA graduate will be Precalculus. Therefore, the following exit standards from
the MCF exemplify what all BGA graduates will know and be able to do:
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
98
Strand: Number Sense and Operations
PC.N.1 Plot complex numbers using both rectangular and polar coordinates systems. Represent complex numbers
using polar coordinates, i.e., a + bi= r(cos"+ isin"). Apply DeMoivre’s theorem to multiply, take roots, and raise
complex numbers to a power.
PC.P.3 Demonstrate an understanding of the trigonometric functions (sine, cosine, tangent, cosecant, secant, and
cotangent). Relate the functions to their geometric definitions.
PC.P.9 Relate the slope of a tangent line at a specific point on a curve to the instantaneous rate of change. Explain
the significance of a horizontal tangent line. Apply these concepts to the solution of problems.
PC.G.2 Use the notion of vectors to solve problems. Describe addition of vectors, multiplication of a vector by a
scalar, and the dot product of two vectors, both symbolically and geometrically. Use vector methods to obtain
geometric results. (12.G.3)
PC.D.1 Design surveys and apply random sampling techniques to avoid bias in the data collection. (12.D.1)
Humanities/ELA
By the end of 8th grade Humanities, BGA students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of the MCF
standards for ELA and History in grades 6-8 (see the Humanities curriculum section and appendix for full
details). Through extensive position and research papers, journal writing, reading and discussion of
challenging literature, and public exhibitions of their work, BGA students will develop the skills and
content knowledge needed to succeed in high school and to form a solid college-preparatory base.
Examples of MCF standards that reflect what BGA middle school graduates in Humanities will know and
be able to do upon exit include:
2.5 Summarize, in a coherent and organized way, information and ideas learned from a focused
discussion.
3.12 Give oral presentations to different audiences for various purposes, showing appropriate changes in
delivery (gestures, vocabulary, pace, visuals) and using language for dramatic effect.
3.13 Create a scoring guide based on categories supplied by the teacher (content, presentation style) to
prepare and assess their presentations.
8.22 Identify and analyze main ideas, supporting ideas, and supporting details.
8.26 Recognize organizational structures and use of arguments for and against an issue.
9.6 Relate a literary work to primary source documents of its literary period or historical setting.
13.20 Identify and use knowledge of common organizational structures (logical order, comparison and
contrast, cause and effect relationships).
21.6 Revise writing to improve organization and diction after checking the logic underlying the order of
ideas, the precision of vocabulary used, and the economy of writing.
22.8 Use knowledge of types of sentences (simple, compound, complex), correct mechanics (comma
after introductory structures), correct usage (pronoun reference), sentence structure (complete sentences,
properly placed modifiers), and Standard English spelling when writing and editing.
23.10 Organize information into a coherent essay or report with a thesis statement in the introduction,
transition sentences to link paragraphs, and a conclusion.
By the end of 12th grade, students will have completed four years of high school Humanities (which may
include AP Literature or a dual-enrollment experience), which incorporate the MCF standards for ELA
and History in grades 9-12 (see the Humanities curriculum section and appendix for full details). As our
curriculum, Senior Institute expectations, and graduation requirements show, all BGA graduates will be
prepared for college level work in ELA in very meaningful ways. Those that take AP of college-level
courses will demonstrate proficiency based on standards for those programs. However, the basic level of
attainment in ELA will be the content and skills express in the MCF. Examples from the MCF that
embody our expectations upon exit include:
3.17
Deliver formal presentations for particular audiences using clear enunciation and appropriate
organization, gestures, tone, and vocabulary.
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8.33
Analyze patterns of imagery or symbolism and connect them to themes and/or tone and mood.
8.34
Analyze and evaluate the logic and use of evidence in an author’s argument.
11.7
Analyze and compare texts that express a universal theme, and locate support in the text for the
identified theme.
15.9
Identify, analyze, and evaluate an author’s use of rhetorical devices in persuasive argument.
19.30 Write coherent compositions with a clear focus, objective presentation of alternate views, rich
detail, well-developed paragraphs, and logical argumentation.
21.9
Revise writing to improve style, word choice, sentence variety, and subtlety of meaning after
rethinking how well questions of purpose, audience, and genre have been addressed.
22.10 Use all conventions of Standard English when writing and editing.
23.13 Organize ideas for a critical essay about literature or a research report with an original thesis
statement in the introduction, well constructed paragraphs that build an effective argument, transition
sentences to link paragraphs into a coherent whole, and a conclusion.
Science
The study of science is a cornerstone of BGA’s curriculum, not only for the content it exposes students to
but most importantly for the habits of mind it inculcates. We believe that the skills of precise
investigation, critical analysis, inquiry, and evidence-based reasoning inherent in the study of science are
essential for all educated citizens, including BGA graduates, and are inter-disciplinary in nature. We also
believe that the Math standards mentioned previously are an intrinsic part of science and we seek to create
classrooms that integrate them seamlessly with science. For these reasons, we are committed to preparing
students well in excess of what MassCore and the MCF require, while recognizing that they are a useful
standard for promotion and graduation.
By the end of 8th grade, BGA students will have completed three years of Unified Science, which
incorporate MCF standards for science in grades 6-8 (see the Science curriculum section and appendix for
full details). Through extensive laboratory science experiences, required Science Fair presentations, and
completed course work, 8th grade graduates of BGA will have developed the inquiry habits and skills of a
scientist as well as deep scientific content knowledge. Examples of exit standards from the MCF that
reflect this include:
Skills of Inquiry, Experimentation, and Design (6-8)
• Formulate a testable hypothesis.
• Design and conduct an experiment specifying variables to be changed, controlled, and measured.
• Present and explain data and findings using multiple representations, including tables, graphs,
mathematical and physical models, and demonstrations.
• Draw conclusions based on data or evidence presented in tables or graphs, and make inferences based on
patterns or trends in the data.
• Communicate procedures and results using appropriate science and technology terminology.
Earth and Space Science (6-8)
1. Recognize, interpret, and be able to create models of the earth’s common physical features in various
mapping representations, including contour maps.
5. Describe how the movement of the earth’s crustal plates causes both slow changes in the earth’s
surface (e.g., formation of mountains and ocean basins) and rapid ones (e.g., volcanic eruptions and
earthquakes).
8. Recognize that gravity is a force that pulls all things on and near the earth toward the center of the
earth. Gravity plays a major role in the formation of the planets, stars, and solar system and in
determining their motions.
Life Science (Biology) (6-8)
2. Recognize that all organisms are composed of cells, and that many organisms are single-celled
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(unicellular), e.g., bacteria, yeast. In these single-celled organisms, one cell must carry out all of the basic
functions of life.
6. Identify the general functions of the major systems of the human body (digestion, respiration,
reproduction, circulation, excretion, protection from disease, and movement, control, and coordination)
and describe ways that these systems interact with each other.
10. Give examples of ways in which genetic variation and environmental factors are causes of evolution
and the diversity of organisms.
11. Recognize that evidence drawn from geology, fossils, and comparative anatomy provides the basis of
the theory of evolution.
Physical Sciences (Chemistry and Physics), Grades 6–8
1. Differentiate between weight and mass, recognizing that weight is the amount of gravitational pull on
an object.
5. Recognize that there are more than 100 elements that combine in a multitude of ways to produce
compounds that make up all of the living and nonliving things that we encounter.
12. Graph and interpret distance vs. time graphs for constant speed.
By the end of 12th grade, students will have completed four years of high school lab science, including
Physics, Biology and Chemistry plus another AP or Dual Enrollment course (see the Science curriculum
section and appendix for full details). They will also have completed four years of required Science Fair
experiences and presented a portfolio of science work as part of the Senior Institute. While students in AP
or college-level courses will become competent at a level exceeding the MCF in Science, the basic level
of skill and understanding required of graduates are embodied in the MCF. Examples of MCF standards
that reflect what BGA graduates will know and be able to do upon graduation include:
Science Inquiry Skills (High School- all courses)
SIS1. Make observations, raise questions, and formulate hypotheses.
SIS2. Design and conduct scientific investigations.
SIS3. Analyze and interpret results of scientific investigations.
SIS4. Communicate and apply the results of scientific investigations.
Biology (High School)
2.4 Identify the reactants, products, and basic purposes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration.
Explain the interrelated nature of photosynthesis and cellular respiration in the cells of photosynthetic
organisms.
3.2 Describe the basic process of DNA replication and how it relates to the transmission and conservation
of the genetic code. Explain the basic processes of transcription and translation, and how they result in the
expression of genes. Distinguish among the end products of replication, transcription, and translation.
4.8 Recognize that the body’s systems interact to maintain homeostasis. Describe the basic function of a
physiological feedback loop.
5.1 Explain how evolution is demonstrated by evidence from the fossil record, comparative anatomy,
genetics, molecular biology, and examples of natural selection.
6.2 Analyze changes in population size and biodiversity (speciation and extinction) that result from the
following: natural causes, changes in climate, human activity, and the introduction of invasive, non-native
species.
Chemistry (High School)
1.3 Describe the three normal states of matter (solid, liquid, gas) in terms of energy, particle motion, and
phase transitions.
2.6 Describe the process of radioactive decay by using nuclear equations, and explain the concept of halflife for an isotope (for example, C-14 is a powerful tool in determining the age of objects).
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3.4 Identify trends on the periodic table (ionization energy, electronegativity, and relative sizes of atoms
and ions).
5.1 Balance chemical equations by applying the laws of conservation of mass and constant composition
(definite proportions).
7.6 Predict the shift in equilibrium when a system is subjected to a stress (LeChatelier’s principle) and
identify the factors that can cause a shift in equilibrium (concentration, pressure, volume, temperature).
8.4 Describe oxidation and reduction reactions and give some everyday examples, such as fuel burning
and corrosion. Assign oxidation numbers in a reaction.
Physics (High School)
1.7 Describe Newton’s law of universal gravitation in terms of the attraction between two objects, their
masses, and the distance between them.
2.5 Provide and interpret examples showing that linear momentum is the product of mass and velocity,
and is always conserved (law of conservation of momentum). Calculate the momentum of an object.
3.4 Explain the relationships among temperature changes in a substance, the amount of heat transferred,
the amount (mass) of the substance, and the specific heat of the substance.
4.4 Describe qualitatively the basic principles of reflection and refraction of waves.
5.2 Develop qualitative and quantitative understandings of current, voltage, resistance, and the
connections among them (Ohm’s law).
6.2 Describe the electromagnetic spectrum in terms of frequency and wavelength, and identify the
locations of radio waves, microwaves, infrared radiation, visible light (red, orange, yellow, green, blue,
indigo, and violet), ultraviolet rays, x-rays, and gamma rays on the spectrum.
I. SUMMARY OF PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS
BOSTON GREEN ACADEMY’S PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS
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Fenway High School will: provide technical assistance, mentoring, and critical friendship to BGA's
faculty; allow access to Fenway’s systems; serve as a Mentor School in the Coalition of Essential
Schools; assist BGA in its initial efforts to recruit students; seek grants jointly, where appropriate
(Headmaster Peggy Kemp: (617) 635-9911; [email protected]; 174 Ipswich St., Boston, MA
02215 Fax: (617) 635-9204)
Facing History and Ourselves will: provide educational materials, coaching support, and other
resources to support the implementation of the Humanities and Science curricula in grades 6-12;
participate in BGA’s Board of Trustees; connect BGA with other schools nationally and
internationally in the FHAO Small Schools Network; seek grants jointly, where appropriate (Molly
Schen, Director of Program Growth and Development: (617) 232-1595; Fax: (617) 232-0281 16 Hurd
Road, Brookline, MA 02445; [email protected])
The Hyde Square Task Force will: Participate in the design of Civics & Youth Activism curricula;
participate in the design of a Wellness curriculum for Advisory which would incorporate: Nutrition,
Fitness, Sexual Education, and Violence Prevention; help BGA develop a Physical Education
program modeled after the successful “Learn through Dance Model”; help facilitate internship
placements and jobs for BGA students; participate in the BGA Board of Trustees; seek grants jointly,
where appropriate; assist BGA with recruitment of students, especially English Language Learners
(Claudio Martinez, Executive Director: (617) 524-8303; (617) 524-2747; PO Box 301871, Jamaica
Plain, MA 02130; [email protected])
Urban Partnerships Resources and Information on Disability and Education will conduct
trainings related to special education for BGA families and youth; include BGA families and youth in
leadership development activities; consult with the school on strengthening family and community
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engagement; leverage Urban PRIDE’s contacts in the community with family and child serving
organizations; participate in the development of ongoing UDL and Assistive Technology professional
development; assist BGA with recruitment of students with disabilities; seek grants jointly, where
appropriate (Charlotte Spinkston, Executive Director: (617) 206-4570; Fax: (617)206-4575; 15 North
Beacon St., Suite NR-2B, Allston, MA 02134; [email protected])
Tufts University will: establish a new Urban Teacher Training Collaborative (UTTC) site at BGA;
pilot a version Wediko Services’ of the “Side-by-Side” model in which BGA teachers and school
psychologists work together in classrooms and small group sessions (Linda Beardsley, Director of
Teacher Education and School Partnerships; (617) 627-5273; Fax: (617) 627-3901; Department of
Education, Paige Hall, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155; [email protected])
Boston University, Focus on Mathematics will: run study groups for BGA Math teachers with
mathematicians to work on math topics and problems; invite BGA Math teachers to attend PROMYS
for Teachers, an intensive summer program for secondary math teachers (Glenn Stevens, Professor
and Principal Investigator: (617) 358-2388; Fax: (617) 353-8100; Boston University, Department of
Mathematics and Statistics, 111 Cumington St., Boston, MA 02215; [email protected])
The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University will: develop and implement graphic design
professional development, including reduced-fee graduate courses for BGA staff at Lesley; link BGA
students with pre-college/scholarship programs for urban youth; allow BGA students to utilize AIB
design facilities; connect BGA staff and students to art and design networks; arrange for visiting
artists/AIB student interns to come to BGA; seek grants jointly, where appropriate (Stan Trecker, AIB
Dean: (617) 585-6652; Fax: (617) 437-1226; Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, Office of the
Dean, 700 Beacon St., Boston, MA 02215; [email protected])
University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston Writing Project will: teach on-site graduate-credit
courses for BGA teachers in writing instruction; create teacher inquiry groups to investigate current
methods of teaching writing; support teachers in implementing new instructional approaches to
writing; consult with teachers and administrators on issues of language and literacy that constrain
student achievement; seek grants jointly, where appropriate (Glenn Mitchell, Director: (617) 287-7620;
Fax: (617) 287-7664; 100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125; [email protected])
Harvard College, Expository Writing Program will: design an on-site Writing and Public Speaking
Center staffed by trained undergraduate tutors; support the design and implementation of professional
development regarding writing and public speaking (Thomas Jehn, Sosland Director: (617) 495-2566;
Fax: (617) 496-6864; 8 Prescott St., Cambridge, MA 02138; [email protected])
Northeastern University, Project for Leadership and Education Ventures will: provide technical
assistance RE: Board and leadership development, small school best practices, and strategic planning;
allow use of Northeastern facilities for BGA gatherings; explore dual enrollment and scholarship
opportunities at Northeastern for BGA students and faculty; network BGA with national new school
development organizations; provide research and writing support in the school design and
implementation (Larry Myatt, Senior Fellow: (781) 854-6937; Fax: N/A; 50 Nightingale Hall, 360
Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115; [email protected])
Massachusetts Audubon Society, Boston Nature Center will: provide programs run by teacher
naturalists at BNC; provide professional development to make science/nature connections across the
curriculum; provide a teacher naturalist to work in classrooms, side-by-side with teachers and students
in a multi-year team teaching and coaching program (Julie Brandlen, BNC Director; (617) 983-8500;
Fax: (617) 983-8012; 500 Walk Hill St., Mattapan, MA 02126; [email protected])
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, Environmental Land Use Counsel will: participate
in the development of interdisciplinary curricula around the MBTA’s “Groundwater Action Plan” and
other MBTA projects; assist with the placement of BGA students in “green” internships; leverage
contacts in the environmental field in order to secure guest speakers and to provide access to
environmental sites and mentors; where appropriate, connect BGA students to job opportunities within
the MBTA (Scott Darling, Deputy Chief of Staff/Assistant General Counsel: (617) 222-3174; Fax:
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(617) 222-6180; 10 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116; [email protected])
! The Food Project will: teach BGA students and faculty about sustainable agriculture; train students to
lead tours for community members in The Food Project’s agricultural programs; work with BGA
students, families, and faculty to develop a healthy lunch program; support the construction of growing
containers on the grounds of the school as well as at the homes of BGA families (Margaret Williams,
Executive Director: (617) 442-1322; Fax: (617) 442-7918; 10 Lewis St., Lincoln, MA 01773;
[email protected])
! Boston Groundwater Trust will: support the development of interdisciplinary middle school
curriculum on the problem of low groundwater levels that are threatening the integrity of foundations
in some sections of the city; provide guest lecturers and host walking tours of the city; arrange
internships with agencies connected to the Trust (Elliott Laffer, Executive Director: (617) 859-8439;
Fax: (617) 266-8750; Suite 410, 229 Berkeley St., Boston, MA 02116; [email protected])
! Bikes Not Bombs will: work with BGA faculty to develop experiential curriculum that emphasizes
higher-order thinking skills; provide the “Earn-A-Bike” program to BGA students through which they
learn to pick out, overhaul, and safely ride a bicycle; link BGA to other cycling organizations; develop
a curriculum and train-the-trainer model for developing and maintaining an on-site bike workshop;
seek grants jointly, where appropriate (Samantha Wechsler, Executive Director: (617) 522-0222; Fax:
(617) 522-0922; 284 Amory St., Jamaica Plain, MA 02130; [email protected])
! Boston VTS Consortium (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and
Visual Understanding in Education) will: provide professional development to teachers on Visual
Thinking Strategies (VTS) materials and approaches; collaborate with BGA staff to develop and pilot
VTS curriculum for middle and high school students; network BGA with other VTS schools; enroll
BGA students and families in free consortium museum memberships (Corinne Zimmermann, Regional
Director: (617) 899-1671; Fax: (718) 302-0242; 65 Russell Ave., Watertown, MA 02472;
[email protected])
! Primary Source will: provide professional development for BGA teachers to prepare them to integrate
a global perspective throughout their teaching; review curriculum writing and revision to ensure that
global perspective is present across all content-areas; network BGA staff with Primary Source partners
and schools; seek grants jointly, where appropriate (Kathleen Ennis, Executive Director: (617) 9239933; Fax: (617) 923-0975; 101 Walnut Street Watertown, MA 02472; [email protected])
! Focus on Tanzanian Communities will: assist BGA to partner with secondary schools in Tanzania to
emphasize globalization (Richard Johnston, President: (617) 526-6282; Fax: (617) 526-5000; C/O
Richard Johnston , Wilmer Hale, LLP, 60 State St., Boston, MA 02109;
[email protected])
Boston Green Academy is also actively exploring partnerships with: Museum of Science, Boston;
Institute for Human Centered Design; Harvard Museum of Natural History; Thompson Island Outward
Bound Education Center; Green Schools; and Student Conservation Center.
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V. B. REQUIRED ATTACHMENTS (NOT COUNTED TOWARDS 40 PAGE LIMIT)
A. BGA FOUNDING GROUP MEMBERS’ STATEMENTS OF COMMITMENT
Larry Myatt (Chairperson, Boston Green Academy Board of Trustees)
I am pleased to provide this statement of commitment to the goals and ideals of the Boston Green
Academy, proposed as a Horace Mann charter school for the students and families of the city of Boston. I
am familiar with the many complex reasons that make the creation and opening of such a school a critical
necessity for the very near future. The need for a new, progressive school community based on principles
of family participation, positive youth development, challenging, future-oriented curricula, and a
sustainable approach to human interaction with the environment has never been greater.
In addition, I am well acquainted with both the high-performing, long-standing Fenway High School
model upon which much of the school’s programming and structures are based, and with a majority of the
people and organizations that are enthusiastically lining up to partner with the school. Such powerful and
inclusive collaborations are few and far between, and reflect the community interest and enthusiasm for
the many design elements and overall approach as defined by Boston Green Academy’s Founding Group.
I am delighted to lend my name, my energy, and my expertise in helping the mission and vision of the
school to come to fruition.
Molly Schen (Member, Boston Green Academy Board of Trustees)
I have worked enthusiastically on the start-up of Boston Green Academy since its inception two and onehalf years ago. I believe Boston Public Schools deserve to have this grade 6-12 school in its portfolio,
modeled as much as possible after Fenway High School, and I am dedicated to ensuring a quality
education for its students. The planning process has been carefully crafted to involve a wide cross-section
of constituents, from professional educators like myself to community representatives to parents and
graduates of Fenway High School. The resulting design is extremely promising. I helped launch a
network of public and charter high schools from 2000-2003. The work that Jeff Liberty and Matt Holzer
have done is at least as thoughtful, if not more so. I’m looking forward to supporting the school once the
doors open in 2012!
Jeffrey Liberty (Boston Green Academy Lead Founder and Member, BGA Board of Trustees)
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Boston Green Academy’s Board of Trustees, Founding Group, and collaborating partners have been
pursuing the dream of this excellent and urgently necessary school for the last two and a half years. I am
honored, humbled, and inspired to have led this effort, and I am fully committed to contributing all of my
passion, energy, and expertise to the successful conclusion of Boston Green Academy’s application for a
Horace Mann charter and to leading the successful launch of the school in September 2012. Having
escaped poverty through my own high-quality education in the Boston Public Schools, I find it both
natural and rewarding to pledge my deep and unwavering commitment to my fellow team members, to
urban public education as a profession, and to the students and families of the City of Boston.
Barbara King
As a child, I was always afraid of education, not knowing that one day education would be a part of my
everyday life. My parents were not a part of my education goals, which I found hurtful and at times put
me at a disadvantage. I promised myself that when I had a family I would make sure that my voice was
heard when it came to their education. I was truly blessed back in 1983 when a person by the name of
Larry Myatt started the first Pilot school called the Fenway Program on the 10th floor of the old English
High School. Mr. Myatt changed my life in more ways than he can ever imagine. That school gave me
not only a good education but a family that cared and showed love to not only me but other students who
were having the same challenges as myself. Being a part of creating a school such as this has been a
wonderful and challenging experience and process. It was work but well worth it. I know that it is so
important for a school such as Boston Green Academy to come into existence. The school will save
many lives and give our children the same education and family that I received as a student at Fenway
High School.
Christopher Green
A Boston native who grew up in the Roslindale and Mission Hill communities and attended Boston Latin
School, I graduated from the University of Rhode Island with my B.A. in Art Studio. I’ve worked in the
human service field since 1993 in a variety of roles (residential child care worker, outreach tracker, casemanagement social worker at the Department of Children and Families, Family-Based Services
Coordinator, individual therapist, and therapeutic middle school clinician) as well as spending many
summers at Agassiz Village Summer Camp in Poland, Maine as a counselor, program director and
assistant camp director. I graduated from Simmons College with his Master’s in Social Work and a
certificate in Urban Leadership in 2002. I am currently employed at the Eliot Community Services
Agency (CSA) in Medford as an Intensive Care Coordinator who facilitates strengths-based, wraparound
teams that support families and help to maintain high-risk youth at home in their communities. I have
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always enjoyed working with children and families and feel that many positive outcomes will transpire
within the community that the Boston Green Academy will provide. Children will succeed with a
supportive, strengths-based and educationally diverse approach that nurtures their learning styles and
encourages them to achieve.
Courtney Mark Grey
In many ways, my educational experience matches what Boston Green Academy has to offer and my
enthusiasm and strong commitment to the school is driven by the belief that this school will teach and
support inner-city youth with passion and predictable outcomes. My particular concern are our young
people who have been exposed to multiple acts of community violence and do not have proper behavioral
health supports or utilize those available.
I attended a Quaker school from 1st grade to 12th grade with strong emphasis on the strong youth/youth
and youth/adult partnerships that can be nurtured over a 12-year period. The school also promoted
experiential learning, in the forms of project-based learning and mentoring through classical music and
sports. As one of the few Black boys in this 12-grade 1,000-student school, it was difficult to cope with
the issues of my neighborhood (just a 10 minute drive away) while in school. What I witnessed and
experienced had deep immediate and long-term effects on my behavior and ability to learn and the
available supports came from individual teachers not as part of a systemic approach.
Experiential learning was woven into the fabric of my personal life as well and contributed to my
academic performance and I hope to recreate this possibility for “off-track” and “young and far” students
in Boston. My family ran an optician’s lab in our home throughout my academic years and as part of my
“chores” I helped operate complicated machinery to cut glass in the appropriate angles to match a
prescription. Other activities included polishing and cutting lenses to fit the given frame. This hands-on
exposure to physics, chemistry (polishing agents), and project management to meet shipping deadlines
was at time 2 grade levels beyond what I was learning in school. BGA represents a school that I would
have liked to attend, and a school that I will work hard to create. I believe this school’s leadership and
design will help all students—regardless of current functional level—fulfill their desire to learn.
Dalvin Estrada
A product of the Fenway model, I know firsthand the advantage I received at my high school. The
opportunities that opened up to me via Summer Search and the Posse Foundation were all because of
what I learned at a school like Fenway. I am confident that replicating the success Fenway has had with
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its students will benefit not only the students who are in desperate need of good schools but also the
Boston community. There are plenty of existing examples of public schools that do a great job, but too
many students still receive a poor education because the opportunities to attend a good school are limited.
However, I am confident that the Boston Green Academy will give at-risk youth a chance to turn their
lives around and those of their families. I believe that a new Horace Mann charter school within the
Boston Public Schools is important and necessary to the Boston community.
I have been working with the Boston Green Academy team since 2007. Our dedication to the success of
this school is unwavering. Working with Jeff Liberty, the head of our Founding Group and my old
Humanities teacher at Fenway High School, has been an honor. We have been working through the
intricacies of opening a new school for over three years now with various members of the community.
Tapping into the talents of the Fenway alumni and former/current staff, community leaders, and parents
we have proposed to Boston Green Academy as an alternative to the current models that exist in the
Boston Public Schools. I am proud of what we have designed with such a diverse and passionate group of
individuals. I am honored to be a part of the Boston Green Academy and I am committed to being a part
of every aspect of this project.
Eileen Sullivan Shakespear
My experiences and qualifications allow me to offer useful and committed support to the proposed
Boston Green Academy. I am currently working in program and new teacher development at Fenway
High School. From 1971-2007, I taught in the Boston Public Schools first as a middle school English
teacher, then as a Humanities teacher at Fenway High School. From 1999 through 2007, I served as intern
coordinator and co-creator of the Tufts University Urban Teacher Training Collaborative (UTTC) at
Fenway High School and Boston Arts Academy. I continue to act as a supervisor to interns at Tufts and
as ongoing mentor to the two new UTTC coordinators. I have received a bachelor’s degree from Boston
College and a master’s degree in English from the University of London, School of Education. There, far
away from home, I developed a fresh perspective on race in American education and a renewed interest in
the art of teaching for intensive and authentic learning in city schools. I achieved National Board
Certification in 2003. In 2007 she was a finalist for Massachusetts Teacher of the Year and received an
Outstanding Mentor Award from Tufts University.
Though no longer teaching full time, I still seek fresh ways to intensify the power and intellectual vitality
of urban schools and she still harbors an abiding love for the human variety, the beauty, and the spunky
spirit of city people and city schools. These experiences have strengthened my participation in the
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development of and my commitment to the current ideas and founding members and future students of
Boston Green Academy.
Matthew Holzer
My entire career has been spent working to create better schools for students and families who deserve
and need more of them. While Boston is a city with many good public schools, too many students receive
an unacceptably poor education and far too many of them drop out. I believe that Boston needs to
replicate its successful schools, particularly those that have proven successful with the most vulnerable
students, like the nationally-recognized Fenway High School, in order to stem this crisis. I also believe
that these new schools must have autonomy, flexibility, and creativity to succeed in this difficult mission.
The traditional tools available to public schools are just not flexible or responsive enough to quickly and
effectively impact the problems our students are facing. That is why I believe that a new Horace Mann
charter school within Boston Public Schools is such an important, necessary, and personally meaningful
project to be involved in.
Since 2007, I have been one of the leading members of the Boston Green Academy Founding Group. We
are seeking to create a new school modeled on Fenway that proactively and successfully serves young and
off-track students while providing the general student population in Boston with a new, rigorous, collegepreparatory option. I am proud to have come together with Jeff Liberty, the head of our Founding Group
and a former Fenway teacher, Larry Myatt, the founding and long-time principal of Fenway, and many
other educators, community partners, Fenway alumni, parents, and city leaders to help propose this new
Horace Mann charter school. After almost three years of planning, I believe that we have a very strong,
diverse, committed and experienced team that can successfully build and implement the new school we
are proposing. I am honored to be a part of this project and I am committed to being a part of it in every
phase.
Jean Transtamar
As a proud educator and product of Fenway High School, I am committed to ensuring that children today
can receive an education that resembles my own, if not better. As a result, working with this team of
passionate individuals is the best possible solution.
Kristen Eichleay
I retired two years ago from the Boston Public Schools after 37 years of service. I held a variety of roles
for 10 years, as a general education and special education teacher, and as an Evaluation Team Leader for
special education. For the following 27 years, I provided professional development for teachers in the
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principles of Universal Design for Learning and Assistive Technology (AT) and specialized technology
tools and software. It was always my dream to have UDL principles applied broadly across the system.
Though I have retired from the BPS, I have not given up my dream. I joined the Boston Green Academy
planning team shortly after its inception, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to realize my vision by
creating a model school that has UDL principles central to its instructional practices.
I am delighted to be collaborating with Kristina Lamour from the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley
University to incorporate graphic design strategies and tools into the UDL framework. Our goal is to
ensure that BGA staff can address the needs of students who have diverse learning preferences, in
particular, visual and kinesthetic learners, who may have given up on traditional classroom approaches.
In addition, I have a strong interest in the green focus of this school. I have had an interest in
conservation and the environment since my grandfather introduced me to the Western Pennsylvania
Conservancy as a child. For many years I have withstood my friends’ jokes about washing out plastic
bags, composting, and saving anything that has the slightest chance of being used another way. In doing
recent home renovations, I researched ecologically sound building materials and insulating techniques.
Also, I have investigated programs and approaches that other green schools are using. We are optimistic
that some day we be able to build a green BGA building from the ground up and involve students in the
process.
I am excited about BGA’s vision and the broad range of experience and expertise of the BGA planning
team. I feel privileged to have been invited to participate on the team. I hope that the school will become a
reality soon, and that I will be involved for many years to come.
Kristina Lamour Sansone
I am delighted to be part of the Boston Green Academy design team and am committed to use my
expertise and experience to support Boston’s public schools. My passion is to bridge graphic design and
K-12 education. For twenty years I have worked with Math, English, Science, Special Education, and
Humanities teachers and administrators in urban public schools in California, Texas, Connecticut and
Boston.
My passion for working with high school teachers began when I moved to Boston and started supporting
schools by incorporating graphic design into the general curriculum at Fenway High School. I have been
a part of the full-time Design faculty at The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University for 10 years. In
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this role, I have taught typography, graphic design process, and history and visual research to
undergraduates, graduate, and doctoral students. My desire as an AIB faculty and BGA team member is
to bring the expertise of the Design department at AIB (our art and design college) to the Education
School with expertise in Universal Design for Learning, English Language Learning, and Technology in
Education and Special Education. Teacher training is currently at the core of my work. I strive to awaken
teachers to see the relevance of design in everything they do from planning a unit to organizing desks to
choosing a typestyle on a handout.
I met BGA Founding Group colleague Kristen Eichleay in 2004 before she retired from the Boston Public
Schools. Immediately I was inspired, amidst the uninspired architecture of her building, by the wonder of
her office from the handmade objects, word-rings, books, and posters connecting inspired text and
images. These are innovative tools she used with BPS students for 37 years. Our collaboration is very
powerful and I am excited to develop and implement professional development so that BGA can be a
successful and supportive school for Boston’s youth.
Matthew Richard Johnston
With great enthusiasm I pledge my support to the Boston Green Academy Founding Group. I have
committed my efforts to the development of BGA from the earliest stage and hope to continue to play an
active role in BGA once it opens. Since the team identified me as the “Green” subcommittee chairperson,
I have conducted research on sustainability awareness and renewable energies in order to define the role
of the “Green” theme within the curriculum, infrastructure, school policies and practices, and among the
community. Many of my contributions have been embraced by the Founding Group, leading to the
“Green” theme becoming a core element of the BGA identity.
If BGA is granted a Horace Mann charter and opens as a Boston Public School, as a potential member of
the faculty, I hope to play a pivotal role in cultivating a culture that will encourage our students to become
active stewards of the environment. It is also my goal to be a Spanish Language Arts teacher at BGA. I
hold a Massachusetts Educator’s License in Spanish, grades 5-12. I look forward to developing and
teaching a dynamic curriculum that incorporates the unique features of the BGA approach to education—
Universal Design for Learning, English Language Learning, and Assistive Technology—and supported
by my extensive academic understanding of the Spanish language and superior level of fluency I gained
through living, studying, and working in Spain and Puerto Rico and currently practice on a daily basis
personally and professionally. Throughout the development of Boston Green Academy, I have been
inspired to create a new school that builds upon the ideals of Fenway High School. As an alumnus who
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recognizes how much I gained from Fenway, I would like to participate in giving similar opportunities to
the youth of Boston through Boston Green Academy.
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B. BGA FOUNDING GROUP MEMBERS’ RESUMES
Larry M. Myatt
327 Mountain St. Sharon, MA 02067
781-784-9217 [email protected]
Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
B.A.
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
M.Ed.
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
Ed.D.
! Dissertation: “Establishing the Conditions for Urban School Reform”
Professional History
Principal Consultant, Executive Coach, 21st Century Schools
Sharon, MA
Senior Fellow, Leadership and Education Ventures, Northeastern University
Project Director, Excellence in School Leadership
Boston, MA
Headmaster-on-Assignment / Senior Associate, Office of High School Renewal 2003-2007
Boston Public Schools
! Implementation of Gates & Carnegie High School restructuring grants
! Leadership coaching; coordinate capacity coaching
! Lead Alternative education School Quality process
! Parthenon/HSR drop-out data & planning project
! Member HSR partners work group
Founder, Co-Director, Greater Boston Principal Residency Network Boston, MA
(Principal Leadership & Licensure Program: affiliated w/ The Center for Collaborative Education and
Northeastern University)
Founder, Director, Headmaster, Fenway (Pilot) High School Boston, MA
1983-2002 A U.S. Department of Education New American High School, and a Breakthrough High
School, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Association of Secondary School
Principals
Related Experiences
Co-Founder, Center for Collaborative Education
Boston, MA
Member, Commission for the common Core of Learning, Commonwealth of Massachusetts (at the
invitation of Governor William Weld)
Thompson Fellow, Brown University, Coalition of Essential Schools, National Faculty Providence, RI
Adjunct faculty, Northeastern University, Institute for Professional Development and Graduate Studies
Boston, MA
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Professional Development Designer/Facilitator:
! Annenberg Institute for School Reform, Superintendents study group; national principals
institutes, consulting
! Harvard Smithsonian/Annenberg CPB School reform series
Moderator, Consultant
! Harvard University Graduate School of Education; Summer Faculty, redesigning the American
High School
Founding Convener, Forum for Democracy and Education
Washington, D.C., Amesville, OH
Other Distinctions
Recipient, 2007 Harry S Levitan Prize, Brandeis University
“For Career Achievement in the field”
One of Ten “Distinguished Principals”, the Big Picture Co., 1998
Providence RI
Featured in Annenberg Institute for School Reform video series, “In the Line of Fire: The Challenge of
Authentic Leadership”
Seminars, Presentations & Keynotes
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Indianapolis Public Schools / C.E.L.L. Summer Institute
Race and achievement series; Boston Center for Leadership Development,
2009
Rennie Center, MassINC: Education Reform Revisited
Oregon Small Schools E3 Initiative 2010, Keynote
Harvard University Law and education Conference
Killington / CCE Small Schools Summer Institute
Chicago Public Schools Principals Cohort
CES 50 Schools Project
CES Fall Forum (7)
New Mexico CES/Re-learning Institute
International Education & Innovation Conference, Manchester, England, Speaker & Seminar
Leader
Massachusetts department of education
Alternative High School Initiative, San Diego, CA
Alliance for Excellent Education: “Turning Around Failing Schools”: for Senator Bingaman, CSPAN
New England Association of Schools & Colleges Annual Convocation, Keynote 2000
Washtenaw, MI ISD/ Jackson Community foundation
Tufts University Democrats “Issues of the Future” Panel 2010
Maine Department of Education Statewide Summit
Providence Public Schools Leadership Seminar
Middle College Consortium / American Social History Project, Hunter College
Brown University Educational Liaison to RI DOE, RI Higher Education Consortium
University of South Carolina/CES Leadership Institute
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Broward County, FL – Jacksonville Foundation, High School Initiative
NEASC/Annenberg Institute College Admissions Seminar, coordinator
Michigan Department of Education Summer Institute
Minnesota department of education; Education 2000
Vermont Department of education; Statewide Learning Institute
Fall River (MA) School Committee Scenario Development
Rhode Island College partnership: Education summit
Articles
“Fulfilling the Promise of Small Schools”,
“Lessons of School Reform” (w/ Linda Nathan)
“Friction Points”
“Taking Stock” (w/ Peggy Kemp)
“Connecting the Dots”
Phi Delta Kappan
Phi Delta Kappan
Education Week
Phi Delta Kappan
Phi Delta Kappan
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Molly Schen, Ed.D.
78 Ardale Street • Roslindale, MA • 02131
Office: (617) 735-1650 • Cell: (401) 952-3384
[email protected]
PROFESSIONAL PROFILE
School leader who has worked with the nation’s top educators to create and sustain thoughtful public
schools and programs. A life-long focus on personalizing high schools. Outstanding communicator who
enjoys working with students, parents, teachers, staff and community members. Thoughtful and
strategic about conceptual and policy-level work; interested in and attentive to details of implementation.
EXPERIENCE
Director of Program Growth and Development, Facing History and Ourselves
2005-present
A professional development organization, helping teachers link the past to moral choices today
! Recent projects include creating a small schools network with $700K budget and 20 staff; two
district-wide implementations of Facing History (Louisville and Harrisburg); development of
international Facing History teaching award program.
President, Learning Journeys
2003-2005
An educational consulting company, supporting best practices and innovation in school districts and schools.
Providence, RI
! Varied projects including district redesign; case studies on literacy coaching; consulting with
innovative K-8 and 9-12 charter schools; and on-site professional. Clients included Annenberg
Institute; Harvard Graduate School of Education; Boston Community Leadership Academy;
Opera Carolina; Santa Monica Alternative School House.
Visiting Clinical Professor of English Education, Brown University
! Supervised Brown graduate students and taught the Analysis of Teaching course.
2004
Director of New School Development, Big Picture Company
2000-2003
A not-for-profit company dedicated to creating a particular brand of personalized high school.
Led by Dennis Littky and Elliot Washor. Funded in part by the Gates Foundation.
Providence, RI
! Secured and supported sites of the first 10 Big Picture Schools across the U.S. which included
negotiations with districts; principal recruitment; and year-long training of the principals. Wrote
and published the 370-page Principal Guide as a resource for Big Picture principals. Managed a
seven-member team.
Director of Learning and Teaching, Auburn School Department
1997-2000
Fourth-largest school district in Maine, with 13 schools and 4,000 students.
Auburn, ME
! Introduced a culture focused on student work and instruction through professional development
and assessment tools, open forums, and research. Identified challenges at schools and facilitated
changes in leadership and strategy. Worked on educational policy in the district and region, as
well as on the Commissioner’s state-wide assessment council.
Teacher of High School English
Providence, RI; Woodsville, NH; Portland, ME; Freeport, ME
1982-1984; 1987-1993
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Molly Schen
EDUCATION
Ed.D., Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA
Concentration: Administration, Planning & Social Policy
Certifications: Principal and Superintendent
Dissertation: Teacher Feedback and Student Revision
HGSE Entering Doctoral Student Award, Spencer Foundation Research Training Fellow
page 2
2000
Graduate, Maine Academy for School Leaders
1993
Ed.M., Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA
Concentration: School reform
1987
A.B., Brown University, Providence, RI
Comparative Literature
Certification: Teaching English, grades 7-12
1982
RECENT PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS
“Lighting the Moral Imagination” in Educational Leadership
“Coaches in the High School Classroom” with Sanjiv Rao and Ricardo Dobles
“The Met and Big Picture Company,” a case study for the Harvard Business School.
Workshop leader at the Coalition of Essential Schools Fall Forum, Columbus, OH
Workshop leader at the American Sail Training Association conference, Providence, RI
“Opportunity’s Window,” a case study for Springfield Public Schools, MA,
commissioned by Mass Insight.
“Developing School Leaders: One Principal at a Time” with Dennis Littky, in
Reshaping the Landscape of School Leadership: Development, ed. Philip Hallinger.
Keynote at the Maine Alternative Educators’ Conference, Orono, Maine.
Co-author of case study for the National Science Foundation: “Time and Time Again,”
with Kay Merseth.
Workshop leader at the Coalition of Essential Schools Fall Forum, Seattle, Washington.
“A Time to Teach” and “Instructional Leadership,” case studies written for the
Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the New Jersey Principals’ Center.
SELECTED FELLOWSHIPS, AWARDS and GRANTS
Recipient of the American Association of School Administrators’
Educational Administration Scholarship.
Co-author of an Urban Institute grant to evaluate links between professional development
and student achievement.
Project director for Electronic Learning Marketplace grant for assessment development.
Project director for Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance grant for exploration of
middle level math curricula.
Co-author of a $.5M federal grant for Auburn’s Community Learning Center.
Christa McAuliffe Fellow for the State of Maine, recognizing an outstanding educator.
National Council for Basic Education Fellow for Independent Study in the Humanities.
2009
2005
2004
2003
2003
2003
2003
2002
2001
2000
2000
2000
2000
1999
1999
1998
1992
1990
INTERESTS
Current pursuits include choral singing, contemporary art, swimming, dog walking, reading, and playing
classical piano. Raised in Europe until age 14, attending schools in the Netherlands, Denmark and
Belgium. before attending junior high school in Maryland and high school in New Jersey
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Jeffrey W. Liberty
43 Worcester Street
Belmont, MA 02478
Home: 781.209.0341
Mobile: 617.512.6201, 617.308.9485
e-mail: [email protected]
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Parkway Academy of Technology and Health: Headmaster
Boston Public Schools
Boston Community Leadership Academy: Assistant Headmaster
Boston Public Schools
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2008-present
Coordinate all aspects of the design and approval process of a new 6-12 Horace Mann Charter
School whose core mission is to reduce the drop-out crisis through innovation, excellence, and
support for students and families. Specific responsibilities include:
o Convening and coordinating members of the school’s Founding Group to design all
aspects of the school.
o Serving as the chief liaison between the school’s designers and policy makers at the state
and municipal levels.
o Acting as the chief author of all school publications.
o Applying for and managing grants from the state government and local foundations
o Envisioning and securing partnerships.
o Establishing a Board of Trustees.
o Representing the Boston Public Schools in various capacities at state events focused on
innovative school development.
Community Academy of Science and Health: Boston Principal Fellow
Boston Public Schools
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2009-2010
Collaborate with the Headmaster and the Assistant Headmaster for Special Education to
coordinate all aspects of the school’s operation.
Supervise the History, ESL, and English Curriculum Teams.
Supervise, evaluate, and support teachers.
Coordinate the development and support of the Leadership Team.
Plan, facilitate, and assess weekly professional development.
Support and develop teacher leader team.
Design and facilitate teacher study group based on “The Skillful Teacher”.
Design and facilitate “backwards planning” curriculum development teacher study group.
Developed a protocol for resolving adult conflicts.
Developed a school-wide instructional observation protocol.
Boston Green Academy: Lead Founder
Boston Public Schools
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2010-present
2008-2009
Worked closely with the Headmaster to implement all aspects of school leadership. Specific
ongoing responsibilities included:
o Designing and facilitating a new teacher support group.
o Facilitating grade-level team meetings and content team facilitator meetings.
o Analyzing student achievement data that led to the development of new cohort model to
support struggling students.
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Supporting and disciplining students; serving as the chief advisor to a cohort of five atrisk students.
Participating in the formal supervision and evaluation processes for faculty and staff.
Forming a partnership with the Boston Public Health Commission to support students and
families who have been exposed to violent trauma.
Initiating a student art project in collaboration with faculty at Art Institute of Boston.
Office of High School Renewal: Senior Program Coordinator
Boston Public Schools
2003-2008
Instructional Leadership, Professional Development, and Facilitation
! Served as a Humanities Teacher-in-Residence in two small high schools: facilitated curriculum
retreats; modeled lessons; provided instructional feedback; recommended curriculum resources;
developed assessments; counseled school leadership on staffing and program development.
! Coordinated four citywide Humanities Summer Institutes; facilitated workshops on curriculum
development, assessment, technology integration, and differentiated instruction.
! Co-facilitated Boston Public Schools’ Alternative Education Work Group
Systems Innovation, Organizational Development, and Labor Relations
! Coordinated all aspects of the development of new Humanities programs in seven high schools:
o Co-authored and managed the development of 32 new curriculum maps (grades 9-12).
o Initiated and managed partnerships with national and local organizations.
o Developed on-line database of curriculum maps and professional resource library.
o Chief Boston Public Schools strategist in arbitration with the Boston Teachers Union.
! Initiated and supervised the development of two new high school Writing Centers.
! Provided ongoing capacity coaching to new small schools leaders and faculty: co-facilitated
leadership retreats; developed and facilitated staff meetings and retreats.
! Served as Convener for the conversion of West Roxbury High School into four high schools.
! Participated in an ongoing Boston Public Schools-Boston Teachers Union forum designed to
identify and resolve challenges regarding the conversion of large high schools to small schools.
Fiscal Management and Staff Supervision
! Managed $1.8 million budget for the development of Humanities programs in seven high schools.
! Secured $150,000 grant to support the development of two Writing Centers.
! Participated in the development of budgets and staffing templates of seven new high schools.
! Recruited and supervised team of four Humanities Teachers-in-Residence, a part-time Project
Manager, and an intern from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
! Participated in the recruitment and hiring of small schools headmasters and teachers.
Center for Collaborative Education
Boston, MA
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2001-2003
As a whole-school change and literacy coach in New England middle schools, developed
institutes, workshops, and ongoing professional development on team building, looking at student
work, peer observation, literacy strategies, teaching English Language Learners, assessment,
backwards curriculum development, data-based decision making, and differentiated instruction.
As a capacity coach in two new urban high schools, advised principals on data-based decisionmaking, school climate, scheduling, supervision and evaluation, use of common planning time,
instructional leadership, and school governance.
Coached four schools through the process of developing Leadership Teams.
Department of Education, State of Maine
1999, 2000
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Designed high school reform professional development for teachers, principals, and district
administrators (i.e., scheduling, pedagogy, portfolio assessment and school culture).
Fenway High School
1998-2000
Boston Public Schools
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Humanities Department Chair, 1999-2000.
Developed and taught interdisciplinary Humanities courses to 9th, 10th, and 11th graders.
Advised 11th and 12th grade students on college admission, financial aid, and career choices.
Mentored student teachers from Harvard Graduate School of Education and Simmons College.
Committees: Senior Graduation, Gender Equity, Junior Review, and National Honor Society.
Co-designed and co-facilitated Boys’ Retreat.
Graded American School of São Paulo, Brazil
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Taught Geography, World History, and International Baccalaureate History (Higher Level) to
middle and high school students.
Served as an advisor/teacher for Peer Group Connection, a peer leadership and mentoring
program for high school seniors, and advised 8th grade students.
Coached Varsity and Junior Varsity Basketball, Debate Club, Public Speaking Club.
Madison Park Technical Vocational High School
Boston Public Schools
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1994-1998
1992-1994
Taught United States History II, African-American History, and AP Calculus.
Designed and team-taught an interdisciplinary inclusion course.
Instituted an after-school intramural basketball program.
M.I.T./Wellesley College Upward Bound Program
Cambridge/Wellesley, MA
1992-1993
Served as an English Teaching Assistant, an overnight Residence Advisor, and an Academic Tutor in an
after-school and summer residential program for aspiring first-generation college students.
EDUCATION & PROFESSIONAL CREDENTIALS
! University of Massachusetts/Boston, Masters in Educational Administration, 2009
! Massachusetts High School Principal License, 2009
! Emerson College, MFA in Creative Writing, 2003
! National School Reform Faculty, Critical Friends Group Facilitator, 2003
! Harvard University Summer School, graduate coursework in English Literature, 2000
! University of Massachusetts/Boston, graduate coursework in American Studies, 1999-2000
! Massachusetts Teaching Licenses: History (9-12) and Social Studies (9-12)
! Brandeis University, B.A. in History; Secondary Education Program, 1992
! Boston Latin School, 1988
TECHNICAL SKILLS & WORLD LANGUAGES
! Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications
! Proficiency in Photoshop, LIZA, MyBPS, and MassOne
! Comfortable with both Macintosh and PC platforms
! Proficient in Brazilian Portuguese
! Working knowledge of Spanish, French, Latin, and ancient Greek
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BARBARA A. KING 56 HOWLAND ST. BROCKTON, MA. 02302 617-594-9767
SKILLS:
Phlebotomy, Specimen Processing, Medical Terminology and Abbreviations, Microsoft Word,
Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Keyboarding-50 wpm
EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCE:
PYRAMID BUILDERS, Boston, MA
Clinician
03/2010-Present
Provide individual, family, couples or group therapy
Provide treatment plans and maintain log of service
Documentation of all contact with clients and collaterals
Ensure integration of all program services to with regards to the client
Monitor and document client progress
HIGHPOINT, Brockton, MA
Clinician
01/2008-Present
Insure accurate, timely, thorough completion of any/all documentation related to client participation
Collaborate closely and effectively with all other members of the treatment plan
Participate in quality improvement and quality assurance projects related to the program
Consistent delivery of high quality, culturally competent, and appropriate mental health
Attend relevant meetings/activities pertaining to assigned cases
HARVARD VANGUARD MEDICAL ASSOCIATES, Boston, MA
Senior Lab Control Technician
06-1988-12/2000
Responsible for the whole send out department that consisted of three (3) specimen processors
Insured proper handling requirements were met for all specimens that were being drawn and sent out
Pulled lab results for all sites, kept track of all specimens whereabouts
Set up Lab and ran QC controls on all Instruments
Assisted in other areas of the lab and performed hematology, chemistry, urinalysis, microbiology,
coagulation and also pregnancy testing
Drew blood form both pediatric and adult patients, collecting blood by venous, finger sticks and heel
sticks.
Performed other assigned duties or projects as required
EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE;
CAMBRIDGE COLLEGE, Cambridge, MA
Masters Degree in Counseling and Psychology
Certified Specialist in Traumatic Stress Disorder (Candidate)
Certified Sexuality Counselor
Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (Candidate)
Cans Certified
09/2005-06/2010
SIMMONS COLLEGE, Boston, Ma
Undergraduate Studies for Psychology and Counseling
09/2003-06/2004
References furnished upon request.
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CHRISTOPHER LAURENCE GREEN, MSW, LICSW
27 Goldsmith Street #2
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
Tel # (617) 620-5522
[email protected]
EDUCATION:
Simmons College Graduate School of Social Work, Boston, Massachusetts
September 2000 to May 2002
Master of Social Work - Clinical.
Dean Leadership Award
University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island
September 1988 to December 1992
Bachelor of Arts, Art Studio.
Boston Latin School, Boston Massachusetts
September 1982 to June 1988
POST-GRADUATE WORK EXPERIENCE:
Eliot Community Human Services
July 2009 to present
10 Cabot Road, Suite 209, Medford, MA
Intensive Care Coordinator (Eliot Community Services Agency)
! Facilitate 8-10 Children’s Behavioral Health Initiative (CBHI) strengths-based, wraparound teams of
professional and informal participants to meet the unique, individualized needs of high-risk youth in the
Malden DCF area office catchment area communities.
! Guide families, members and collaterals through Strengths’ and Needs’ Assessments which leads to the
prioritizations of the team’s goals and eventual “Mission”, which is the vision for which the team will focus
its interventions and efforts.
! Develop clinical formulations for members and assist professionals in providing interventions to best meet
their needs.
! Plan, coordinate and facilitate monthly “Care Plan Meetings” to regularly assess the progress made,
barriers to success and to discuss all necessary matters related to the process.
! Create initial evaluations, comprehensive assessments, weekly logs, crisis plans, billing sheets and
discharge summaries.
! Perform crisis intervention services (on-call every 10 weeks) and respond to high-risk members during off
hours.
! Keep regular face-to-face contact with all members, families and collaterals as needed.
! Advocate and facilitate member’s enrollment and continued involvement via regular contact with Beacon
Health Strategies.
Neighborhood Health Plan / Mental Health Services Program for Youth (MHSPY)
April 2004 to June 2009
10 Cabot Road, Suite 209, Medford, MA
Clinical Care Manager
! Facilitated 8 strengths-based, wraparound teams of professional and informal participants to meet the unique,
individualized needs of high-risk youth in the Malden, Medford and Everett communities.
! Coordinated all authorizations for collateral services and programs via phone, face-to-face contact, scheduled
meetings and the Beacon Health Strategies computer network system.
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Guided families, members and collaterals through Strengths’ and Needs’ Assessments which leads to the
prioritizations of the team’s goals and eventual “Mission”, which is the vision for which the team will focus it’s
interventions and efforts.
Developed clinical formulations for members and assist professionals in providing interventions to best meet
their needs.
Planned, coordinated and facilitated monthly “Care Plan Meetings” to regularly assess the progress made,
barriers to success and to discuss all necessary matters related to the process.
Created initial evaluations, comprehensive assessments, weekly logs, crisis plans and discharge summaries.
Performed crisis intervention services (on-call every 10 weeks) and responded to high-risk members during offhours.
Maintained regular face-to-face contact with all members, families and collaterals as needed.
Planned regular discussions for weekly clinical group supervision as well as cooperative learning activities for
the monthly MHSPY Family Night.
The Margaret Gifford School
August 2002 to March 2004
177 Boston Post Road, Weston, MA
Middle School Clinician
! Prepared and led weekly clinical conferences for the Middle School team concerning individual students and
relevant clinically-based themes.
! Prepared and presented individual cases for a weekly clinical consultation meeting.
! Provided clinical insight and training for staff within the therapeutic milieu.
! Chaired introductory meetings with families to gather Genogram information and determine goals for new
students.
! Presented new students’ history and clinical backgrounds to the Middle School team.
! Provided crisis intervention services to high-risk students.
! Compiled updated files on students’ clinical services, providers and medications.
! Taught a weekly health curriculum within a therapeutic group setting to boys ages 12 to 15.
! Supervised two bachelor’s level students in clinical assessment and crisis intervention.
The Brookline Center
May 2002 to August 2002
43 Garrison Road, Brookline, MA
Clinical Associate
! Provided individual weekly therapy and advocacy for both children and adult clients.
! Co-facilitated an ongoing weekly socialization group for boys ages 12 to 13.
! Maintained frequent contact with clients, parents and all necessary collaterals in the community.
! Participated in weekly training seminars addressing several forms of psychotherapy: child, adult, family and
groups.
! Created clinical evaluations and treatment plans for clients.
LICENSURE AND CERTIFICATION:
MassHealth-sponsored High-Fidelity Wraparound Training
Fall 2009
Commonwealth of Massachusetts Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (License # 115253)
July 2009
Massachusetts Certified CANS Training and Licensure
October 2008
Certificate in Urban Leadership, Simmons College Graduate School of Social Work
May 2002
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Certificate for Basic Mediation and Negotiation Theories and Practice,
Simmons College Graduate School of Social Work
July 2001
Massachusetts Department of Social Services Certified Investigations Training
June 1999
CLINICAL TRAINING:
The Brookline Center
September 2001 to May 2002
43 Garrison Road, Brookline, MA
Clinical Social Worker
! Provided individual weekly therapy and advocacy for both children and adult clients.
! Co-facilitated an ongoing weekly socialization group for boys ages 12 to 13.
! Maintained frequent contact with clients, parents and all necessary collaterals in the community.
! Participated in weekly training seminars addressing several forms of psychotherapy: child, adult, family and
groups.
! Created clinical evaluations and treatment plans for clients.
Young Parents’ Program at Children’s Hospital
September 2000 to May 2001
300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA
Clinical Social Worker
! Provided individual weekly therapy, case-management and advocacy for young fathers ages 18 to 24.
! Created psychosocial assessments, social work assessments and termination reports for individual clients.
! Co-facilitated an 11-week young fathers’ psycho-educational group, which addressed parenting, life skills and
responsibility.
! Maintained frequent contact with clients in their communities.
! Participated in weekly didactic seminars involving hospital culture and available resources.
RELATED EXPERIENCE:
Communities For People, Inc.
November 1999 to August 2000
418 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA
Service Coordinator, Family Based Services Network
! Facilitated the wraparound approach for home-based service delivery for DSS-involved families.
! Performed assessments with families based on their strengths to discover resources and support networks.
! Referred appropriate agencies to families to provide in-home intensive family work.
! Facilitated case review meetings with families, DSS staff and providers to create goals for services.
! Created treatment plans to measure team outcomes.
! Managed referral payments for agencies through DSS computer network (FamilyNet).
The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families
March 1998 to November 1999
Dimock Street Area Office, 30 Dimock Street, Roxbury, MA
Case-Management Social Worker
! Researched family history and environment.
! Created individually oriented service plans.
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Performed risk and needs assessments.
Provided referrals to social resources in the community.
Maintained frequent contact with families and all necessary collaterals in the community.
Intervened with families affected by substance abuse, domestic violence and poverty.
Supervised a Lesley College intern student in social work practice and case management.
COMPASS, Inc.
October 1995 to February 1998
26 Sunnyside Street, Jamaica Plain, MA
Department of Social Services-Appointed Outreach Tracker
! Served as an effective liaison between youths and their families and/or caretakers.
! Provided crisis intervention with clients and their families.
! Organized and maintained records of clients’ progress.
! Maintained communication with school, DSS and court personnel on all necessary matters.
! Performed on-call duties and responded during client emergencies.
! Accompanied clients and families to all scheduled court appearances and attended all treatment planning
meetings.
The Italian Home for Children
January 1993 to October 1995
1125 Centre Street, Jamaica Plain, MA
Child Care Worker III / Float Supervisor
! Ensured the safety of 50-60 children in a residential home for children with severe emotional and behavioral
needs.
! Dispensed medication and provided on-going crisis intervention.
! Organized and led school and club activities.
! Co-lead in-house training for new employees.
! Involved in progress reviews, clinical conferences and adoption work to benefit children’s treatment plans.
! Educated parents in behavior management skills to utilize in their homes.
Agassiz Village Summer Camp
Summers of 1997, 1994, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1985 and 1984
71 Agassiz Village Lane, Poland, ME
Assistant Camp Director / Program Director
! Performed the duties of cabin counselor (including four summers of experience in managing the day-to-day care
of 16 campers), assistant waterfront director (1991) and arts and crafts director (1994).
! Conducted and was responsible for the day-to-day management, supervision and well being of a 100-person
staff and up to 250 campers over an 8-week period as assistant camper director and program director (1997).
! Skilled in running several aspects of the camping experience.
AWARDS AND ACTIVITIES:
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Spring 2010
Spring 2010
February 2009
1996 to 1998; 2005, 2006
1996, 1997, 1998, 2005
September 1998 to present
Spring 1999 to 2009
May 1998 to present
Summer 2002 to August 2003
October 2000 to May 2002
June 1995
Boston Green Academy Founding Group Member
Trotter Elementary School 40th Anniversary Planning Committee
Neighborhood Health Plan Key Contributor Award
Co-Captain and player, NEFL Boston Bandits Semi-Pro Football Team
Voted to 4 NEFL Southern Division All-Star Teams (Offensive Line)
Former president/current member, Agassiz Village Alumni Association
Founder and host of Annual Agassiz Village Spring Fundraiser
Coach and player, Dimock St. and Malden Area Offices Softball Teams
Male Social Worker Peer Mediation Group
Simmons College Social Committee Co-Chairman
Italian Home for Children Outstanding Achievement Award
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Courtney Mark Grey
36 Edwin Street Dorchester, MA 02124
617-308-8477
[email protected]
Professional
Experience
Boston Public Health Commission, Boston, MA
Director, Trauma Response and Recovery (2007-Present)
Adapted a disaster behavioral health models for implementation in Boston
neighborhoods most impacted by violence. Developed an Incident Command
System based system for responding to incidents of psychological trauma.
Integrated trauma activities in to partner agency practices such as the Boston
Police Department, Boston Public Schools. Become a Trainer of Trainers for
the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Trained and coordinated
networks of clergy, teachers, youth workers, and street workers on
Psychological First Aid and Post Traumatic Stress Management protocols. Led
trauma response and recovery efforts for 20-30 incidents per year, many of
which had high impact on school communities. Participated in natural disaster
response for Katrina.
2003-Present
Men’s Health Program Manager (2003 to 2007)
Developed strategies to determine and address health disparities among men of
color and poor men such as prostate cancer, violent injury and death, and
symptoms of traumatic stress. Coordinated men’s health activities in multiple
bureaus in the organization. Coordinated the Men’s Health Coalition, funded by
the Kellogg Foundation, of 20 agency partners that serve men including those
recently admitted to Boston Medical Center and those recently released from
prison. Implemented social marketing strategies to increase awareness of men’s
issues. Developed the Barber Network, a network of 70 barbershops that served
an average of 100 men per week yielding a 7,000 man outreach base. Presented
and several national conferences.
Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA
2000 -2003
Research Program Manager
Conducted qualitative research on Black male victims of violent crimes as part
of a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) study entitled “Understanding
Recurrent Violence in Young Black Men”. Identified, qualified and tracked
potential participants. Informed participants of study parameters and overall
risks and benefits to themselves and the community. Used semi-structured
interviews and survey instruments that captured data on symptoms of traumatic
stress, PTSD, depression, substance abuse, and community violence exposure.
Worked closely with Internal Review Board ensuring governs ethical treatment
of human subjects. Utilized qualitative analysis methods to determine themes
on violent exposure and behavior. Generated reports and wrote grant
applications. Presented published findings at numerous (inter)national
conferences medical conferences and co-author publications on research
findings. Gathered subject input on utilization of mental health and social
services. Published “Pathways to Recurrent Violence”.
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ROCA, Inc., Chelsea, MA
1997 – 2000
Coordinator, Arts and Culture Program
Created performance troupe for Capoeira Angola that received radio and press
coverage; appeared nationally in Washington, DC in an international AfroBrazilian Cultural Encounter; and helped Chelsea win the 1999 All America
City award in Mobile, AL. Coordinated performances with Break Dance, Salsa,
Merengue, and Capoeira such as: WJMN's MixFext ‘98 with an audience of
over 10,000; and First Night 2000’s Millennium Soul Celebration which
featured 14 performances, over 30 performers and was produced by youth. Coproduced cultural/community events such as: the International Dance and Drum
Celebration; the smoking-prevention events; several cultural community
building events. Convened several violence and domestic violence
prevention/healing ceremonies in the immediate aftermath of traumatic events.
Presented Master instructors from Brazil, Cuba, and other countries.
Citizens For Safety, Boston, MA
1995 - 1997
Independent Consultant
Designed information technology systems and procedures to facility civic
engagement. Designed social marketing strategies for gun buyback program.
Analyzed market opportunities to attract new audiences. Designed database
management system for the detailed tracking of donors, members and
prospects, which included policies for monitoring member contributions.
Performed social marketing/promotions consultation for various private, nonprofit and arts organizations such as the Wang Center for the Performing Arts.
Produced fundraisers, and staged entertainment events. Developed
marketing/advertising campaigns.
Proposed marketing/promotion plan to increase membership. Devised strategies
to address critical diversity issues. Participated in strategic conferences for the
development of innovative youth programs such as: youth entrepreneurship;
multi-cultural education; internet/media production/education; and martial
arts/health training as a method of intervention and counseling.
Open Software Foundation, Cambridge, MA
1990 - 1995
Senior Product Manager-Interoperability Technologies
Developed and executed a Distributed Computing Environment (DCE)
sales/marketing plan to meet $4M worldwide revenue objective. Developed
business plans for various international markets. Managed product development
and distribution channel relationships with: IBM, HP, DEC, Apple, Novell,
Sun, Microsoft, Sony, NEC, Hitachi, AT&T, and others. Formulated pricing
strategies and negotiated contracts. Developed and executed press/consultant
campaigns.
Determined and met customer requirements to improve product adoption rates.
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Consulted with customers on product policies and pilot projects. Presented
product strategy to key national/international customers and partners.
Participated in the development of a strategic roadmap and prepared
competitive analyses. Planed product functionality, packaging, and pricing.
Maintained relationship with industry analysts and consultants.
Developed and managed the first interoperability testing/certification program
for OSF’s distributed computing products. Served as a corporate spokesperson
for interoperability. Led requirements definition process and managed an
interoperability workgroup of over 60 customers, independent software
vendors, hardware manufacturers, and consultants.
IBM (International Business Machines, Inc.), Boston, MA
1987 - 1990
Large Account Marketing Representative – Health Industry (1988 to 1990)
Maintained $5.2M annual revenue objective in Boston Health Industry Market
revenue. Managed territory of metropolitan Boston health institutions. Served
as consultant to hospital CEO/CIOs and department directors. Advised on
critical applications to improve patient care including backup to natural and
man-made disasters. Served as liaison to development laboratories and 3rd party
partners to develop industry specific solutions and use of current/emerging
technology. Designed hospital Executive Information Systems, vertical health
industry solutions, and networking, mainframe, and personal computer
solutions. Designed strategies for health institutions to incorporate
workstations solutions
Market Support Specialist, Software Marketing (1985 to 1988)
Maintained $3M annual revenue objective in US Market revenue.
Designed/Implemented marketing strategies for US End User Software
Markets. Designed/Negotiated compensation/incentive packages. Trained
Senior Marketing Representatives, industry consultants. Served as Marketing
Liaison to internal and external development laboratories. Responsible for
software and 3rd party application partners and sales on mainframe and personal
computing platforms
Education
Bachelor of Science – Mechanical Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
1985-1987
! Iconic user interface for Dynamic Control Systems
! Computer aided design, graphics and multimedia
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DALVIN SERGIO ESTRADA
152 Old Colony Ave #3 | South Boston, MA 02127 | [email protected] | Home/Mobile: (617) 778-4164
EXPERIENCE
July 2009 to
present
DWIGHT ASSET MANAGEMENT
Trader
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September 2008
to June 2009
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June 2006 to
September 2008
Carried out day trading for both long and short-term strategies for over $1.6 billion in assets on
behalf of the Investment Team.
Compiled and analyzed daily research, news events, and industry trends from sources such as
Bloomberg, Reuters, Bond Hub and others to assist portfolio managers in developing trading
strategies.
Arranged Tri-Party Repo documentation for the Dwight Asset Management funds and separate
accounts meeting strict deadlines to match fund launch.
Led weekly meetings to report funds and separate account statistics to the senior management.
Generated monthly and quarterly fund reports for multiple accounts that go directly to clients and
upper management.
Coordinated back office trade settlements between the Boston office and Burlington Headquarters
and our broker/dealer relationships.
Produced an extensive detailed report/presentation on Local Government Investment Pools to help
sales team target potential leads.
NEUBERGER BERMAN
Trader
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BOSTON, MA
Managed liquidity needs for the Investment Team in our money market funds and separate
accounts utilizing Tri-Party Repo, Time Deposits, Commercial Paper, Certificate of Deposits,
Asset Backed Securities, Agencies, Treasury and Medium Term Notes, and Floating Rate Notes.
Increased the liquidity mediums available to our institutional funds and separate accounts by
spearheading the establishment of Tri-Party Repo documents from three counterparties to over
seven.
Helped directly manage $800 million in separate accounts adhering to strict 2a-7 money market
fund and differing client guidelines.
Developed relationships with sales force and sales traders to enhance execution and order flow.
Created and monitored a database for maturing Special Investment Vehicle products across
multiple currencies (USD, Euro, and Sterling) and accounts.
LEHMAN BROTHERS ASSET MANAGEMENT, LLC
Trading Assistant
!
BOSTON, MA
BOSTON, MA
Supported a global team responsible for $53 billion of short-term assets in Taxable Money Market
Mutual Funds and short-duration Institutional Separate Accounts. Performed trades in portfolio
manager’s absence, executing trades according to pre-planned strategies.
Coordinated back office and administrative functions between banks and broker/dealers.
Managed and trained a new operations support team based in New York City.
Successfully streamlined functionality between offices narrowing down operational errors from
5% to 1-2% a month.
Generated macro and micro fund analysis reports for senior executives and clients with the use of
Bloomberg API, TSAPI, and pivot tables.
Supported the Senior Vice President with the monitoring of various SEC regulations and internal
Risk reporting to Managing Directors including NAV, Mark-to-Market and Spread Duration
analysis vis-à-vis Bloomberg compliance software.
EDUCATION
BOWDOIN COLLEGE
Bachelor of Arts, 2006
!
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!
BRUNSWICK, ME
Major: Sociology and Spanish; Minor: Gender and Women Studies.
Cumulative GPA: 3.4
Posse Foundation Full Tuition Leadership Scholarship (2002- 2006)
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INTERESTS/
HONORS
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COMPUTER EXPERTISE
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Boston Scholarship Committee Member, City of Boston (2010-present)
Founder, Boston Green Academy, charter school (2008- present)
Posse Alumni Committee Member, The Posse Foundation (2006- present)
Organizer and participant, Fat Man Marathon (2009-Present)
Teacher, Citizens School (2007-2008)
Scholar, Summer Search Organization (1999-2001)
Productivity: MS Excel, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, Adobe Acrobat, and Bloomberg
API & TSAPI.
Trading: Bloomberg POMS, Tradeweb, and MarketAxess
Registered: NASDAQ Series 7
Fluent in Spanish.
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EILEEN SULLIVAN SHAKESPEAR
1775 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02140
617-547-0038 or 617-953-8221
[email protected]
Good teaching is a conversation.
EDUCATION/CREDENTIALS
National Board Certification, Adolescence and Young Adulthood/ English Language Arts, 2003
Associate of the Institute, University of London, Institute of Education, 1979
Coursework and thesis certified equivalent to U.S. Master's Degree by Center for International Higher
Education Documentation, Northeastern University. Thesis topic: “A Short History of Desegregation and a
Discussion of Multicultural Education”
B.A., Cum Laude, Education and English, Boston College, 1971
Massachusetts state certification in Secondary English
RECENT AWARDS
Finalist, Massachusetts Teacher of the Year, 2007
Tufts University, Outstanding Mentor Award, 2007
Harvard Book Award for Teaching, 2004
National Board Certification completed in 2003
Boston Higher Education Partnership, service award, 2002
SELECTED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
2003-present
Summer 2002
Summer 2000
1984-present
Facing History and Ourselves, Teacher Advisory Board; Teaching and Learning team at Fenway High School;
Primary Source;
Civil Rights Seminar, John F. Kennedy Library, Dr. Gerald Gill, lecturer
Westtown Seminar on Teaching, invitational seminar for exemplary experienced teachers
History and Social Studies content and pedagogy: Workable Peace, American Social History Project, Facing
History and Ourselves, Coalition of Essential Schools
Language Arts pedagogy: Foxfire training, National Writing Project - Boston Seminar, MCLASS reflective
practitioner seminars, NEH Summer Seminar Grant, Mexican Literature, Arizona State University, 4-MAT
Learning Styles Project
School climate and racial/ethnic understanding: Visions, Inc. and SEED training
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS
1984-2007
l982-1984
June, 1984
1980-1982
1971-1980
Fenway High School English, Humanities, Advisory, and Social Issues teacher
2003-present: Project Week developer, Teaching and Learning team member, special education Humanities
instructor, Sophomore Advisory curriculum and Sophomore Electives coordinator
1999- present: BPS Lead teacher, Mentor teacher and Intern Coordinator at Fenway and Boston Arts Academy,
co-creator and liaison for Tufts University Urban Teacher Training Collaborative (UTTC);
1986-1988: Interim Co-director, Fenway Program, Curriculum and Grant Development,
Student and Staff Supervision, and direct general school operations
Lewis Middle School, Roxbury, English teacher
Lewis teacher of the year, 1983
Copley Square High School/Snowden International Curriculum Development
Phyllis Wheatley Middle School, Roxbury, English and reading teacher,
636 Coordinator, 1981-1982; Middle School Planning Team Member, 1982
Washington Irving Middle School, Roslindale, English teacher
Cluster Leader, 1974-1978; Advanced Work Curriculum Developer, l978-1980
OTHER RELEVANT EXPERIENCE:
2009
2007-2009
2007-2009
Peer Mentor in volunteer Educator Mentor Corps, Aspire Institute, Wheelock College
Program and Teacher Development Fenway High School; TeLLS survey/data district trainer;
University Practicum Supervisor, Tufts University
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Fall 2007
Summer 2007
and 2008
1999-2007
Curriculum Consultant, Facing History and Ourselves
Special Education/Inclusion Workshop, two day workshop on strategies for integrating special
education students into all aspects of school life
Co-creator and coordinator, Urban Teacher Training Collaborative with Tufts University
1999-2007
Adjunct Faculty, Tufts University, instructor for Ed 101, Ed 102, foundational teaching course
Teacher trainer/school based partner, Tufts University, UTTC
Uncovering Communities Site-Seminar developer and consultant for all interns at Fenway High School and the
Boston Arts Academy
Harvard University and Tufts University intern supervisor
Summer Humanities Conference, team facilitator, curriculum development for new Humanities team at
PATH high school in the West Roxbury Education Complex
Co-instructor, Simmons College, Teachers as Researcher: Reflection in Action
Seminar and workshop leader on teaching humanities and, most recently, on Special Education and
mentoring beginning teachers for: Recruiting New Teachers, Coalition of Essential Schools, Center for
Collaborative Education, Boston Public Schools, and Fenway High School Outreach office
Regular guest panelist on teaching in urban schools: Tufts University and Harvard University
Exercise Writer, Usage/Composition Text, Bedford Books, St. Martin's Press
Test-writer, City-wide Curriculum Referenced Mid-term, Language Arts, Reading Level 8
Consultant, Grant Administration, Urban Collaborative, Northeastern University
Consultant, Planning School to Work Transition, National Alliance of Business
Writer, 636 Grant, Language Arts/Science, $50,000 funded
Writer, 636 Grant, Content Area Reading/Writing, $30,000 funded
Co-Writer, National Humanities Faculty Grant, $30,000 funded
Summer 2005
Fall 1998, 1999
1990-present
1984
1983
1982
1981
1980
PUBLICATIONS
2008
Author of “Good Teaching is a Conversation,” Horace: the Journal of the Coalition of Essential
Schools,
Spring 2008, Volume 24, issue 1, pp.8-10.
Co-author of Preparing Urban Teachers Uncovering Communities: a Community Curriculum for Interns and
New teachers, on building new teacher’s capacity to understand urban students and their home communities.
Co-Author of Stretch, Bend, and Flex: The Experiences of First Year Teachers From the Urban Teacher
Training Collaborative, a Tufts University partnership.
Author of “What I’d Tell a White Gal,” Inside City Schools, Teachers College Press, 1999.
2003
1999
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
o
o
Collaborating with schools and universities to nurture new urban teachers: creating curricula and experiences
that build teaching craft and reflective, ethical practice
Consulting and teaching about urban teaching especially related to: teaching expository writing; eliciting high
performance from previously low-achieving students; building varied curriculum that addresses needs of all
kinds of learners, especially those with language challenges; creating culturally competent school communities;
planning collaborative whole school events especially out-of-school learning experience; editing; materials
development
INTERESTS
Professional: Urban education; understanding and promoting cross-cultural relationships and intellectual
dignity and rights for all students; helping new teachers enjoy and commit to teaching in urban schools; creating
engaging and challenging curricula
Personal: travel in Europe, Asia, Mexico, New Zealand, the Soviet Union and the United States especially the
Southwest; reading; cooking; learning about new things; writing; masters swimming; family; the ocean;
heritage Red Sox fan
REFERENCES
Peggy Kemp, Head of School, Fenway High School
617-635-9911, [email protected]
Linda Nathan, Head of School, Boston Arts Academy 617-635-6470, [email protected]
Chad Johnson, math teacher, Fenway High School
617-635-9911, [email protected]
Fran Farrell, Humanities teacher, Fenway High School 617-635-9911, [email protected]
Larry Myatt, Northeastern University; founding Head of School, Fenway High School 617-373-8175, [email protected]
Linda Beardsley, Director of Student Teaching and School Partnerships, Tufts University 617-627-5273, [email protected]
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MATTHEW BARRY HOLZER
65 Albion St ! Somerville, MA 02143 ! (857) 719-5829
[email protected]
EDUCATION:
California State University at Hayward – Hayward, CA (August, 2003- August, 2004)
! Tier I Administrative Services Credential (focus on small schools leadership).
! Joint program with the Bay Area Coalition of Equitable Schools, a non-profit school reform
organization.
Harvard Graduate School of Education – Cambridge, MA (September, 2001-June, 2002)
! Master of Education in School Leadership (focus on school development).
! Coursework centered on leadership in new and evolving schools, with an emphasis on innovative
approaches to school design, curriculum, and implementation of reform efforts.
Brown University – Providence, RI (September, 1992-May, 1996)
! Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy with Honors (focus on education reform efforts).
! Winner of departmental award for outstanding honors thesis (“Teacher Unions and School
Reform”).
! Studied for semester abroad at the London School of Economics – London, England (1995).
EXPERIENCE:
Program Director for Humanities
Office of Curriculum and Instruction, Boston Public Schools – Boston, MA (July, 2008-present)
! District-level administrator supporting ten high schools and five middle schools in the design,
implementation, revision and evolution of their Humanities curricular platform (History and ELA
combined with a focus on literacy skills).
! Supervised two full-time instructional coaches and managed a $500,000 budget funded by a grant
from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through Jobs For the Future.
! Coordinated professional development for approximately 70 Humanities teachers through external
partnerships with professional development organizations, including Facing History and Ourselves,
Primary Source, WriteBoston, and the Calderwood Writing Initiative.
! Helped develop and implement innovative Common Writing Assignment literacy initiative in
content areas across all 143 BPS schools. Designed and delivered professional development,
instructional and logistical support, scoring and data collection for ten Humanities high schools
around common persuasive essays assigned to over 2700 students in grades 9-12.
! Authored a quantitative analysis of the performance of Humanities high schools over four years
using multiple assessment measures. Found that Boston high schools with a Humanities platform
out-performed schools with traditional curricula.
! Collaborated extensively with other departments within the Office of Curriculum and Instruction,
including the leaders of the History, Literacy/ELA, and Science departments. Also worked closely
with the Office of Professional Development on several projects for school leaders.
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Humanities Teacher-in-Residence
Office of High School Renewal, Boston Public Schools – Boston, MA (September, 2006-July, 2008)
! Curriculum coach at Boston International High School (Jamaica Plain) and Urban Science
Academy (West Roxbury). Worked with more then twenty teachers and administrators to support,
implement, and revise the Humanities curriculum at each school.
! Focused on instructional support and curriculum development by selecting and providing materials,
co-teaching, facilitating planning and team meetings, and supporting leadership initiatives.
! Collaborated with coaches from Facing History, WriteBoston, Primary Source, the Center for
Collaborative Education, and the Boston Plan for Excellence to support these schools.
Humanities Teacher
Gateway High School – San Francisco, CA (August, 2002-June, 2006)
! Teacher of 11th grade Humanities, AP U.S. History and 12th grade Civics in an innovative charter
school focusing on students with learning disabilities. Curriculum was planned collaboratively,
emphasizing learning difference strategies, writing skills, critical thinking, and portfolio work.
Selected by graduating seniors to be faculty graduation speaker (2004).
! Co-chair of the Humanities department responsible for hiring, budget, and curriculum supervision
(2005-2006). Formerly served as Advisory Coordinator and Project Week Co-Coordinator.
! Faculty representative to the Gateway Board of Trustees and member of the school Faculty Affairs
and Strategic Planning committees.
Research Intern
Center for Collaborative Education – Boston, MA (September, 2001-June, 2002)
! Part-time paid internship with CCE’s Research & Evaluation program and New England Small
Schools Network initiative. Contributed to a study of portfolio assessment use in Boston Pilot
Schools and assisted a school redesign project in a low-performing Massachusetts school district.
Social Studies Teacher
Humanities Preparatory Academy – New York, NY (September, 1996-August, 2001)
! Assisted the opening and evolution of a new, alternative, college-preparatory public high school for
students who did not succeed in traditional environments.
! Designed and taught thematic courses in U.S. History and Government, Global Studies, Economics,
and interdisciplinary electives in grades 9-12. Classes emphasized performance-based assessment,
cooperative learning, and multiple intelligence strategies. All courses were taught to heterogeneous,
mixed-grade classes that included special education students.
! Served at various times as college counselor, technology coordinator, school data manager, and
liaison to district administration on several major projects.
! Received New Visions for Public Schools Best Practices Award for college advising program
(1999) and Manhattan High Schools Outstanding Educator Award for teaching (2000).
! Full-time paid Teachers for Tomorrow Fellowship (1996- 97) as teaching intern at Humanities Prep.
English and History Teacher
Wake County Summerbridge – Raleigh, NC (Summer, 1994)
! Taught English, history, and art to 6th graders in the inaugural year of an intensive summer program
for public school students. Helped design program structure and curriculum as part of start-up staff.
Committee Staff Intern
U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Education and the Arts – Washington, DC (Summer, 1993)
! Full-time internship with Committee staff in support of legislative efforts. Major work
focused on national school performance standards and reform of school finance inequality.
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LICENSURE:
! Massachusetts Initial teaching licenses in History (8-12), English (8-12) and
Principal/Assistant Principal (5-12).
! New York State Permanent Teaching Certification in Social Studies (7-12).
ADDITIONAL SKILLS AND INTERESTS:
! Conversational Spanish speaker.
! Strong writing, research (qualitative and quantitative), analytical, logistical and technological skills.
! Member, Board of Trustees of the Duhamel Education Initiative, a drop-out prevention non-profit
organization that supports the public schools of Somerville, MA
! Avid runner, hiker, kayaker, and travel enthusiast.
References Available Upon Request
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Jean P. Transtamar
1450 Blue Hill Avenue • Boston • MA • 02126
(857) 991-0152 • [email protected]
EDUCATION
Tufts University, Graduate School of Arts and Science
MAT: English (Full-Tuition Scholarship Awarded; 3.5 GPA)
2004 -2005
Wheaton College, College of Liberal Arts
BA: English/Minor: Economics
2000-2004
Fenway High School, Boston, Massachusetts
Graduation award recipient
1998-2000
LICENSURE
Initial Massachusetts Department of Education Licensure: English (5-12)
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Preparation and Placement Associate, Steppingstone Foundation, Boston MA
6/08! Work with team members to solve critical issues and develop new academic strategies
! Liaison to four independent schools in the greater Boston area
! Prepare and place 21 6th graders into local exam and independent schools
! Teach appropriate classes to prepare/monitor students, using appropriate pedagogy
! Maintain professional and informative relationships with families for 14 months
! Consistent database updating
Academic Tutor, Boston MA
9/07! Own and operate tutoring business
! Work with students, their families and schools to develop educational strategies and skills
! Support students with and without special needs
! Provide individual support and strategic program design for students to enable more success
! Attend meetings concerning student progress when necessary
Humanities Teacher, Codman Academy Charter Public School, Boston MA
8/04 – 8/07
! Taught humanities to 40 plus multi-cultural urban students in Dorchester
! Served as Male Advisory Leader to nine young males
! Developed Year Long Expeditionary theme and curriculum: Origins, Journeys and Destination
! Developed curriculum with laptop technology focus i.e., Webquests and digital projection study
! Master of Ceremony and host for 1st and 2nd annual “Poetryoutloud” competition
! Taught two six-week MCAS preparation classes
! Helped 25 10th graders pass MCAS
! Co-directed four theatre showcases: A Raisin in The Sun, Radio Golf, I Dwell in Possibility
ACTIVITIES/VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
!
Member of the Boston Rugby Football Club; Youth rugby coach
!
Significant travel and community immersion throughout US, Europe, Africa and Caribbean
!
Youth Counselor: Church of Christ in Roxbury MA; Partakers Prison Ministry: Tutor and
Counselor
!
Member of the Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter School Founding Group
REFERENCES
Written references available upon request.
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VITA
KRISTEN EICHLEAY
1 Olive Place Cambridge, MA 02140
(617) 354-1778 Home
email: [email protected], [email protected]
EDUCATION
M.Ed. Computers in Special Education, Lesley College
M.Ed. Mild & Moderate Special Needs, Boston State College
M.Ed. University of Pittsburgh, Elementary Education
B.A. Connecticut College, English Literature
CURRENT STATUS
Retired from Boston Public Schools (1971 – 2008)
Self-employed as a consultant for Universal Design for Learning
Have served on the Boston Green Academy planning team from 2008 to present
Hospice volunteer, Compassionate Care Hospice, Woburn, MA, February, 2010 to present
MOST RECENT FULL-TIME POSITION
Director, Boston Public Schools (BPS) Access Technology Center (ATC) (formerly "Special
Education” Technology Center). (1989 to 2008)
This position involved the coordination of all Center activities, including:
! developing teacher/staff professional development workshops/presentations in the area of
Assistive Technology to address the needs of diverse learners
! coordinating the purchase and management of an Assistive Technology hardware, software
and adaptive device library for trial use by students
! providing curricular and technical assistance to schools in the areas of Universal Design
and Assistive Technology
! collaborating with the Office of Instructional Technology and other school departments to
ensure that their professional development offerings address the needs of diverse learners
! writing and facilitating federal, state and private corporate/foundation grants
! disseminating ATC materials through presentations to interested outsiders both at ATC and
at national and local conferences, as well as through the ATC web site.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
Special Education Vocational Technical Advisor, SPED Tech Center, Boston Public
Schools, 1985-1989
Evaluation Team Leader, Boston Public Schools, 1983-1985
Resource/Generic Teacher, Boston Public Schools, 1976-1983
Elementary Teacher, Boston Public Schools, 1971-1976
Intern Teacher, Pittsburgh Public Schools, 1970-1971
Teacher's Assistant, United Cerebral Palsy Association of Pittsburgh, Spring 1970
AWARDS/HONORS
!
Educator of the Year, 2007, City of Boston
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!
!
Certificate of Appreciation for Outstanding Citizenship and Service, 1980,
Superintendent/School Committee Award
Don Johnston, Inc, has named the Access Technology Center as one of the national Leaders
in Learning
ADJUNCT FACULTY AND PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION, EMMANUEL COLLEGE
Administered and served as instructor in a Master's in Educational Technology degree program
offered by Emmanuel College through the Boston Public Schools Special Education Technology
Center at Emmanuel College, 1988 –1999
EXAMPLES OF PRESENTATIONS - LOCALLY & NATIONALLY
NOTE: The Student Access Map (SAM) and Adapting Books materials are currently being used
in statewide assistive technology programs, e.g., Michigan, Florida and Oregon, as well as in
many university teacher training programs and school systems across the country. They have
been cited in other publications as well.
!
!
!
!
•
•
!
!
!
!
!
!
SAM Grows Up! More Great Supports for Diverse Learners, Closing the Gap (CTG) Annual
Technology for Individuals with Disabilities Conference, Minneapolis, October 2006
Interactive Science for Diverse Learners: Math + Literacy = Science, Massachusetts
Computer Using Educators Conference (MassCUE), Sturbridge, MA, November 2005
Recipe for Adapting Books, Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) Annual
Conference, Orlando, January 2004; Closing the Gap Conference, Minneapolis, October
2003; MassCUE Conference, Sturbridge, MA, November 2002
Student Access Map (SAM): Ensuring Access to the General Curriculum, Closing the Gap
Conference, Minneapolis, October 2001 & October 2002; MassCUE Conference, Sturbridge,
MA, November 2001& 2002
Overview of Universal Design and Assistive Technology:
! BPS MetroLINC Federal Technology Challenge Grant Summer Institute, July 1998
! BPS Technology Summer Institute at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, July 1997
! Watertown Public Schools, Professional Development Day, October 1998
! Periodic presentations for university classes (Emmanuel, Wheelock, Simmons, & Lesley)
The Boston TEAch Party, Apple Education Grantees Showcase, National Educational
Computing Conference - NECC '94, Boston, June 1994
Hot Tips for Inclusion with Technology, National Educational Computing Conference, NECC
'94, Boston, June 1994; International Conference for Technology in Education (ICTE),
Boston, March 1993; and a variety of other conferences
Christa McAuliffe New Hampshire Technology Conference presentation Assistive
Technology, videotaped by New Hampshire Public Television and broadcast periodically
Special Education Technology in the Boston Public Schools, Closing The Gap 8th Annual
Conference, October, 1990 & 1991 and a variety of other conferences
New Freedom To Do and Be, Partners Exploring the Future Together Conference sponsored
by Partners For Disabled Youth, November 4, 1989
Vocational Transition Through Technology in the Boston Public Schools, Closing the Gap
7th Annual Conference, October 27, 1989
Windmills Disability Awareness Training for employees of the Massachusetts Office of
Environmental Affairs, June 6, 1989
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INSERVICE, FORMAL AND INFORMAL WORKSHOPS/COURSES
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
UDL: Exciting Strategies and Tools for Diverse Learners, Boston Schools Center for
Leadership Development workshop, Fall 2006, repeated in Spring 2007.
Universal Design for Learning workshops, Center for Collaborative Education, 2006 and
2007
Differentiating Instruction for Diverse Learners, graduate course for Boston Teacher
Residency Program, Boston Plan for Excellence, with credit through the University of
Massachusetts – July 2006
Differentiated Instruction for Diverse Learners, 15-hour workshop through the Center for
Leadership Development, Boston Public Schools, May/June 2006
Adapting Books to Support Diverse Learners, 15-hour workshop through The Education
Collaborative (TEC), Dedham, MA, February – April 2006
Development and training for ongoing workshops provided centrally at ATC and onsite in
schools since 1984. Recent workshops include:
o Adapting Books to Support Diverse Learners
o Visual Supports for Diverse Learners
o Creating Tools To Support the Curriculum with BoardMaker Software
o IntelliTools Suite to Support Diverse Learners
o Kurzweil Text Reader To Support Diverse Learners
o Universal Design for Learning
Talking Educational Software Programs, pre-conference all day workshop for Closing The
Gap 6th Annual Conference, October 24 1988
EXAMPLES OF GRANTS AWARDED AND FACILITATED (over $1 million raised in
federal and private funds)
!
!
!
!
!
Writer/facilitator of several Massachusetts D.O.E. Technology Lighthouse and Adoption
Grants from 1998 to 2002
Co-writer and facilitator of Apple Computer, Inc. Education Leadership Grant awarded
June, 1993, entitled Inclusion with Technology: The Power of Diversity
Writer and facilitator of grants, including federal and state departments and private
corporations/foundations for Access Tech Center activities from 1984 to the present (over
$1 million raised)
Co-writer and facilitator of Massachusetts Department of Education, School-To-Work
Transition Program grant, The BPS Transitional Planning Project, May – August 1989
Co-writer and facilitator of 3-year Federal Vocational grant under the Carl T. Perkins Act
entitled, Adapted Business Computers, 1985 - 1988
ADDITIONAL CONSULTATION/ACTIVITIES
!
!
!
Work Boston Collaborative - Success Through Partnership Advisory Board; project funded through
the Federal Rehabilitative Services Administration / Department of Education under the Projects With
Industry (PWI) program, October 2005 - 2008
Lexington, MA Public Library - consulted on low tech to high tech assistive technology tools
for the library’s renovation project, 2003
Microsoft Corporation Evaluation Advisory Board - Learning with Laptops program, 19951996
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!
!
Greater Boston Youth at Risk Advisory Board, 1989-1992
Computer Applications for the Handicapped Advisory Board; U.S. Department of Education
training grant, Master's degree in Occupational Therapy, Boston University, 1990-1992
FEATURED IN ARTICLES
!
!
Profiles, National Center to Improve Practice (NCIP), 1, Fall 1994.
Technology and Special Education, Technology and Learning, February 1995
ARTICLES PUBLISHED
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
The Student Access Map: Ensuring Access to the General Curriculum, Closing The Gap,
Volume 21 - Number 3, August / September 2002
Hot Tips for Inclusion with Technology, The Computing Teacher, Dec./Jan. 1993/94
Boston Schools SPED Tech Center, MassCUE on Cue, Winter 1993
New Freedom to Do and Be, Vocational Education Journal, March 1989
Successful Software for the Special Education Class, CEC MASSTREAM, 1988
Meeting the Individual's Needs Through the Use of Mini Authoring Systems Software,
Closing The Gap, August/September 1987
High Tech Opens Doors, The Exceptional Parent, February 1987
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS/MEMBERSHIPS
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) and the Massachusetts
division (MASCD)
Closing The Gap, Assistive Technology in Special Education and Rehabilitation
Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and the Technology and Media division (TAM)
Education Week online
Edutopia. The George Lucas Educational Foundation
Massachusetts Computer Using Educators (MassCUE)
Quality Indicators for Assistive Technology (QIAT) list serve, University of Kentucky
Rethinking Schools
T-H-E Journal: Technology Horizons in K-12 Education
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KRISTINA LAMOUR SANSONE
home office: P.O. Box 183, Fiskeville, Rhode Island, 02823
tel: 617.755.7261 email: [email protected] web: designeducator.com
EDUCATION
Yale University, School of Art, M.F.A. Graphic Design, 1999
The University of the Arts, B.F.A. Graphic Design, 1991
Lesley University, C.A.G.S., Curriculum and Instruction, 2008
UNIVERSITY TEACHING EXPERIENCE
The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University Associate Professor, Design, 9.01 to present
Responsibilities have included: Dual Degree Program Liaison, B.F.A/M.Ed. in Visual Art, Fall 2002Spring 2007; Acting Chair, Spring 2005; Faculty Assembly Chair, Fall 2007 [Vice-Chair] -Spring 2008
[Chair] Courses taught: Language of Form, Typography I, Visual Research, Visual Communication,
Portfolio, Graphic Styles: Vocabulary and Tradition, Graphic Design 1, Sketching: Making Thinking
Visible, Meaning Making in Graphic Design.
Pratt Institute Visiting Professor, Art and Design Education, 9.08 to present
Co-taught Design Education Survey, a graduate course for art and design education students.
I have been teaching this course as a hybrid since 2008.
The University of Texas at Austin School of Art, Visiting Lecturer, 8.99 to 5.01
Courses taught: Introduction to Graphic Design, Introduction to Design, Tech II, Advanced Issues in
Visual Syntax, Images in Communication and Design Practicum. Responsibilities included: curriculum
development for a new design graduate program and advising for graduate students in that program.
GRAPHIC DESIGN IN PK-12 EDUCATION WORK
Kosslyn Laboratory Harvard University, Sabbatical Fall 2008
Developed training with Stephen Kosslyn looking at the relationship between two sets of visual
communication principles, one from a cognitive neuroscience perspective and the other from graphic
design pedagogy.
CAST Center for Applied Special Technology, Sabbatical Fall 2008
Developed model book for CAST’s online tool, Book Builder, using the graphic design skills set in
conjunction with Universal Design for Learning. I developed a book is called Designing for Student
Engagement and Comprehension
Boston International High School, 5.07 to 6.09
Created a manual about the school’s history, current status and future, using student-driven research and
design process to develop content.
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Boston Public Schools’ Office of High School Renewal, 9.04 to 8.07
Provided visual literacy coaching and specialized workshops at small high schools including Social
Justice Academy and The Engineering School at the Hyde Park Educational Complex.
Fenway High School Boston MA, 3.02 to 7.09
Developed and implemented ‘Learning Through Design’ [LTD] visual literacy program. LTD originated
out of a desire to bring the arts to a high school with no art teacher. It evolved into a strategic way to build
capacity for educators with little or no art background who want to introduce visual projects in their
curriculum but don’t know where to start. Projects such as visual poetry, poster design, symbol making,
and metaphoric thinking combine with humanities, math and science to offer alternative entry points for
students. Projects include: Teacher orientation on design principles, The Habits of Mind Living
Language Project, a pilot program titled “Summer in the City,” a summer visual literacy program for
special education and struggling students, a rubric for creative projects.
Cambridge Friends School The Visual Identity Project [VIP] , 1.03 to 4.06
Developed, wrote and implemented action research community-based visual identity project. The project
was a collaboration between a dozen fourth and fifth grade students, a teaching assistant, a graphic
design student and school administration. The students designed the school logo using a graphic design
professional process. Project involved documentation and analysis of implications as a model for
community based projects.
Tufts University Somerville, MA, 10.04
Led student teacher training workshop on visual communication principles for early childhood education.
Monument High School South Boston, MA, 11.04
Consulted on design of literacy and art program.
Pearson Scott Foresman Publishers, 5.02 to 11.02
Hired as a consultant to review content for art education series called Scott Foresman “Art” which has
just been published. Developed visual culture and art in the environment units.
St. Francis Elementary School Austin , 11.99 to 4.00
Worked with students from pre-K through 9th grade to help design new school identity. Incorporated
student concepts in the final design.
Yale School of Architecture Urban Design Workshop, 9.98 to 3.00
Designed environmental graphics for an inner-city New Haven public elementary school.
Projects include way-finding signage, exhibits and murals, each incorporating students in the final design.
San Francisco Public School District San Francisco , 8.96 to 4.97
Taught a fifth grade graphic design class through the AIGA outreach program. Projects included a logo
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for the Olympic village, a clock without numbers, a design for a major airline, and a how-to book.
The Golden Gate Kindergarten Association San Francisco, 4.92 to 1.93
Worked as a volunteer grant writer and project developer to revitalize child art researcher
Rhoda Kellogg’s three million-piece child art collection.
PRESENTATIONS and WORKSHOPS
Designing for Student Engagement and Comprehension with CAST’s Bookbuilder, VSA arts, 5.09
Design Matters: The Role of Symbolic Languages in Learning, Smith College, 3.09
Awakening the Eye Through Graphic Design, presented with Lella Gandini, The Carle Museum, 9.08
Mindfulness in Documentation, Rhode Island NAREA chapter, 6.08
Access and Inclusion: Strategies for Teaching Diverse Learners, Fenway HS Summer Institute, 3.08
Listening and Learning Conference, Englewood, NJ, Mindfulness in Documentation, 3.07
The Art + Design Education department at RISD, Providence, Graphic Design in K-12, 10.07
AIGA RI and Boston Chapter’s, K12 Design Education Initiative think tank, 11.07
NAEA, New York City, Graphic Design and High School Humanities, 5.05
Early Childhood Institute, Lesley University, Cambridge, The Visual Learning of A, B, and C, 3.05
Faculty Development Day, Lesley University, Cambridge, keynote on Graphic Design in K-12
education, 2.05
NAEA [National Art Education Association], Boston, presented two papers at the national conference,
4.04
AIGA Future History, Chicago, presented a peer-reviewed paper called “All I Learned about a Graphic
Design Education I Learned in Kindergarten”, 3.03
College Art Association Annual Conference, New York City, presented a peer-reviewed paper on a panel
of Eastern and Central European researchers on my research in Warsaw on educator and graphic designer,
Henryk Tomaszewski, 3.02
PROFESSIONAL GRAPHIC DESIGN EXPERIENCE
The Yale Review New Haven, 6.98 to 7.00
Freelance Designer. Conceptualized and designed the journal’s website. Designed a series of covers,
advertisements and ancillary collateral.
Corcoran Gallery Education Department Washington D.C., 10.00 to 3.04
Freelance Designer. Created concept and design for a series of brochures for the education department.
Luxon Carra San Francisco, 4.94 to 8.96
Design Director. Responsible for project management, art direction, design and production of annual
reports, identity systems, graphic standards manuals, corporate brochures and catalogs. Clients included:
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Andersen Consulting, Informix, McKesson, Michael Taylor Designs, Sun Microsystems, and Wells
Fargo.
Coleman Souter San Francisco, 4.93 to 9.94
Senior Designer. Actively involved in project management, art direction, production and design.
Company merged with Luxon Carra 9.94.
Bielenberg Design San Francisco, 12.92 to 4.93
Designer. Designed retail system including brochure, point-of-purchase display and poster.
Carbone Smolan Associates New York, 9.91 to 5.92
Junior Designer. Involved in projects including children’s textbooks, business systems, corporate
identities, and posters.
EXHIBITIONS, INSTITUTES, and CONFERENCES
Evolving Experiences within the Atelier: Annual Reggio Emilia Institute, Lesley University
Developed concept and worked to develop program and visual communication for 2005 and 2007
institutes.
The Language of Vision: The work of Gyorgy Kepes, The Art Institute of Boston Gallery
Co-Curator with colleague, Lorena Howard., 11.05 to 1.06
Henryk Tomaszewski, Visual Linguist, The Art Institute of Boston Gallery
Curator for an exhibition based on my six-year research project on Polish poster design and
design education., 11.03 to 1.04
MEMBERSHIPS
Project Zero ‘Rounds’ monthly discussion group at The Harvard School of Education,
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
North American Reggio Emilia Alliance
National Art Education Association
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144
Matthew Richard Johnston
63 Hollander St. Unit 2
Boston, MA 02121
(617) 913-9580
[email protected]
EDUCATION:
THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY Washington, DC
Bachelor of Arts, Spanish Language and Literature; minor: History
September, 2000 – May, 2004
!
Active member of la Sociedad Nacional Honoraria Hispánica, !"#,
Capítulo "E
!
Cumulative GPA: 3.2; cumulative GPA within major: 3.7
!
Attended la Universidad de Sevilla, Spain, spring semester 2003;
cumulative GPA: 9/10
!
The GWBlitz! student newspaper: Chief of Publicity
!
WRGW Radio: Host/Producer “The Greenhouse Radio”
EXPERIENCE:
BOSTON GREEN ACADEMY FOUNDING GROUP
Boston, MA
Founding Member/Sustainability Chairperson
February, 2008 – Present
!
Developed a new public middle and high school (6-12) proposed to the
City of Boston as a way to target the drop-out crisis by identifying the
off-track students early in their academic careers and providing continual
social and academic support and opportunities that will equip them to
succeed in the 21st Century.
!
Selected to lead sub-committee Sustainability Awareness Education:
responsible for researching and designing the role of the Green theme in
the curriculum, school practices and policies, building design and culture
of the school; Sustainability Awareness Education is a core element of
the identity of the Boston Green Academy.
!
As a team, applied for and was awarded a Pilot School Planning Grant
from The Boston Foundation and later a Readiness School Planning
Grant from MA Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Personably responsible for sections concerning Sustainability Awareness
and World Languages.
!
Anticipate opening in Fall 2012, with strong support from BPS
Superintendant Johnson and Boston Mayor Menino, as a Horace Mann
(in-district) Charter School in Boston.
WIZARD LANGUAGE SCHOOL
East Boston, MA
English Teacher
September, 2007 – Present
!
Teach English (ESL) to non-native speakers, from beginner to advanced
levels.
!
Conduct beginner level classes in Spanish or Portuguese.
!
Encourage usage of English in conversation through exploring different
forms of media and social settings.
!
Assign and grade homework and examinations.
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145
!
Meet with students privately to give personalized instruction.
EF – INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE SCHOOLS
Brighton, MA
Director of Admissions – International Schools of English
August, 2008 – July, 2009
!
Managed the Admissions Office for 11 English language schools in the
United States.
!
Counseled students through the enquiry and enrollment process.
!
Upon enrollment, assisted students in securing the necessary visa
appropriate to course type and duration, serving as a liaison between
student and US Consulates, Dept. of State and USICE.
!
Conducted sales in a competitive market.
!
Translated course catalogs, sales letters and promotional emails from
English into Spanish and Portuguese.
!
Built and maintained partnerships with local and international
businesses, embassies, private organizations and agents to increase brand
recognition and overall enrollment.
!
Recorded and analyzed enrollment statistics and sales balances to outline
2009 budget.
!
Conducted competitor analyses to ensure that program was distinct and
offered the optimal conditions to achieve fluency in English.
!
Served clientele in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
EF – INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE SCHOOLS
Cambridge, MA
Admissions Coordinator
July, 2006 – August, 2008
!
Enrolled students in both foreign language programs abroad and English
language programs in the United States and Canada.
!
Conducted sales in a competitive market.
!
Provided exceptional customer service to potential and existing students.
!
Developed new marketing strategies to convey the benefits of studying
another language and living in a foreign country.
!
Served clientele in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
!
Implemented effective ways to save EF time and money without
compromising the product or service.
!
Member of the EF Green Team and C.O.R.E. Group.
!
8th Floor Fire Marshal.
WYNDHAM EL SAN JUAN HOTEL
San Juan, PR
Guest Services Agent, Front Desk / Concierge Desk
February, 2005 – March, 2006
!
Acted as a liaison between guests and locals to coordinate tour
excursions, arrange for car services, and confirm dinner reservations.
!
Greeted guests upon arrival.
!
Conducted Check-in/Check-out procedure.
!
Frequently engaged in fulfilling guests’ needs, requests or
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!
inconveniences.
Operated seamlessly between English and Spanish.
ACCENT BANNER/FLAG CENTER
Medford, MA
Personal Assistant to CEO/Founder
May, 2004 – December, 2004
!
Accompanied CEO/Founder to meet with clientele.
!
Acted as scribe during meetings.
!
Delivered banners to over 200 local and national companies.
!
Reorganized and maintained inventory.
!
Conducted telemarketing and customer service.
!
Inputted data entry: sales performance, customer service records.
TRANSLATION
EXPERIENCE: Freelance Translator - http://www.proz.com/translator/707689
LE TUTOR LANGUAGE SCHOOL
Tempe, AZ
Mexican Birth Certificate, Spanish to English
Mexican Divorce Certificate, Spanish to English
July, 2010
SPANISH AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
COOPERATION(AECID) Madrid, Spain
Welcome speech for regional seminar on the EU Common Agricultural Policy,
Spanish to English
Presentation on the EU Common Agricultural Policy, Spanish to English
Presentation on the Spanish Bovine Sector, Spanish to English
May, 2010 – June 2010
JESSIELLY OLIVERO – Screenwriter
San Juan, PR
Land - Screenplay, Spanish to English
February, 2010 – March, 2010
GRUPO 55 – Theater Company
Mexico City, Mexico
Website, Spanish to English
June 2009
APPOLLINAIRE THEATER COMPANY
Chelsea, MA
Humulus, The Wedding on the Eiffel Tower - Theatrical Plays, English to
Spanish
May 2009
CERTIFICATIONS:
MA Educator’s License: Foreign Language – [Spanish] (Grades 5-12)
issued December 2009
LANGUAGES:
Native English speaker, Fluent in Spanish, Proficient in Portuguese
COMPUTER SKILLS:
Microsoft Office Pro, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Adobe Acrobat, GIMP
2.6.7, Across, WordFast
REFERENCES:
Furnished Upon Request
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C. BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS STATEMENT OF COMMITMENT
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D. CURRICULM APPENDICES
!
Description of the curriculum for grade levels beyond those required in the text of the application,
including the content and skills to be taught in the core content areas.
Below is a complete description of Boston Green Academy’s curriculum for grades 6-12 in all core
content areas. Grade levels in gray were not described in the body of our prospectus. We have repeated
some text from the prospectus to ensure the coherence of this appendix.
Humanities
Humanities is an interdisciplinary curriculum focusing on making connections between history and
literature to increase student literacy and writing skills, critical thinking, and college preparedness. The
Humanities programs at Fenway and other BPS schools have produced impressive student achievement
results. Nationally, Humanities has been cited as a best practice by the Coalition of Essential Schools.
Guided by essential questions and themes, Boston Green Academy (BGA) students will: study
Humanities in double blocks of time, regularly read challenging works of literature, analyze original
documents and interpretive texts from throughout history, articulate and substantiate their own opinions,
and produce college-preparatory projects, portfolios, and exhibitions. BGA’s Humanities curriculum will
include the core content areas of English, the arts, civics and government, economics, history, and
geography and will align with the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks (MCF).
Grade
6
Course(s)
Humanities 6
+ Foundations*
7
Humanities 7
8
Humanities 8
Essential Questions/Content
! What is our place in the world?
! Focus on World Geography
Standards, Local History, World
Issues, Environmentalism
! Thematic literature by global
authors
! What does it mean to be
civilized?
! Focus on Ancient Civilizations,
Civics, and World History (early
periods)
! Ancient Civilizations and World
History I Standards
! Thematic and era-specific
literature by global authors
! What does it mean to be a citizen?
! Focus on US History and Civics
and Government Standards
! Thematic and era-specific
literature by U.S. authors
(immigrant & native-born)
! Facing History and Ourselves
curriculum
Skills
! Over four years, students
will become proficient in
the skills outlined in the
MCF for ELA (Language,
Reading & Literature,
Composition and Media
strands)
!
All Humanities courses
will incorporate the
appropriate concepts and
skills as outlined by the
MCF for History grades 612 (pp. 49-50)
!
All courses will be aligned
with the national Common
Core Standards’ focus on
reading challenging and
varied texts, writing in
specific genres (argument,
informational, and
narrative), and preparation
for college-level work
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! In each year, students will
What does it mean to be human?
produce several major
Focus on major ideas in
written products and oral
philosophy, the roots of early
presentations that publicly
America, and development of
demonstrate their mastery
American identity through
of these skills.
Reconstruction
! US History I standards
! See notes below for details
! Literature of the period and
on the skills focus of the
thematically related authors
Foundations courses in 6th
10
Humanities 10
! Who built America?
and 9th grade.
! Focus on development of 20th
century America and major social
! All students will pass the
movements
10th Grade ELA MCAS
! US History II standards
exam.
! Literature of the period and
thematically related authors
! Preparation for 10th Grade ELA
MCAS exam
11
Humanities 11
! How do you do right in the face
of injustice?
! Facing History and Ourselves
curriculum
! Focus on World Wars, Cold War,
and modern era
! US History II/World History II
standards
! Literature of the period and
thematically related authors
12
Humanities 12
! How should we govern
and/or AP
ourselves?
Literature**
! Comparison of regions and major
countries
! World History II, Civics and
Government
! Advanced literature from world
authors
! Independent position paper
required for graduation
* Foundations is an additional course required for all 6th and 9th graders that focuses on building
core literacy and writing skills across all content areas. If students cannot decode at grade level upon
entry, they will take Foundations of Reading, which will utilize a research-based reading support
program such as the Wilson Reading System or Reading Recovery. Other students will take
Foundations of Literacy, which will focus on mastery of the conventions of standard written English
and genre-specific writing.
9
Humanities 9 +
Foundations*
!
!
** AP Literature will follow the standards set out by the College Board and will culminate in the AP
Exam for all enrolled students. AP Literature may either supplement or substitute for Humanities 12.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
150
Mathematics
Boston Green Academy’s approach to mathematics education reflects a strong belief that all students
must master not just mathematical content but also mathematical thinking in order to be effectively
prepared to confront the challenges of college, the workforce (not least jobs in the “green” sector), and
our increasingly complex world. We are committed to developing strong mathematical thinkers via a
standards-based, problem-solving curriculum for grades 6-12. To accomplish this, we have chosen to
adopt two innovative, well-researched, and rigorous math programs. Both the Connected Mathematics
Program (CMP2) and the Center for Mathematics Education (CME) program from the Education
Development Center share a core approach to teaching math as a series of themes and complex
challenges, rather than a rote series of discrete ideas. This approach aligns well with BGA’s mission to
equip students with sophisticated, college-preparatory skills that push them to solve real-world problems
in an inter-disciplinary fashion.
Both CMP2 and CME are aligned with the MCF for Mathematics and reflect the ideas embedded in the
national Common Core Standards. CMP2, for grades 6-8, was funded by the National Science Foundation
(NSF), meeting their standards for a rigorous program, and is aligned with the best practice guidelines
identified by the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). The development of CME, for
grades 8-12, was also funded and vetted by NSF and was designed by a world-class group of math
educators at EDC. Both have been adopted by the Boston Public Schools, allowing us to take advantage
of district-wide professional development and support, and both conform to the Criteria for Evaluating
Instructional Materials and Programs in Mathematics laid out in the MCF for math.
Grade
6
Course(s)
CMP2 +
Foundations*
7
CMP2
8
CMP2 or Algebra
I
Content
CMP2: Factors and Multiples,
Rational Numbers, 2D Geometry,
Fractions, Decimals and Percents,
Probability & Statistics
CMP2: Introducing Algebra,
Similarity, Ratio, Proportion and
Percent, Positive and Negative
Numbers, Linear Relationships, 3D
Measurement, Probability and
Expected Value, Variability and
Groups
CMP2: Linear and Inverse Variation,
the Pythagorean Theorem,
Exponential Relationships, Quadratic
Relationships, Symmetry and
Transformations, Symbols, Linear
Systems and Inequalities, Data and
Statistics
Skills
! Each course will teach the
corresponding skills in the
MCF for Mathematics in the
areas of Number Sense &
Operations, Patterns, Relations
and Algebra, Geometry,
Measurement, Data Analysis,
Statistics and Probability.
!
In each course, students will
present and defend their
solutions to mathematical
problems in both public
exhibitions and portfolios.
Passing portfolio and
exhibition are required to
advance to the next level of
mathematics.
Algebra I: Arithmetic to Algebra,
Expressions and Equations, Graphs,
Lines, Functions, Exponents,
Polynomials, Quadratics
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151
Geometry: Computer Modeling,
! See below for the skills
Proofs, Area and Dissections,
covered in the Foundations of
Similarity, Circles, Coordinates and
Math courses.
Vectors, Optimization
10
Geometry or
Algebra II: Functions and Tables,
! All students will pass the 10th
Algebra II
Polynomials, Complex Numbers,
Grade Math MCAS exam
Linear Algebra, Exponential and
Logarithmic Functions, Graphs and
Transformations, Sequences and
Series, Introduction to Trigonometry
Pre-Calculus: Trigonometry,
11
Algebra II or
Pre-Calculus
Complex Numbers, Functions,
Combiantorics, Analytic Geometry,
Probability and Statistics, Ideas of
Calculus
Pre-Calculus or
AP Calculus focuses on the content
12
AP Calculus
and skills taught in a college-level
beginning Calculus course. Specific
topics are laid out in the AP
Program’s model course syllabus.
! Students entering 6th and 9th grade with skills below-grade level in math will take an additional
Foundations of Mathematics course, using CMP2 and supplements to address their needs. The goal
of the course is to bring students to grade-level skills in mathematics so they can access the regular
curriculum.
9
Algebra I +
Foundations* or
Geometry
Science
The study of science is essential to the mission of Boston Green Academy, especially given the school’s
focus on sustainability. Through curious inquiry, diligent observation, and technical skill, our students
will be prepared not merely to articulate the scientific issues that face our world but to help solve them as
well. To do so requires knowledge of the bedrock disciplines of science as well as an understanding of the
fact that science is, at core, interdisciplinary. Our school will provide a seven-year series of rigorous,
interesting, and inspiring courses in both unified science and specific topics that require students to
demonstrate their mastery and explore the real world of science research and practice beyond the
classroom. With that in mind, at the end of each year all students will participate in the BGA Science Fair
where they will publicly present and defend their science research to external audiences from the
scientific community. Passage of Science Fair is required to advance to the next Science course. We will
also leverage resources from the original Fenway High School and our other partner organizations to
provide students with the best possible science training so they can participate in both the green economy
and the interconnected world. Please refer to our partners’ contributions in the “Capacity” section.
In the middle grades, the kit-based Full Option Science System (FOSS) curriculum will be the backbone
of our Unified Science courses, each of which will have several “green” investigations and inquiry-based
laboratory experiences. FOSS was developed by the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of
California-Berkeley and is widely recognized as one of the leaders in inquiry-based science education.
Forty-nine research studies have been performed on aspects of the FOSS curriculum, yielding a consensus
that FOSS is a strong program that embodies the kind of scientific thinking and growth in student
achievement that we wish to see at Boston Green Academy. The Boston Public Schools has adopted
FOSS kits for the middle grades, enabling us to access their extensive professional development and
support for FOSS materials. In our high school program, we will offer subject-specific courses that
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
152
utilize college-preparatory textbooks, lab-based experiences, and the resources of our many science and
environmental partners. With the assistance of the staff at Boston Museum of Science and our Founding
Group and Board members who possess deep science education backgrounds, we plan to identify specific
high school curricular materials using MCF criteria in the coming months and develop essential questions
for all science courses that support BGA’s mission.
Grade Course(s)
Unified
6
Science
(1 Year)
7
8
9
10
11
12
Content
! Introduction to Scientific
Thinking
! Human Body Systems (FOSS)
! Water and Weather (FOSS)
Unified
! Diversity of Life (FOSS)
Science
! Earth History (FOSS)
(1 Year)
! Forces of Motion (FOSS)
Unified
! Planetary Science (FOSS)
Science
! Populations and Ecosystems
(1 Year)
(FOSS)
! Chemical Interactions (FOSS)
Physics
Motion and Forces, Momentum,
States of Matter, Heat and Transfer,
Electromagnetism, Waves and
Radiation
Characteristics of Living Things, Cell
Biology or
Biology and Biochemistry, Anatomy
AP Biology
and Physiology, Genetics, Evolution,
Ecology
Chemistry or
Properties of Matter, Kinetics,
AP Chemistry Thermochemistry, Elements,
Compounds and Mixtures, Atomic
Structure and Nuclear Chemistry,
Periodicity, Chemical Bonding,
Reactions and Stoichiometry,
Reactions, Acids and Bases, Re-Dox
Reactions
AP
Students will cover college-level
Environmental content either through a direct college
Science,
experience or an AP course that
Internship, or
follows the approved syllabi from the
Dual
College Board; Internships will also
Enrollment
be offered with our partners so
students can earn credit for realworld science experiences
Skills
! All courses will be lab- and
experience-based, enabling our
students to acquire and
demonstrate the skills of scientific
thinking identified as essential by
the MCF and the National Science
Teachers Association.
!
All courses will include the
appropriate Skills of Inquiry,
Experimentation, and Design
outlined in the MCF for Science
(pp. 11-12).
!
The Common Core Standards for
literacy in Science will guide all
writing and projects in science.
!
Through our partnerships, all
courses will incorporate hands-on
science opportunities that model
the skills needs for real-world
science practice.
!
At the end of each year, all
students will participate in the
BGA Science Fair where they will
publicly present and defend their
science research and demonstrate
their skills. Passing Science Fair is
required to advance to the next
level of Science.
!
All students will pass one of the
Science MCAS exams (Physics,
Biology, or Chemistry).
World Languages
Knowledge of world languages and cultures is essential for all students in our globalized and
interconnected society. We believe that those students who come to us already bilingual must have access
to a high-quality world languages experience that broadens their skill sets. In support of these goals,
Boston Green Academy will offer a full seven-year menu of World Language courses to prepare our
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
153
students to participate successfully in the global economy, higher education, and the diverse communities
of the City of Boston. All middle school students at BGA will study two academic years of world
languages. Spanish will be the only language offered in the middle grades, however there will be specific
strands for native- and non-native speakers. In high school, all students will be required to take at least
three years of a foreign language in either Spanish or Mandarin Chinese, reflecting the global prominence
of both languages and cultures. We are exploring a partnership with UMass-Boston to offer a high-quality
Mandarin program at low cost. We are also investigating affordable programs for our students to have an
opportunity to travel abroad to enhance their world languages studies and explore global environmental
issues at the same time. Finally, we are researching programs and materials to use in our World
Languages program and will consult with leaders in the field to identify the materials that are best aligned
to the MCF in World Languages.
Grade Course(s)
6th Grade
6
Spanish (one
semester)*
7
7th Grade
Spanish (one
semester)
8
8th Grade
Spanish (one
year)
9
Spanish I or
Mandarin
Chinese I*
10
Spanish II or
Mandarin
Chinese II
11
Spanish III or
Mandarin
Chinese III
Content
! Native and non-native strands
! Basic words and phrases needed for oral
communication
! Native speakers focus on formal grammar
and writing skills
! Native and non-native strands
! Oral communication and basic writing
skills
! Native speakers continue to formalize
their knowledge of proper grammar,
vocabulary and written language skills
! Native and non-native strands
! Builds upon 6th and 7th grade semesterlong courses to support entry into Spanish
I or strengthens fundamentals of native
speakers
! Focuses on cultural awareness and basic
communication skills
! Portfolio-based courses focusing on
essential questions such as “how does
Spanish or Chinese culture compare with
American culture?”
! Emphasis on reading, writing, listening,
speaking with an emphasis on basic oral
communication and pronunciation
! Study of the immigrant populations in
Boston and the United States and links to
Humanities class topics
! Focus on present, past, and imperfect
tenses
! Real-world communication opportunities
with native speakers; focus on history and
culture of the Spanish or Chinese world
! Advanced vocabulary and speaking
experiences, coupled with an emphasis on
writing in the non-native language
Skills
! All courses focus on
improving reading,
writing, and speaking
skills in a non-native
language, as well as
improving understanding
of world cultures and
linguistic diversity.
!
All courses support and
incorporate the guiding
principles and skills
standards outlined in the
MCF for World
Languages.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
154
AP Spanish,
AP Mandarin
Chinese,
Dual
Enrollment,
or Internship
12
!
Focus on preparing students for
immersion and college-level work in a
non-native language
! AP Courses will follow the College Board
Curriculum while external opportunities
will meet accepted standards of college
readiness in World Languages
Note: * The 6th and 9th grade World Languages course may be waived or delayed for students who must
take both Foundations of Literacy and Foundations of Mathematics. Students in this group will begin
World Language study in 7th and 10th grade respectively, which will still enable them to satisfy the BGA
graduation requirements.
The Arts
As has been suggested in earlier sections, visual learning and arts integration is one of our key strategies
for re-engaging disengaged students, English Language Learners, and students with disabilities. In
addition to discrete arts courses, all courses at BGA—but especially Humanities, World Languages, and
Advisory—will draw heavily on the “Habits of Mind” (detailed in later sections) that incorporate the
principles of graphic design and visual thinking skills. In this way, the arts and the skills they engender
will become part of all students’ experience at BGA and an essential part of their worldview. Our arts
integration approach is consistent with the vast body of research that suggests that studying the arts
increases student achievement and has other powerful and positive effects on students. Successful
completion of at least one Arts course for credit will be a graduation requirement for BGA, as suggested
in the MassCore framework. Our 6-12 Arts continuum is presented below.
Grades
6-8
9-12
All
6&9
initially;
other
grades as
needed
Course(s)
Arts Elective
and afterschool
program
Arts Elective
and afterschool
program
Project Week
Content
! Performing Arts (Dance, Drama,
or Chorus)
! Visual Arts or Graphic Design
Summer
Academy
!
!
!
!
Performing Arts (Dance, Drama,
or Chorus)
Visual Arts or Graphic Design
Arts experiences offered during
week-long project-based course
Arts experiences offered during
three-week intensive academic
program
Skills
! All arts courses will embody
the appropriate disciplinespecific skills laid out in the
MCF for the Arts.
!
All arts experiences will
incorporate the BGA Habits of
Mind, which include the skills
inherent in graphic design and
the Visual Thinking Strategies
program.
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155
E. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING – TYPE A
(Note: A signed copy of the MOU-A is included in the paper version of this application filed with DESE)
DRAFT –DRAFT –DRAFT
AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND THE
BOSTON GREEN ACADEMY,
A PROSPECTIVE HORACE MANN CHARTER SCHOOL
AGREEMENT by and between the Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter
Public School (“BGA”), by and through its Board of Trustees (the “Board”), and the School
Committee of the City of Boston, by and through its Public School Department (“the BPS”).
In consideration of the mutual covenants contained herein, BGA and the BPS agree as
follows:
WHEREAS, Massachusetts General Law Chapter 71, §89 gives the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, Department of Education (“Massachusetts DESE”), the power to approve the operation of
a public school under a charter (hereinafter, “Horace Mann Charter School”), to stimulate the
development of innovative programs within public education, to provide opportunities for innovative
learning and assessments, to encourage performance-based educational programs, and for other valuable
educational purposes; and
WHEREAS, the Massachusetts DESE promulgated standards and procedures for the operation of
Horace Mann Charter Schools under 603 C.M.R. §1.00 et seq.; and
WHEREAS, in 2010, BGA intends to request approval from the Massachusetts DESE to operate
a Horace Mann Charter School in accordance with BGA’s application (the “Application”); and
WHEREAS, the parties are desirous of delineating their respective rights and responsibilities to
the extent not fully described by the laws of Massachusetts;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants contained herein, the parties
hereto agree as follows:
1.
Operation as a Horace Mann Charter School.
The BPS agrees to permit and enable BGA to operate as a Horace Mann Charter School in
accordance with: (1) M.G.L. c. 71, §89, and the regulations promulgated in connection therewith; and (2)
the terms of the Application as it may be amended from time to time. The BPS and BGA agree that BGA
will open with students in grades 9-12 in 2012-2013, absorbing the student population from a closed BPS
high school (to be determined) and occupying its facility. The BPS and BGA also agree that the middle
school program (grades 6-8) of BGA will begin to admit students no later than the second school year of
BGA’s operation.
2.
BGA’s Annual Budget.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
156
The BPS agrees to provide a Lump Sum Budget to BGA on an annual basis in accordance with
M.G.L. c. 71, §89 and the regulations promulgated in connection therewith for the term of this Agreement
and so long as BGA continues to operate as a Horace Mann Charter School.
This Lump Sum Budget shall be calculated in the same way that BPS calculates funding for Pilot
Schools. Specifically, the Lump Sum Budget will be not less than the district average per pupil amount by
grade level, exclusive of private placement tuition. This Lump Sum Budget will then be decreased by the
value of services purchased by BGA from the BPS, including but not limited to: transportation purchased
by BGA at the middle school average per capita cost (for students in grades 6-8), and at the high school
average per capita cost (for students in grades 9-12); the actual salaries of staff employed by BGA; nondiscretionary services at a cost to be reasonably determined by BPS, including but not limited to
employee benefits, facilities, safety and other central office services; and non-instructional services set
forth in the Application at a cost to be reasonably determined by the BPS. If the Pilot School funding
formula changes in the future, BPS and BGA would meet to discuss amending this agreement to align
with the revised Pilot School funding formula. BGA and BPS agree to discuss transportation charges
prior to the start of BGA’s middle school program. BPS and BGA agree to finalize enrollment figures
(total school size and grade level size) for BGA by November 1, 2011 so that accurate budgeting can take
place.
BGA will be responsible for all staff and/or services required to meet the needs of students who
are English Language Learners and/or students requiring special education services. BGA will have the
option of accessing BPS expertise in these areas, if desired.
The Lump Sum Budget shall not be reduced because of the school’s receipt of additional funds
from sources independent of the BPS. BGA agrees to operate within its Lump Sum Budget allocation
plus any other funds that BGA may receive independent of the BPS, less services purchased from the
BPS.
Each fiscal year the BPS, in accordance with the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71, §89 and the
regulations promulgated in connection therewith, shall adopt an annual operating budget for BGA, which
shall allot funds from the Lump Sum Budget to BGA’s educational mission as BGA deems appropriate.
BGA shall deliver the annual operating budget to the Chief Financial Officer of the BPS (“the CFO”) in
such form and time frame as s/he may reasonably specify, with a copy to the Boston School Committee,
in no case later than February 1.
BGA shall provide notice to the CFO of amendments and modifications to its budget during the
year; however, any failure by BGA to provide notice of amendments or modifications to its budget will
not limit its budgetary authority under M.G.L. c. 71, §89. BGA shall provide the CFO with copies of
BGA’s annual financial audit, BGA’s budget and any amendments and modifications thereto, and any
financial reports that BGA submits to the Massachusetts DESE, at the same time that these documents are
submitted to the Massachusetts DESE. The CFO may also request, and BGA shall provide in response to
any such request, additional documentation to support BGA’s annual operating budget or any
amendments or modifications to its budget. Any budget disagreements shall be resolved through
negotiation between the CFO and the BGA Headmaster or Chair of the Board of Trustees. In the event
that no resolution is reached, either party may appeal to the BPS Superintendent for a final determination.
In all instances, any disputes must be resolved through negotiation or appeal by February 1.
BGA is an independent LEA. As such, BGA will be responsible for applying for and accounting
for any separate state or federal grants, including, but not limited to, Title I and IDEA. BPS will be
responsible for applying for reimbursements for national school nutrition programs.
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157
3. Operating Account and Expenditures.
By July 1 of each year, the CFO shall establish an operating account for BGA in the amount of
the Lump Sum Budget (“the BGA Operating Account”).
BGA shall establish and maintain a separate bank account under its exclusive control (hereinafter,
“the BGA Bank Account”). The BPS agrees to transfer funds on a quarterly basis (January, April, July
and October) from the BGA Operating Account to the BGA Bank Account. The July quarterly transfer
will be based upon BGA’s projected enrollment for the upcoming academic year. The remaining
quarterly transfers (October, January and April) will be based upon the actual enrollment of BGA on the
final school day of the month prior to the quarterly transfer date. After the CFO performs a year-end
reconciliation at the close of the BPS’ fiscal year, any remaining funds from BGA’s Operating Account
will be transferred to the BGA Bank Account. Expenditures from the BGA Bank Account shall be made
in accordance with all applicable laws, ordinances, and regulations. Only BGA’s School Headmaster
and/or his/her designee(s) shall authorize expenditures from its operating account.
BGA shall purchase such goods and services from the BPS as set forth in the non-instructional
services section of the Application (including, but not limited to, technology and athletics) at costs
reasonably determined by the BPS, and for all such non-instructional goods and services purchased, BGA
may request, and the BPS shall provide in response to such request, an annual report detailing the scope
of goods and services provided and the cost of such non-instructional goods and services purchased. In
addition, BGA shall have the option to purchase additional, non-instructional goods and services that
have not been specified in the Application as BGA shall from time to time determine. BGA agrees that it
shall be responsible for all costs associated with the operation of BGA. BGA further agrees it shall
indemnify and hold harmless the BPS, its officers, agents or employees from all claims resulting from any
costs incurred by BGA, its Board, officers, agents or employees in association with the operation of BGA.
4.
Facilities.
The BPS and BGA acknowledge that they share responsibility for securing an adequate facility
for the proposed Horace Mann Charter School. The BPS will provide and maintain an adequate facility
for BGA or, consistent with charter school law and regulations (603 CMR 1.08) and the MDESE Horace
Mann Charter School Technical Advisory 03-1 – Paragraph 14), will provide BGA with the funds to pay
for a facility. BGA agrees it shall ensure that the site and facilities for the school comply with all federal,
state, and local laws, regulations, and codes and shall be responsible for all costs associated therewith.
BGA also agrees to be responsible for payment of all lease or mortgage obligations on the site and
facilities for the school, utility charges, and any and all other costs associated with the operation of the
site and facilities. Any purchase or lease agreement relating to the site or facilities for BGA, including
any renewals, must be submitted to the BPS for review and for approval by the Boston School Committee
and Superintendent of Schools prior to execution by BGA.
If BGA is located in a BPS-owned facility, BPS will be responsible for performing building
maintenance, as well as any necessary capital repairs. BPS has processes in place to prioritize
maintenance and capital requests from BPS schools. Facilities work requests from BGA would be
considered promptly and prioritized according to need, using the same criteria as with any other BPSowned facility.
BPS intends for BGA to replace an existing BPS high school (to be named later) and will
facilitate the orderly transition between the two entities. Upon occupation of the premises by BGA on
July 1, 2012, BPS guarantees that the facility will be in ‘move in’ (i.e. clean and usable) condition. All
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
158
furniture, equipment, and infrastructure, including but not limited to desks, chairs, tables, white/black
boards, bookcases, file cabinets, office equipment, laboratory tables and equipment, internet wiring, hubs,
routers, cables and wireless devices, etc. will be left within the premises for BGA’s use after the BPS high
school is closed.
BPS will notify BGA of the location of its future facility no later than January, 2011. BPS will
select a BPS facility for BGA that includes adequate contiguous space for the full projected student
enrollment of the school (595 in grade 6-12). If this is not possible, BPS will select a BPS facility for
BGA that includes, at a minimum, adequate contiguous space for the full projected enrollment of BGA’s
high school student population (340), and also work with BGA to find adequate space for the middle
school’s full student enrollment (255) in another BPS facility.
5.
Staffing.
Selection and hiring. BGA has the sole discretion to select the staff for any and all positions at
the school. BGA may select staff including, but not limited to, staff for BTU, Custodians, Administrative
Guild, AFSCME, School Police and BASAS positions without regard to seniority within the particular
union or past practices between the Boston School Committee and any bargaining unit. BGA may
formulate job descriptions, duties and responsibilities for any and all positions in its school.
Specifically BGA shall be exempt from local collective bargaining agreements and past practices
except that staff at BGA shall continue to be members of the local collective bargaining unit and shall
accrue seniority and shall receive, at a minimum, the salary and benefits established in the contract of the
local collective bargaining unit where the Horace Mann charter school is located. The selection of staff
members shall be in compliance with the applicable federal and state laws and municipal ordinances.
Management and evaluation. BGA through its board of trustees shall manage its
staff independent of the school committee. Except as outlined in the Application and
Charter, BGA is exempt from the provisions set forth in the applicable collective
bargaining agreements. Each year, staff shall sign a Working Conditions
Acknowledgement Form which describes the working conditions.
BGA may develop its own staff evaluation guidelines and evaluation
instrument(s) in accordance with Massachusetts General Law c. 71 § 38.
Excessing and dismissal. BGA may involuntarily excess members of the BTU,
Guild, and BASAS bargaining units as well as any other staff members. Staff members shall
receive notice of any involuntary excessing by May 1st. The provisions in any relevant collective
bargaining agreements (including, but not limited to, those for the BTU, Custodians,
Administrative Guild, AFSCME, School Police and BASAS) regarding excessing, seniority and
transfer shall not apply to BGA except that members of the collective bargaining units shall
continue to accrue seniority.
BGA may choose to non-renew any BTU or non-BTU staff member without
professional status, pursuant to federal and state law and municipal ordinances. BGA agrees
that the dismissal of BGA staff shall be done in accordance with applicable BPS dismissal
procedures, and federal and state law and municipal ordinances. In dismissing staff as a result
of misconduct, BGA shall not be bound by the practices or procedures established between the
Boston Public Schools and any collective bargaining unit. BGA shall issue discipline, up to and
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
159
including termination, to employees in accordance with applicable federal and state laws and
municipal ordinances.
BGA is exempt from the layoff and recall language in any relevant collective
bargaining agreement, and any associated practices. BGA shall also be exempt from any and all
agreements, side letters and/or past practices between the Boston Public Schools and any
collective bargaining unit regarding attachment rights to specific buildings, schools or facilities
including but not limited to Appendix B of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the
Boston School Committee and the Boston Teachers Union.
Processing and notification regarding staff. The BPS agrees that any and all hiring and
dismissals of staff for BGA will be timely processed through the BPS, Office of Human Resources. BGA
shall provide the BPS Office of Human Resources and Office of Finance with timely notification of any
staffing changes for the subsequent school year. Such notification shall be in writing and shall be made to
BPS in a timely manner.
Working Conditions. The provisions in any relevant collective bargaining agreements that address
working conditions (including, but not limited to, those for the BTU, Custodians, Administrative Guild,
AFSCME, School Police and BASAS), shall not apply to employees at BGA except that members of the
collective bargaining units will receive, at a minimum the salary and benefits outlined in the respective
collective bargaining agreement. Among other changes to working conditions, BGA intends to operate a
longer school day and year than the standard BPS school schedule. Each employee at BGA will sign a
Working Conditions Acknowledgement Form prior to the beginning of each school year. The Working
Conditions Acknowledgement Form will detail the working conditions for that employee’s position,
including but not limited to expected hours per day and number of days per year. As stated above, the
Working Conditions Acknowledgement Form shall not be subject to approval by the applicable collective
bargaining unit or the Steering Committee.
6.
Promotion Policies, Graduation Requirements, and Diplomas.
BGA will adopt graduation requirements that include, at a minimum, those required by BPS.
BGA reserves the right to establish additional requirements, as long as they are consistent with State law.
If the BPS graduation requirements change in the future, BPS and BGA agree to meet to discuss
amending this agreement. BGA will grant diplomas to all students who meet all of the school’s
graduation requirements. Diplomas will be issued by the BPS and signed by the School Committee
Chair, the Superintendent of Schools, and BGA’s Headmaster.
7.
Compliance with Law.
BGA agrees to comply with all applicable federal, state, and municipal laws, rules, regulations,
and codes, and all applicable federal and state court orders, including, but not limited to: the provisions of
the Uniform Procurement Act, M.G.L. c. 30B; M.G.L. c. 71, §89 and 603 C.M.R. §1.00 et seq.; M.G.L. c.
71; those relating to diversity of students, teachers and other staff; the protection of the rights and interests
of students and staff; the expenditure of public funds; and education reform. BGA also agrees to comply
with the civil rights policies of the BPS. Without limiting the foregoing, BGA agrees that it shall, in
carrying out its responsibilities under this Agreement, comply with every provision of M.G.L. c. 268A
(the Conflict of Interest Law) to the full extent of the applicability of said provisions. Failure to comply
with applicable legal requirements may result in termination of this Agreement pursuant to section 16,
herein.
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BGA agrees that all employment decisions will be made in compliance with the applicable
federal and state laws, and in compliance with all of the BPS Superintendent’s Circulars related to federal
and state laws as shall exist and/or be amended from time to time by this or any other name known from
time to time.
8.
Governance Structure.
BGA acknowledges that it has formed, and will hereafter maintain, the governance structure
described in the Leadership and Governance Section of its Application. The governance body shall
ensure compliance with all laws, regulations, codes and court orders.
BGA shall be operated and managed by the Board independent of the Boston School Committee.
9.
Hiring, Evaluation and Dismissal of Building Administrator(s).
The BGA Board shall select and hire the Building Administrator(s) and set the salary for the
Building Administrator(s), subject to the approval of the Superintendent prior to any offer of employment
being made. The Superintendent shall not unreasonably withhold his/her approval of either the Building
Administrator(s) or the salary set for the Building Administrator by the BGA Board. The BGA Board
shall evaluate the Building Administrator and will submit its recommendations regarding the Building
Administrator(s) to the Superintendent in the form of an evaluation. The parties to this agreement
acknowledge that only the Superintendent may dismiss the Building Administrator(s). Any dismissal of
the Building Administrator(s), however, shall be based upon a recommendation submitted by the BGA
Board to the Superintendent.
10.
Program Coordination with BPS.
Operations. BGA and the BPS shall coordinate in the development of operational guidelines
relating to BGA’s staffing (including, among others, adherence to civil service requirements and fair labor
practices); budgeting (including, among others, timely submission of annual operating budget in order for
it to be approved at same time that the BPS’ budget is approved by School Committee); student
assignment (including, among others, special education and English language learner assignments);
facilities; equity; transportation; business purchasing; and such other operational guidelines and policies
as reasonably determined by the parties. Such coordination shall be conducted on an on-going basis, as
reasonably determined by the parties.
Transportation and School Schedule. BPS will provide transportation in accordance with M.G.L.
c. 71, §89(cc). BGA and BPS will meet to plan school starting and ending times in order to assist the
district with identifying cost effective means of transportation while also supporting the mission and
design of BGA. BPS will accommodate BGA’s particular school day and school year.
Student Discipline. BGA certifies and acknowledges that it has read and reviewed the Boston
Public Schools’ Code of Conduct. BGA may adopt the BPS Code of Conduct and/or may adopt its own
policies pertaining to the conduct of students. Any such policies shall be developed in full compliance
with federal and state laws and regulations, including but not limited to M.G.L. c. 71, §§37H and 37H1/2.
In addition, any policies pertaining to student conduct shall contain clear language regarding due process
and steps necessary to ensure same. BGA agrees to submit to BPS a final and approved copy of their
policies regarding student conduct prior to the start of each school year.
11.
Student Enrollment, Recruitment and Retention.
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161
Students will be enrolled in BGA in accordance with the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71, §89(l), (m),
and (n). All BPS students enrolled in the closed high school that BGA will replace will be guaranteed
enrollment in BGA in accordance with M.G.L. c. 79 § 89(m) and 603 CMR 1.06(5)(a). Students who
withdraw from BGA may enroll in another school within BPS in accordance with the provisions of
M.G.L. c. 71, §89(p). If a student stops attending BGA for any reason, BGA shall fill the vacancy in
accordance with the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71, §89(n). With respect to student requests to transfer from
BGA to a Boston Public School, BGA agrees to develop a policy consistent with BPS transfer policies.
When a student transfers from BGA to another BPS school, BGA agrees to provide assistance to all BPS
schools in translating transcripts.
BGA will be included in all major BPS student recruiting materials and events, including but not
limited to the annual Showcase of Schools, on an equivalent basis as any other BPS school. BPS will
provide BGA with student contact information and basic demographic data for use in student recruitment
efforts, provided that BGA agrees to keep this information confidential. BGA will submit to BPS
annually the recruitment and retention plan that it develops for the DESE.
BGA will integrate its enrollment process with that of BPS. BGA will provide copies of its
student enrollment application to BPS, and BPS will make said application available at all Family
Resource Centers (FRCs) and on the BPS website. In addition, BGA may distribute its student enrollment
application at other locations and through other means. BPS will ensure that families at the FRCs are able
to their indicate intent to apply to BGA, and BPS will convey this information to BGA in a timely
manner.
12.
Information Requirements.
BGA agrees to submit forthwith any information or data relative to its operation and functioning,
as reasonably requested and required by the BPS. BGA agrees to utilize the BPS’ Student Information
System to report attendance, discipline, school schedule, and grades, and to update this information
promptly.
In addition, within the first year of operation under this Agreement, BGA shall develop,
implement, and maintain a plan for assessing its students and school performance on a regular basis. BGA
agrees to implement all district-wide predictive assessments that BPS requires of other schools serving
the same grade levels. In the event that BPS significantly increases the number and/or frequency of
predictive assessments, BPS shall consult with BGA to determine which predictive assessments BGA will
be required to implement. BGA has the option of accessing other district-wide assessments (including,
but not limited to, mid-year and end-of-year course assessments), but is not required to do so. BGA shall
consult with BPS while developing the Accountability Plan that is required by the DESE, to ensure that
BGA establishes performance goals that are aligned with BPS expectations. By August 1 of 2012 and
each subsequent year, BGA shall submit to BPS a copy of the Annual Report and Accountability Plan
required by the DESE.
The School Committee shall develop a plan to disseminate innovative practices of BGA to other
public schools within the district subject to the legally enforceable provisions of any contract between
BGA and any third party provider. BGA agrees to cooperate with the BPS and the Boston School
Committee in connection with the development of the plan for innovative practices. The innovative
practices plan and assessment plan shall be available for review by the Superintendent or his/her designee
upon request.
13.
Assignment.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
162
This Agreement may not be assigned without the prior written consent of the Superintendent or
his/her designee.
14.
Term of Agreement.
The term of this Agreement is the period from the date of execution of this Agreement through
June 30, 2017. No later than six (6) months prior to the expiration of the term of this Agreement, or the
expiration of BGA’s charter, whichever occurs first, the BPS and BGA shall meet and make a good faith
effort to discuss and plan for the continuation of this Agreement, and the continued operation of BGA in
accordance with the Application and the Renewal, with such modifications as to which all parties agree,
the Boston School Committee approve, and the Massachusetts DESE grants.
15.
Indemnification.
It is expressly understood by and between the parties hereto that BGA is a unit of the Boston
Public School Department only to the extent consistent with the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71, §89 and
regulations promulgated in connection therewith. The parties expressly acknowledge that BGA is an
entity independent of the Boston Public School Department and that Boston Public School Department
shall not be liable for the acts or omissions of BGA, the Board, its officers, agents, or employees except to
the extent consistent with the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71, §89 and regulations promulgated in connection
therewith. Further, BGA shall indemnify and hold harmless the Boston Public School Department, its
officers, agents or employees for all suits and claims against them or any of them directly resulting from
any educational or employment action or decision, any intentional or negligent acts or omissions or
wrong-doing of BGA, the Board, its officers, agents, or employees.
16.
Termination.
BGA acknowledges that the Superintendent is responsible for the education of all BPS students.
In the event the Superintendent determines in his/her professional judgment that BGA is not serving the
best interest of the students of the BPS, and/or that BGA is not complying with the requirements of
section 7 above, s/he shall have the right to invoke the complaint procedures set forth in 603 C.M.R. 1.09
et seq., and/or present facts to the Commissioner of Education in connection with a request for review and
investigation of BGA. In addition, this agreement terminates automatically in the event that the
Commissioner of Education revokes the charter of BGA for any reason. In the event that this Agreement
is terminated, the BPS agrees to reimburse BGA for appropriate BGA expenses that it incurred prior to
such termination.
17.
BGA’s Rights of Appeal.
The BPS acknowledges that BGA has the right to file an appeal with the Massachusetts
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (“Massachusetts DESE”), in accordance with the
procedures set forth in 603 C.M.R. 1.09 et seq., if BGA determines in its professional judgment that the
BPS is not complying with the requirements of this Agreement or the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71, §89.
BGA agrees that it shall not file any such appeal with the Massachusetts DESE without first giving the
BPS at least fourteen (14) days written notice of BGA’s intent to file such an appeal and the grounds upon
which any such appeal would be based.
18.
Notices.
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All notices, requests, and other communications given to or made upon the parties hereto, except
as otherwise specified herein, shall be in writing and shall be delivered or mailed, postage prepaid, to such
party at:
(A)
In the case of the BPS:
Superintendent
Boston Public School Department
26 Court Street
Boston, MA 02108
(B)
In the case of BGA:
Larry Myatt (or successor)
Chair of Board of Trustees
Boston Green Academy
327 Mountain Street
Sharon, MA 02067
Any party may, by written notice to the other party, designate another address. Any notice,
request, or demand shall be deemed to have been given when it is actually received by the party to whom
it is addressed.
19.
Counterparts.
This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each such counterpart shall be
deemed to be an original instrument, and all counterparts together shall constitute but one agreement.
20.
Severability.
If any provision of this Agreement or the application thereof is held invalid, the invalidity shall
not affect other provisions or applications of the Agreement, which can be given effect without the invalid
provisions or applications, and to this end the provisions of this Agreement are declared to be severable.
21.
Amendments.
This Agreement, or any part thereof, may be amended from time to time hereinafter only by
writing executed by both the BPS and BGA.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Agreement under seal.
BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS
By: ___________________________ Date: _____________
Gregory G. Groover, Chair, Boston School Committee
By: ___________________________
Carol R. Johnson, Superintendent
Date:
_____________
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
164
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
By ____________________________
Corporation Counsel
BOSTON GREEN ACADEMY
By: __________________________
Name: Dr. Larry Myatt
Chairperson of the Board of Trustees
Date:
______________
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
165
F. MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING – TYPE B
These are proposed drafts of MOU’s that will serve as the basis for good-faith bargaining between Boston
Green Academy and the unionized employees of the BPS who may be employed at BGA. They re subject
to change as appropriate.
Agreement between the Boston Public Schools
and the Boston Green Academy
and the Boston Teachers Union,
Local 66, AFT-Massachusetts, AFT, AFL-CIO
AGREEMENT by and between the Boston Green Academy (“BGA”) (Horace Mann Charter Public
School), by and through its Board of Trustees (the “Board”), and the School Committee of the City of
Boston, by and through its Public School Department (the “BPS”) and the Boston Teachers Union
(“BTU”). In consideration of the mutual covenants contained herein, BGA, BTU, and BPS agree as
follows:
WHEREAS, Massachusetts General Law Chapter 71, §89 gives the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
Department of Education (“Massachusetts DESE”), the power to approve the operation of a public school
under a charter (hereinafter, “Horace Mann Charter School”), to stimulate the development of innovative
programs within public education, to provide opportunities for innovative learning and assessments, to
encourage performance-based educational programs, and for other valuable educational purposes; and
WHEREAS, the Massachusetts DESE promulgated standards and procedures for the operation of Horace
Mann Charter Schools under 603 CMR §1.00 et seq.; and
WHEREAS, in 2010, BGA intends to request approval from the Massachusetts DESE to operate a Horace
Mann Charter School in accordance with BGA’s application (the “Application”); and
WHEREAS, the parties are desirous of delineating their respective rights and responsibilities to the extent
not fully described by the laws of Massachusetts, and to comply with said standards and procedures;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants contained herein, the parties hereto agree
as follows:
Status of BTU Employees Who Work at BGA
All school BTU Members who elect to work and are selected to work at BGA shall maintain their full
status as members of the BTU bargaining unit and as employees of the Boston Public Schools. Further:
A. BTU Members shall receive, at a minimum, the salary and benefits established in the BTU
Contract (the “Contract”), subject to possible upward adjustments as set forth below.
B. BTU Members shall maintain and continue to accrue seniority within BPS in accordance with the
terms of the Contract.
As expressly set forth below, with the exception (A) and (B) above, BGA shall be exempt from
provisions of the Contract, and all past practices pertaining to the relationship between the Boston School
Committee and BTU, contained in or related to the following sections of the existing Contract as well as
corresponding sections of any future Contract in effect during the term of this Agreement:
BTU Teachers Contract
!
!
!
!
!
Article I, Section E (Handling of New Issues)
Article II: Developing and Maintaining Effective Working Relationships
Article III: School-Based Management and Decision-Making
Article IV: School Assessment
Article V: Staffing
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
166
!
!
!
!
!
Article VI: Professional Development
Article VII: Working Conditions
Article VIII: Compensation and Benefits
Article X: Dispute Resolutions
Appendices A, B, C, and G
BTU Paraprofessionals Agreement
! Article I, Sections E and F (Negotiations and New Issues)
! Article II: Working Conditions
! Article V: Dispute Resolution
BTU Substitute Teachers and Nurses Agreement
! Article II: Working Conditions
! Article X(sic): Dispute Resolution
In place of such provisions, the relationship between BGA and BTU members will be subject to
replacement provisions, if described below, or determined by the Board and/or management, if not
described below. The Board and/or management shall make such labor-related decisions in order to most
effectively achieve the mission of BGA while respecting the professionalism of all BTU members who
work at BGA.
Please note that some sections below are included for clarity purposes only.
Selection and Hiring of Staff
BGA has the sole discretion to select the staff for any and all positions at the school. BGA may select
staff for BTU positions at the school without regard to seniority within the BTU or past practices between
the Boston School Committee and the BTU. BGA may formulate job descriptions, duties and
responsibilities for any and all positions in its school. The selection of staff members shall be in
compliance with the applicable federal and state laws and municipal ordinances. BGA shall be exempt
from any and all agreements, side letters and/or past practices between the Boston Public Schools and any
collective bargaining unit regarding attachment rights to specific buildings, schools or facilities including
but not limited to Appendix B of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Boston School
Committee and the Boston Teachers Union.
Management
BGA, through its Board, shall manage its staff independent of the Boston School Committee.
Excessing and Dismissal
BGA may involuntarily excess members of the BTU. Staff members shall receive notice of any
involuntary excessing by April 1st. The provisions in the Contract regarding excessing, seniority
and transfer shall not apply to BGA except that BTU members shall continue to accrue seniority
while working at the school.
BGA may choose to non-renew any BTU member pursuant to federal and state law and
municipal ordinances. BGA agrees that the dismissal of staff of the Horace Mann School shall be
done in accordance with federal and state law and municipal ordinances. In dismissing staff as
a result of misconduct, BGA shall not be bound by the practices or procedures established
between the Boston Public Schools and any collective bargaining unit. BGA shall issue
discipline, up to and including termination, to employees in accordance with applicable federal
and state laws and municipal ordinances.
Layoffs and Recall
BGA is exempt from the layoff and recall language in the Contract and any associated practices.
Processing and Notification Regarding Staff
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167
The BPS agrees that any and all hiring and dismissals of staff for BGA will be processed in a timely
manner through the BPS Office of Human Resources. BGA shall provide the BPS Office of Human
Resources and Office of Finance with timely notification of any staffing changes for the subsequent
school year. Such notification shall be in writing and shall be made to BPS in a timely manner.
Evaluation – BTU Members
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Every employee at BGA will be evaluated annually. Supporting evidence for the evaluation will
be collected in many ways including, but not limited to, announced and unannounced
observations of employees during the performance of their duties, formal and informal
meetings, student achievement data (including results from MCAS, student growth data, and
other assessments), and all professional interactions of the staff member in question during the
workday and year. All evidence used in an evaluation will be documented in written form and
will be accessible to the person being evaluated.
Teachers will experience frequent visits to their classes by peers and administrators followed by
structured peer feedback. The object of all classroom visits will be to increase reflection about improving
practice. Administrators will participate in these visits in at least two cycles each year, once as interested
observers and once as evaluators. BGA’s teacher evaluation tool will be based on the Dimensions of
Effective Teaching rubric used by New Teacher Developers in the BPS, or a similar high-quality tool
chosen by BGA. Administrators will use the tool initially to mark strengths and areas for growth in a
teacher’s practice, using the rating scale detailed below, and to cite any “critical concerns”.
Administrators will develop appropriate prescriptions, in consultation with teachers, to address critical
concerns and will re-assess the teacher’s growth using the rubric and issuing a performance rating as
detailed below. If the teacher’s performance improves, the administrator will begin to focus on other
aspects of the teacher’s performance. If performance does not improve, a formal warning will be issued
in writing and a second round of prescriptions for change and more intervention will be issued. Lack of
improvement in this second round will result in more intensive interventions. If the teacher being
evaluated fails to improve despite these additional interventions, as detailed below, they may be nonrenewed or terminated from BGA at the discretion of the Headmaster based on written documentation of
the evaluation process and findings.
Nurses and paraprofessionals will be evaluated using the same process and evaluation tool as teachers, but
with adjustments appropriate to their job descriptions.
All BTU members will be evaluated by the Headmaster (or his/her designee) on performance areas to be
outlined in the BGA Teacher Evaluation Tool, which will be developed during the 2010-11 school year.
BTU Members will receive an Advanced, Advanced/Proficient, Proficient, Needs Improvement, or
Unacceptable rating for each performance area.
BGA reserves the right to make adjustments to this tool if such adjustments are clearly communicated to
BTU members.
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Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
168
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An evaluation and its consequences are not subject to the grievance procedures of the Contract.
Compensation - BTU Members
Every BTU member at BGA earns, at a minimum, his or her base salary under the BTU scale.
BTU teachers will not be paid on an hourly or prorated basis beyond their base salary. The
Headmaster, at his/her discretion, may decide to compensate any BTU member who works at
BGA with a base salary above that determined by the BTU scale or a stipend for additional
duties/products.
Working Conditions – BTU Members
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Of note, the standard workday for all BTU Members during a school day is expected to be 8 hours. For
the majority of BTU Members, required hours will approximately 8:00am-4:00pm, which includes
faculty meetings twice per week. All BTU Members are to be available at least during the normal
working day and at any time before and after these hours that are reasonably necessary to adequately
complete their administrative duties, such as being available to students and parents and attending
appropriate meetings. BTU members at BGA will be required to attend 10 professional development days
in the summer, two days in January, and two days in June. Teacher schedules and placement decisions
will be made in consultation with staff but at the final discretion of the Headmaster. Some BTU Members
may be required to work additional hours to accommodate school programming unique to BGA (e.g.,
Saturday or Summer programming). This work will be eligible for stipends.
The term of employment for BTU members will be one complete calendar year. The school calendar
(including professional development days, the three-week Summer Academy in August, 180 regular
school days, vacations/holidays, etc.) will be set by the BGA Board of Trustees annually and will be
incorporated into the annual description of working conditions for BTU members. Teachers are expected
to work all required days and to take vacation only during scheduled times.
Dispute Resolution
Any BTU member working at BGA may use the following process to resolve a dispute:
1. The employee may bring a concern under this Agreement to the Headmaster in writing. The
employee should specifically state the concern and the desired resolution.
2. Within 5 days of receipt of the concern, the Headmaster should meet with the employee to
discuss the concern.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
169
3. Within 5 days of the meeting, the Headmaster should issue a decision to the employee.
4. If the employee is not satisfied with the resolution issued by the Headmaster, s/he may bring the
concern to the Board of Trustees or its appropriate subcommittee, in writing, within 10 days of
receiving the Headmaster’s decision. The home or business address of the Board Chair will be
provided to all BTU members for this purpose.
5. The Board will consider the concern at its next scheduled meeting
6. The Board should issue a decision within 5 days of the meeting. This decision will be sent in
writing to the employee in question. The decision of the Board is final.
Compliance with Law
BGA agrees to comply with all applicable federal, state, and municipal laws, rules, regulations, and
codes, and all applicable federal and state court orders, including, but not limited to: the provisions of the
Uniform Procurement Act, M.G.L. c. 30B; M.G.L. c. 71, §89 and 603 CMR §1.00 et seq.; M.G.L. c. 71;
those relating to diversity of students, teachers and other staff; the protection of the rights and interests of
students and staff; the expenditure of public funds; and education reform. The Horace Mann School also
agrees to comply with the civil rights policies of the BPS. Students who have special needs or are English
language learners will be appropriately identified, assessed, and served in accordance with federal and
state requirements. Without limiting the foregoing, BGA agrees that it shall, in carrying out its
responsibilities under this Agreement, comply with every provision of M.G.L. c. 268A (the Conflict of
Interest Law) to the full extent of the applicability of said provisions. Failure to comply with all
applicable legal requirements may result in termination of this Agreement pursuant to the Termination
section, herein.
BGA agrees that all employment decisions will be made in compliance with the applicable federal and
state laws, and in compliance with all of BPS’ Superintendent’s Circular(s) related to federal and state
laws as shall exist and/or be amended from time to time by this or any other name known from time to
time.
Term of Agreement
The term of this Agreement is the period from the date of execution of this Agreement through June 30,
2016. No later than six (6) months prior to the expiration of the term of this Agreement, or the expiration
of BGA’s charter, whichever occurs first, BPS, BTU, and BGA shall meet and make a good faith effort to
discuss and plan for the continuation of this Agreement, and the continued operation of BGA in
accordance with the Application and the Renewal, with such modifications as to which all parties agree,
the Boston School Committee approve, and the Massachusetts DESE grants.
Indemnification
It is expressly understood by and between the parties hereto that BGA is a unit of the Boston Public
School Department only to the extent consistent with the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71, §89 and regulations
promulgated in connection therewith. The parties expressly acknowledge that BGA is an entity
independent of the Boston Public School Department and that Boston Public School Department shall not
be liable for the acts or omissions of BGA, the Board, its officers, agents or employees except to the
extent consistent with the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71, §89 and regulations promulgated in connection
therewith. Further, BGA shall indemnify and hold harmless the Boston Public School Department, its
officers, agents or employees for all suits and claims against them or any of them directly resulting from
any educational or employment action or decision, any intentional or negligent acts or omissions or
wrong-doing of BGA, the Board, its officers, agents or employees.
Termination
BGA acknowledges that the Superintendent is responsible for the education of all BPS students. In the
event the Superintendent determines in his/her professional judgment that BGA is not serving the best
interest of the students of the BPS, and/or that BGA is not complying with the requirements of the
Compliance with Law section, above, s/he shall have the right to invoke the complaint procedures set
forth in 603 CMR 1.09 et seq., and/or present facts to the Commissioner of Education in connection with
a request for review and investigation of BGA. In addition, this Agreement terminates automatically in
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
170
the event that the Commissioner of Education revokes the charter of BGA for any reason. In the event
that this Agreement is terminated, BPS agrees to reimburse BGA for appropriate BGA expenses that it
incurred prior to such termination.
Horace Mann School’s Rights of Appeal
BPS acknowledges that BGA has the right to file an appeal with the Massachusetts DESE, in accordance
with the procedures set forth in 603 CMR 1.09 et seq., if BGA determines in its professional judgment
that the BPS is not complying with the requirements of this Agreement or the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71,
§89. BGA agrees that it shall not file any such appeal with the Massachusetts DESE without first giving
BPS at least fourteen (14) days written notice of BGA’s intent to file such an appeal and the grounds upon
which any such appeal would be based.
Notices
All notices, requests, and other communications given to or made upon the parties hereto, except as
otherwise specified herein, shall be in writing and shall be delivered or mailed, postage prepaid, to such
party at:
(A)
In the case of the BPS:
Superintendent
Boston Public School Department
26 Court Street
Boston, MA 02108
(B)
In the case of BGA:
(C)
Chair of Board of Trustees
Boston Green Academy
ADDRESS TBD
In the case of BTU:
XXX
Any party may, by written notice to the other party, designate another address. Any notice, request, or
demand shall be deemed to have been given when it is actually received by the party to whom it is
addressed.
Counterparts
This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each such counterpart shall be deemed
to be an original instrument, and all counterparts together shall constitute but one agreement.
Severability
If any provision of this Agreement or the application thereof is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect
other provisions or applications of the Agreement, which can be given effect without the invalid
provisions or applications, and to this end the provisions of this Agreement are declared to be severable.
Amendments
This Agreement, or any part thereof, may be amended from time to time hereinafter only by writing
executed by both the BPS, BTU, and BGA.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Agreement under seal.
BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS
By: ___________________________ Date: _____________
Carol R. Johnson, Superintendent
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
By ____________________________
Corporation Counsel
By: __________________________
Name: TBD
Chairperson of the Board of Trustees
Date:
______________
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
171
By: __________________________
Name: TBD
President of BTU
Date:
______________
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
172
Agreement between the Boston Public Schools
and the Boston Green Academy
and the Boston Association of School Administrators and Supervisors,
Local 6, AFT, AFL-CIO
AGREEMENT by and between the Boston Green Academy (“BGA”) (Horace Mann Charter Public
School), by and through its Board of Trustees (the “Board”), and the School Committee of the City of
Boston, by and through its Public School Department (the “BPS”) and the Boston Association of School
Administrators (“BASAS”). In consideration of the mutual covenants contained herein, BGA, BASAS,
and BPS agree as follows:
WHEREAS, Massachusetts General Law Chapter 71, §89 gives the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
Department of Education (“Massachusetts DESE”), the power to approve the operation of a public school
under a charter (hereinafter, “Horace Mann Charter School”), to stimulate the development of innovative
programs within public education, to provide opportunities for innovative learning and assessments, to
encourage performance-based educational programs, and for other valuable educational purposes; and
WHEREAS, the Massachusetts DESE promulgated standards and procedures for the operation of Horace
Mann Charter Schools under 603 CMR §1.00 et seq.; and
WHEREAS, in 2010, BGA intends to request approval from the Massachusetts DESE to operate a Horace
Mann Charter School in accordance with BGA’s application (the “Application”); and
WHEREAS, the parties are desirous of delineating their respective rights and responsibilities to the extent
not fully described by the laws of Massachusetts, and to comply with said standards and procedures;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants contained herein, the parties hereto agree
as follows:
Status of BASAS Employees Who Work at BGA
All school BASAS Members who elect to work and are selected to work at BGA shall maintain their full
status as members of the BASAS bargaining unit and as employees of the Boston Public Schools. Further:
C. BASAS Members shall receive, at a minimum, the salary and benefits established in the BASAS
Contract (the “Contract”), subject to possible upward adjustments as set forth below.
D. BASAS Members shall maintain and continue to accrue seniority within BPS in accordance with
the terms of the Contract.
As expressly set forth below, with the exception (A) and (B) above, BGA shall be exempt from
provisions of the Contract, and all past practices pertaining to the relationship between the Boston School
Committee and BASAS, contained in or related to the following sections of the existing Contract as well
as corresponding sections of any future Contract in effect during the term of this Agreement:
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
Article III: Salaries and Differentials
Article IV: Working Conditions
Article V: Authority and Supervision
Article VI: Professional Meetings and Leave
Article VII: Transfers
Article X: Grievances and Arbitration
Article XI: Past Practices and New Issues
Article XII: Reduction In Force
Article XIII: Performance Evaluation
Article XIV: School Based Management
Article XV: Miscellaneous
Appendix A
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
173
In place of such provisions, the relationship between BGA and BASAS members will be subject to
replacement provisions, if described below, or determined by the Board and/or management, if not
described below. The Board and/or management shall make such labor-related decisions in order to most
effectively achieve the mission of BGA while respecting the professionalism of all BASAS members who
work at BGA.
Please note that some sections below are included for clarity purposes only.
Selection and Hiring of Staff
BGA has the sole discretion to select the staff for any and all positions at the school. BGA may select
staff for BASAS positions at the school without regard to seniority within the BASAS or past practices
between the Boston School Committee and the BASAS. BGA may formulate job descriptions, duties and
responsibilities for any and all positions in its school. The selection of staff members shall be in
compliance with the applicable federal and state laws and municipal ordinances.
Management
BGA, through its Board, shall manage its staff independent of the Boston School Committee.
Excessing and Dismissal
BGA may involuntarily excess members of the BASAS. Staff members shall receive notice of any
involuntary excessing by April 1st. The provisions in the Contract regarding excessing, seniority
and transfer shall not apply to BGA except that BASAS members shall continue to accrue
seniority while working at the school.
BGA may choose to non-renew any BASAS member pursuant to federal and state law and
municipal ordinances. BGA agrees that the dismissal of staff of the Horace Mann School shall be
done in accordance with federal and state law and municipal ordinances. In dismissing staff as
a result of misconduct, BGA shall not be bound by the practices or procedures established
between the Boston Public Schools and any collective bargaining unit. BGA shall issue
discipline, up to and including termination, to employees in accordance with applicable federal
and state laws and municipal ordinances.
Layoffs and Recall
BGA is exempt from the layoff and recall language in the Contract and any associated practices.
Processing and Notification Regarding Staff
The BPS agrees that any and all hiring and dismissals of staff for BGA will be processed in a timely
manner through the BPS Office of Human Resources. BGA shall provide the BPS Office of Human
Resources and Office of Finance with timely notification of any staffing changes for the subsequent
school year. Such notification shall be in writing and shall be made to BPS in a timely manner.
Evaluation – BASAS Members
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Every employee at BGA will be evaluated annually. Supporting evidence for the evaluation will
be collected in many ways including, but not limited to, announced and unannounced
observations of employees during the performance of their duties, formal and informal
meetings, student achievement data (including results from MCAS, student growth data, and
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
174
other assessments), and all professional interactions of the staff member in question during the
workday and year. All evidence used in an evaluation will be documented in written form and
will be accessible to the person being evaluated.
BASAS members will follow the same evaluation process that the school uses for teachers, adjusted to
reflect their job descriptions.
All BASAS members will be evaluated by the Headmaster on performance areas to be outlined in the
BGA Administrator Evaluation Tool, which will be developed during the 2010-11 school year. BASAS
Members will receive an Advanced, Advanced/Proficient, Proficient, Needs Improvement, or
Unacceptable rating for each performance area.
BGA reserves the right to make adjustments to this tool if such adjustments are clearly communicated to
BASAS members.
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An evaluation and its consequences are not subject to the grievance procedures of the Contract.
Compensation - BASAS Members
Every BGA administrator earns, at a minimum, his or her base salary under the BASAS scale.
BASAS members are not compensated incrementally for days or hours worked beyond those
defined in the Contract.
The Headmaster, at his/her discretion, may decide to compensate any BASAS member who
works at BGA with a base salary above that determined by the BASAS scale. Or a stipend for
additional duties/products.
Working Conditions – BASAS Members
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M)!2" AN#(#(" L,21,!3D" 45/4" .,36!91,3" 45," /749690/4,." @)!F97:" 6)7.949)73" ?)!" 45," 806)297:"
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Of note, the standard workday for all BASAS Members during a school day is expected to be 8 hours. For
the majority of BASAS Members, required hours will approximate 8:00am-4:00pm, which includes
faculty meetings twice per week. All school-based BASAS Members are to be available at least during
the normal working day and at any time before and after these hours that are reasonably necessary to
adequately complete their administrative duties, such as being available to students and parents and
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
175
attending appropriate meetings. Further, some BASAS Members may be asked to work additional hours
to accommodate school programming unique to BGA (e.g., Saturday or Summer programming).
The term of employment for BASAS members will be one complete calendar year. BASAS members will
follow the same calendar, observe the same school holidays, and observe the same school vacations as
teachers at BGA. BASAS members will be required to participate in all Summer Academy and summer
professional development activities at BGA as determined by the Headmaster.
Dispute Resolution
Any BASAS member working at BGA may use the following process to resolve a dispute:
7. The employee may bring a concern under this Agreement to the Headmaster in writing. The
employee should specifically state the concern and the desired resolution.
8. Within 5 days of receipt of the concern, the Headmaster should meet with the employee to
discuss the concern.
9. Within 5 days of the meeting, the Headmaster should issue a decision to the employee.
10. If the employee is not satisfied with the resolution issued by the Headmaster, s/he may bring the
concern to the Board of Trustees or its appropriate subcommittee, in writing, within 10 days of
receiving the Headmaster’s decision. The home or business address of the Board Chair will be
provided to all BASAS members for this purpose.
11. The Board will consider the concern at its next scheduled meeting
12. The Board should issue a decision within 5 days of the meeting. This decision will be sent in
writing to the employee in question. The decision of the Board is final.
Compliance with Law
BGA agrees to comply with all applicable federal, state, and municipal laws, rules, regulations, and
codes, and all applicable federal and state court orders, including, but not limited to: the provisions of the
Uniform Procurement Act, M.G.L. c. 30B; M.G.L. c. 71, §89 and 603 CMR §1.00 et seq.; M.G.L. c. 71;
those relating to diversity of students, teachers and other staff; the protection of the rights and interests of
students and staff; the expenditure of public funds; and education reform. The Horace Mann School also
agrees to comply with the civil rights policies of the BPS. Students who have special needs or are English
language learners will be appropriately identified, assessed, and served in accordance with federal and
state requirements. Without limiting the foregoing, BGA agrees that it shall, in carrying out its
responsibilities under this Agreement, comply with every provision of M.G.L. c. 268A (the Conflict of
Interest Law) to the full extent of the applicability of said provisions. Failure to comply with all
applicable legal requirements may result in termination of this Agreement pursuant to the Termination
section, herein.
BGA agrees that all employment decisions will be made in compliance with the applicable federal and
state laws, and in compliance with all of BPS’s Superintendent’s Circular(s) related to federal and state
laws as shall exist and/or be amended from time to time by this or any other name known from time to
time.
Term of Agreement
The term of this Agreement is the period from the date of execution of this Agreement through June 30,
2016. No later than six (6) months prior to the expiration of the term of this Agreement, or the expiration
of BGA’s charter, whichever occurs first, BPS, BASAS, and BGA shall meet and make a good faith
effort to discuss and plan for the continuation of this Agreement, and the continued operation of BGA in
accordance with the Application and the Renewal, with such modifications as to which all parties agree,
the Boston School Committee approve, and the Massachusetts DESE grants.
Indemnification
It is expressly understood by and between the parties hereto that BGA is a unit of the Boston Public
School Department only to the extent consistent with the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71, §89 and regulations
promulgated in connection therewith. The parties expressly acknowledge that BGA is an entity
independent of the Boston Public School Department and that Boston Public School Department shall not
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
176
be liable for the acts or omissions of BGA, the Board, its officers, agents or employees except to the
extent consistent with the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71, §89 and regulations promulgated in connection
therewith. Further, BGA shall indemnify and hold harmless the Boston Public School Department, its
officers, agents or employees for all suits and claims against them or any of them directly resulting from
any educational or employment action or decision, any intentional or negligent acts or omissions or
wrong-doing of BGA, the Board, its officers, agents or employees.
Termination
BGA acknowledges that the Superintendent is responsible for the education of all BPS students. In the
event the Superintendent determines in his/her professional judgment that BGA is not serving the best
interest of the students of the BPS, and/or that BGA is not complying with the requirements of the
Compliance with Law section, above, s/he shall have the right to invoke the complaint procedures set
forth in 603 CMR 1.09 et seq., and/or present facts to the Commissioner of Education in connection with
a request for review and investigation of BGA. In addition, this Agreement terminates automatically in
the event that the Commissioner of Education revokes the charter of BGA for any reason. In the event
that this Agreement is terminated, BPS agrees to reimburse BGA for appropriate BGA expenses that it
incurred prior to such termination.
Horace Mann School’s Rights of Appeal
BPS acknowledges that BGA has the right to file an appeal with the Massachusetts DESE, in accordance
with the procedures set forth in 603 CMR 1.09 et seq., if BGA determines in its professional judgment
that the BPS is not complying with the requirements of this Agreement or the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71,
§89. BGA agrees that it shall not file any such appeal with the Massachusetts DESE without first giving
BPS at least fourteen (14) days written notice of BGA’s intent to file such an appeal and the grounds upon
which any such appeal would be based.
Notices
All notices, requests, and other communications given to or made upon the parties hereto, except as
otherwise specified herein, shall be in writing and shall be delivered or mailed, postage prepaid, to such
party at:
(A)
In the case of the BPS:
Superintendent
Boston Public School Department
26 Court Street
Boston, MA 02108
(D)
In the case of BGA:
(E)
Chair of Board of Trustees
Boston Green Academy
ADDRESS TBD
In the case of BASAS:
XXX
Any party may, by written notice to the other party, designate another address. Any notice, request, or
demand shall be deemed to have been given when it is actually received by the party to whom it is
addressed.
Counterparts
This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each such counterpart shall be deemed
to be an original instrument, and all counterparts together shall constitute but one agreement.
Severability
If any provision of this Agreement or the application thereof is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect
other provisions or applications of the Agreement, which can be given effect without the invalid
provisions or applications, and to this end the provisions of this Agreement are declared to be severable.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
177
Amendments
This Agreement, or any part thereof, may be amended from time to time hereinafter only by writing
executed by both the BPS, BASAS, and BGA.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Agreement under seal.
BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS
By: ___________________________ Date: _____________
Carol R. Johnson, Superintendent
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
By ____________________________
Corporation Counsel
By: __________________________
Name: TBD
Chairperson of the Board of Trustees
Date:
______________
By: __________________________
Name: TBD
President of BASAS
Date:
______________
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
178
Agreement between the Boston Public Schools
and the Boston Green Academy
and the Administrative Guild of the Boston School System,
Local 888, SEIU, CTW-CLC
AGREEMENT by and between the Boston Green Academy (“BGA”) (Horace Mann Charter Public
School), by and through its Board of Trustees (the “Board”), and the School Committee of the City of
Boston, by and through its Public School Department (the “BPS”) and the Administrative Guild of the
Boston School System (the “Guild”). In consideration of the mutual covenants contained herein, BGA,
the Guild, and BPS agree as follows:
WHEREAS, Massachusetts General Law Chapter 71, §89 gives the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
Department of Education (“Massachusetts DESE”), the power to approve the operation of a public school
under a charter (hereinafter, “Horace Mann Charter School”), to stimulate the development of innovative
programs within public education, to provide opportunities for innovative learning and assessments, to
encourage performance-based educational programs, and for other valuable educational purposes; and
WHEREAS, the Massachusetts DESE promulgated standards and procedures for the operation of Horace
Mann Charter Schools under 603 CMR §1.00 et seq.; and
WHEREAS, in 2010, BGA intends to request approval from the Massachusetts DESE to operate a Horace
Mann Charter School in accordance with BGA’s application (the “Application”); and
WHEREAS, the parties are desirous of delineating their respective rights and responsibilities to the extent
not fully described by the laws of Massachusetts, and to comply with said standards and procedures;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants contained herein, the parties hereto agree
as follows:
Status of Guild Members Who Work at BGA
All Guild members who elect to work and are selected to work at BGA shall maintain their full status as
members of the Guild bargaining unit and as employees of the Boston Public Schools. Further:
A. Guild members shall receive, at a minimum, the salary and benefits established in the Guild
Contract (the “Contract”), subject to possible upward adjustments as set forth below.
B. Guild members shall maintain and continue to accrue seniority within BPS in accordance with the
terms of the Contract.
As expressly set forth below, with the exception (A) and (B) above, BGA shall be exempt from
provisions of the Contract, and all past practices pertaining to the relationship between the Boston School
Committee and the Guild, contained in or related to the following sections of the existing Contract as well
as corresponding sections of any future Contract in effect during the term of this Agreement:
! Article 2: Salaries and Rates of Pay per Hour
! Article 3: Working Conditions
! Article 4: Posting and Bidding of Vacancies
! Article 5: Maintenance of Benefits
! Article 6: Leave
! Article 7: Vacations
! Article 8: Grievance Procedure
! Article 9: Arbitration
! Article 11: Obligation to Bargain
! Article 14: Other Compensation
! Article 15: Layoff and Recall Procedure
! Article 17: Labor Management Relations Committee
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
179
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
Article 18: Attendance Monitors and 766 Clerks
Article 19: Miscellaneous
Article 21: Part-Time Employees
Article 22: Performance Evaluation
Article 23: Superintendent’s Schools
Appendix A: Pay Schedules
Appendix B: Performance Evaluation Form
All Side Letters between the BPS and the Guild
In place of such provisions, the relationship between BGA and Guild members will be subject to
replacement provisions, if described below, or determined by the Board and/or management, if not
described below. The Board and/or management shall make such labor-related decisions in order to most
effectively achieve the mission of BGA while respecting the professionalism of all Guild members who
work at BGA.
Please note that some sections below are included for clarity purposes only.
Selection and Hiring of Staff
BGA has the sole discretion to select the staff for any and all positions at the school. BGA may select
staff for Guild positions at the school without regard to seniority within the Guild or past practices
between the Boston School Committee and the Guild. BGA may formulate job descriptions, duties and
responsibilities for any and all positions in its school. The selection of staff members shall be in
compliance with the applicable federal and state laws and municipal ordinances.
Management
BGA, through its Board, shall manage its staff independent of the Boston School Committee.
Excessing and Dismissal
BGA may involuntarily excess members of the Guild. Staff members shall receive notice of any
involuntary excessing by May 1st. The provisions in the Contract regarding excessing, seniority
and transfer shall not apply to BGA except that Guild members shall continue to accrue
seniority while working at the school.
BGA may choose to non-renew any Guild member pursuant to federal and state law and
municipal ordinances. BGA agrees that the dismissal of staff of the Horace Mann School shall be
done in accordance with federal and state law and municipal ordinances. In dismissing staff as
a result of misconduct, BGA shall not be bound by the practices or procedures established
between the Boston Public Schools and any collective bargaining unit. BGA shall issue
discipline, up to and including termination, to employees in accordance with applicable federal
and state laws and municipal ordinances.
Layoffs and Recall
BGA is exempt from the layoff and recall language in the Contract and any associated practices.
Processing and Notification Regarding Staff
The BPS agrees that any and all hiring and dismissals of staff for BGA will be processed in a timely
manner through the BPS Office of Human Resources. BGA shall provide the BPS Office of Human
Resources and Office of Finance with timely notification of any staffing changes for the subsequent
school year. Such notification shall be in writing and shall be made to BPS in a timely manner.
Evaluation – Guild Members
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Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
180
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Guild members will follow the same evaluation process that the school uses for teachers.
All Guild Members will be evaluated by the Headmaster (or his/her designee) on performance areas to be
outlined in the BGA Administrative Staff Evaluation Tool, which will be developed during the 2010-11
school year. Guild members will receive an Advanced, Advanced/Proficient, Proficient, Needs
Improvement, or Unacceptable rating for each performance area.
BGA reserves the right to make adjustments to this tool if such adjustments are clearly communicated to
Guild members.
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It shall be appropriate for the Headmaster to dismiss a Guild member who receives an unsatisfactory
rating on two consecutive evaluations (the Annual Evaluation and the Follow-Up Evaluation) within the
same academic year.
If the Headmaster deems a Guild member to be excessively absent for the purpose of avoiding a
Follow-Up Evaluation meeting, the Headmaster reserves the right to dismiss the employee
without holding the Follow-Up Evaluation meeting. In such case, the Follow-Up Evaluation and
a notice of the intent to dismiss the employee will be sent via First Class, Certified mail to the
employee’s address on record.
An evaluation and its consequences are not subject to the grievance procedures of the Contract.
Compensation – Guild Members
Every BGA Guild member earns, at a minimum, his or her hourly rate under the Guild scale.
The Headmaster may, at his/her discretion, offer stipends to Guild members for additional
products/duties.
Working Conditions – Guild Members
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+)*874/!9*-",*,64"4)"@)!F"/4"45,"365))*"1-"39:797:"45,"\)!F97:"H)7.949)73"#6F7)@*,.:,2,74"M)!2"
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-,/!%"
Of note, the standard workday for all Guild members during a school day is expected to be eight hours.
For the majority of Guild members, required hours will approximate 8:00am-4:00pm. While some Guild
members may be asked to work a different schedule to accommodate school programming (e.g., Saturday
programming), required hours will never exceed 45 hours per week.
The term of employment for Guild members will be one complete calendar year. Guild members will
follow the same calendar, observe the same school holidays, and observe the same school vacations as
teachers at BGA. Guild members are expected to work a full-time schedule (approximately 45 hours per
week) during the summer, with vacation time (paid or unpaid) to be approved by the Headmaster.
Dispute Resolution
Any Guild member working at BGA may use the following process to resolve a dispute:
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
181
1. The employee may bring a concern under this Agreement to the Headmaster in writing. The
employee should specifically state the concern and the desired resolution.
2. Within 5 days of receipt of the concern, the Headmaster should meet with the employee to
discuss the concern.
3. Within 5 days of the meeting, the Headmaster should issue a decision to the employee.
4. If the employee is not satisfied with the resolution issued by the Headmaster, s/he may bring the
concern to the Board, in writing, within 10 days of receiving the Headmaster’s decision. The
home or business address of the Board Chair will be provided to all Guild members for this
purpose.
5. The Board will consider the concern at its next scheduled meeting
6. The Board should issue a decision within 5 days of the meeting. This decision will be sent in
writing to the employee in question. The decision of the Board is final.
Compliance with Law
BGA agrees to comply with all applicable federal, state, and municipal laws, rules, regulations, and
codes, and all applicable federal and state court orders, including, but not limited to: the provisions of the
Uniform Procurement Act, M.G.L. c. 30B; M.G.L. c. 71, §89 and 603 CMR §1.00 et seq.; M.G.L. c. 71;
those relating to diversity of students, teachers and other staff; the protection of the rights and interests of
students and staff; the expenditure of public funds; and education reform. The Horace Mann School also
agrees to comply with the civil rights policies of the BPS. Students who have special needs or are English
language learners will be appropriately identified, assessed, and served in accordance with federal and
state requirements. Without limiting the foregoing, BGA agrees that it shall, in carrying out its
responsibilities under this Agreement, comply with every provision of M.G.L. c. 268A (the Conflict of
Interest Law) to the full extent of the applicability of said provisions. Failure to comply with all
applicable legal requirements may result in termination of this Agreement pursuant to the Termination
section, herein.
BGA agrees that all employment decisions will be made in compliance with the applicable federal and
state laws, and in compliance with all of BPS’ Superintendent’s Circular(s) related to federal and state
laws as shall exist and/or be amended from time to time by this or any other name known from time to
time.
Term of Agreement
The term of this Agreement is the period from the date of execution of this Agreement through June 30,
2016. No later than six (6) months prior to the expiration of the term of this Agreement, or the expiration
of BGA’s charter, whichever occurs first, BPS, the Guild, and BGA shall meet and make a good faith
effort to discuss and plan for the continuation of this Agreement, and the continued operation of BGA in
accordance with the Application and the Renewal, with such modifications as to which all parties agree,
the Boston School Committee approve, and the Massachusetts DESE grants.
Indemnification
It is expressly understood by and between the parties hereto that BGA is a unit of the Boston Public
School Department only to the extent consistent with the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71, §89 and regulations
promulgated in connection therewith. The parties expressly acknowledge that BGA is an entity
independent of the Boston Public School Department and that Boston Public School Department shall not
be liable for the acts or omissions of BGA, the Board, its officers, agents or employees except to the
extent consistent with the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71, §89 and regulations promulgated in connection
therewith. Further, BGA shall indemnify and hold harmless the Boston Public School Department, its
officers, agents or employees for all suits and claims against them or any of them directly resulting from
any educational or employment action or decision, any intentional or negligent acts or omissions or
wrong-doing of BGA, the Board, its officers, agents or employees.
Termination
BGA acknowledges that the Superintendent is responsible for the education of all BPS students. In the
event the Superintendent determines in his/her professional judgment that BGA is not serving the best
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
182
interest of the students of the BPS, and/or that BGA is not complying with the requirements of the
Compliance with Law section, above, s/he shall have the right to invoke the complaint procedures set
forth in 603 CMR 1.09 et seq., and/or present facts to the Commissioner of Education in connection with
a request for review and investigation of BGA. In addition, this Agreement terminates automatically in
the event that the Commissioner of Education revokes the charter of BGA for any reason. In the event
that this Agreement is terminated, BPS agrees to reimburse BGA for appropriate BGA expenses that it
incurred prior to such termination.
Horace Mann School’s Rights of Appeal
BPS acknowledges that BGA has the right to file an appeal with the Massachusetts DESE, in accordance
with the procedures set forth in 603 CMR 1.09 et seq., if BGA determines in its professional judgment
that the BPS is not complying with the requirements of this Agreement or the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71,
§89. BGA agrees that it shall not file any such appeal with the Massachusetts DESE without first giving
BPS at least fourteen (14) days written notice of BGA’s intent to file such an appeal and the grounds upon
which any such appeal would be based.
Notices
All notices, requests, and other communications given to or made upon the parties hereto, except as
otherwise specified herein, shall be in writing and shall be delivered or mailed, postage prepaid, to such
party at:
(A)
In the case of the BPS:
Superintendent
Boston Public School Department
26 Court Street
Boston, MA 02108
(B)
In the case of BGA:
Chair of Board of Trustees
Boston Green Academy
ADDRESS TBD
(C)
In the case of the Guild:
XXX
Any party may, by written notice to the other party, designate another address. Any notice, request, or
demand shall be deemed to have been given when it is actually received by the party to whom it is
addressed.
Counterparts
This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each such counterpart shall be deemed
to be an original instrument, and all counterparts together shall constitute but one agreement.
Severability
If any provision of this Agreement or the application thereof is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect
other provisions or applications of the Agreement, which can be given effect without the invalid
provisions or applications, and to this end the provisions of this Agreement are declared to be severable.
Amendments
This Agreement, or any part thereof, may be amended from time to time hereinafter only by writing
executed by both the BPS, the Guild, and BGA.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Agreement under seal.
BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS
By: ___________________________ Date: _____________
Carol R. Johnson, Superintendent
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
183
By ____________________________
Corporation Counsel
By: __________________________
Name: TBD
Chairperson of the Board of Trustees
Date:
______________
By: __________________________
Name: TBD
President of the Guild
Date:
______________
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
184
Agreement between the Boston Public Schools
and the Boston Green Academy
and the Local Union No. 1952, Painters & Allied Trades District Council No. 35 of the
Boston School System
AGREEMENT by and between the Boston Green Academy (“BGA”) (Horace Mann Charter Public
School), by and through its Board of Trustees (the “Board”), and the School Committee of the City of
Boston (“Boston School Committee”), by and through its Public School Department (the “BPS”) and the
Local Union No. 1952, Painters and Allied Trades District Council No. 35 of the Boston School System
(the “Union”). In consideration of the mutual covenants contained herein, BGA, the Union, and BPS
agree as follows:
WHEREAS, Massachusetts General Law Chapter 71, §89 gives the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
Department of Education (“Massachusetts DESE”), the power to approve the operation of a public school
under a charter (hereinafter, “Horace Mann Charter School”), to stimulate the development of innovative
programs within public education, to provide opportunities for innovative learning and assessments, to
encourage performance-based educational programs, and for other valuable educational purposes; and
WHEREAS, the Massachusetts DESE promulgated standards and procedures for the operation of Horace
Mann Charter Schools under 603 CMR §1.00 et seq.; and
WHEREAS, in 2010, BGA intends to request approval from the Massachusetts DESE to operate a Horace
Mann Charter School in accordance with BGA’s application (the “Application”); and
WHEREAS, the parties are desirous of delineating their respective rights and responsibilities to the extent
not fully described by the laws of Massachusetts, and to comply with said standards and procedures;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants contained herein, the parties hereto agree
as follows:
Status of Union Employees Who Work at BGA
All custodial staff who elect to work and are selected to work at BGA shall maintain their full status as
members of the Union bargaining unit and as employees of the BPS. Further:
A. Union employees shall receive, at a minimum, the salary and benefits established in the Union
Contract (the “Contract”), subject to possible upward adjustments as set forth below.
B. Union employees shall maintain and continue to accrue seniority within BPS in accordance with
the terms of the Contract.
As expressly set forth below, with the exception (A) and (B) above, BGA shall be exempt from
provisions of the Contract, and all past practices pertaining to the relationship between the Boston School
Committee and the Union, contained in or related to the following sections of the existing Contract as
well as corresponding sections of any future Contract in effect during the term of this Agreement:
! Article 4: Grievance Procedures
! Article 5: Arbitration
! Article 6: Salaries and Rates of Pay
! Article 7: Hours of Work
! Article 8: Overtime
! Article 9: Holidays
! Article 10: Vacations
! Article 11: Sick Leave
! Article 12: Severance Pay
! Article 13: Industrial Pay
! Article 14: Leave of Absence
! Article 15: Seniority
! Article 16: Vacations and Bidding Procedure
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
185
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
Article 17: Assaults
Article 18: Protection
Article 19: Employees Files
Article 20: Information to the Union
Article 21: Notice to the Union
Article 22: Union Business
Article 23: Performance Evaluation
Article 24: Pre-existing Benefits, Conditions and Prior Practices
Article 25: Insurance
Article 27: Professional Cooperation
Article 28: Non-discrimination/Affirmative Action
Article 29: Management/Union Committee
Article 30: Equipment
Article 31: Management Rights
Article 32: Handling of New Issues
Article 33: Physical Examinations
Article 34: Maintenance Shop
Article 36: Duration
Attachment A: Stipends
In place of such provisions, the relationship between BGA and Union members will be subject to
replacement provisions, if described below, or determined by the Board and/or management, if not
described below. The Board and/or management shall make such labor-related decisions in order to most
effectively achieve the mission of BGA while respecting the professionalism of all Union members who
work at BGA.
Please note that some sections below are included for clarity purposes only.
Selection and Hiring of Staff
BGA has the sole discretion to select the staff for any and all positions at the school. BGA may select
staff for custodial positions at the school without regard to seniority within the Union or past practices
between the Boston School Committee and the Union. BGA may formulate job descriptions, duties and
responsibilities for any and all positions in its school. The selection of staff members shall be in
compliance with the applicable federal and state laws and municipal ordinances.
Management
BGA, through its Board, shall manage its staff independent of the Boston School Committee.
Excessing and Dismissal
BGA may involuntarily excess members of the Union. Staff members shall receive notice of any
involuntary excessing by May 1st. The provisions in the Contract regarding excessing, seniority
and transfer shall not apply to BGA except that Union members shall continue to accrue
seniority while working at the school.
BGA may choose to non-renew any Union staff member pursuant to federal and state law and
municipal ordinances. BGA agrees that the dismissal of staff of the Horace Mann School shall be
done in accordance with federal and state law and municipal ordinances. In dismissing staff as
a result of misconduct, BGA shall not be bound by the practices or procedures established
between the BPS and any collective bargaining unit. BGA shall issue discipline, up to and
including termination, to employees in accordance with applicable federal and state laws and
municipal ordinances.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
186
Layoffs and Recall
BGA is exempt from the layoff and recall language in the Contract and any associated practices
Processing and Notification Regarding Staff
The BPS agrees that any and all hiring and dismissals of staff for BGA will be processed in a timely
manner through the BPS Office of Human Resources. BGA shall provide the BPS Office of Human
Resources and Office of Finance with timely notification of any staffing changes for the subsequent
school year. Such notification shall be in writing and shall be made to BPS in a timely manner.
Evaluation – Custodial Staff
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87.,!34/7.97:")?"45,9!")@7"I)1"0,!?)!2/76,%"
Custodial staff will follow the same evaluation process that the school uses for teachers.
All custodial staff will be evaluated by the Headmaster and/or the Dean of Operations on performance
areas to be outlined in the BGA Custodial Staff Evaluation Tool, which will be developed during the
2010-11 school year. Union staff will receive an Advanced, Advanced/Proficient, Proficient, Needs
Improvement, or Unacceptable rating for each performance area.
BGA reserves the right to make adjustments to this tool if such adjustments are clearly communicated to
Union members.
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4593"#:!,,2,74%"
An evaluation and its consequences are not subject to the grievance procedures of the Contract.
If the Headmaster deems a Union member to be excessively absent for the purpose of avoiding a
Follow-Up Evaluation meeting, the Headmaster reserves the right to dismiss the employee
without holding the Follow-Up Evaluation meeting. In such case, the Follow-Up Evaluation and
a notice of the intent to dismiss the employee will be sent via First Class, Certified mail to the
employee’s address on record.
Working Conditions – Union Staff
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Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
187
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+)*874/!9*-",*,64"4)"@)!F"/4"45,"365))*"1-"39:797:"45,"\)!F97:"H)7.949)73"#6F7)@*,.:,2,74"M)!2"
AH834).9/*"(4/??D"45/4".,36!91,3"45,"/749690/4,."@)!F97:"6)7.949)73"?)!"45,"806)297:"/6/.,296"-,/!%"
Of note, the standard workday for all custodial staff during a school day is expected to be nine hours. For
the majority of custodial staff, required hours will approximate 7:30am–4:30pm.
Custodial staff at BGA may take a one-hour lunch break and two 15-minute breaks between 7:30am and
4:30pm during a given school day.
The term of employment for Union members will be the school year. During the school year, Union
members will follow the same calendar, observe the same school holidays, and observe the same school
vacations as teachers at BGA. Some Union members may be required to work during the summer for
support BGA activities such as professional development days and Summer Academy. Additional
compensation, beyond their base salary, will be paid to Union members who work during these times.
Terms and conditions for this work will be made available to Union members prior to the start of such
work.
Dispute Resolution
Any Union member working at BGA may use the following process to resolve a dispute:
1. The employee may bring a concern under this Agreement to the Headmaster in writing. The
employee should specifically state the concern and the desired resolution.
2. Within 5 days of receipt of the concern, the Headmaster should meet with the employee to
discuss the concern.
3. Within 5 days of the meeting, the Headmaster should issue a decision to the employee.
4. If the employee is not satisfied with the resolution issued by the Headmaster, s/he may bring the
concern to the Board, in writing, within 10 days of receiving the Headmaster’s decision. The
home or business address of the Board Chair will be provided to all Union members for this
purpose.
5. The Board will consider the concern at its next scheduled meeting
The Board should issue a decision within 5 days of the meeting. This decision will be sent in
writing to the employee in question. The decision of the Board is final.
Compliance with Law
BGA agrees to comply with all applicable federal, state, and municipal laws, rules, regulations, and
codes, and all applicable federal and state court orders, including, but not limited to: the provisions of the
Uniform Procurement Act, M.G.L. c. 30B; M.G.L. c. 71, §89 and 603 CMR §1.00 et seq.; M.G.L. c. 71;
those relating to diversity of students, teachers and other staff; the protection of the rights and interests of
students and staff; the expenditure of public funds; and education reform. The Horace Mann School also
agrees to comply with the civil rights policies of the BPS. Students who have special needs or are English
language learners will be appropriately identified, assessed, and served in accordance with federal and
state requirements. Without limiting the foregoing, BGA agrees that it shall, in carrying out its
responsibilities under this Agreement, comply with every provision of M.G.L. c. 268A (the Conflict of
Interest Law) to the full extent of the applicability of said provisions. Failure to comply with all
applicable legal requirements may result in termination of this Agreement pursuant to the Termination
section, herein.
BGA agrees that all employment decisions will be made in compliance with the applicable federal and
state laws, and in compliance with all of BPS’ Superintendent’s Circular(s) related to federal and state
laws as shall exist and/or be amended from time to time by this or any other name known from time to
time.
Term of Agreement
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
188
The term of this Agreement is the period from the date of execution of this Agreement through June 30,
2016. No later than six (6) months prior to the expiration of the term of this Agreement, or the expiration
of BGA’s charter, whichever occurs first, BPS, the Union, and BGA shall meet and make a good faith
effort to discuss and plan for the continuation of this Agreement, and the continued operation of BGA in
accordance with the Application and the Renewal, with such modifications as to which all parties agree,
the Boston School Committee approve, and the Massachusetts DESE grants.
Indemnification
It is expressly understood by and between the parties hereto that BGA is a unit of the BPS only to the
extent consistent with the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71, §89 and regulations promulgated in connection
therewith. The parties expressly acknowledge that BGA is an entity independent of the BPS and that BPS
shall not be liable for the acts or omissions of BGA, the Board, its officers, agents or employees except to
the extent consistent with the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71, §89 and regulations promulgated in connection
therewith. Further, BGA shall indemnify and hold harmless the BPS, its officers, agents or employees for
all suits and claims against them or any of them directly resulting from any educational or employment
action or decision, any intentional or negligent acts or omissions or wrong-doing of BGA, the Board, its
officers, agents or employees.
Termination
BGA acknowledges that the Superintendent is responsible for the education of all BPS students. In the
event the Superintendent determines in his/her professional judgment that BGA is not serving the best
interest of the students of the BPS, and/or that BGA is not complying with the requirements of the
Compliance with Law section, above, s/he shall have the right to invoke the complaint procedures set
forth in 603 CMR 1.09 et seq., and/or present facts to the Commissioner of Education in connection with
a request for review and investigation of BGA. In addition, this Agreement terminates automatically in
the event that the Commissioner of Education revokes the charter of BGA for any reason. In the event
that this Agreement is terminated, BPS agrees to reimburse BGA for appropriate BGA expenses that it
incurred prior to such termination.
Horace Mann School’s Rights of Appeal
BPS acknowledges that BGA has the right to file an appeal with the Massachusetts DESE, in accordance
with the procedures set forth in 603 CMR 1.09 et seq., if BGA determines in its professional judgment
that the BPS is not complying with the requirements of this Agreement or the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71,
§89. BGA agrees that it shall not file any such appeal with the Massachusetts DESE without first giving
BPS at least fourteen (14) days written notice of BGA’s intent to file such an appeal and the grounds upon
which any such appeal would be based.
Notices
All notices, requests, and other communications given to or made upon the parties hereto, except as
otherwise specified herein, shall be in writing and shall be delivered or mailed, postage prepaid, to such
party at:
(A)
In the case of the BPS:
Superintendent
Boston Public School Department
26 Court Street
Boston, MA 02108
(B)
In the case of BGA:
(C)
Chair of Board of Trustees
Boston Green Academy
ADDRESS TBD
In the case of the Union:
XXX
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
189
Any party may, by written notice to the other party, designate another address. Any notice, request, or
demand shall be deemed to have been given when it is actually received by the party to whom it is
addressed.
Counterparts
This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each such counterpart shall be deemed
to be an original instrument, and all counterparts together shall constitute but one agreement.
Severability
If any provision of this Agreement or the application thereof is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect
other provisions or applications of the Agreement, which can be given effect without the invalid
provisions or applications, and to this end the provisions of this Agreement are declared to be severable.
Amendments
This Agreement, or any part thereof, may be amended from time to time hereinafter only by writing
executed by both the BPS, the Union, and BGA.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Agreement under seal.
BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS
By: ___________________________ Date: _____________
Carol R. Johnson, Superintendent
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
By ____________________________
Corporation Counsel
By: __________________________
Name: TBD
Chairperson of the Board of Trustees
Date:
______________
By: __________________________
Name: TBD
President of the Union
Date:
______________
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
190
Agreement between the Boston Public Schools
and the Boston Green Academy
and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO, Council 93 and Affiliate Local 230 of the Boston School System
AGREEMENT by and between the Boston Green Academy (“BGA”) (Horace Mann Charter Public
School), by and through its Board of Trustees (the “Board”), and the School Committee of the City of
Boston, by and through its Public School Department (the “BPS”) and the American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, Council 93 and Affiliate Local 230 of the Boston School
System (the “Cafeteria and Food Service Union”). In consideration of the mutual covenants contained
herein, BGA, the Cafeteria and Food Service Union, and BPS agree as follows:
WHEREAS, Massachusetts General Law Chapter 71, §89 gives the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
Department of Education (“Massachusetts DESE”), the power to approve the operation of a public school
under a charter (hereinafter, “Horace Mann Charter School”), to stimulate the development of innovative
programs within public education, to provide opportunities for innovative learning and assessments, to
encourage performance-based educational programs, and for other valuable educational purposes; and
WHEREAS, the Massachusetts DESE promulgated standards and procedures for the operation of Horace
Mann Charter Schools under 603 CMR §1.00 et seq.; and
WHEREAS, in 2010, BGA intends to request approval from the Massachusetts DESE to operate a Horace
Mann Charter School in accordance with BGA’s application (the “Application”); and
WHEREAS, the parties are desirous of delineating their respective rights and responsibilities to the extent
not fully described by the laws of Massachusetts, and to comply with said standards and procedures;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants contained herein, the parties hereto agree
as follows:
Status of Cafeteria and Food Service Union Members Who Work at BGA
All Cafeteria and Food Service Union members who elect to work and are selected to work at BGA shall
maintain their full status as members of the Cafeteria and Food Service Union bargaining unit and as
employees of the BPS. Further:
A. Cafeteria and Food Service Union members shall receive, at a minimum, the salary and benefits
established in the Cafeteria and Food Service Union Contract (the “Contract”), subject to possible
upward adjustments as set forth below.
B. Cafeteria and Food Service Union members shall maintain and continue to accrue seniority
within BPS in accordance with the terms of the Contract.
As expressly set forth below, with the exception (A) and (B) above, BGA shall be exempt from
provisions of the Contract, and all past practices pertaining to the relationship between the Boston School
Committee and the Cafeteria and Food Service Union, contained in or related to the following sections of
the existing Contract as well as corresponding sections of any future Contract in effect during the term of
this Agreement:
! Article 2: Rights of the Committee
! Article 4: Grievance Procedure
! Article 5: Definitions and Working Conditions
! Article 10: Transfers
! Article 11: Leaves of Absences
! Article 12: Sick Leave
! Article 13: Holidays
! Article 14: Vacation Leave
! Article 15: Union Business
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
191
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
Article 16: Compensation
Article 17: Miscellaneous
Article 20: Stability of Agreement
Article 21: Performance Evaluation
Article 23: Comprehensive Assistance Program for Employees (C.A.P.E.)
Article 24: Salaried Managers
Appendix A: Salary Schedule
Appendix B: Housing Trust Agreement
Appendix C: Side Letter
In place of such provisions, the relationship between BGA and Cafeteria and Food Service Union
members will be subject to replacement provisions, if described below, or determined by the Board and/or
management, if not described below. The Board and/or management shall make such labor-related
decisions in order to most effectively achieve the mission of BGA while respecting the professionalism of
all Cafeteria and Food Services Union members who work at BGA.
Please note that some sections below are included for clarity purposes only.
Selection and Hiring of Staff
BGA has the sole discretion to select the staff for any and all positions at the school. BGA may select
staff for Cafeteria and Food Service positions at the school without regard to seniority within the
Cafeteria and Food Service Union or past practices between the Boston School Committee and the
Cafeteria and Food Service Union. BGA may formulate job descriptions, duties and responsibilities for
any and all positions in its school. The selection of staff members shall be in compliance with the
applicable federal and state laws and municipal ordinances.
Management
BGA, through its Board, shall manage its staff independent of the Boston School Committee.
Excessing and Dismissal
BGA may involuntarily excess members of the Cafeteria and Food Service Union. Staff
members shall receive notice of any involuntary excessing by May 1st. The provisions in the
Contract regarding excessing, seniority and transfer shall not apply to BGA except that
Cafeteria and Food Service Union members shall continue to accrue seniority while working at
the school.
BGA may choose to non-renew any Cafeteria and Food Service Union member pursuant to
federal and state law and municipal ordinances. BGA agrees that the dismissal of staff of the
Horace Mann School shall be done in accordance with federal and state law and municipal
ordinances. In dismissing staff as a result of misconduct, BGA shall not be bound by the
practices or procedures established between the BPS and any collective bargaining unit. BGA
shall issue discipline, up to and including termination, to employees in accordance with
applicable federal and state laws and municipal ordinances.
Layoffs and Recall
BGA is exempt from the layoff and recall language in the Contract and any associated practices.
Processing and Notification Regarding Staff
The BPS agrees that any and all hiring and dismissals of staff for BGA will be processed in a timely
manner through the BPS Office of Human Resources. BGA shall provide the BPS Office of Human
Resources and Office of Finance with timely notification of any staffing changes for the subsequent
school year. Such notification shall be in writing and shall be made to BPS in a timely manner.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
192
Evaluation – Cafeteria and Food Service Union Members
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Cafeteria and Food Service Union members will follow the same evaluation process that the school uses
for teachers.
All Cafeteria and Food Service Union Members will be evaluated by the Headmaster and/or the Dean of
Operations on performance areas to be outlined in the BGA Cafeteria and Food Service Workers Staff
Evaluation Tool, which will be developed during the 2010-11 school year. Cafeteria and Food Service
Union members will receive an Advanced, Advanced/Proficient, Proficient, Needs Improvement, or
Unacceptable rating for each performance area.
BGA reserves the right to make adjustments to this tool if such adjustments are clearly communicated to
Cafeteria and Food Service Union members.
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3/493?/64)!-",+/*8/49)7%"
It shall be appropriate for the Headmaster to dismiss a Cafeteria and Food Service Union member who
receives an unsatisfactory rating on two consecutive evaluations (the Annual Evaluation and the FollowUp Evaluation) within the same academic year.
If the Headmaster deems a Cafeteria and Food Service Union member to be excessively absent
for the purpose of avoiding a Follow-Up Evaluation meeting, the Headmaster reserves the right
to dismiss the employee without holding the Follow-Up Evaluation meeting. In such case, the
Follow-Up Evaluation and a notice of the intent to dismiss the employee will be sent via First
Class, Certified mail to the employee’s address on record.
An evaluation and its consequences are not subject to the grievance procedures of the Contract.
Compensation – Cafeteria and Food Service Union Members
BGA reserves the right to compensate hourly or salaried Cafeteria and Food Service Union members at a
rate higher than that determined by the Contract.
Working Conditions – Cafeteria and Food Service Union Members
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=79)7"2,21,!3"3,*,64,."4)"@)!F"/4"NJ#"@9**"+)*874/!9*-",*,64"4)"@)!F"/4"45,"365))*"1-"39:797:"45,"
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.,36!91,3"45,"/749690/4,."@)!F97:"6)7.949)73"?)!"45,"806)297:"/6/.,296"-,/!%"
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
193
Of note, the standard workday for all Cafeteria and Food Service Union members during a school day is
expected to be approximately eight hours. For the majority of Cafeteria and Food Service Union
members, required hours will approximate 6:30am–2:30pm. Required hours are unlikely to exceed 40
hours per week.
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.9!,64,."1-"45,"Y,/.2/34,!%"
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L&^"0*/-,!3;")!"28*49T?87649)7"6,**"05)7,3".8!97:"@)!F"5)8!3%"
The term of employment for Cafeteria and Food Service Union members will be one complete school
year, plus up to three weeks in the summer to support BGA’s Summer Academy and one day after the
school year. Cafeteria and Food Service Union members will follow the same calendar, observe the same
school holidays, and observe the same school vacations as teachers at BGA.
Dispute Resolution
Any Cafeteria and Food Service Union member working at BGA may use the following process to
resolve a dispute:
1. The employee may bring a concern under this Agreement to the Headmaster in writing. The
employee should specifically state the concern and the desired resolution.
2. Within 5 days of receipt of the concern, the Headmaster should meet with the employee to
discuss the concern.
3. Within 5 days of the meeting, the Headmaster should issue a decision to the employee.
4. If the employee is not satisfied with the resolution issued by the Headmaster, he/she may bring
the concern to the Board, in writing, within 10 days of receiving the Headmaster’s decision. The
home or business address of the Board Chair will be provided to all Cafeteria and Food Service
Union members for this purpose.
5. The Board will consider the concern at its next scheduled meeting
6. The Board should issue a decision within 5 days of the meeting. This decision will be sent in
writing to the employee in question. The decision of the Board is final.
Compliance with Law
BGA agrees to comply with all applicable federal, state, and municipal laws, rules, regulations, and
codes, and all applicable federal and state court orders, including, but not limited to: the provisions of the
Uniform Procurement Act, M.G.L. c. 30B; M.G.L. c. 71, §89 and 603 CMR §1.00 et seq.; M.G.L. c. 71;
those relating to diversity of students, teachers and other staff; the protection of the rights and interests of
students and staff; the expenditure of public funds; and education reform. The Horace Mann School also
agrees to comply with the civil rights policies of the BPS. Students who have special needs or are English
language learners will be appropriately identified, assessed, and served in accordance with federal and
state requirements. Without limiting the foregoing, BGA agrees that it shall, in carrying out its
responsibilities under this Agreement, comply with every provision of M.G.L. c. 268A (the Conflict of
Interest Law) to the full extent of the applicability of said provisions. Failure to comply with all
applicable legal requirements may result in termination of this Agreement pursuant to the Termination
section, herein.
BGA agrees that all employment decisions will be made in compliance with the applicable federal and
state laws, and in compliance with all of BPS’ Superintendent’s Circular(s) related to federal and state
laws as shall exist and/or be amended from time to time by this or any other name known from time to
time.
Term of Agreement
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
194
The term of this Agreement is the period from the date of execution of this Agreement through June 30,
2016. No later than six (6) months prior to the expiration of the term of this Agreement, or the expiration
of BGA’s charter, whichever occurs first, BPS, the Cafeteria and Food Service Union, and BGA shall
meet and make a good faith effort to discuss and plan for the continuation of this Agreement, and the
continued operation of BGA in accordance with the Application and the Renewal, with such
modifications as to which all parties agree, the Boston School Committee approve, and the Massachusetts
DESE grants.
Indemnification
It is expressly understood by and between the parties hereto that BGA is a unit of the BPS only to the
extent consistent with the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71, §89 and regulations promulgated in connection
therewith. The parties expressly acknowledge that BGA is an entity independent of the BPS and that BPS
shall not be liable for the acts or omissions of BGA, the Board, its officers, agents or employees except to
the extent consistent with the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71, §89 and regulations promulgated in connection
therewith. Further, BGA shall indemnify and hold harmless the BPS, its officers, agents or employees for
all suits and claims against them or any of them directly resulting from any educational or employment
action or decision, any intentional or negligent acts or omissions or wrong-doing of BGA, the Board, its
officers, agents or employees.
Termination
BGA acknowledges that the Superintendent is responsible for the education of all BPS students. In the
event the Superintendent determines in his/her professional judgment that BGA is not serving the best
interest of the students of the BPS, and/or that BGA is not complying with the requirements of the
Compliance with Law section, above, s/he shall have the right to invoke the complaint procedures set
forth in 603 CMR 1.09 et seq., and/or present facts to the Commissioner of Education in connection with
a request for review and investigation of BGA. In addition, this Agreement terminates automatically in
the event that the Commissioner of Education revokes the charter of BGA for any reason. In the event
that this Agreement is terminated, BPS agrees to reimburse BGA for appropriate BGA expenses that it
incurred prior to such termination.
Horace Mann School’s Rights of Appeal
BPS acknowledges that BGA has the right to file an appeal with the Massachusetts DESE, in accordance
with the procedures set forth in 603 CMR 1.09 et seq., if BGA determines in its professional judgment
that the BPS is not complying with the requirements of this Agreement or the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71,
§89. BGA agrees that it shall not file any such appeal with the Massachusetts DESE without first giving
BPS at least fourteen (14) days written notice of BGA’s intent to file such an appeal and the grounds upon
which any such appeal would be based.
Notices
All notices, requests, and other communications given to or made upon the parties hereto, except as
otherwise specified herein, shall be in writing and shall be delivered or mailed, postage prepaid, to such
party at:
(A)
In the case of the BPS:
Superintendent
Boston Public School Department
26 Court Street
Boston, MA 02108
(B)
In the case of UP:
(C)
Chair of Board of Trustees
Boston Green Academy
ADDRESS TBD
In the case of the Cafeteria and Food Service Union:
XXX
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
195
Any party may, by written notice to the other party, designate another address. Any notice, request, or
demand shall be deemed to have been given when it is actually received by the party to whom it is
addressed.
Counterparts
This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each such counterpart shall be deemed
to be an original instrument, and all counterparts together shall constitute but one agreement.
Severability
If any provision of this Agreement or the application thereof is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect
other provisions or applications of the Agreement, which can be given effect without the invalid
provisions or applications, and to this end the provisions of this Agreement are declared to be severable.
Amendments
This Agreement, or any part thereof, may be amended from time to time hereinafter only by writing
executed by both the BPS, the Cafeteria and Food Service Union, and BGA.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Agreement under seal.
BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS
By: ___________________________ Date: _____________
Carol R. Johnson, Superintendent
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
By ____________________________
Corporation Counsel
By: __________________________
Name: TBD
Chairperson of the Board of Trustees
Date:
______________
By: __________________________
Date:
Name: TBD
President of the Cafeteria and Food Service Union
______________
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
196
Agreement between the Boston Public Schools
and the Boston Green Academy
and the Boston School Police Patrolmen’s Association
AGREEMENT by and between the Boston Green Academy (“BGA”) (Horace Mann Charter Public
School), by and through its Board of Trustees (the “Board”), and the School Committee of the City of
Boston, by and through its Public School Department (the “BPS”) and the Boston School Police
Patrolmen’s Association (the “School Police Association” or the “Association”). In consideration of the
mutual covenants contained herein, BGA, the Association, and BPS agree as follows:
WHEREAS, Massachusetts General Law Chapter 71, §89 gives the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
Department of Education (“Massachusetts DESE”), the power to approve the operation of a public school
under a charter (hereinafter, “Horace Mann Charter School”), to stimulate the development of innovative
programs within public education, to provide opportunities for innovative learning and assessments, to
encourage performance-based educational programs, and for other valuable educational purposes; and
WHEREAS, the Massachusetts DESE promulgated standards and procedures for the operation of Horace
Mann Charter Schools under 603 CMR §1.00 et seq.; and
WHEREAS, in 2010, BGA intends to request approval from the Massachusetts DESE to operate a Horace
Mann Charter School in accordance with BGA’s application (the “Application”); and
WHEREAS, the parties are desirous of delineating their respective rights and responsibilities to the extent
not fully described by the laws of Massachusetts, and to comply with said standards and procedures;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants contained herein, the parties hereto agree
as follows:
Status of School Police Association Members Who Work at BGA
All School Police Association members who elect to work and are selected to work at BGA shall
maintain their full status as members of the School Police Association bargaining unit and as employees
of the BPS. Further:
C. School Police Association members shall receive, at a minimum, the salary and benefits
established in the School Police Association Contract (the “Contract”), subject to possible upward
adjustments as set forth below.
D. School Police Association members shall maintain and continue to accrue seniority within BPS in
accordance with the terms of the Contract.
As expressly set forth below, with the exception (A) and (B) above, BGA shall be exempt from
provisions of the Contract, and all past practices pertaining to the relationship between the Boston School
Committee and the School Police Association, contained in or related to the following sections of the
existing Contract as well as corresponding sections of any future Contract in effect during the term of this
Agreement:
! Article II: Discipline and Discharge
! Article III: Performance Evaluations
! Article IV: Seniority
! Article VII: Files
! Article X: Grievance Procedure and Arbitration
! Article XII: Hours of Work
! Article XIV: Overtime
! Article XXIV: Funding
In place of such provisions, the relationship between BGA and School Police Association members will
be subject to replacement provisions, if described below, or determined by the Board and/or management,
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
197
if not described below. The Board and/or management shall make such labor-related decisions in order to
most effectively achieve the mission of BGA while respecting the professionalism of all School Police
Association members who work at BGA.
Please note that some sections below are included for clarity purposes only.
Selection and Hiring of Staff
BGA has the sole discretion to select the staff for any and all positions at the school. BGA may select
staff for School Police Association positions at the school without regard to seniority within the School
Police Association or past practices between the Boston School Committee and the School Police
Association. BGA may formulate job descriptions, duties and responsibilities for any and all positions in
its school. The selection of staff members shall be in compliance with the applicable federal and state
laws and municipal ordinances.
Management
BGA, through its Board, shall manage its staff independent of the Boston School Committee.
Excessing and Dismissal
BGA may involuntarily excess members of the School Police Association. Staff members shall
receive notice of any involuntary excessing by May 1st. The provisions in the Contract regarding
excessing, seniority and transfer shall not apply to BGA except that School Police Association
members shall continue to accrue seniority while working at the school.
BGA may choose to non-renew any School Police Association member pursuant to federal and
state law and municipal ordinances. BGA agrees that the dismissal of staff of the Horace Mann
School shall be done in accordance with federal and state law and municipal ordinances. In
dismissing staff as a result of misconduct, BGA shall not be bound by the practices or
procedures established between the BPS and any collective bargaining unit. BGA shall issue
discipline, up to and including termination, to employees in accordance with applicable federal
and state laws and municipal ordinances.
Layoffs and Recall
BGA is exempt from the layoff and recall language in the Contract and any associated practices.
Processing and Notification Regarding Staff
The BPS agrees that any and all hiring and dismissals of staff for BGA will be processed in a timely
manner through the BPS Office of Human Resources. BGA shall provide the BPS Office of Human
Resources and Office of Finance with timely notification of any staffing changes for the subsequent
school year. Such notification shall be in writing and shall be made to BPS in a timely manner.
Evaluation – School Police Association Members
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Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
198
School Police Association members will follow the same evaluation process that the school uses for
teachers.
All School Police Association Members will be evaluated by the Headmaster and/or the Dean of
Operations on performance areas to be outlined in the BGA School Police Evaluation Tool, which will be
developed during the 2010-11 school year. School Police Association members will receive an Advanced,
Advanced/Proficient, Proficient, Needs Improvement, or Unacceptable rating for each performance area.
BGA reserves the right to make adjustments to this tool if such adjustments are clearly communicated to
School Police Association members.
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It shall be appropriate for the Headmaster to dismiss a School Police Association member who receives
an unsatisfactory rating on two consecutive evaluations (the Annual Evaluation and the Follow-Up
Evaluation) within the same academic year.
If the Headmaster deems a School Police Association member to be excessively absent for the
purpose of avoiding a Follow-Up Evaluation meeting, the Headmaster reserves the right to
dismiss the employee without holding the Follow-Up Evaluation meeting. In such case, the
Follow-Up Evaluation and a notice of the intent to dismiss the employee will be sent via First
Class, Certified mail to the employee’s address on record.
An evaluation and its consequences are not subject to the grievance procedures of the Contract.
Compensation – School Police Association Members
BGA reserves the right to compensate hourly or salaried School Police Association members at a rate
higher than that determined by the Contract.
Working Conditions – School Police Association Members
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@)!F97:"6)7.949)73"?)!"45,"806)297:"/6/.,296"-,/!%"
Of note, the standard workday for all School Police Association members during a school day is expected
to be approximately eight hours. For the majority of School Police Association members, required hours
will approximate 8:00am–4:00pm. Required hours are unlikely to exceed 40 hours per week.
Z20*)-,,3"35/**"7)4"83,"6,**"05)7,3")!")45,!"6)228796/49)7".,+96,3;"3865"/3"0/:,!3;".8!97:"492,3"
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L&^"0*/-,!3;")!"28*49T?87649)7"6,**"05)7,3".8!97:"@)!F"5)8!3%"
The term of employment for School Police Association members will be one complete school year, plus
up to three weeks in the summer to support BGA’s Summer Academy. School Police Association
members will follow the same calendar, observe the same school holidays, and observe the same school
vacations as teachers at BGA.
Dispute Resolution
Any School Police Association member working at BGA may use the following process to resolve a
dispute:
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
199
7. The employee may bring a concern under this Agreement to the Headmaster in writing. The
employee should specifically state the concern and the desired resolution.
8. Within 5 days of receipt of the concern, the Headmaster should meet with the employee to
discuss the concern.
9. Within 5 days of the meeting, the Headmaster should issue a decision to the employee.
10. If the employee is not satisfied with the resolution issued by the Headmaster, he/she may bring
the concern to the Board, in writing, within 10 days of receiving the Headmaster’s decision. The
home or business address of the Board Chair will be provided to all School Police Association
members for this purpose.
11. The Board will consider the concern at its next scheduled meeting
12. The Board should issue a decision within 5 days of the meeting. This decision will be sent in
writing to the employee in question. The decision of the Board is final.
Compliance with Law
BGA agrees to comply with all applicable federal, state, and municipal laws, rules, regulations, and
codes, and all applicable federal and state court orders, including, but not limited to: the provisions of the
Uniform Procurement Act, M.G.L. c. 30B; M.G.L. c. 71, §89 and 603 CMR §1.00 et seq.; M.G.L. c. 71;
those relating to diversity of students, teachers and other staff; the protection of the rights and interests of
students and staff; the expenditure of public funds; and education reform. The Horace Mann School also
agrees to comply with the civil rights policies of the BPS. Students who have special needs or are English
language learners will be appropriately identified, assessed, and served in accordance with federal and
state requirements. Without limiting the foregoing, BGA agrees that it shall, in carrying out its
responsibilities under this Agreement, comply with every provision of M.G.L. c. 268A (the Conflict of
Interest Law) to the full extent of the applicability of said provisions. Failure to comply with all
applicable legal requirements may result in termination of this Agreement pursuant to the Termination
section, herein.
BGA agrees that all employment decisions will be made in compliance with the applicable federal and
state laws, and in compliance with all of BPS’ Superintendent’s Circular(s) related to federal and state
laws as shall exist and/or be amended from time to time by this or any other name known from time to
time.
Term of Agreement
The term of this Agreement is the period from the date of execution of this Agreement through June 30,
2016. No later than six (6) months prior to the expiration of the term of this Agreement, or the expiration
of BGA’s charter, whichever occurs first, BPS, the School Police Association, and BGA shall meet and
make a good faith effort to discuss and plan for the continuation of this Agreement, and the continued
operation of BGA in accordance with the Application and the Renewal, with such modifications as to
which all parties agree, the Boston School Committee approve, and the Massachusetts DESE grants.
Indemnification
It is expressly understood by and between the parties hereto that BGA is a unit of the BPS only to the
extent consistent with the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71, §89 and regulations promulgated in connection
therewith. The parties expressly acknowledge that BGA is an entity independent of the BPS and that BPS
shall not be liable for the acts or omissions of BGA, the Board, its officers, agents or employees except to
the extent consistent with the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71, §89 and regulations promulgated in connection
therewith. Further, BGA shall indemnify and hold harmless the BPS, its officers, agents or employees for
all suits and claims against them or any of them directly resulting from any educational or employment
action or decision, any intentional or negligent acts or omissions or wrong-doing of BGA, the Board, its
officers, agents or employees.
Termination
BGA acknowledges that the Superintendent is responsible for the education of all BPS students. In the
event the Superintendent determines in his/her professional judgment that BGA is not serving the best
interest of the students of the BPS, and/or that BGA is not complying with the requirements of the
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
200
Compliance with Law section, above, s/he shall have the right to invoke the complaint procedures set
forth in 603 CMR 1.09 et seq., and/or present facts to the Commissioner of Education in connection with
a request for review and investigation of BGA. In addition, this Agreement terminates automatically in
the event that the Commissioner of Education revokes the charter of BGA for any reason. In the event
that this Agreement is terminated, BPS agrees to reimburse BGA for appropriate BGA expenses that it
incurred prior to such termination.
Horace Mann School’s Rights of Appeal
BPS acknowledges that BGA has the right to file an appeal with the Massachusetts DESE, in accordance
with the procedures set forth in 603 CMR 1.09 et seq., if BGA determines in its professional judgment
that the BPS is not complying with the requirements of this Agreement or the provisions of M.G.L. c. 71,
§89. BGA agrees that it shall not file any such appeal with the Massachusetts DESE without first giving
BPS at least fourteen (14) days written notice of BGA’s intent to file such an appeal and the grounds upon
which any such appeal would be based.
Notices
All notices, requests, and other communications given to or made upon the parties hereto, except as
otherwise specified herein, shall be in writing and shall be delivered or mailed, postage prepaid, to such
party at:
(A)
In the case of the BPS:
Superintendent
Boston Public School Department
26 Court Street
Boston, MA 02108
(D)
In the case of UP:
(E)
Chair of Board of Trustees
Boston Green Academy
ADDRESS TBD
In the case of the School Police Association:
XXX
Any party may, by written notice to the other party, designate another address. Any notice, request, or
demand shall be deemed to have been given when it is actually received by the party to whom it is
addressed.
Counterparts
This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each such counterpart shall be deemed
to be an original instrument, and all counterparts together shall constitute but one agreement.
Severability
If any provision of this Agreement or the application thereof is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect
other provisions or applications of the Agreement, which can be given effect without the invalid
provisions or applications, and to this end the provisions of this Agreement are declared to be severable.
Amendments
This Agreement, or any part thereof, may be amended from time to time hereinafter only by writing
executed by both the BPS, the School Police Association, and BGA.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Agreement under seal.
BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS
By: ___________________________ Date: _____________
Carol R. Johnson, Superintendent
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
By ____________________________
Corporation Counsel
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
201
By: __________________________
Name: TBD
Chairperson of the Board of Trustees
Date:
______________
By: __________________________
Name: TBD
President of the School Police Association
Date:
______________
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
202
END NOTES
i
e.g., Kathleen Cotton’s small schools research, Anthony Bryk and Barbara Schneider’s work on
“relational trust”, and Michael Fullan and Fred Newmann’s analyses of “learning communities”.
ii
Tirozzi, G. Breakthrough High Schools: You can Do It Too, Volume 1. National Association of
Secondary School Principals (NASSP). 2004. Print.
iii
de los Reyes, Eileen, David Nieto, and Virginia Diez. "If Our Students Fail, We Fail, If They Succeed
We Succeed: Case Studies Of Boston Schools Where Latino Students Succeed." The Mauricio Gastón
Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy. Mauricio Gaston Institute, University of
Massachusetts Boston, 2008. Web. 18 Jul 2010. <http//www.gaston.umb.edu>.
iv
"What evidence supports the practices of Universal Design for Learning?." Universal Design for
Learning Guidelines- Version 1.0. National Center on Universal Design, 2009. Web. 18 Jul 2010.
<http://udlguidelines.wordpress.com/introduction/what-evidence-supports-the-practices-of-universaldesign-for-learning/>.
v
United States. Public Law 108-446 - 108th Congress: An Act to Reauthorize the Individuals with
Disabilities Act (IDEA). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 2004. Web. 18 Jul 2010.
<http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/%2Croot%2Cstatute%2C>.
vi
Boston Public Schools. Humanities in the Boston Public Schools: An Innovative Investment Yields
Strong Results. Boston: Boston Public Schools, 2009. Print.
vii
"Teaching & Learning." CES ChangeLab. Coalition of Essential Schools, 2010. Web. 18 Jul 2010.
<http://www.ceschangelab.org/cs/clpub/view/cl_cat/3>.
viii
Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Mathematics Curriculum Framework. Malden:
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 2000. Web. 18 Jul 2010.
<http://www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/current.html>.
ix
"Project Zero Research Projects: Arts." Project Zero. Project Zero- Harvard University, 2010. Web. 18
Jul 2010. <http://www.pz.harvard.edu/Research/ResearchArts.htm>.; "Arts in Education." New Horizons
for Learning. New Horizons for Learning, 2006. Web. 18 Jul 2010.
<http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/arts/front_arts.htm>.
x
Darling-Hammond, L., Ancess, J., Falk, B., & Columbia University. Teachers College. National Center
for Restructuring Education Schools and Teaching. (1995). Authentic assessment in action : studies of
schools and students at work. New York: Teachers College Press.
xi
Tung, R., & Ouimette, M. (2007). Strong Results, High Demand: A Four-Year Study of Boston's Pilot
High Schools. Roxbury: Center for Collaborative Education.
Boston Green Academy Horace Mann Charter Final Application—November 8, 2010
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Additional Works Referenced
Balfanz, Robert, Christopher Boccanfuso, et. al. Jobs for the Future. Falling Off the Path to Graduation:
Middle Grade Indicators in Boston. Boston: Jobs for the Future, 2007. Print.
The Parthenon Group. Strategic Planning to Serve Off-Track Youth: Data Review and Strategic
Implications. Boston: Boston Public Schools, 2007. Print.
Marzano, Robert, Barbara Gaddy, and Ceri Dean. What Works in Classroom Instruction. Mid-continent
Research for Education and Learning (McREL). Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning
(McREL), 2000. Web. 18 Jul 2010. <http://www.mcrel.org/PDF/Instruction/5992TG_What_Works.pdf>.
Hill, Jane. Classroom Instruction That Works with English Language Learners. Association of
Supervisors of Curriculum Development (ASCD). Alexandria, VA: ASCD. 2006. Print.
Dehaene, Stanilas. “Reading in the Brain”. New York: Viking. 2009. Print.
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