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Roxbury Preparatory Charter School

Raising Student Achievement School-wide

Topics:	School Mission School Culture and Classroom Management Practices Instructional Practices At-risk Learners Internal and/or external student assessment systems Using school-wide and individual student assessment data to inform curriculum and instruction
Mission:	Roxbury Preparatory Charter School, a public school that serves grades 6-8, prepares its students to enter, succeed in, and graduate from college. Roxbury Prep is founded on the philosophy that all students are entitled to and can succeed in college preparatory programs when: 1) the curriculum is rigorous, engaging, and well-planned; 2) the school emphasizes student character, community responsibility, and exposure to life’s possibilities; and 3) a community network supports student academic, social, and physical well-being. Roxbury Prep helps students gain admission to outstanding public and private college preparatory high schools.
Goals:	The goal of the “Keeping the Promise” dissemination and replication project is to document and disseminate best practices from five high performing charter schools serving high need communities.
Summary:	Student Achievement is Our Bottom Line. This highly successful school has identified several key design and programmatic elements which it believes are integral to the success of its students in meeting achievement goals. These practices include: a rigorous curriculum and high academic expectations; high behavioral standards; character development and community. The school also firmly believes that it is essential to support teaching and learning with planning and collaboration time for the school’s faculty and staff, inquiry groups, and a model of distributed leadership. “Keeping the Promise: The Massachusetts Charter School Dissemination and Replication Project” is sponsored by a National Leadership Grant of the U.S. Department of Education’s Charter School Program in the Office of Innovation and Improvement. This project was envisioned and convened by the Massachusetts Charter School Association, which applied for federal funding support project activities. In addition to Roxbury Prep four other high performing charter schools in Massachusetts were selected to participate in the three-year dissemination project, including Boston Collegiate Charter School, Community Day Charter Public School, MATCH Charter Public High School, and Academy of the Pacific Rim Charter Public School. Each school wrote and published a paper highlighting effective practices, and will host school visits and workshops for other schools and educators. Educators from around Massachusetts and the country will visit the schools and attend workshops facilitated by the five participating charter schools, including Roxbury Preparatory Charter School.”
Partner(s):	Various district partners through Project for School Innovation and the Massachusetts Charter School Association
Dates:	01/01/2006 01/01/2007 01/01/2008
Contact:	Will Austin, Co-Director (waustin@roxburyprep.org/617.566-2361) Cindy Snow, Massachusetts Charter School Association (snow@masscharters.org/413-625-0135)
Resources:	Whole School Paper: “Student Achievement is our Bottom Line” (www.masscharterschools.org/wholeschool/docs/178/ROXPREP.html) Workshop session materials provided to school visitors
Federal Charter Schools Program Funds?	MCPSA Keeping the Promise

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Last Updated: October 1, 2024

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