News and Announcements

On Monday, September 19th Excel Academy Charter Schools hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of its first school in Rhode Island. Excel Academy Rhode Island is a K-8 school located at 622 Woonasquatucket Avenue in North Providence serving residents of Central Falls, North Providence, and Providence.

Excel Academy Charter Schools in collaboration with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education hosted a parent orientation on Tuesday, May 2, 2023 to learn about the upcoming Special Education and Civil Rights review in our district (click here to learn more).

You may contact Courtney Grabus (CGrabus@excelacademy.org) or Sarah Kantrowitz (SKantrowitz@excelacademy.org) with any questions. Thank you.

Excel Academy High School has been ranked in the top 3% of public high schools nationwide by the US News and World Report.

Sponsor a Senior: We would like all of our seniors to feel like they are seen and remembered since they won’t be able to see the people that they affected and cared for them. In pursuit of this goal, we are asking for members of the greater Excel community to Sponsor a Senior. Sponsoring a senior will mean providing  2 key pieces of graduation for individual seniors. You can sign up for a senior here, and we ask that you provide the following for the senior(s) you choose. 70% of seniors have been sponsored. Thank you for that great show of support and generosity. We have a few more senior still to sponsor, so it’s not too late!

Deadline for Signing up for a grad: June 12
Deadline for sending in materials: July 1
How to turn them in:

• Mail items to 401 Bremen street, East Boston 02128 OR
• Deliver them to the high school: There will be a clear box next to the side entrance of the school (not the construction side, but the side nearest the gym) where you can leave items. The box will be cleared daily (and is in full view of my office!).

Love Lock:
A padlock and key decorated for your student. This will be hanging on the back gate of the high school and will stand as memoriam of the class of 2020, the class that graduated in an epidemic and an historical time in US history.

A Luminary:
Just a white paper bag, printed with the students’ name and perhaps a message. This will make a lighted, luminary path in the gym for families as they enter the graduation venue, and serves our graduation theme of these students standing as beacons of light in a chaotic world. We’ll send along directions for this easy task.

Thank you so much for your consideration in supporting our seniors in this important moment. We wish we could all be together for this, and that circumstances could be different, but we hope we can make this moment meaningful, as has been your relationship with our graduates in the past.

Additional Information:

What do I need to purchase? Decorate?
One lock, noted above. One white paper bag, also noted above.  Check out the links below to what these could look like, but the more interesting the lock, the cooler our fence will look.
Lock: Put the name of the senior clearly on the lock. Initials are ok. Any message or symbols you can fit!
Locks from Etsy; Simple, classy lock

Luminary: Put your name somewhere, and the grads’ name clearly marked. Feel free to decorate with a photo, quote, cut-out or symbol. We provide the tea lights that do inside the luminary.

White paper bag (No handles on the bag pls)
Can I Sponsor a student that is already being sponsored by another staff member?
We want every senior to be covered. So if you see a senior that has already been sponsored, and you don’t mind also taking on a grad without a sponsor, feel free to double up. So yes! It’s ok if students get multiple bags or locks. We just want everyone to have one! (due to the layout, and the nature of the day, it will be difficult for seniors to count and compare locks or bags).
Do I have to know the Senior personally?
No! Thanks for volunteering, and thanks for sharing this opportunity with others who also may want to sponsor someone.
Can I sponsor more than one student?
Yes! Thank you for your generosity.
Can I give a gift to the graduate I’m sponsoring outside of the lock and luminary?
Feel free to leave IN the luminary bag a card or very small gift that is not monetary (a memento, a coin, etc is ok). We don’t want students feeling left out or comparing gifts from sponsors. But your personal touches mean so much, so please feel free to leave a little extra love in the form of a letter, or memento. Also, if you want to leave a note for multiple students, and are not their sponsor, drop those off at the high school and we will use the luminaries as small mailboxes where the student can collect your note for them.
I’m not crafty – how hard is the luminary to make?
Not hard at all! Here  is a small how-to. You can print on the bag with a printer, or just with a dark marker. You  can include a quote, art, or anything else you’d like. We ask that you make clear 1) who the grad is and 2) leave your name somewhere.

Details for making the video:

These videos would be playing a bit like installation art, across their journey of the gym, and fits into our graduation theme of lights in the darkness (in this case, you would be one of those lights!)

This video would have a few elements:

• We’re asking that it is 30 seconds to 2 min. Not a 5 second goodbye. Not a low key graduation speech. But 30 seconds to 2 min to:
• Please tell a story. Say a few names. Recall a memory. Sing a so  ng. Read a poem.  Remind everyone about a moment in the DC trip we all experienced, or the time your advisory got jumped at the hunger games gingerbread making activity, or a discussion in class that was poignant.
• For something that resembles uniformity, please wear white, yellow, or gold (prints are fine!) for this video. Channel Princess Leia. Please be sure you have good lighting, and please have your background be white wall OR  greenery like lawn bushes, or trees as your background. Does this make us sound like we’re in a cult? Maybe. But it will help the videos to have a uniform, hologram-ish look, instead of this moment of graduation looking like a string of videos from America’s Funniest Home Videos.

Due Date: July 15^th.

2019-2020 Public Release for the Community Eligibility Program

ExcelCEPPublicRelease1920

Come join us for our open house:

2/29/20
1-2pm
Excel Academy East Boston
58 Moore Street
East Boston, MA 02128

Dear Excel Team,
We are delighted to share this great piece in Education Next about Excel’s approach to maintaining high expectations and an inclusive approach to teaching special-education students. Huge shout out to Rachel Spencer, Sarah Kantrowitz, Samantha Butera, Lucero Castillo, and Samantha Doig for their specific contributions in this wonderful profile of the work being done at Excel, and shout out to all of our Learning Specialists, ELL Specialists, and paraprofessionals for the work represented in this piece.

Inclusion in Action: Expectations for all at Excel Academy

Excel Academy Charter Schools is seeking a vendor to provide a needs assessment for IT needs, particularly focused on file storage. Proposals are due no later than 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday February 11, 2020. Interested parties should contact the Director of Special Finance and Operations Projects Aaron Stelson at astelson@excelacademy.org  for a copy of our Request for Proposal.

Excel Academy Charter Schools is seeking a vendor to provide and install a security camera system for our new facility located at 375 Bremen Street, East Boston. Proposals are due no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday February 7, 2020. Interested parties should contact the Managing Director of Network Operations Jocelyn Foulke at jfoulke@excelacademy.org for a copy of our Request for Proposal.

Event: 2020 Lottery
Date: March 10, 2020
Time: 8:30-9:20 am
Location:
Excel Academy Charter High School, Rm. 117
401 Bremen St.
East Boston, MA 02128

2020-2021 National School Lunch Program Public Release

Take a read through our 2019 Fall Annual Appeal.  If you are interested in donating to Excel Academy or want more information, please contact Diane Cohen.

Review the DESE Tiered Focused Monitoring.

DESE COMPLIANCE_English

DESE COMPLIANCE_Spanish

Immigration_Citizenship Resource Here

2019-2020 National School Lunch Program Public Release

Free ESL Classes & Conversation Groups. Hosted at various branches of the Boston Public Library.

See Schedule for September

September ESL Calendar 2019[2]

Excel Academy Charter Schools is seeking a vendor to provide snow removal services for three of our campuses located in East Boston and Chelsea. Proposals are due no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday September 20, 2019. Interested parties should contact the Managing Director of Network Operations Jocelyn Foulke at jfoulke@excelacademy.org for a copy of our Request for Proposal.

Dear Parents & Alumni,

If you would like to order photos from Graduation & Senior Night they can be purchased here. 

If you would like to view the photo album from Senior Night – you can view it here. 

Excel Academy Charter Schools is seeking a vendor to provide cleaning and maintenance services for our three middle school campuses for the 2019-2020 school year. Responses are due no later than 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday July 24, 2019. Interested parties should contact the Managing Director of Network Operations Jocelyn Foulke at jfoulke@excelacademy.org for a copy of our Request for Proposal.

Excel Academy Charter Schools is seeking a vendor to provide office supplies to our campuses for the 2019-2020 school year. Responses are due no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday July 15, 2019. Interested parties should contact the Managing Director of Network Operations Jocelyn Foulke at jfoulke@excelacademy.org for a copy of our Request for Proposal.

Excel Academy Charter Schools is seeking a food services vendor to provide school meals in the 2019-2020 school year at our high school campus. Responses are due no later than 5:00 p.m. on June 6, 2019. Interested parties should contact the Managing Director of Network Operations Jocelyn Foulke at jfoulke@excelacademy.org for a copy of our Request for Proposal.

Excel Academy Charter Schools is seeking a food services vendor to provide school meals in the 2019-2020 school year at our middle school campuses. Responses are due no later than 5:00 p.m. on May 15, 2019. Interested parties should contact the Managing Director of Network Operations Jocelyn Foulke at jfoulke@excelacademy.org for a copy of our Request for Proposal.

Dear Excel Families,

Excel Academy Charter Schools uses auto-calls sent to your phone, social media postings, and the weather alert notification systems of local news organizations to notify you of school closings due to weather emergencies. In the event that either Boston Public Schools or Chelsea Public Schools closes, all Excel Academy campuses will also be closed that day. For example, if Chelsea Public Schools closes but Boston Public Schools stays open, then all Excel Academy campuses will be closed, including our campuses in Boston.

If Excel Academy campuses are closed, this will be posted on the Excel Academy Charter Schools Facebook page, as well as on our website at www.excelacademy.org.

Two local news outlets will be used for weather closing alerts: CBS and ABC. Please check your local listings for channel information for these stations:

TV	Website
WBZ – TV (CBS)	https://boston.cbslocal.com/closings/ (CBS)
WCBV – TV (ABC)	https://www.wcvb.com/weather/closings  (ABC)

Click Here For More Details

Escuelas Charter Excel Academy: Inclemancias del tiempo

Estimadas Familias de Excel,

Excel Academy Charter School se usa llamadas telefónicas automáticas, notificaciones por las redes sociales, y los sistemas de alerta meteorológica de las agencias de noticias locales para notificarles cuando la escuela permanecerá cerrada por las inclemencias del tiempo. Si las Escuelas Públicas de Boston o Chelsea se anuncian que suspenderán clases, entonces nuestras escuelas también estarán cerradas.  Por ejemplo, si las Escuelas Públicas de Chelsea se cierran pero las Escuelas Públicas de Boston se quedan abiertas, todas nuestras escuelas estarán cerradas, incluyendo nuestras escuelas en Boston.

Si Excel Academy se cerrará por las inclemencias del tiempo, esto será publicado en la página de Facebook de Excel Academy Charter School, y también por nuestro sitio de web, www.excelacademy.org.

También se utilizarán dos fuentes de noticias locales para las alertas: CBS y ABC. Primero podrán enterarse del cierre de escuelas en los canales de noticias CBS y ABC.  Por favor consulten sus listas de canales en busca de las siguientes estaciones:

TV	Website
WBZ – TV (CBS)	https://boston.cbslocal.com/closings/ (CBS)
WCBV – TV (ABC)	https://www.wcvb.com/weather/closings  (ABC)

Excel Academy Charter Schools is seeking a custodial vendor to provide custodial services in the 2018-2019 school year at Excel Orient Heights. Responses are due no later than 5:00 p.m. on September 14, 2018. Interested parties should contact the Director of Network Operations Stevie Roberts at sroberts@excelacademy.org for a copy of our Request for Proposal.

Excel Academy Charter Schools is seeking a snow removal vendor to provide snow removal services in the 2018-2019 school year. Responses are due no later than 12:00 p.m. on August 31, 2018. Interested parties should contact the Director of Network Operations Stevie Roberts at sroberts@excelacademy.org for a copy of our Request for Proposal.

Excel Academy Charter Schools is seeking a snow removal vendor to provide snow removal services in the 2018-2019 school year. Responses are due no later than 12:00 p.m. on August 10, 2018. Interested parties should contact the Director of Network Operations Stevie Roberts at sroberts@excelacademy.org for a copy of our Request for Proposal.

Please click on the link provided to view the full RFP – Excel Academy Audit RFP 2018-2019. 

Excel Academy Charter Schools is seeking food vendor(s) to provide USDA guideline compliant and NSLP and NSBP compliant school breakfast and lunch for the 2018-2019 school year. Responses are due no later than 12:00 PM May 18, 2018. Interested parties should contact Stevie Roberts, Director of Network Operations, at sroberts@excelacademy.org for a copy of our Request for Proposals.

2017-2018 Excel Academy Charter School Custodial RFP

Excel Academy Charter Schools is seeking a transportation vendor to provide daily bussing between Chelsea and East Boston and regular extra-curricular bussing in the Boston area for the 2017-2018 school year. Responses are due no later than 12:00 p.m. July 12, 2017. Interested parties should contact Manager of Network Operations Stevie Roberts at sroberts@excelacademy.org for a copy of our Request for Proposal.

http://www.bostonwrestling.org/news/2017/5/13/excel-academy-charter-schools-and-byw-host-two-successful-boston-open-tournaments

Excel Academy Orient Heights 6th grade students raised nearly $2,000 for the Crossroads Family Center in East Boston. These fundraising efforts to support homeless children and families culminated in a 5K run at Constitution Beach in which the whole school participated. Their hard work and generosity earned them recognition as Channel 7 Class Acts. Click here to see student and staff interviews: 

http://whdh.com/news/class-act/class-act-students-at-excel-academy-orient-heights-run-road-race-to-benefit-homeless-families-children/

Several Excel Academy Charter High School students learn to fly airplanes through Above the Clouds’ program for students facing adversity. Click here to hear from Kate Martinez, Above the Clouds participant and Excel Academy Charter High School sophomore: 

http://www.wcvb.com/article/5-for-good-volunteer-pilots-teach-kids-facing-adversity-how-to-fly/9564190

Date: Friday, April 14, 2017

Owen Stearns, Chief Executive Officer of Excel Academy Charter Schools was informed by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education of an upcoming Coordinated Program Review that will be taking place this school year. As part of this Coordinated Program Review, Department staff will visit the district [or charter school] during the week of May 15^th 2017. Such visits are routinely conducted by the Department to satisfy federal and state requirements for the periodic review of specific education programs and services in schools throughout the Commonwealth.  The Department is reviewing several programs during a single visit in order to use Department and school staff’s time most efficiently and to encourage strong connections among the programs.

The Department’s Coordinated Program Review will address the following programs: Special Education, English Language Education, and Civil Rights. After reviewing charter school procedures for these programs, a Department team will make its onsite visit, during which it will review individual student records, interview administrators, teachers and paraprofessional staff, survey parents and observe instructional spaces. After the onsite visit it will prepare a report for the CEO and board of trustees, with detailed findings for each program.

Using a scale of ratings ranging from “Commendable” to “Not Implemented,” the report will rate the implementation of each requirement reviewed by the Department. Where requirements are found not implemented or only partially implemented, the charter school must propose to the Department corrective action to bring those areas into compliance with statutes and regulations.  Districts and schools are encouraged to incorporate the corrective action into their district and school improvement plans and professional development plan. The charter school will be provided with technical assistance from the Department in developing a corrective action plan.  Both the Department’s report and the corrective action plan are public information and will be available to the public upon request. Program Review Final Reports are also available on the Department’s Internet website at <http://www.doe.mass.edu/pqa/review/cpr/reports/>.

Any member of the public may request to be interviewed by telephone by a member of the Department’s visiting team.  Those wishing to be interviewed should call the charter school office at (617) 874-4080 no later than May 12^th 2017 to leave their name and phone number, or they may call the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education at (781) 338- 3735. A member of the visiting team will contact each person desiring an interview within two weeks after the completion of the onsite visit.  If an individual is not comfortable communicating in English or requires some other accommodation, the Department will make arrangements to communicate appropriately with the individual.

Excel Academy Orient Heights English Teacher Curtis Perdue writes in MetroWest Daily News about the positives of the Common Core curricular frameworks in English class.

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/opinion/20160625/perdue-teaching-more-than-just-literature

 

Governor Charlie Baker was on hand at Excel Academy East Boston for the launch of the Latino coalition of Great Schools Massachusetts. Much of the media coverage was done by the Latino media.

Univision
Telemundo Boston
El Planeta

Yinnette Sano, Director of Postsecondary Support, has written a blog post called “Helping Students Confront Obstacles Beyond Academics” published on the TNTP Blog. View it by clicking here.

Excel Academy alumna Kelly Garcia ’07 has an op-ed published on the website MASSter List regarding the campaign to lift the charter school cap in Massachusetts.

http://www.massterlist.com/uncategorized/2015/11/17/why-were-rallying-to-lift-the-cap-on-charter-schools

New Boston Post: Excel Academy English teacher and English department head Becca Moskowitz is quoted while giving testimony before the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on November 16, 2016.

http://newbostonpost.com/2015/11/17/ed-board-urged-to-take-time-before-deciding-student-assessment-course/

Excel Academy CEO Owen Stearns was quoted in the Boston Globe about a recent proposal by City of Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh to create a unified enrollment system for district public schools and charter schools. 

Link to article here.

Excel Academy Charter High School teacher and 2015 TNTP Fishman Prize awardee Zeke Phillips is featured on the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s, his graduate school alma mater, website in “Excelling in the Classroom“

“Baker Reaffirms Goal of Expanding School Choice” State House News Service Release“

WWLP 22 News Chicopee

Facebook Post by Massachusetts Charter Public School Association

Tweet by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker’s Office (@MassGovernor)

Tweet by Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito (@KarynPolito)

The Berkshire Eagle Online

The Worcester Telegram Online

Cape Cod Today Online:

New Boston Post

Gloucester Times Online

East Boston Times-Free Press

Boston Herald Editorial “Big Step for Charters”

“Governor: It’s Okay to Not Get Everything You Want” State House News Service Release

Richard Whitmire of “The Seventy Four” profiles Linda Brown, founder and executive director of Building Excellent Schools and a driving force behind Excel’s many years of success and top performance.

Read the posting here

Excel mentioned as a charter school to learn from in this piece for “The Seventy Four” by Richard Whitmire.

Read the posting here

Click here to learn about the prize
Boston Herald Photo Collage, May 28, 2015 

 

Click here to read about the prize

Click here to read about this year’s winner and the mention of Brett Pangburn

Read “Boston charter schools show striking gains” by Globe reporter Peter Schworm by clicking here to download a copy of the article from the Globe.