Thank you in advance for your support and enjoy your weekend!

Kathleen Crawford

Dear Families,

As a reminder, next week begins our second round of annual MCAS testing.  Students in grades 3 through 8 and 10 will take the mathematics MCAS exams in May and students in grades 5, 8, and high school will take the science MCAS exams in June.  In addition, students enrolled in Advanced Placement courses will take their AP exams this month.  Please click here to view the school calendar for these and other important dates.

I am excited to announce that Foxborough Regional Charter School has been selected to partner with the United States-China Administrator Shadowing Project.  This initiative brings together a group of over two dozen diverse and dynamic American school administrators to work side by side with their educational counterparts from China.  The overarching aim is to lay the foundation for a fruitful U.S.-China sister-school relationship.  First, our Chinese partner will spend two weeks here in the fall of 2012.  Similarly, Mr. Griffin, representing FRCS, will travel overseas to work collaboratively with our sister-school in the spring of 2013.  This program will yield many positive outcomes. We envision developing a virtual peer learning environment, academic competition programs, a virtual Professional Development system and visiting teacher exchange. Additionally, it will serve as a critical component to our World Languages division, as we expand on our Mandarin language course offering.  Thank you, Mr. Griffin, for spearheading this effort! 

Congratulations to Amanda Turcotte and Christine Davidson for putting on a very successful 1st FRCS World Book Night!  Elementary, middle and high school students came together to celebrate and encourage reading at all ages!  World Book Night is an annual celebration designed to spread a love of reading and books.  The event was held in the U.S. as well as the U.K. and Ireland on April 23, 2012.  Tens of thousands of people went out into their communities to spread the joy and love of reading by giving out free World Book Night paperbacks (www.us.worldbooknight.org).

In honor of this very special literacy initiative and the opening of our new media center, Foxborough Regional Charter School hosted one of the only coordinated World Book Night events in the country.  Teen author and magician, John Logan, and local Non-Young Adult author, Lauren Morrill, were among the evening's special guests. John reflected on his early passion for reading and how being exposed to different, engaging texts, helped him appreciate the written word.  This subsequently led him to write his own book, blending psychology, philosophy, and illusions.  John also performed a sampling of his magic with the audience.  In addition to promoting literacy and her forthcoming novel, Meant to Be, Ms. Morrill served as a guest interviewer.  More than a dozen FRCS middle and high school student volunteers were interviewed about the World Book Night titles they read over April vacation, in order to give audience members a "sneak peak" at the 500 books that were given away by the end of the event!  Thank you also to Karen Harris and Kyle Turcotte who helped bring this special evening together!

Please help me wish junior, Hason Khan, good luck, as he represents FRCS at the Massachusetts State Science Fair this weekend at MIT!  His research project, titled The Efficiency of Helicopter Propellers in Various Attitudes, earned a first place finish at our local fair and a Science Forum citation in the Regional Science Fair.  A big shout out to Roy Pavao and Sue Kraus for their exceptional work in building this program!

On a final note, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) is obligated by statute and regulation to conduct ongoing performance reviews of each charter school and, no later than the fifth year of the school's charter term, decide whether or not to renew the school's charter.  The charter renewal decision is based upon the school's performance over the term of the charter in three areas: the school's faithfulness to the terms of its charter; the success of the school's academic program; and the viability of the school as an organization (603 CMR 1.12).  For more information, please view the attached charts that highlight the renewal process and summarize the performance criteria used by the state to evaluate our school.

Our current charter is in effect until June 30, 2013.  We are in the midst of preparing our renewal application for the 2013-2018 school years.  Once our application is received by the state, a formal on-site review by state officials will be scheduled to occur in the fall of 2012.  I will keep you informed as we proceed throughout the process next school year.

Sincerely,

Mark Logan, Ph.D., Executive Director