Seacoast Projects

Seacoast Charter School Projects

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Seacoast Charter School
	Contact: PO Box 892, Exeter, NH 03833 Phone: 603-642-8400	Ages/Grades: Amended for Grades 1-6 in 2006; started as grades 3-5
	Email: Bill Wilmot, Head of School	2008 Status: Opened September 2004 and had a fabulous year. 9/2006=88 student waiting list
		Web Site: Click Here

Students Served: School opened with 1 elementary class serving grades 3 & 4--this due to great difficulty locating a space before September; the school will grow over the 5 years of the charter to 120-130 students. In 2005-06 SCS will have 2 classes + 35 students. The school amended its charter to include grades 1 & 2, and for 2006-2007 this school covers approx. 60 students in grades 1-6 with approximately 90 students on a waiting list. Applications have exceeded spaces available, requiring the use of an admissions lottery.
Abstract: The Seacoast Charter School was the vision of teachers and parents--to have a small upper elementary school that was academically challenging for students but also project oriented and small enough to adapt to individual student talents and interests. Seacoast Charter School and its Board of Trustees is fully functioning. The school has relocated to Exeter and expanded for the second time for the 2006-2007 school year. The school has a high standard for academic achievement and uses Core Knowledge curriculum as a guide for shaping content. In addition, this school has a unique and year-long arts program--one hour/day. Head Teacher/Director Emily Hamilton brings a wealth of upper elementary teaching experience and so curriculum development and planning is very strong in this school. The mission of Seacoast Charter School is to provide excellence in core academics and also the arts while cultivating the individual qualities and strengths of each child. -Provide a rigorous core academic program with a thematic approach to curriculum; -Cultivate the individual qualities and strengths of each student; -Offer a comprehensive, multidisciplinary arts program that allows students to explore new ways of thinking, behaving, and learning; -Support student achievement by creating an inclusive learning community that actively engages parents; -Promote character development and good citizenship.

Cocheco Arts & Technology Academy
	Contact: 37A Province Lane Barrington, NH 03825 Phone: 603-664-9671	Ages/Grades: Grades 9-12 New Student Application: Click Here
	Email: Deborah Byrne, M.Ed. Director	Web Site: Click Here

2008 Status: Opened January 24th, 2005 w/21 9th Grade Students. The school has advertised for staff for the 2005-06 school year and has many students seeking enrollment. Initially CATA had difficulties due to lack of timely receipt of operational funds from the state. For the 2006-2007 school year, CATA has moved to .......... and now has ...students attending from ... different communities.
Students Served: Cocheco (CATA), as a state-authorized charter school, l opened its doors to any high school student serious about attending an arts and arts-related technology high school. Most pioneering new-school students were from the immediate Dover area; however, students may and do apply from anywhere in the state because this is a statewide open enrollment school. The charter was written without a specific tie to one school district's students. On a space-available basis, out-of-state students will be considered. The 2004-2005 program took 9th- and 10th-grade students. In 2005-2006, the school's second 9th grade class was admitted and the school expanded to 9th, 10th, and 11th graders. The school will eventually serve approximately 160 students grades 9-12.
Abstract: The Cocheco Arts and Technology Academy provides: A basic academic program in mathematics, science, English, humanities, and other subjects. Arts and technology offered as majors as well as be integrated into the whole curriculum. Community Involvement: We will build our educational program around the diverse cultural resources in the community.

Great Bay eLearning Charter School
	Ages/Grades: The original charter included only grades 8 - 10. The school was so successful, an amendment was approved October 2005 to include grades 11 and 12. Area Located: Exeter, NH. The eLearning Academy is housed inside Exeter High School. 2005 Status: 2008 Status: Opened January 24th, 2005.
	Contact: Cheryl McDonough - Teaching Principal	Web Site: Click Here

Students Served: This charter was written to serve students from towns served by School Administrative Unit #16 (Exeter and surrounding towns). According to the project coordinator, this charter school may at some time expand and consider students from other communities. Type of School: A technology-oriented charter school, which meets all local, state, and national standards for education and which captures the interests of students in a rigorous learning environment. Distance learning and video conferencing technology is used, but students come to school. From Their Website: The Great Bay eLearning Charter School will blend on-line learning and video conferencing technology with a project based approach to instruction. Students will engage in a thick, rich, differentiated program that emphasizes the depth of knowledge needed to solve "real-world" problems. Using the EBAM model developed by Dr. Chris Moersch, students who attend the Great Bay eLearning Charter School will find themselves participating in a project-based curriculum aligned with New Hampshire state curriculum standards. Not constrained by the limitations of the traditional comprehensive high school curriculum, teachers at the Great Bay eLearning Charter School are free to facilitate instruction based on student interest, learning and thinking styles, and student developed action plans. The Great Bay eLearning Charter School will be a leader in student technology access. It's one-to-one computer to student ratio, coupled with it's Linux open source environment means that students will have access to all applications and resources whether at home or at school. All content will be available through the school's secure online environment so that the curriculum is available to students 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Students who do not have a computer with internet access at home, will be provided with one at no cost. The school will use other forms of technology as well. In addition to digital cameras (both photo and video), classes will employ handheld computers and Vernier probeware for real-time data collection and management. Computer applications will allow students to browse websites, create documents and spreadsheets, author websites, edit digital images and video, develop presentations all in a free, open-source environment. Similar to the Charter School's promise to connect all students at home, any student who does not have needed computer applications will receive them for free. Possibly the most exciting technology found at the Great Bay eLearning Charter School will be the ability to video conference any where in the world at any time. Such technology will allow students to take virtual field trips to zoos, museums, and national parks; interview national and global experts in various fields; network with other students and classes with the possibility of conducting "joint" classes with other schools
Portsmouth Charter School
	Ages/Grades: Undetermined at this time; potentially high school.	Area Located: Exeter 2008 Status: At the time, June 2005, no charter school application was developed and submitted for authorization. This group has asked for an extension.
	Contact: Susan Hollins	Web Site: N/A

Students Served: The Portsmouth School District’s charter school design grant is based on district interest in new ways to serve the most at-risk, high school students in the City of Portsmouth. Abstract: This charter school planning grant will allow Portsmouth to study models of charter schools across the country, to complete a needs assessment within the Portsmouth community, and to visit outstanding programs in New England. The vision of the school’s administrative team is a chartered public school model that focuses on math, science, and/or technology while also providing an excellent inclusive approach to students who do not thrive in the current public system, including but not limited to special education students. The Portsmouth School District wishes to develop widespread community support for their venture and would be pleased to hear from interested parties, other charter school designers, and others. The forming committee, consisting of board members, teachers, administrators, parents, students, and community members, was planning to make a presentation to the community in the summer of 2004.


Virtual Learning Academy Charter School (Exeter)
	Contact: Virtual Learning Academy Charter School 30 Linden Street Exeter, NH 03833 Phone: 603.778.2500 Fax: 866-651-5038 Email: info@vlacs.org	Ages/Grades: 9-12 Area Located: Exeter 2008 Status: Opened Fall 2008 Web Site: Click Here
	Contact: For the 2007 – 2008 school year, the Academy’s administrators are: Arthur (Skip) Hanson, Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools, SAU 16 Steve Kossakoski, Ph.D. Chief Executive Officer, Virtual Learning Academy Gary M. Tirone, CAGS Chief Learning Officer, Virtual Learning Academy

Students Served: The Virtual Learning Academy Charter School is New Hampshire’s first statewide, on-line high school that is available, free of charge, to all high school students who live in New Hampshire. The Exeter Region Cooperative School District (SAU 16) initiated the Academy as an independent organization. The Academy has its own employees, teaching staff, Board of Trustees, and financial statement.