Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School

Coordinates: 42°19′59.81″N 71°34′41.99″W / 42.3332806°N 71.5783306°W

Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School (AMSAcs)
Location
201 (Lower School)/ 199 (Upper School) / 165 (White Building) Forest St.
Marlborough, MA 01752
Information
Type Publicly funded 6-12 Charter School
Established 2005
Founder Julia Sigalovsky
School district Marlborough, Hudson, Maynard, and Clinton: however, students from other towns may attend
Staff ~80
Grades 6 through 12
Enrollment 950
Color(s) Navy Blue, Orange, White
Athletics Baseball, Softball, Cross Country, Track, Basketball, Soccer, Wrestling, Lacrosse, Golf, Fencing, Swimming, and Hockey
Athletics conference Massachusetts Charter School Athletic Organization
Mascot War Eagle
Average SAT scores 606 verbal
638 math
606 writing
1850 total (2014)[1]
Website Advanced Math & Science Academy Charter School=

Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School is a charter school founded in 2005. It is located at 201 Forest Street in Marlborough, Massachusetts, U.S., in a few remodeled office buildings.

The school is widely recognized for its academic achievements, consistently scoring in the highest percentile among Massachusetts schools in the English, Math and Science MCAS exams.[2]

As a charter school, AMSACS receives funding from school districts in which its students reside. According to the Massachusetts Department of Education, $69,669,262 ($10,270 per pupil) will be withdrawn from the local aid accounts of sending towns to fund the school. Students and their families have no direct costs other than uniforms and the fees for extra activities that have become common among most of Massachusetts' public schools. Admission includes completing an application, attending an open house, and taking math and language arts tests that are solely used to determine placement in the right level of classes. Preference for the limited spaces is given first to siblings of current students regardless of residence, then to residents of Marlborough, Hudson, Clinton, and Maynard, and finally to any resident of Massachusetts.

The school is currently divided into a lower school (grades 6-7) and an upper school (grades 8-12) thus making a distinction between two parts of one continuous school.

History

On February 24, 2004, the Massachusetts Department of Education granted the Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School a five-year charter. Throughout the entire process there had been a lot of controversy surrounding the school and founder (Mrs. Pastrysnack). Opponents of the school managed to delay the opening of the school by a year by filing numerous lawsuits against the school. The school had to convince lawyers to wait until the school's funding to recoup over $30,000 in legal fees [3]

The school finally opened on September 6, 2005, in time for the first day of school. The original class consisted of 250 sixth and seventh graders. In each successive year, one additional class of 6th graders was added to the school. Following the 2010 school year, the school's charter was renewed for another five years.[4] On June 12, 2011, AMSA graduated its first class.

AMSA consists of 3 buildings originally beginning with a Lower School building for grades 6 - 9, and an Upper School building for grades 10-12. In 2010, AMSA moved the 9th grade to the Upper School. However, before the 2011-2012 school year, AMSA was able to lease 1 floor of a HP building nearby in order to accommodate the vast growth of the student population. The building became known as the "White Building" and began to house a mixed array of additional classes and students. From then on, the Lower School held 6 and 7 graders and the Upper School and White Building both combined to hold the remaining 8-12 graders.

Mission statement

The Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School (AMSACS) creates a learning environment that celebrates knowledge and where children of all backgrounds and abilities will excel in all subjects, especially math, science and technology, enabling them to succeed in the workplace of a modern high-tech world.

Legal challenges

A lawsuit filed by three local school districts (Maynard, Hudson, and Marlborough) charged that the Massachusetts Department of Education failed to observe its own rules in granting the charter. The municipalities lost their case when the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that municipalities have no right to judicial review of the chartering process. The MetroWest Daily News reported that local school districts have no role in the granting of a charter, that the State Board of Education has "the final decision" on granting charters.

Athletics

Lower school

The lower school Eagles currently participate in interscholastic Cross Country, Soccer, Baseball, Softball, Basketball, Wrestling, Fencing, Track and Lacrosse with other sports coming soon.

Upper school

The upper school Eagles are members of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association effective of the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year. Some sports also field Junior Varsity and/or Middle School teams. Interscholastic sports currently known to be offered are:

Fall Season

  • Cross-Country (*)
  • Soccer (|)
  • Volleyball
  • Fencing (*)

Winter Season

  • Basketball (|)
  • Wrestling (*)
  • Hockey
  • Fencing (*)
  • Swimming(*)

Spring Season

  • Track and Field(*)
  • Baseball
  • Softball
  • Lacrosse(*)
  • Fencing(*)
  • Golf


(*) -- Denotes Co-ed teams (|) -- Denotes separate boys and girls teams

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/state_report/sat_perf.aspx
  2. ↑ http://www.amsacs.org/pdf/2011-MCAS-Presentation.pdf
  3. ↑ Steep learning curve - The Boston Globe
  4. ↑ http://www.amsacs.org/pdf/ANNUAL_REPORT_2009-2010.pdf
  5. ↑ Bort, Julie (January 29, 2014). "This 17-Year-Old Dropped Out Of High School For Peter Thiel And Built A Game-Changing New Kind Of Computer". Business Insider. Retrieved January 28, 2014.

External links