Charter school graduating drop outs

REVERE – Phoenix Charter Academy is keeping former public school dropouts in class and boosting grade point averages by 100 percent over the past year, said representatives of the Chelsea school.Currently in its third year, Phoenix Charter Academy (PCA) serves 150 students in Revere, Chelsea and surrounding cities. Fifty percent of incoming PCA students have previously dropped out of school and with the average incoming GPA of a PCA student at 0.7.Phoenix “has to be replicated” with similar programs across the state in order to slow and, eventually, end school dropout rates, said state Rep. Marie St. Fleur.Phoenix has rigorous college preparatory academics and holds its students to high standards. Students must get a C- or above in order to receive course credit, a college acceptance letter is required for graduation and students must attend school from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.”They’re not going to let us drop out,” said Julio Hernandez.The 20-year-old dropped out of various high schools a total of four times over the past five years. He will graduate in two months from Phoenix.Hernandez credited Phoenix teachers and administrators with rigorously monitoring his school attendance and academic performance.”They will follow you to your house, they will call you at home, they will even drag you at 6 o’clock in the morning from your house, pick you up and bring you down here just to get your education,” Hernandez said.Eleven students are expected to graduate from Phoenix in June with acceptance letters to colleges including the University of New Hampshire, St. John’s University and Suffolk University.In 2008, Phoenix underscored college preparation as one of the school’s objectives. It launched Phoenix Through College focusing on college-level skills and college application skills. During the summer of 2007, Phoenix offered a three-week summer academy with morning classes and a college campus tour of Northeastern University.A new and larger location in Chelsea and a new focus on college preparation are two of the major changes marking the start of the Phoenix Charter Academy’s new school year.Phoenix opened in 2006 with the goal of giving teenagers who dropped out of high school or facing family difficulties a second chance at graduating.Its initial enrollment included 20 Lynn and eight Revere students ages 15 to 21.The school summary of its student population in 2007 indicated 40 percent were “currently involved in the criminal justice and social service system; 30 percent receive special education services and a quarter come to the academy reading at below the sixth-grade level.”Phoenix graduated its first class in June. The seven students included six teenage mothers who attended school while their children spent the day in the school’s childcare center.The school relocated in 2007 from Clark Avenue into a Nichols Street building with more classroom space.