Charter school aims local teens to college

CHELSEA – Three years after she dropped out of an alternative school in Revere, Amaryllis Borgos is scoring high on state comprehensive assessment tests and has her sights set on attending college.Borgos attends the Phoenix Charter Academy in Chelsea where her 180 classmates include more than 50 students from Lynn and Revere. Founded in 2006, Phoenix recently had its charter renewed another five years by state educators.?For an alternative high school to be renewed without conditions shows we?re on the right track,” said Phoenix Executive Director Beth Anderson.Anderson said Phoenix accepts students who drop out of other public schools or transfer from schools like Revere High, where Phoenix student Helen Ramos said she had difficulty with “too much independence” before transferring to Phoenix.Three-quarters of Phoenix students come into the school with deficient mathematics skills and half of the students have serious truancy problems.Students attend Phoenix for three to five years, graduating only after they have their sights set firmly on college. Sixteen students enrolled in colleges last year and Borgos, who briefly left Phoenix last year to attend a school in Boston, wants to study journalism and play college sports.A probation officer urged her to enroll in Phoenix after she was arrested at the age of 15 for causing a disturbance. She said Phoenix teachers and administrators took an active interest in ensuring she got to school on time, attended classes and did her homework.?Everything has changed for me,” she said.Ramos, a Revere resident, said school staff took a similar interest in her to the point she now considers teachers part of her “second family.”?Phoenix helped me learn when to be focused. It has opened my eyes and helped me think of my future,” Ramos said.The charter school is located in a former Catholic school on the Everett-Chelsea line. A recorded bugle call signals the start of classes and students earn the right to wear sweatshirts indicating they have excelled at their studies or performed an act of kindness for someone else in the school.Anderson said students range in age from 14 to 23 years old and they earn credits toward graduation rather than advance from grade to grade.?We?re trying to get students to have a viable life. It?s not just enough to get them back in school; we want to see how high they go,” she said.Lincy Rodriguez attended school in Lynn and strayed from her studies after her father?s death. She said Phoenix teachers “helped me mature in a lot of ways,” including helping her get to school on time.?They?re always pushing you, but they believe in you and say, ?You can do this,?” she said.