State reviewing two Lynn charter school proposals

LYNN – The Bessom Street-based Hathaway School and a group of local parents proposing the Fenix Charter School have submitted applications to state educators.Hathaway’s application to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education proposes opening a 200-student elementary school next year in a yet-to-be-identified Lynn location called the Lynn Preparatory Charter School.”Lynn Preparatory School will address the great unserved need amongst students at the underperforming 12 elementary and three middle schools in Lynn,” states Hathaway’s applications.Charter schools operate with state approval independently of the public school district. Lynn is currently home to the Knowledge Is Power Program charter school based in a building opened in the Highlands last year. KIPP plans to expand enrollment to 850 students by 2014.Hathaway, according to its website, runs a preschool and kindergarten program on Bessom Street as well as an after school and summer program. Principal Joanne Civitarese’s name is listed on the charter application which states that Hathaway plans to expand over five years and eventually educate 360 kindergarten through eighth-graders.Fenix Charter proponents want to open a school for 75 fifth-graders in the J.B. Blood building on Wheeler Street and expand the school over five years into seven additional grades with a 600-student enrollment.Lynn resident Frank DeVito and other local parents involved in a “school reform group” are forming Fenix.”We sat down and asked, ?If we designed a school for our kids, what would it look like?'” he said.Fenix’ application proposes a school with “a relentless focus on creativity, innovation, collaboration and social responsibility.””Fenix Charter School is an attempt to honor the pioneering history of Lynn by providing a school to Lynn families that will prepare their children for the 21st century and beyond,” the group’s application states.Like Hathaway, Fenix proponents take a dim view of local public schools: “When we look at the educational status of Lynn, the picture is bleak,” states Fenix’ application.The Lynn applications are among 10 submitted to state officials. Elementary and Secondary Education spokesman Jonathan Considine said charter proponents who submit applications “that show the greatest promise” will be invited to send final applications to the state in September.”That’s when the comprehensive review starts, which includes the collection of public comment,” Considine stated in an electronic mail.Proposals will be approved or rejected next February.