A milestone in Marblehead

A permanent home, a renewed mission and a 20th anniversary: It’s a big year for the Marblehead Community Charter Public School.”It feels like yesterday and a lifetime ago at the same time,” Head of School Nina Cullen-Hamzeh said. “We feel humbled, proud, affirmed and excited for what we’re going to accomplish in the next 20 years.”Marblehead Community Charter Public School opened in August 1995 as one of the first charter schools in the state following the 1993 Education Reform Act. The charter called for a school that emphasized the school community, embraced interdisciplinary learning and stressed a partnership among parents and teachers.The school opened with 137 students in grades 5 to 7 in a former Elks Lodge on Lime Street (the nurse’s office was the liquor locker, Cullen-Hamzeh said). The school is now maxed out at 230 students in grades 4 to 8 and a 200-student waitlist, and has expanded physically and programmatically to offer a sports, music and drama program and to offer Spanish in addition to French to all grades.Each year the school hosts three Exhibition nights – which Cullen-Hamzeh described as “a science fair on steroids” – where students showcase projects, give performances and present what they have learned each trimester.Cullen-Hamzeh has changed along with the school, starting in 1995 as a fifth grade math/science teacher, becoming assistant head of school and now overseeing the school.”It’s humbling and affirming,” she said of the 20-year anniversary. “In the beginning there were nine or 10 of us being charged with giving life to this (charter) document. Now we see that the original ideas of community, parent and teacher involvement and integrated and interdisciplinary learning…people are still trying to figure out how to do things that we do really well.”In addition to celebrating its 20th year, the school renewed its charter this year and bought its building.”It gives us a permanent home, a fixed cost for one of our biggest budget line items, and now any improvements we make are ours,” said Mary McRae, Board of Trustees chair and Marblehead Community Charter School parent.It also offers a mortgage payment that is less than the rent that increases each year, Cullen-Hamzeh said.So amongst the celebration – a gala is being held at the Corinthian Yacht Club in April and a field day for students is being discussed – there are plans being made.The school currently uses just 24,000 square feet of a 33,000-square-foot building. A task force of parents, teachers and community members are discussing expanding classrooms for music and art and expanding computer and science labs.And school leaders said all the successes of the last 20 years are just a precursor to the accomplishments of the next.”This is not a place that rests on its laurels,” McRae said. “We always think ?that went well, how can we do it better.'”