Charter
The Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School was chartered by the Massachusetts Department of Education in February 2004 and opened in September 2005.
The AMSA Charter Final Application provides a detailed implementation plan that its authors put forth to cultivate an environment of higher education for all its students.
Since then, there have been a number of Charter Amendments.
What is the purpose of a final application?
The founding group writes the final application in order to communicate plans for a potential charter school and demonstrate that they have a strong probability of creating a high quality public charter school. If a founding group’s board of trustees is granted a charter, the final application serves to define the material terms of the charter to which the school is held accountable, along with any approved amendments, as required in 603 CMR 1.11.
What is a charter, and how does a school amend its charter?
A school’s charter is made up of certain material terms that are described in the charter application. The charter is granted to the school’s board of trustees. If these terms are modified significantly by a charter school’s board of trustees, they must request approval of the change from the Department, through the amendment process, before the change may be implemented. The areas requiring amendment are described in 603 CMR 1.11. These material terms are the school’s educational philosophy and mission; governance and leadership structure; a contract with an education management organization that is providing or planning to provide substantially all of the school’s educational services; curriculum models or whole-school change designs; location of facilities, if such change involves relocating or expanding to another municipality; districts specified in a regional school’s charter; bylaws; schedule (e.g., length of school year, school week, or school day); enrollment process; code of conduct; school name; or membership of the board of trustees.