The meeting will take place in Holyoke and the address will be posted on this website by May 20, 2012.

Please use the application forms on this website for the June lottery.

Our newly approved charter school is seeking applicants for the following jobs at this time:

Administrative Assistant(s): At least one must be bilingual Spanish/English

ESL Teacher

SPED Teacher

Social Worker: Must be Bilingual Spanish/English

Subject Teachers: Language Arts, History, Math, Biology, World Language (Spanish, Mandarin, ASL)

For detailed job descriptions see our documents page

Please read our charter contained elsewhere on this webpage.  We are looking for employees who are committed to our mission and values!

A cover letter and resume should be sent to: Paulofreirecharter@gmail.com.

Absolutely no phone calls at this time, thank you.

For any questions about the school, admissions process, or lottery please call Ljuba Marsh at: 413-230-6214

We have a few spaces still available for September and will extend our application period to Monday, March 19, 2012 for additional applications.

The agenda will include:
Review and Update of Bylaws
Review and update of Enrollment Plan
Review and vote of new Board member
New Business

The first 10 minutes will be reserved for public comment

Our first lottery will be held on Thursday March 15, 2012 at 5pm at CareerPoint 850 High Street Holyoke, MA 01040

We will call anyone who is unable to attend by Sunday March 15, 2012 to let them know the results.

For any questions call Ljuba Marsh @ 413-230-6214

The State of Massachusetts’ enrollment report is due in mid-March. This only leaves a short time for applications to be submitted, a lottery held, and the report finalized.

Any Massachusetts students going into 9th grade in September can apply for a space in our first lottery. Applications are available on this site. Any application post-marked by March 12, 2012 will be entered into our first lottery and will have the first available spaces in our school. The cities and towns of Holyoke, Chicopee, West Springfield, Westfield, South Hadley and Northampton will have priority placement in the lottery.

Applications postmarked after March 12, 2012, will go into a second lottery waiting list.

Submitting an application does not obligate a student to attend; families can change their decision at any time and attend another school.

For more information call: Bob Brick (413) 575-0084 or Ljuba Marsh (413) 230-6214 or email: Paulofreirecharter@gmail.com.

The Paulo Freire Board of Trustees wishes to thank all our community members for their support in this effort. We could not have accomplished this without you. We are so grateful for this opportunity.

The school, which will draw some of its students from Northampton and South Hadley, was one of four new charter schools the commissioner recommended to the state Board of Education for approval. The other three are Baystate Academy Charter School in Springfield, Collegiate Charter School of Lowell and the Dudley Street Neighborhood School in Boston.

Bob Brick, of Northampton, a founding board member of the Freire school, said supporters were excited to learn that they’d received the commissioner’s approval.

“We’re especially excited for all the students this school will make a real difference for,” said Brick, who was also a founding board member of the 15-year-old Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School in South Hadley.

This marks the second time the Freire school has applied for a charter. Last year, the state rejected the school’s application and asked supporters to resubmit their proposal. The key change in the new application is that it no longer includes plans for a middle school, focusing instead on grades 9 through 12 only.

The state Board of Education will vote on Chester’s recommendations Feb. 28. Last year, the board approved 16 new charter schools, bringing the total number of such schools in Massachusetts to 79.

On Feb. 28, the state board will also consider a five-year renewal application from the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion charter school in Hadley. The school is seeking to expand its kindergarten-through-eighth-grade enrollments and add a high school.

The four recommended new charter schools were among seven applicants asked to submit final proposals to the state last fall. One group withdrew its application in November.

In a statement announcing his recommendations Thursday, Chester emphasized that finalist schools went through a rigorous “accountability” process involving interviews, public hearings and reviews by both state experts and outside reviewers.

“The four groups I am recommending developed compelling proposals,” he said. “If they are granted a charter by the board later this month, I am confident they will be well positioned to improve student outcomes.”

The Freire school, named for Brazilian educator and activist Paulo Freire, aims to draw 60 percent of its eventual 500 students from Holyoke, according to its application. The rest will come from Northampton, South Hadley, Chicopee, Westfield and West Springfield.

The school’s curriculum focuses on service learning, media literacy and community development. It will also have an extended school day and a participatory governance structure.