City on a Hill Charter Public Schools Coordinated Program Review

April 7, 2017

Paul Hays, Chief Academic Officer of City on a Hill Charter Public Schools was informed by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education of an upcoming Coordinated Program Review that will be taking place this school year. As part of the Coordinated Program Review, Department staff will visit City on a Hill Dudley Square during the week of May 9th. Such visits are routinely conducted by the Department to satisfy federal and state requirements for the periodic review for specific education programs and services in schools throughout the Commonwealth. The Department is reviewing several programs during a single visit in order to use Department and school staff’s time most efficiently and to encourage strong connections among the programs.

The Department’s Coordinated Program Review will address the following programs: Special Education, Civil Rights and English Second Language programs. After reviewing the charter school’s procedures for these programs, a Department team will make its onsite visit, during which it will review individual student records, interview administrators, teachers and paraprofessional staff, survey parents and observe instructional spaces. After the onsite visit it will prepare a report for the charter school leaders and board of directors, with detailed findings for each program.

Using a scale of ratings from “Commendable” to “Not implemented,” the report will rate the implementation of each requirement reviewed by the Department. Where requirements are found not implemented or only partially implemented, the charter school must propose to the Department corrective action to bring those areas into compliance with statutes and regulations. Districts and schools are encouraged to incorporate the corrective action into their school improvement plans and professional development plan. The charter school will be provided with technical assistance from the Department in developing a corrective action plan. Both the Department’s report and the corrective action plan are public information and will be available to the public upon request. Program Review Final Reports are also available on the Department’s Internet website at http://www.doe.mass.edu/pqa/review/cpr/reports/.

Any member of the public may request to be interviewed by telephone be a member of the Department’s visiting team. Those wishing to be interviewed should call the charter school office at 617-467-0127 no later than May 1st to leave their name and phone number, or they may call the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education at 781-338-3736. A member of the visiting team will contact each person desiring an interview within two weeks after the completion of the onsite visit. If an individual is not comfortable communicating in English or requires some other accommodations, the Department will make arrangements to communicate appropriately with the individual.