Proposed Charter School Plans Longer School Year

A regional charter school proposed for Westborough and its neighbors would have a 190-day school year, 10 days longer than the local schools, one of the organizers said Wednesday night.

The proposed Central Massachusetts Science Technology Engineering Art and Mathematics via Language Immersion Public Charter School's school day would run from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., with enrichment offered from 3 to 5 p.m., Dr. Daniela Carrigo said during an information session at the Tatnuck Bookseller. Teachers would have professional development from 3 to 5 p.m., she added.

Organizers hope to open the school next August in Westborough, Carrigo said.

The school would serve students in Westborough, Hopkinton, Marlborough, Northborough, Southborough and Shrewsbury. The school would be located in Westborough, although the specific site is "not now known," according to the prospectus that organizers filed with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education on July 29. 

The proposed Commonwealth charter school would open for the 2014-2015 academic year with 315 total students among Kindergarten to grade five, the document states.

None of the communities covered by the proposed school has one single Kindergarten to grade eight building, said Carrigo, a Westborough resident.

Hopkinton students attend "four schools before they get to high school," she said.

The proposed charter school would offer full-day Kindergarten, she said.

"Half-day Kindergarten will not be an option," she said.

The state received 10 new charter school prospectuses.