New Campus, Classrooms for Christa McAuliffe Charter School

Students at the Christa McAuliffe Charter School will not only be returning to class, but also to a new school, and new campus.

The Framingham-based Charter School is opening the doors to its new campus on Monday, Jan. 5.

The school had been located in downtown Framingham on Clinton Street in the former St. Stephen’s School building.

on Monday, the middle school students will explore and begin learning in their new classrooms at 139 Newbury Street in Framingham.

“Our new classrooms provide ample space for teachers to engage scholars in hands-on, collaborative learning activities and projects. Classrooms are also equipped with dual projectors and a laptop for each scholar,” stated the school on its Facebook page.

McAuliffe purchased the office park property for $4.95 million in 2013, with the plan to more its 396 middle school students to its new location in fall 2014.

The Framingham-based regional public charter school was to move into its new campus on Newbury Street in August, but announced in July the school would open at its current Clinton Street campus and then would move to Newbury in late September.

In September, administration announced the move would be delayed to at least October, maybe November, due to a sewer issue. While contractors were digging for the school’s adventure center’s existing sewer line instead of a sewer connection they found a septic tank. The town did not know of this tank’s existence. The impact means the tank needs to be removed and both the adventure center and modular unit plumbing need to be connected to the Town of Framingham’s sewer system.

The school accepts students from seven communities in addition to Framingham via an annual lottery.

There were 283 applicants for 144 slots for the current sixth grade class or the class of 2017. It was the largest applicant pool for the school’s largest class ever.

There were 261 applicants for the current 7th grade class and 214 applicants for the current 8th grade class. There were 150 applicants, the year before that.

Applicants for the 2015-16 class must apply for the lottery by Saturday, February 28. The lottery will be held on March 5.

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Photos courtesy of Christa McAuliffe Charter School