McAuliffe Charter School Move Delayed to New Campus

By Susan Petroni

The Christa McAuliffe Regional Charter Publlic School‘s move to a new campus will be delayed, due to an underground water line.

The school’s Exexcutiev Director Kirstin Harrison announced today, Aug. 5, that student will start the school year in the old school campus at 25 Clinton St. and then move to the new campus at 139 Newbury St. in Framingham at the end of September.

“Though our team of engineers, architects, and contractors knew about the underground water line, the existing drawings and the actual location of the line did not match up. Ultimately, the search for the location of the line and the resolution were more time-consuming than the team anticipated. As a result, installation of the modular classrooms could not begin on time. Though our contractors anticipate completing the renovation of the existing buildings by the end of August, the modular classroom installation will not be complete,” said an email to Charter school parents today.

Editor’s Note: My daughter will be an 8th grade student at the charter school

School starts on Wednesday, Aug. 27.

With the move, McAuliffe will now be closed on Friday, Sept. 19 at 1:30 p.m. and will not re-open until Monday, Sept. 29 for students.

School was already closed on Sept. 24-26 due to the Jewish holidays.

Make-up days for students will now be on Tuesday, Nov. 4 and on Friday, Jan. 30.

Tuesday, Nov 4 is election day and Framingham Public Schools are closed. The Charter will now be open.

Friday, Jan. 30 was a professional development day with students off. Charter school students will have class.

There will be no buses on the makeup days.

“I recognize that this is a lot of information to process in early August. I also recognize that some families will be inconvenienced by the extra days of no school in September and may face challenges without bus transportation on the make-up days in November and January,” wrote Harrison in a letter to parents.

“On behalf of the school and board, I apologize, and I hope that we have provided you with adequate time to make plans. I also want to thank current and past members of the PTG for taking time to provide me with important feedback and helping McAuliffe leaders anticipate the needs of families and the issues that we’ll face as a community as a result of a delayed move and adjusted calendar,” said Harrison.

“I’m confident that our community will work together as Crew and Not Passengers to navigate the changes and to come up with creative ways to support those who run into child care or transportation issues. Meanwhile, know that our contractors are doing a phenomenal job getting our new campus ready for us; 139 Newbury will be worth the wait,” said Harrison.