Charter School To Ring in First Day With Gunfire Salute

Students at the Marblehead Community Charter Public School are saying goodbye to summer, sharpening their pencils and getting ready for the first day of school next Monday, August 30. MCCPS opens its doors more than a week before any other school in town.

Charter's first day stands out for another reason, too.

"We're the only school in the country that I know that begins with legal gunfire," said Principal Nina Cullen-Hamzeh.

Glover's Regiment, Marblehead's Revolutionary War re-enactment group, rings in the new school year at Charter each fall with a gunfire salute.

MCCPS is celebrating its 16th year with new teachers, new programs and a new look. Fresh, colorful paint (red, yellow and purple) now brightens many rooms and there's a new tile floor in the Community Room.

"The school looks wonderful," said Cullen-Hamzeh. "We're very excited."

There are many new enrichment programs, too. MCCPS offers special classes during the last 45 minutes of each school day, during which students can try things like woodworking, yoga, and even hip hop dancing.

 New this year is "Create a Play Drama Series," in which students work together to write a play and then perform it for the community; "Teen Fitness Bootcamp" with YMCA instructors; "Bookmaking," in which students learn artful ways to create their own books and tell their life stories; "Baking;" and "Landscaping" with instructors from the Marblehead Park and Rec Department.

There are several new teachers at Charter this fall. They include:

• Kaitlyn Bishop will teach French. Bishop is a Marblehead native and graduate of UMass Amherst. She studied in France last year and then backpacked through Europe.
• Jessica Massanari-Snapp will teach Spanish. She last taught at Arlington High School. She spent time in the Peace Corps teaching science (in Spanish) in Nicaragua.
•  Adam Stahl is the seventh grade math/science teacher. He comes from Tufts University where he was a theatre technical director.
• Glenn Blakney is the eighth grade math/science teacher. He last taught in the Lawrence Public Schools.
• Erin Flynn is the new eighth grade humanities teacher.

Also fresh this fall -- school breakfast and lunch, said MCCPS chef Laura DeSantis.  She's been tending the school's garden all summer, growing  "zucchini, summer squash, several varieties of tomatoes and lettuces, cucumbers, pumpkins, green beans and fennel," she said. They will all be incorporated in the school menu.

So, why does Charter begin so much earlier than other schools in town?

It goes back to its inaugural year, in 1995. MCCPS was in the running to become the state's first charter school. To secure that honor, MCCPS decided to start a bit earlier -- before Labor Day.  Another charter school opened a week later. The tradition stuck. MCCPS also runs an extra five school days each year (185 days instead of the state-mandated 180).  Rather than run later into June, it starts a bit earlier.

"Personally, I'd rather be off through Labor Day weekend," said Cullen-Hamzeh with a laugh. "But coming back first can be fun, too. We have a lot to look forward to this year."