MicroSociety Academy Receives Honors At Education Conference

The MicroSociety Academy (MACS), a tuition-free K-6 public charter school in Nashua, was recognized for three awards at the Annual MicroSociety International Conference held this year in Hartford, Connecticut after successfully completing only its’ first school year.

School Director Amy Bottomley was accompanied to the late June conference by eight staff and MACS Board Chair Tom Malone.
“Much to our surprise and delight MACS unexpectedly left the conference with three awards from this international educational conference. We felt overwhelmed and honored to receive these honors after completing our first year from such a group of respected educators,” Bottomley remarked.

MicroSociety Academy was awarded “Rookie Charter School of the Year” for being an outstanding first year MicroSociety themed charter school. The prestigious “3 Star Award” was awarded to MACS for being a school that successfully exceeded addressing MicroSociety standards and practices, which are highly comparable to state standards. This is the highest rating for which a first year MicroSociety school might be eligible.
“Student Leader Award” was awarded to MACS 5th grader Eleanor Kriebel, of Nashua, for her outstanding leadership and embracing the MicroSociety philosophies in all that she does. 

These awards came on the heels of last year’s conference honors awarded in Philadelphia to founding MACS Board of Trustees member, Tom Malone, who received the George Richmond MicroSociety “Soul” Award and another founding MACS Board member, Dave Cronin, who received the coveted George Richmond “Heart” Award for their ongoing leadership and dedication to furthering the goals and spirit of MicroSociety education over three decades.
At this year’s conference MACS guidance counselor, Kate Dagianis was also honored to co-present a workshop with Kaitlin Roig-Debellis, former Sandy Hook grade 1 teacher and founder of “Classes 4 Classes” (C4C), on the MicroSociety Heart Strand’s “Kindness” social-emotional initiative funded in part from the Robert Kraft Foundation.
This positive conference news comes after the school had other notable accomplishments during its’ first official year. MACS successfully transitioned in October from its’ temporary location at St. Philips Orthodox Church parish center into a newly renovated building at 591 West Hollis St. (former Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic) in Nashua.
School Director Amy Bottomley was proud to note by the end of the school’s first year, “95% of our K-5 families expressed a strong desire to return to MACS for 2016-17.”

“Greater-Nashua families have responded very positively to our unique mission at MicroSociety Academy—to actively engage students in a diverse, challenging learning environment that will prepare them for college, the workforce, and citizenship in a 21st Century global society. MACS students are taught developmentally appropriate, research-based, technology-infused learning strategies that are applied daily creating and operating the agencies and ventures of their own school-based MicroSociety.”

During the Spring enrollment period, Bottomley added, “Positive word of mouth had spread among Greater-Nashua parents to the degree that demand for available seats from families far exceeded the originally anticipated enrollment numbers and then available classroom seats and created a growing waiting list for K-6 students seeking admission to the school for 2016-17.’”
To address the growing waiting list, the MACS Board of Trustees successfully sought permission from the New Hampshire State Board of Education in May to add more students to Grade 2-6 classes (now ranging 21-23 students per class) and provide for the school’s anticipated growth to Grades 7 and 8 following the 2016-17 school year that will expand the school capacity eventually to nearly 200 students.
More information about MicroSociety Academy is available on the school website. www.macsnh.org. Parents with questions may email Susannah Williams, Curriculum & Program Coordinator at swilliams@macsnh.org. Those who want more information about Classes 4 Classes and the MACS student project can contact https://classes4classes.org/projects/a-set-of-20-samsung-chromebooks-and...

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