Proposed Mayoral Academy Gets Preliminary Approval

A new mayoral academy for Woonsocket is moving forward.

The Providence Journal reported that the Rhode Island Council of Elementary and Secondary Education voted 5 to 3 to award preliminary approval to the RISE Mayoral Academy, a kindergarten-through-grade-eight school that would serve students from Woonsocket, North Smithfield and Burrillville.

RISE would open in September 2015 with 81 students in kindergarten and add a grade per year until enrollment reaches 729 students. Mayoral academies are diverse regional charter schools whose boards are chaired by a mayor.

The proposed school would be modeled after the Blackstone Valley Prep charter schools in Cumberland. The push for RISE stems from the academic success of students in those four charter schools in northern Rhode Island.

Read the proposal here.

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