Our History… Mission...Vision...Opportunity...Aligned Lessons learned from the Career Center and AmeriCorps project and the urgent need to offer an education/ workplace program for seriously at‐risk youth led to the successful creation of YouthBuild‐Lawrence in 1993. Today, YouthBuild‐Lawrence is in its twentieth cycle, successfully prepares youth and young adults to earn their HiSET, learn job readiness, develop self‐confidence and feel ownership in their community through building homes for low‐income Lawrence families. Building on the Adult Leadership Development Program and the Parent Mobilization Project (PMP) and with consideration for the attainment of U.S. citizenship in Lawrence, LFDEF, Inc. applied for funding from the Massachusetts Office for Refugees and Immigrants (MIRA) and the New Americans Fund at the Boston Foundation. In collaboration with MIRA, volunteer facilitators from the PMP became citizenship educators and assisted hundreds of immigrants to attain United States. Originally, classes were held in the public library, Adelante Youth Center, civic clubs and churches throughout the community, and in 2006 the Maria del Pilar Quintana Family Center opened as the permanent home for LFDEF, Inc.’s adult education programs. The 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act established a foundation rate of state‐mandated funding for public education and included the licensing of state‐funded charter schools as an essential piece of education reform. LFDEF, Inc. was intimately involved with establishment of this initial Charter School legislation in Massachusetts. In September 1995, after several years of hard work at the state and local levels, the Lawrence Family Development Charter School opened as one of the first in a group of fourteen public charter schools in Massachusetts. As a “Level 1” public school for MCAS performance in 2012, 2013 and 2014, the work of the Lawrence Family Development Charter School is known for its best practices as a Massachusetts urban school. Our charter school uses research‐based practices for academic instruction and intervention, and supplements this instruction with after school and summer school programs. In FY’15 Lawrence Family Development Charter School (LFDCS) enrolled 678 children from early Kindergarten through grade eight and graduates the majority of its students to private‐independent, admissions‐based rigorous secondary schools ensuring a path to higher education and a positive, successful future. We continue with a keen focus on the key design elements from our founding in 1995 (ideas still in force from our original LFDCS charter application): Parent Engagement, Dual Language, Effective Teaching is Key , Partnerships, Governance and a Leadership Structure which includes parents. LFDEF, INC FY’2014‐2015 ANNUAL REPORT PAGE 2
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