Wow. That is unbelievable. Just wow.

With the District’s move to the PARCC test there aren’t as many MCAS data points to compare this year between the Melrose district and the MV Regional Charter School. This year the Melrose district and the MVRCS were only compared in 6 categories in the MCAS. With regard to the percentage of students in either the Proficient or Advanced categories; the results are as follows:

Grade 5 Science – Mel 64% MV 61%
Grade 8 Science – Mel 48% MV 44%
Grade 10 ELA – Mel 97% MV 100%
Grade 10 Math- Mel 86% MV 96%
Grade 10 Science – Mel 81% MV 88%
Combined Science- Mel 63% MV 64%

This time around MV took 4 out of the 6 categories. Congrads to them; however, with all of the discussion about the subjective rankings out there, it is interesting to see the scores so closely tied together. One would think that the MV results would dwarf those of the district but that does not seem to be the case. It is also worth remembering that last year and the several years prior there were many more categories in which the two schools were compared. For instance, last year there were 20 different categories in which to compare and Melrose had a higher percentage in Advanced of Proficient in 11 of the 20. There results were similar in every year in which the test was administered across all grades. Unfortunately, the PARCC test has temproarily put an end to that comparison.
The state also measured the percentage of students in the Warning/Failing category in 2015 in the same 6 categories. . Those results are as follows:

Grade 5 Science – Mel 5% MV 9%
Grade 8 Science – Mel 10% MV 13%
Grade 10 ELA – Mel 1% MV 0%
Grade 10 Math- Mel 5% MV 0%
Grade 10 Science – Mel 2% MV 0%
Combined Science- Mel 6% MV 8%

Here you can see an even split with each school have a higher percentage of students in the warning/failing in 3 categories. Again, the results are fairly similar and seem to contradict a lot of the nonsense that is spewed on this board and in the media.

Apparently this is a 2 year PARCC experiment and after that time the schools will again be compared on the same basis; but for the present these are the only results.

Yes. The Melrose city solicitor sends his kids to the charter school. He knows that the mayor, the school committee & certain employees of the mayor's staff such as Martha Grover continuously spread lies about the charter school. The funding formula is misconstrued which is the hot button issue for most MPS parents as it should be especially when presented incorrectly.

There have been comments made such as "no athletic fees for the MVRCS kids" which are patently untrue. Mystic Valley charges for athletics and has a fee for each extracurricular club a student belongs to -- all of which the city solicitor knows. There was an obsession with the so-called PR director which has now waned since Melrose hired an actual PR firm. The MVRCS 'PR director' performs multiple jobs within the school. Not just damage control as the Melrose PR firm does. He also makes about 1/2 of the salary that the Melrose government detractors claimed.

The city solicitor also knows that some MV kids receive IEP services through the school and that there are parents that are happy with these services.

He definitely knows that one of the reasons some kids return to their local schools is that the charter school is 'too hard' academically and not everybody wants that.

Most importantly he is comfortable enough with the school that he sends his offspring there. That is the most powerful endorsement really.

When there were hearings last year for whether Mystic Valley could 'raise the cap' & admit more students, the commissioner of education, Mitchell Chester called for feedback from the sending districts. He wrote in the official document detailing the reasons for his decision to raise the cap that he received NO feedback from any of the districts which of course include Melrose. Nothing. The Melrose School Committee later claimed in a public meeting that they had sent something in against raising the cap. They lied. The cap was raised and more students from all sending districts are now able to attend the charter school.

My children are grown with children of their own. I am grateful that they are long gone from the MPS and that my grandchildren do not attend schools in this city. Everything I read on MM, see on MMTV and hear from young families in my neighborhood makes we wonder about the quality of the schools in this city. I voted NO on the Override because of what I see watching the SC meetings. If I still had school aged children, I would try and get them into the Charter. I am not Catholic but after reading the long Free Press interview today with 2 St. Mary's teachers, I'd send my kids there in a minute. Very impressive article!

The SC meetings are really all you need to watch to see how dysfunctional this place is. I have lived in several different towns/cities in my life, and I have never seen anything like it. I often cringe, listening to the stupidity and lies that get spewed from that incompetent group. If you are being honest, you have to admit that CT's demeanor, vocabulary, speech pattern, lack of eye contact, and nonsensical thought process is an embarrassment. The rest of the crew is just along for the ride. There is clearly no investment into making things better- everything feels entirely inauthentic. I am not sure how people can delude themselves into thinking that this group cares about the education of the kids in this city. One of these imbeciles recently tried to enlighten me on the meaning of "growth mindset". Are you bleeping kidding me? They love to learn new terms and run them into the ground, but never take the time to actually put anything good into practice.

Just try talking to Maragret Driscoll and she will wow you with educational terminology and alphabet soup of organizations but ask her what is going on in the schools - and you hear crickets!

She claims the SC doesn't run the schools only the superintendent - her philosophy is "I see no evil, speak no evil, and hear no evil"! If you want to know what is going on in the schools - read my blog - we don't discuss this stuff ion the SC meetings!

As the saying goes, "You get what you pay for!"

Maybe someone in Melrose actually wanted the charter cap increased to reduce the flow of kindergarteners into MPS? Either way Melrose has it's own cap on the number of students that can go from the City. We are quickly approaching it.

The Charter works for some families and the style of education is right for some students. However, it is a fact that students with serious special needs cannot be accommodated by MVCS. These students return to Melrose (or never apply to MVRCS the first place).

The Charter also does a very good job of promoting itself. If MPS improved they wouldn't have to worry so much about the Charter.