NASHUA – In fall 2014, about 100 local students will walk through the doors of a new city school.

Gate City Charter School for the Arts received official approval from the state Board of Education on Thursday, after a hearing in front of board members, state education officials and supporters.

“We were received well by the board,” said school founder Karin Cevasco. “We’re just really excited to have the opportunity to open.”

If the school wants to increase its enrollment within the next five years – before a mandatory reauthorization hearing – it will have to request the change from the board, a condition required to ensure the state has a strong handle on the funding needs for charter schools.

The Gate City Charter School for the Arts – Nashua’s second charter school – was one of three receiving authorization Thursday. The schools were the first to get state approval and funding since the state board enacted a moratorium on new schools in September 2012.

The authorization comes about one month after the legislature agreed on a budget that included $3.4 million for new schools.

Cevasco and other Gate City founders were outspoken throughout the
moratorium, filing an appeal with the state board for school approval in October and helping to promote a petition that asked state leaders to fund new schools.

Still, it took the arts-
integration school more than two years after founding a development committee to receive authorization.

The development group formed in May 2011. By January 2012, the group had applied for a charter from the state Department of Education, after legal and peer reviews of the application had been conducted.

That May, the department deemed the school’s application was ready to go to an authorization hearing before the state board. But after a summer without a hearing, the process was derailed when the board enacted the moratorium a few months later.

Cevasco said earlier this summer that the school leaders had come to peace with the delay, and that they’re focusing their energy on getting the school ready to open for fall 2014. That process will begin next month with the hiring of a board of trustees to govern the school.

Charter school advocate Matt Southerton, executive director of the New Hampshire Center for Innovative Schools, said he was pleased to see new charter schools given the opportunity to move forward with their missions.

“It was really gratifying and really kind of emotional,” Southerton said. “These are schools that have been so beaten down over so many months … and they just wanted to help kids. It’s really exciting.”

Plymouth-based Mountain Village Charter School and Londonderry-based Founders Academy Charter School also were authorized by the board Thursday.

And while Gate City may be the only new school opening up in Greater Nashua, Founders Academy does have plenty of city connections.

School founders Thomas Frischknecht and Kim Lavellee are members of the Academy for Science and Design board of trustees. Another founder, Sarah Frischknecht, is an algebra and German teacher at the city’s first charter school.

The approval of Gate City Charter School for the Arts brings a whole new kind of charter school to the city.

While ASD focuses on high-level instruction in math and science, catering to students in grades 6-12, Gate City will target younger children, enrolling students in grades K-4 beginning next year.

In its second year, the school plans to open up to students in grades 5-7, with eighth-graders accepted in the third year.

The arts-integration school will use drama, dance, music and visual arts to engage learners in all subjects, encouraging hands-on,
project-based learning.

There is already significant interest in the school, Cevasco said, but enrollment likely won’t begin until January 2014.

The school is recruiting for spots on the board of trustees and is looking for board members with backgrounds in human resources, finance, law, educational administration, policy development and marketing. Applications are available on the school website, www.gatecitycharterschool.org.

Among the next items on the founders’ to-do list: find a school director, a location and other school staff.

“We’re just really excited to be able to offer this opportunity to students in the area,” Cevasco said.

Danielle Curtis can be reached at 594-6557 or dcurtis@nashua
telegraph.com. Also, follow Curtis on Twitter (@Telegraph_DC).

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