October 28, 2011

Dear Parent or Guardian:

We are pleased to share 2011 report card for the Barnstable Community Horace Mann Charter Public School with you.  It contains information about enrollment and teacher qualifications, testing and accountability.  The report card consists of three sections, and each section presents data on the school as it compares to the district and the state as a whole.

Part 1:  Enrollment and Teacher Qualifications
Under NCLB, teachers must hold a Massachusetts teaching license at the Preliminary, Initial or Professional level and demonstrate subject matter competency in the areas they teach.  NCLB standards apply to the subject matter taught by teachers.  For example, a teacher may be qualified to teach one subject but not another.  With this in mind, we are doubling our efforts to make sure all teachers at our school are appropriately assigned to teach classes that reflect their qualifications.

The Barnstable Community Horace Mann Charter Public School is committed to providing quality instruction for all students and does so by employing the most qualified individuals to teach and support each student in the classroom.  The information in the enclosed report card contains information about the teachers in our schools as a whole.

Part II: Testing
This section contains information on how Massachusetts students performed on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).  NAEP is often called the “Nation’s Report Card.”  It is the only measure of student achievement in the United States that allows you to compare the performance of
students in Massachusetts with the performance of students across the nation or in other states.

This section also contains information on how your child’s school compares to the district and the state on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exam.  If your child took the MCAS last year, you will receive a parent/guardian report with your child’s results, along with an explanation for what those results mean.

Part III: Accountability
This section contains the school’s 2011 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) report.  AYP is a measure of the extent to which a student group demonstrates proficiency in English language arts and mathematics.  AYP Reports, issued each year, show the progress schools and districts are making toward the goal of having all students reach proficiency by the year 2014.

To receive an affirmative AYP determination, the school must meet a student participation requirement, an additional attendance or graduation requirement, and either the State’s performance target or the group’s own improvement target.  Schools that do not make AYP for two or more consecutive years must follow a required course of action to improve school performance.  A school’s “Accountability Status” defines that course of action.  Accountability Status designations include Improvement, Corrective Action and Restructuring.  To be assigned to the positive No Status category, schools have to make AYP in a subject for all student groups for two or more consecutive years.

If you have any questions regarding the 2011 report card for our school, please feel free to contact me at 508-790-7985.

Sincerely,
Marilee A. Cantelmo
Marilee A. Cantelmo
School Leader/Principal

Enclosure:  NCLB Report Card