State Extends Charter for Global Learning School

The Global Learning Charter School in New Bedford announced today that Massachusetts Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester plans to renew the school's charter for another five years, and that all conditions previously placed on the school have been removed.

Back in 2012, Chester placed conditions on the school after low MCAS scores.

Executive Director of Global Learning Charter School Dr. Stephen Furtado tells WBSM News that the school was removed from probation last year, but the conditions still persisted until Chester's positive review.

"We've been give a five-year re-charter with absolutely no conditions at all," Furtado said. "It's validation for all the hard work that the staff and the students did over the past three years, so we're pretty excited."

Furtado said enrollment wasn't hurt by the conditions, but in fact had gone up over the past three years.

In addition to improved test scores, Chester also noted the school's increasing graduation rate and declining dropout rate. Furtado said parent involvement played a big part.

"The support of the parents has been overwhelming," he said. "They really care."