Chester Community Charter School Students Achieve AYP Second Year in a Row

2009-2010 PSSA Test Scores Show a 3% Increase, from Last Year, in Advanced and Proficiency in Math and Reading for Grades Three through Eight

Chester, PA August 10, 2010 - Chester Community Charter School (CCCS), the largest kindergarten- through-eighth-grade charter school in Pennsylvania, today announced that, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the school’s 2009-2010 Pennsylvania State System of School Assessment (PSSA) test results show that 64 percent of the school’s third-through-eighth-grade students were advanced or proficient in math and 58.3 percent were advanced or proficient in reading. This success marks an approximate 3 percent increase in performance, in both categories, as measured against last year’s results, and constitutes the second year in a row that the school has achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status.

Chester Community Charter School students’ test scores reflect a dramatic improvement against the school’s test scores in 2001, the first year in which the school began operating with students in grade levels eligible for state testing. Over the ten-year period ending in 2010, CCCS student’s math scores improved from 5 percent to 64 percent, advanced or proficient, while reading scores improved from 10 percent to 58.3 percent.

According to Steven E. Lee, CCCS’ Chief Executive Officer, “Chester Community Charter School continues to flourish and produce well-rounded, academically competitive students. Achieving AYP for the second year in a row proves that our education model works and that the efforts of our administration, staff, parents and students truly pay off. We defeat the stereotype and our scores substantiate what we know, that good things do come out of Chester.” He continued, “We’re raising the bar on quality k-8 education and I couldn’t be more proud of our students and their achievements.

As an example, Lee pointed out that the 138 students who participated in this year’s eighth-grade graduation ceremony on June 10, 2010, will continue their secondary education at more than 15 different schools, many ranked as among Pennsylvania’s top high schools, including Cardinal O’Hara, New Beginnings Academy, World Communication Charter, Allied Health High School, Delaware County Christian School, Archmere Academy, Ursuline Academy, Philadelphia High School For Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA), Charter High School for Architecture and Design (CHAD), Penncrest High School, Brandywine High School, Malvern Preparatory and The School of Science and Discovery.