View Motion

Order ID#:

Motion ID#:

Original Meeting Date:

Lead Motion Maker:

Co-Sponsors:

Original Motion Content:
<p>WHEREAS:  The Benjamin Banneker Public Charter School (BBCS) was founded by a group of Cambridge parents, educators, and community members including Cambridge parents Kathy Reddick (former NAACP President), Caroline Hunter (former CRLS teacher), educators Dr. William McLaurin (former CRLS Assistant Principal) and Nella LaRosa Waters (middle school specialist), community members George Chip Greenidge, the late Harvard Professor Charles Ogletree, Pam Ogletree, and many others; and </p> <p>WHEREAS:  The Benjamin Banneker Public Charter School founders met and worked on the BBCS proposal at hundreds of meetings over the course of four years, successfully receiving a state charter in 1996; and</p> <p>WHEREAS:  The Benjamin Banneker Public Charter School is the inspiration of concerned community leaders, parents, and educators, with the common vision and purpose of providing all Cambridge and local youth, regardless of race, culture, language, or socioeconomic status with a high-quality education; and</p> <p>WHEREAS:  The Benjamin Banneker Public Charter School’s student population is racially and ethnically diverse, including students in the following DESE categories: 72.6% high needs, 65% low income, 40% first language is not English, 11% with disabilities, and 6% are English language learners; and</p> <p>WHEREAS:  The Benjamin Banneker Public Charter School, under the capable leadership of Executive Director Sherley Bretous, is one of seven Massachusetts schools, among 350 nationwide, that has been named a 2023 National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. The school received this designation based on overall academic performance or progress in closing the achievement gap among student groups on assessments; and</p> <p>WHEREAS: The Benjamin Banneker Public Charter School is sincerely commended as a recipient of this national honor in recognition of its achievement as a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education; now therefore be it</p> <p>RESOLVED: That the School Committee extends a congratulations to the Benjamin Banneker Public Charter School community; and be it further</p> <p>RESOLVED: That the Executive Secretary be and hereby is requested to forward a suitably engrossed copy of this resolution to Executive Director Sherley Bretous on behalf of the entire School Committee.</p>