Phoenix Charter Academy Network

We're thrilled to announce that we have two exciting opportunities available for Bilingual School Social Workers to join our dedicated team at Phoenix Charter Academy. We're on the lookout for individuals who are fluent in Spanish or Portuguese and eager to support our diverse student community.

Apply Now! https://bit.ly/4drllML

Bilingual Social Worker - Careers At Phoenix Charter Academy Job Summary The Bilingual School Social Worker will be part of the Student Support Team at Phoenix Charter Academy They will work in a dynamic school environment that values collaboration and teamwork The Social Worker will be responsible for case management referral management and coordination with...

3 campuses 🌎 17 alumni 🎓 1 community, inspired and ignited🔥 !!!

Yesterday Phoenix alumni from across the state came together in Hudson, MA to connect with one another and with Phoenix staff. Whether they graduated in 2008 or 2023, these incredible graduates shared deep insights about how Phoenix was able to support them, and some of the ways the organization can continue to improve in the years to come.

BIG shout out to all of our staff who were able to support this transformative event, and so much hope going forward as we continue to build bridges between our past, present, & future. Special note of gratitude to Angela Gonzalez J D. Fergus, Destiny Morton, and Marina Brochado for organizing this beautiful gathering, and of course, our thanks to Massachusetts Charter Public School Association for lending us their space!

"Embracing our past, celebrating our present, and shaping our future!" ✊🏿✊🏾✊🏼Happy Black History Month from all of us at Phoenix Charter Academy! Here at Phoenix we are proud to celebrate and affirm the identities of our incredible Black students, staff, and families. From Black literature book clubs to Soul Food Lunch celebrations, from door decorations to mural painting, our schools are going above and beyond to honor Black heritage, and to ensure that we continue to celebrate Black excellence all year long. See below for a few examples from our Chelsea campus, and keep an eye out for more later this month!

November is Native American Heritage Month! This year, we’d like to feature a new staff member, Olivia Larson-Locke. Olivia was born in Utah and was adopted shortly after her birth by a non-Native couple. Olivia’s birth mother, Leonna, was born to the Shoshone Tribe and was herself adopted by a non-Native family. As the adopted daughter of an adopted daughter, someone twice removed from her tribe and its land, Olivia still managed to find a connection to her roots...it just took some time. But then again, according to Olivia, "everything happens for a reason."

“Before I graduated from high school, I had been enrolled in 13 different schools...that’s one per year! At one point I was getting in so much trouble that I was sent to a wilderness program for troubled young women and eventually to a therapeutic boarding school for long-term placement. The conditions at both were tough, but one of the things I loved about them was how grounded they were in nature and in indigenous traditions. We would sit in circle, spend evenings in sweat lodges, and take long hikes in the woods each day. We shared Native American sayings, and learned about indigenous spiritual practices. I’m not a religious person, but these experiences put me become in touch with my spiritual side, helping me to overcome some trouble and trauma as a teenager. That spirituality is also something I'm fortunate enough to share with my adopted mother, too.”

For Olivia, nature has been an important way for her to feel connected to her birth mother’s heritage. “I’ve always felt a strong connection to animals (especially horses!) and to nature more generally. I know myself well enough to know that I couldn’t live in a city full time - I need to have space and fresh air. When the weather is nice enough, I’m always walking barefoot, so that I can feel connected to the earth. It’s something you can’t see, but can definitely feel.”

“Being Native American is something that has brought me so much comfort, and a sense of belonging in a world where I didn’t always feel that. I’ve been in a lot of positions in my life where things have been taken away from me, including my physical freedom. But my Native American heritage is something which can never be taken away from me, and that has kept me going.”

Phoenix news alert! Last Thursday, Phoenix Academy Lawrence was featured by WCVB Channel 5 in a beautiful segment on our Makerspace. The Makerspace, a collaboration with La House, is dedicated to artistic expression and therapeutic healing at Phoenix Lawrence. Created in response to the tragedy of the Merrimack Valley Gas Explosions in 2018, the Makerspace is a powerful example of the resiliency, talent, and spirit of solidarity within the Lawrence community. If you've got a few moments and want to hear from some of the incredible staff and students who make this partnership possible, take a watch/listen below!

https://www.wcvb.com/article/lawrence-massachusetts-art-therapy-makerspace-helps-students/45523734

How this art therapy makerspace is helping Lawrence students An open studio makerspace serves all students who opt-in at the Phoenix Charter Academy school in Lawrence.

Growing up in Winthrop, MA, Steph Guerra remembers being one of only two Latino students in her school. Born in Guatemala, Steph is able to fuse her personal and professional experiences to inspire young people, especially newcomers to the United States, to take risks at Phoenix. “I tell them my story of when I came as a newcomer and did not have so much support. It’s great when I get to meet with other newcomer students and tell them about the ways we help them here at Phoenix Chelsea. As a Latina, I am very proud of the job that I do. I think it is important to inspire others.”

As a Community Engagement & Recruitment Specialist, one of the many ways Steph offers support to students is through diverse forms of communication: “I appreciate speaking a second language because the students who transfer here may not necessarily speak English comfortably, so I get to translate information back to them.”

Steph credits her positive outlook to her family’s traditions and values. “I like to share the way that I was raised, including specific cultural traditions." As the eldest sibling, Steph holds on to certain values from Guatemala that her younger siblings may not adhere to as strongly. A loving wife and mother, she takes care to balance two worlds while supporting her own family. She explains, “Don’t get me wrong - I live in America and am an open-minded person, but I still feel like there is a very traditional Latina viewpoint that is important to me. Even when I refer to my parents, I use ‘usted’, which is a more formal term, instead of ‘tu’. Now that I have a little one, I still want to teach him to hold these values, like respect and the importance of family.”

When asked what message Steph would like to share with her Latino students, she explains, “Be proud of who you are and the traditions that you have - don’t ever be ashamed. We should be proud of who we are and who we represent.”

"I didn't know Spanish until I was 7 or 8," explains Alexis, a Mexican-Guatemalan student Phoenix Academy Lawrence . "My dad offered to take me back to Mexico, but he told me I had to learn Spanish in just two weeks if I wanted to go. Of course he had already bought the plane tickets, but I didn't know that! I started carrying around a notebook with me, writing down every Spanish word and phrase that I could. When I finally got to Mexico, the language came so naturally to me, and I eventually didn't need the notebook anymore."

Alexis loves his Hispanic heritage, and explains how proud he is of being Mexican. "It's just the best. The food, the culture...the way people live their lives. My family comes from the pueblo, so I love going back to visit. The feeling you get there, especially in the plaza - the street vendors hustling...families just enjoying their time outside together. It's a beautiful community, where everyone just slows down and spends time with each other."

Oh, and did he mention the food? "Enchiladas verdes and tacos de birria...those are my favorites!"

With the beginning of the school year just around the corner, last week we hosted New Staff Institute at Phoenix Charter Academy! Over 20 new staff members joined us in Hudson, MA to dive deeper into our model, focusing on instructional design, post-secondary programming, and restorative practices, as well as an overview of DEIB (diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging) at Phoenix. New Staff Institute continued at the school level as these wonderful educators returned to Chelsea, Lawrence, and Springfield to keep preparing for the year ahead!

Big thanks to the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association for graciously hosting us in their office space!

There's only a few more weeks until school starts, and we've got plenty of new staff that we want to keep celebrating! Meet Amarilis Concepción, our new Director of Operations at Phoenix Lawrence. Ms. Concepción comes to us from Lawrence Public Schools, where she served as an Operations Manager. Amarilis, who was raised in Lawrence, looks forward to getting to know our students and families as she continues to invest in the city that has given so much over her life. When she's not at work, Amarilis enjoys spending quality time with her family, seeing comedy shows, reading on the beach, and trying out different restaurants. Welcome, Ms. Concepción!

Summer at Phoenix means an opportunity to reflect and plan, and perhaps nothing exemplifies this better than Phoenix Leadership Institute! Two weeks ago, Phoenix leaders from across Massachusetts got together for a three day retreat where they reflected on the previous school year and set a vision for the one ahead. Through school-level data analysis, deep discussions, and focused collaborative planning, these leaders came together in commitment to our mission so that next year we can continue !

A HUGE note of gratitude to Boathouse, Inc. for hosting us at their beautiful Waltham offices!