Mastery Schools

Hey, families! Summer break is just around the corner, but before we get there, here are key dates to circle on your calendar to help you finish the school year strong.
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¡Hola, familias! Las vacaciones de verano están a la vuelta de la esquina, pero antes de llegar a ellas, aquí tienen las fechas clave para marcar en su calendario y terminar el año escolar con fuerza.

Join us this Thursday, June 4, for a virtual Navigating Stress and Self-Care family workshop. The workshop will provide families of students with diverse learning needs with tangible tools to balance student support and self-care.

Families are encouraged to attend the session that best fits their schedule, either in the morning (10:00 am - 12:00 pm) or in the evening (5:30 - 7:30 pm).

Visit https://bit.ly/4uLGt8M to register by Wednesday, June 3.

Happy from Mastery Schools! We mean it when we say every member of our community matters! Every student, staff member, and family member is valued, seen, and celebrated. We are proud to be a place where our LGBTQ+ community members thrive. Here's to a June full of color, joy, and togetherness.
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¡Feliz Mes del Orgullo de parte de Escuelas Mastery! ¡Hablamos en serio cuando decimos que cada miembro de nuestra comunidad importa! Cada estudiante, miembro del personal y familiar es valorado, visto y celebrado. Nos enorgullece ser un lugar donde los miembros de nuestra comunidad LGBTQ+ prosperan. ¡Por un junio lleno de color, alegría y unión!

MASTERY IS OUR CHOICE!: We are thrilled to announce that all four Mastery campuses up for renewal this year have been officially recommended for full five-year renewals! This major victory is a direct reflection of the unwavering dedication of the Mastery Schools community. More than 100 students, families, alumni, and staff showed up to share testimonies and show the School Board their support for Mastery. The voices of our community were heard loud and clear, and we are honored to continue serving students and families across Philadelphia.

Strong family partnerships help students thrive. Kindergarten families at Thomas Elementary joined the school during literacy centers to shadow their student through reading rotations and experience firsthand what learning to read looks like in our classrooms. We love welcoming our families into our schools to empower them with the strategies and confidence they need to support their students' growth.

💙⭐Please join us in congratulating Mr. Hart of Cramer Hill Elementary for being named a 2026 RISE Teaching Award recipient! This prestigious honor from the Camden Education Fund recognizes Mr. Hart's excellence in the classroom and unwavering commitment to students. We are so proud to have impactful educators like Mr. Hart inspiring our students every day. To read more, visit https://bit.ly/4nw3V7g.

Students in the Lenfest Future Educators Academy at Lenfest Campus traded in the classroom for the State Capitol! The group of students headed to Harrisburg with Teach Plus Pennsylvania to advocate for support to combat Pennsylvania's teacher shortage. Our students did not just stand by and watch policy changes happen. They played a critical role in the conversation. After meeting with various legislators, the group participated in a press conference, where 11th-grader Samia Bradley spoke alongside State Senator Hughes about the importance of investing in the next generation of teachers. We are so incredibly proud of our students for using their voices to shape the profession they plan to enter. Visit https://bit.ly/4uexnRx to read more.

"This is not about sectors. It is about children." Mastery Schools CEO Dr. Joel D. Boyd spoke out in The Philadelphia Citizen about the importance of fairness and stability in Philadelphia's school system. As the Board of Education meets on May 14 to discuss charter renewal decisions, Dr. Boyd emphasizes that every public school, regardless of type, deserves a clear, consistent, and fair evaluation system. Stability and transparency matter. Our students matter. Family choice matters. Visit https://bit.ly/4dkHFbx to read the full op-ed.

Here's a simple way to think about what's happening with charter renewals in Philadelphia right now: If your plumber told you the pipe was broken and needed to be fixed, you wouldn't turn the water back on mid-repair. You'd wait. Because common sense says the fix has to come before anything flows through it again.

The Board of Education launched Project RiSE because the charter renewal system is broken: their words, not ours. The fix won't be ready until 2027-2028. But renewal decisions are still being made today, under the system everyone has agreed doesn't work.

Our children's schools shouldn't have to operate under a broken system while the Board figures out how to fix it. Support Philadelphia Charters for Excellence, our 70 member schools, and nearly 65,000 students as we call for a halt on charter renewals until Project RiSE is complete and the system is fixed. Our children deserve it.

Join us on Tuesday, May 19, at Cramer Hill Elementary for a family workshop on navigating stress and self-care. The workshop will give families of students with diverse learning needs tangible tools for balancing student support and self-care. Visit http://bit.ly/4tzl2Hn to register.