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1. 2/22/2016 Providence charter school emerges from 'dysfunction' to achievement Gate House
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By Linda Borg
February 21. 2016 10:00PM
Providence charter school emerges from 'dysfunction' to achievement
Tenthgraders Ana Familia, Jailin
Mostafa, Naylib Batista (standing in red),
and Destiny Delgado work with CTE
teacher Alex Dornback as they work to
assemble a starter robot kit at the
Academy for Career Exploration in
Providence. The Providence
Journal/Sandor Bodo
Academy for Career Exploration, which had been on the verge of closing in 2012, has been resurrected from its days of poor leadership, academics and financial
oversight to the secondhighest performing high school in Providence.
PROVIDENCE — In July 2012, Rhode Island's oldest charter school was on the verge of closing. Not one student had
scored proficient in math during the previous year. The school's board of directors had failed to provide leadership,
academics and financial oversight, according to a state review.
Former state education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist called for the Providence school to be shut down. When more
than 800 supporters turned out to defend the career and technical school on Harrison Street, the state Board of
Regents agreed to give the Academy for Career Exploration, formerly the Textron Chamber of Commerce Academy,
another chance.
Mario Cirillo, a former East Providence superintendent with 17 years of teaching experience, was hired to right the
ship. When he arrived in 2013, Cirillo said he found a school that was "totally dysfunctional." Students roamed the
hallways, often going out for coffee in the middle of the day. Academic rigor was painfully absent.
"I asked students why they came to school," Cirillo said. "They told me, 'Because it's safe, it's secure and it's small.' "
He said there was no connection between what students were learning in the classroom and the skills they would need in
the workplace.
The first thing Cirillo did was put the adults in charge. Students were expected to be in class on time, every day. Teachers were given a clear set of expectations.
About onethird of them left.
At the time, there were two career paths: hospitality and medical. Neither led to an industry certification, nor did they lead to higherpaying jobs. Cirillo and his
staff, development director Susan Ahlstrom and curriculum director Luke Driver, abolished the former career tracks and developed three new ones — social
media/marketing, computer programing and Web development and computer networking, security and forensics.
Driver said the three new pathways will lead to "high skills, high wages and highdemand" jobs.
ACE also decided to put youth in charge of their own learning. During a recent visit to a computer lab, students were sitting in front of laptops, working on
coding and Web design. The teacher, a former HewlettPackard executive, roamed the room, answering questions.
"Our kids are asked to own their learning," Cirillo said. "The teacher used to be the purveyor of knowledge. Today, they play a different role. Now they are
asking the questions and conducting the research."
Technology plays a huge role in the shift toward studentdriven classrooms. ACE has adopted the socalled "blended learning" model, in which students move
back and forth between laptops and the more traditional teacherled instruction.
In a ninthgrade English class, the students are split into groups, which rotate among three stations. At one station, students listens to a Ted talk on poetry. At
another, a small group analyzes a Pablo Neruda poem. A third group studies the lyrics of a popular Adele song.
Jessica Velasquez, a freshman, likes the smaller classes and says they help her concentrate.
"There are more opportunities here for oneonone time with the teacher," said Lupita De Los Santos, another ninthgrader. In a traditional classroom, the
teacher works with 26 students. Under this model, a teacher can spend time with eight students at a time.
Since technology lies at the heart of all three career pathways, ninthgraders must take an introductory computer science course written by the University of
Rhode Island, for which they can earn college credit.
Freshmen explore different career strands before choosing a major during their sophomore year. Ninth and 10thgraders are also expected to complete a total
of 100 hours of community service. Juniors prepare for a senior year internship, culminating in a senior presentation.
Although math scores are still shockingly low (only 10 percent were proficient in 20132014), English scores are holding steady, with 80.5 percent proficient on
the New England Common Assessment test in 20132014. The fouryear graduation rate has risen from 67 percent in 2011 to 90 percent in 2013 while the daily
attendance averages 94 percent.
Meanwhile, the Rhode Island Department of Education in 2014 named ACE a “leading” school because of its strong achievement in reading and mathematics,
small gaps in student achievement and increasing graduation rates. The state ranked ACE as the secondhighest performing high school in Providence,
