Pioneer Charter School of Science (PCSS) has started another exciting school year with extraordinary results. Once again, PCSS students have performed extremely well on the recent MCAS and have substantially outperformed the state and district averages in all grade levels and subject areas in which they were tested. This success is the result of the hard work of the students, staff, and parents. PCSS Chief Executive Officer Barish Icin states, “We are proud of our accomplishments and hope that the community is excited about this great news.”
Compared to districts across the state, PCSS ranked first in the state on the 10th grade English and the 10th grade Science & Technology/Engineering (STE) MCAS. Grade 10 scored 100% on the MCAS English. PCSS English Department and Grade 10 Chair Katie O’Neill, resident of Everett, believes, “Our MCAS success comes not only from the structure and rigor at PCSS, but also from our dedicated teachers and staff, our devoted parents, and most importantly, our hard-working students. We are truly proud of the academic growth and success we have had in such a short time a PCSS and we look forward to our students’ achievement in the future.”
Overall, PCSS students ranked 14th in grade eight mathematics. Additionally, when using the state’s Growth Model, which measures academic progress from year to year, in Mathematics, PCSS students in all grades consistently ranked within the top 15 in the state. In Grade 8 Mathematics, PCSS students ranked second in the entire state. Now in 9th Grade, Carlos Colon of Chelsea, explains, “The school helped entirely. I used to get needs improvement all the time, but at PCSS in Grade 8, I was able to pass all of my MCAS tests. I want to set an example for my little brother who hopes to come to PCSS.”
The graph shows the percent of proficient or higher students in grades 7, 8, and 10. As you see on the graph, PCSS students surpassed the state and sending district averages with large margins. The sending districts average is the average score of Chelsea, Everett and Revere. Grade 9 student, Jireh Kamuanga of Everett, explains that, “The teachers gave handouts and I did extra math problems that they didn’t assign. My math teacher gave the class IXL homework (computer software) that really helped me learn more. I definitely achieved my success from hard work. I want to thank my teachers and family for the support that they gave me.”
Once again, according to the state’s Growth Model, PCSS scored in the “High Growth” category in all but one grade of English. This indication shows that students across all grades displayed strong academic improvement compared to most students across the state. PCSS-I Executive Director Sanela Jonuz attributes PCSS teachers and after school programs to the success of the school. She states, “We have free Monday and Tuesday after school tutoring sessions and a very successful Saturday Academy from 9:30AM – 12:30PM where our highly dedicated teachers work one-on-one with students to help them achieve success.” She goes on to explain that, “Taking part in such programs gives students access to their teachers for the day-to-day support that they need. This time also helps to broaden students’ understanding of the content matter that they are learning.”