EXCEL ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL RECRUITING MENTORS
Volunteers critical to school’s effort to fulfill its college-preparatory mission

(April 1, 2009. East Boston, MA.) Excel Academy, one of the top performing public schools in Massachusetts, is recruiting mentors to assist students of the Class of 2009 with the transition to high school. In an effort to provide ongoing support to its graduates, Excel Academy Charter School has developed a mentoring program, now in its second year of operation. Studies have shown the ninth grade year as the most critical year in determining the probability of high school graduation; the Graduate Mentoring Program exists to keep Excel Academy students on a college trajectory.

Excel Academy is seeking dedicated and caring volunteers who have earned a college degree to serve as mentors for Excel alumni in their 9th grade year. Specifically, the school is seeking individuals who are willing to make a twelve-month commitment to mentor a graduate. Mentors will be expected to meet with their mentees once a month and to connect with their mentees by phone or email at least twice a month. Prior experience working with adolescents is helpful, but all mentors will participate in a training session at Excel Academy. For more information about the program, or for an application, please contact Nicole Simoes, Mentoring Program Manager, at 617-561-1371 x220 or nsimoes@excelacademy.org.

Excel Academy is a public, charter, middle school that currently approximately 200 fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grade students. Sixty-nine percent of the school’s students are Latino and 75 percent qualify for the federal free and reduced price lunch program. On the 2008 English MCAS exam, Excel Academy’s Class of 2009 ranked first in the state, with 100 percent of students earning a score of Advanced or Proficient. Excel Academy admits students through an open lottery and is currently accepting applications. The school’s mission is to prepare middle school students to succeed in high school and college, apply their learning to solve relevant problems, and engage productively in their communities.

Contact Person
Nicole Simoes
Excel Academy Mentoring Program Manager
Phone: 617-561-1371, ext. 220
Fax: 617-561-1378
nsimoes@excelacademy.org