ASHBY — The Ashby Evergreen founding group has been invited by the Massachusetts Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education to submit a final charter application for a proposed K–8 public charter school that could open in the former Ashby Elementary School building.
The invitation represents an important milestone in the applicaiton process for the proposed charter school.
The founding group submitted its initial charter application to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) in August, and is now entering the next stage of a lengthy state approval process, with the final charter application due to DESE on Nov. 4.
Over the coming weeks, the group will respond to feedback from DESE on its initial application and further develop the proposed school’s educational program, governance structure, financial plan, enrollment plan and other elements required by the state.
If the application moves forward, DESE will conduct additional reviews of the proposal. The process is expected to include public hearings, interviews and additional opportunities for the state to examine the proposed school and the founding group’s plans. The group anticipates that the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will decide whether to grant the charter in early 2027.
If the charter is approved, the founding group will then begin the substantial work of preparing for a planned September 2027 opening. That work would include establishing the school’s governing board and administrative structure, developing policies and procedures, hiring staff, preparing the former elementary school building, completing enrollment and lottery procedures, arranging transportation and continuing outreach to families and the wider community.
The proposed school would serve students from Fitchburg, Ashby, Townsend, Pepperell and surrounding communities. It initially anticipates opening with grades K–4 and approximately 150 students, with additional grades added over time until the school reaches its planned K–8 configuration.
Ashby Evergreen is being designed around a Finnish-inspired educational philosophy that would include significant time spent outdoors, hands-on and experiential learning, multi-age learning opportunities and an emphasis on developing confident, compassionate and capable learners.
The idea for Ashby Evergreen grew out of the community’s response to the closing of Ashby Elementary School. After the school closed, residents began looking for ways to make productive use of the now-vacant building and to consider what type of educational opportunity might best serve children in the community.
That conversation eventually brought together educators, parents, community members and other volunteers who began developing the Ashby Evergreen proposal.
“We are incredibly excited to have reached this point,” said Rose Smith, a founding group member and Ashby children’s librarian. “There is still a tremendous amount of work ahead of us, and an invitation to submit a final charter is not the same thing as approval. But it means that DESE has invited us to continue the process, and we are very grateful for the opportunity.”
The founding group also emphasizes that the project has been a community effort. Residents from Ashby and neighboring communities have contributed ideas, attended meetings, helped with outreach and expressed interest in the proposed school.
The group is now seeking additional community members willing to help with the next phase of the project, particularly with outreach, publicity, community engagement and fundraising.
Information about Ashby Evergreen and the charter process is available at ashbyevergreen.org or through the Sisu Ashby newsletter at sisuashby.substack.com.
The founding group expects the next several months to be intensive, but for the volunteers who began working on the idea after the elementary school closed, the invitation to submit a final charter application represents an opportunity to look ahead.
“What started as a community asking what could come next for this building has now reached the state charter application process,” the group said. “We have a lot of work ahead, but we are hopeful about what the future could hold.”
-Ashby Evergreen founding group
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