By Jonathan L'Ecuyer
For the most part, people watched in silence — but a few parents couldn't help but pat each other on the back and exclaim "yes" yesterday when they heard their child's name called at the Blackburn Performing Arts Center.
About three dozen people, mostly parents and a few opponents, showed up at noon to hear the results of a lottery to select the 40 students from 56 applicants who'd have the first chance to accept seats in the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School's inaugural fourth- and fifth-grade classes.
Numbered Ping-Pong balls were picked out of a shoebox by Gloucester resident Marcus Monell, whose neighbor is a charter school board member, and the corresponding names were announced by Matt Gallup, the school's interim director.
A young student named Lauren Wood had the honor of being the first name chosen for the inaugural fourth grade at the new school, set to open its doors in September in the former Cape Ann Medical Center building at Blackburn Industrial Park.
Interest in the school among parents has been watched closely since it started accepting applications last month in the face of vigorous community opposition, and accusations of impropriety by the state officials who approved it.
For its September opening, the charter school was looking for 20 fourth- and fifth-graders and 40 students each in sixth and seventh.
The applications included 29 fourth-graders, 27 for fifth-graders, 39 sixth-graders and 17 seventh-graders.
Of the 29 vying for a fourth-grade seat, 20 Gloucester children's names were drawn yesterday. Their families now have two weeks to accept or decline enrollment in the school, Gallup said.
The other nine were placed on a wait list for residents and nonresidents, the order of which was also determined by lottery selection.
Charter school officials will first offer any seats not accepted by yesterday's lottery winners to the five wait-listed Gloucester applicants — before offering any remaining slots to the four nonresident applications, which came from families in Saugus, Ipswich, South Hamilton and Salem.
All 27 fifth-grade applicants hail from Gloucester, with seven now on the fifth-grade waiting list.
Gallup offered some uplifting words to those whose children were placed on the wait list.
"In my experience with charter schools, not every family accepts seats; so we do go to the wait list," he said.
The interim director also took time yesterday to praise the school's recruitment efforts, which included a chance for those who referred applicants to win a $250 gift card to Target or Best Buy.
Gallup called the gift card incentive a "flop," saying only three people qualified to be entered into the drawing.
Rather, Gallup credited "lots of canvassing door to door," seven information sessions, advertising, phone calls and a direct mailing to 700 households with school-aged children who met the criteria for admittance to the school as impetus for the enrollment numbers.
"Those efforts, I believe, really paid off," he said.
Kim Cabral, whose child was selected for a fifth-grade seat, won the gift card and asked that it be for use at Target stores as opposed to Best Buy. "I never win anything," she exclaimed after her name was called.
The charter school is required to report its expected enrollment to the state March 19. That report, which eventually goes to the Gloucester Public Schools, includes only the total number of applicants, not the names of the children who applied.
While the charter school could hold another lottery as early as April 10, the state will only reimburse the school for the total number of applicants it had received by March 10, Gallup said.
While the charter school offered 40 seats at the sixth-grade level, it had received just 39 applications by March 10 and therefore will only be reimbursed for 39 students even if the school fills all 40 seats, Gallup explained.
Questioned about opponents' claims that the charter school will force Gloucester public schools to restructure as a result of losing students, Gallup said the respective Gloucester school will be reimbursed 100 percent for each student lost during the charter school's first year.
"Restructuring will need to happen," he said, "but, they have time to be thoughtful about what they do.
As the lottery came to an end, Gallup also took time to steer parents toward the charter school's Web site, where renditions of the new facility will soon appear.
He also said the school was close to finalizing its leadership team and hoped to make an announcement "soon."
Teacher applications are starting to trickle in, he added, but the person chosen to serve as permanent director will ultimately complete much of the recruitment and hiring process.
Jonathan L'Ecuyer can be reached at 978-283-7000 x 3451 or jlecuyer@gloucestertimes.com.
