A four-year grant award totaling $100,000 through Cummings Foundation of Woburn, MA was given to Lawrence Family Development and Education Fund, Inc. in June of 2013 for the benefit of Lawrence Family Development Charter School. Based on the performance of the program in FY'14, the second year award of $25,000 has just been made. Specifically, funds will continue to be directed to Lawrence Family Development Charter School's "Opening Doors" efforts which support high school decision-making for the charter school's 7th and 8th grade students who particpate in after school and summer school academics to improve English Language Arts and Math achievement levels. Through this support, more than thirty LFDCS Upper School students particpate in summer enrichment, onsite private high school campus visits and year-round counsleing focused on assisting them and their parents with acceptance to private college prep high schools and financial aid resources.The Lawrence Family Development and Education Fund, Inc. is among 100 greater Boston-based organizations selected for $100,000 grants from Cummings Foundation. The Woburn-based foundation announced its continued funding to LFDCS for the second year, which delighted the students and families involved. The first non-profit 10 grant recipients were determined by the staff of the Foundation’s for-profit affiliate, commercial real estate firm Cummings Properties. As part of the decision process, Cummings staff members were invited to nominate a locally-based charity and then they took part in an online vote to determine the grant recipients. The nomination process resulted in a grant for the Lawrence Family Development Charter School. The school’s need for funding was first brought to the attention of Cummings Foundation by their employee, Beilis Soto, who is based for his work at its Cummings Center location in Beverly. Beilis’ daughter, Lisibel, is a successful student at Lawrence Family Development Charter School and will attend the school’s summer programs this July.

For the Charter School’s June 2014 graduates, collectively these students earned over $1,300,000 in scholarships and financial aid to four-year high schools. Some examples of schools from which LFDCS’ 2014 graduates received scholarships are: three graduates with scholarships to Central Catholic High School, one graduate with a scholarship to Phillips Academy Exeter, eleven graduates with scholarships to Notre Dame Cristo Rey High School, three graduates with scholarships awarded to Bradford Christian Academy, one graduate with a scholarship to St. John’s Preparatory School, one graduate with a scholarship to White Mountain School, one graduate with a scholarship to Maine Central Institute, one graduate with a scholarship to The Cambridge School of Weston, one graduate with a scholarship to Presentation of Mary Academy and one graduate with a scholarship to the Berkshire School.

In addition to the scholarships and high schools mentioned above, Lawrence Family Development Charter School works closely with the ABC (A Better Chance) organization. This collaboration is based on the ABC mission of “opening the door to educational opportunities for thousands of young people of color in this nation.” LFDCS students of the 2014 graduating class who were accepted into the A Better Chance Program are Eddy Suriel as an ABC scholar at the Berkshire School, Brichelle Peña as an ABC scholar at the Cambridge School of Weston, Ysanel Luciano as an ABC scholar at the White Mountain School and Jayleen Jaime as an ABC scholar at Phillips Exeter Academy.

Founded in 1995, the Lawrence Family Development and Education Fund, Inc.'s Lawrence Family Development Charter School (LFDCS) is one of the first K-8 Commonwealth public charter schools. As a “Level 1” public school for MCAS performance in 2012 and 2013, the work of the Lawrence Family Development Charter School is known for its best practices as a Massachusetts urban school. The school uses research-based practices for academic instruction and intervention, and supplements this instruction with after school and summer school programs.

Ms. Lisbegnalis Gonzalez, a June 2014 graduate of the Lawrence Family Development Charter School, is congratulated by Massachusetts Reproesentative Marcos Devers. Ms. Gonzalez was one of the particpants in the "Opening Doors" Progam which receives funding from the Cummings Foundation and from the Liberty Mutual Foundation.