ABSTRACT
In August 1995, the first charter school in Massachusetts opened its doors. This chapter tells the story of that school. The founders of Marblehead Community Charter Public School (MCCPS), a middle school serving fewer than 200 students, initially thought the proposed school was unlikely to cause controversy for two reasons: (a) the proposed school’s relatively small size, and (b) problems with overcrowding at the existing local middle school. Yet controversy swirled around this school from the moment that award of the charter was announced. For that reason, this chapter puts more emphasis on external community influences than has been the case in the preceding chapters.
