Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public School

Story

Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public School is a small K-12 school located at 10 New Bond St., Worcester, Massachusetts in former Heald Machine Company buildings. The school was founded in 1998.HistoryThe school's namesake is Abby Kelley Foster, a noted 19th-century leader in abolitionist and women's rights movements who resided in Worcester.On February 25, 2003, the Board of Education voted unanimously to renew the school's 5-year charter.CampusAbby Kelley Foster started with Grades K-5 in a factory building. The middle and high school programs came later and are located in adjacent buildings. There are 3 buildings in this campus. The Elementary (K-3), Middle (4-7) and High School (8-12) buildings. They are located next to Kendrick Field which provided them with a great place to have field days, but in the year 2009 they transformed the old building next to it (including a parking lot) into a brand new playground and 2 athletic fields. They also made a state of the art high school. They made another old building into a full court gym for the Elementary and Middle Schools in 2008.Due to overcrowding, the school leased space at Temple Emanuel for grades 6-8 during the 2002-2003 school year.High school buildingThe school board decided to build a brand new, state-of-the-art, high school. The building was bought from Norton Abrasives and was completely refurbished. During the construction of the school, students were temporarily put an old school building on Ararat Street. The building opened for the 2009-2010 school year and is still currently functional. The building was equipped with an Auditorium, Gymnasium (Named James Walsh Gym after the head of the board of Trustees), Cafeteria and Library. There was also the installation of a Chemistry and Biology Lab plus a lecture Hall. Adjacent to the Auditorium and Gym is a warehouse that the school uses for various storage and projects, such as the school play.