Abby Kelley Foster Regional Charter School Announces School Director.

WORCESTER, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 18, 1998--The Board of Trustees of the Abby Kelley Foster Regional Charter School and Advantage Schools, Inc. announced today that Doris Schroeder has accepted the position of School Director. The new, tuition-free public charter school will open its doors this fall to 546 students in grades K-5.

"Ms. Schroeder brings to the new school over 32 years of experience as a teacher and administrator in public and independent schools," noted Mary Beth Burke, Board Chair. "She has established an impressive record of accomplishment, and we are confident that the Abby Kelley Foster Regional Charter School will flourish under her leadership."

Under the management of Advantage Schools, the new school will offer a rigorous and proven academic curriculum, state-of-the-art technology in every classroom, character education, a longer school year, and a corps of professional and multi-talented educators. The school will expand by one grade per year; when fully developed, it will provide a comprehensive K-12 program.

"We are delighted to have Doris join our team as School Director," said Steven F. Wilson, President of Advantage Schools. "She is an incredibly bright and energetic leader with an abiding commitment to excellence. Doris shares our vision of a new public school of true distinction. We look forward to working with her and the School's Board of Trustees to make this vision a reality."

Advantage Schools is a national leader in the emerging education management industry. Working under contract to local school founders, the company opens and operates new high-performance charter public schools in urban areas. Advantage opened its first schools last year in Phoenix, Arizona, and Rocky Mount, North Carolina, both of which are meeting academic and fiscal targets. Each school will expand significantly this fall.

This September, in addition to the Abby Kelley Foster Regional Charter School, the company will open new schools in Chicago, Illinois; Malden, Massachusetts; Kalamazoo, Michigan; Jersey City, New Jersey; and San Antonio, Texas. Over 5,000 parents have chosen Advantage-managed schools for their children this fall. Ten additional schools are slated to open in 1999.

DORIS SCHROEDER School Director Abby Kelley Foster Regional Charter School

Doris Schroeder brings to the Abby Kelley Foster Regional Charter School over 32 years of experience as a teacher and administrator in public and independent schools.

Ms. Schroeder and her family have recently relocated to Massachusetts from New Jersey, where she served as the Division Head of the Middle School and a sixth-grade teacher at the Tuxedo Park School in Tuxedo Park. In addition to the typical administrative duties of a Division Head, she taught almost a full load of classes, including mathematics, French, history, and language arts.

In the sixteen years preceding her tenure at the Tuxedo Park School, Ms. Schroeder held a variety of positions at The Montclair Kimberley Academy in New Jersey. She taught grades three through eight in subjects ranging from math to computers to English. In addition, she was the Chair of the Middle School Humanities Department; Lower House Coordinator; Computer Coordinator; and Director of Talent Explosions, a summer school program.

Ms. Schroeder received her B.A. in French and Secondary Education from Parsons College in Iowa and her M.Ed. in Elementary Education from the University of Pittsburgh.

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