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HISTORY & BACKGROUND

Established in 1993, the founders of MCAEC envisioned a nurturing and rigorous middle school for inner city girls. Mother Caroline Academy is that vision made real. Though our first class of girls was taught in small classrooms, the founders’ intention was that someday the school would be located in the Grove Hall Neighborhood of Dorchester, and would expand to become an education center for the entire community.

One of the most inspiring aspects of MCAEC is that our programs are funded entirely through the support of individuals, corporations, and private foundations. Our academic and enrichment programs are generously staffed and supported by a large volunteer community. The success of Mother Caroline Academy & Education Center attests to the power of its vision; “where there is great love there are always miracles.”

MOTHER CAROLINE ACADEMY
 
Our Academy serves financially-limited middle school girls; and, our Shining Star program provides after-school instruction to third and fourth graders, many of whom progress to fifth grade in our Academy. Our Adult Education Program offers courses for parents, other family members of students and adults from the larger Boston area

Picture a classroom of girl students. Imagine the teacher poses a question and immediately students shoot their hands up and wave their arms in the air, hoping to be the one who gets picked. Virtually, every student has an appetite for learning.
 
This is a scene played regularly at Mother Caroline Academy (MCA), a school for girls who are underserved in urban Boston. MCAE is located on Roxbury’s Blue Hill Avenue in Massachusetts.  It is a school where empowered teachers design classrooms that maximize students’ learning potentials.

MCAE offers a well-balanced education program, which includes math, science, foreign languages, and language arts. Our aim is to provide our learners with a student-centered environment where they can feel at ease as they read and write, do math problems, collect information, think about it and share it with peers, explain decisions and show what they know. At MCA students are encouraged to take vital roles in their community and follow through on responsibilities. Currently, seventh grade students are partnering with second grade students at John Winthrop Elementary School in an effort to support school-wide goal of literacy growth and offer outreach and enrichment activities to younger children in the community.  As students gain knowledge and understanding, they develop self-confidence, self-pride, and intuition that are especially needed as they approach adolescence.  At MCA, students understand the process of learning in order to be academically equipped for high school.
 
Most of our students are either heads of single-parent homes, are living in single-parent families, have parents working more than one job, or come from homes where English is not spoken or is spoken as a second language. These situations may interfere with academic responsibilities at home.  Thus, our philosophy is that an active agenda helps enrich the educational experiences of our girls. For that reason, students continue to receive academic support after school hours. We provide a tuition-free academic after-school program, evening study sessions, and weekend excursions. 
 
Over the years, researchers conducted studies on single-sex education and discovered that all-girls learning environment can be beneficial.  Here at MCA, we see the advantage of single-sex education.  Our graduates are attending secondary schools such as Arlington Catholic High School, Cambridge School of Weston, Trinity Catholic High School, Brooks School. and Concord Academy. Over the past seven years, 100% of the MCA alumnae have graduated from high school and a large number of them moved on to colleges and universities such as Boston College, Suffolk University, Emerson College, and Syracuse.
 
At MCA, we believe in our students. That is why they succeed. 

ADMISSION

Female students are admitted to Mother Caroline Academy in the 5th grade. Occasionally, openings may arise in grades 6th or 7th grade.

To apply for admission, applicants and their parents must attend an information session in the winter prior to start of the school year. The application process includes submitting her transcript from elementary school along with two teacher recommendations, taking a basic skills test, and an interview of both the parent and the child. There is no absolute cutoff point for either the transcript review or the basic skills test. Rather, the applicant's degree of motivation -- the extent to which she desires to succeed academically and economically -- is the main criterion the school uses in making admissions decisions.

Because Mother Caroline Academy serves low-income families, the parents of the young women attending the Academy pay only $200 each year as an activities fee. In addition, parents must be committed to fulfilling the parent partnership plan by earning twenty (20) credits per year.
 
Mother Caroline Academy is open to all qualified students, regardless of race or creed. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, nationality, or ethnic origin in the administration of its policies and programs.