The Lawrence Public School Fund

The Lawrence Public Schools Fund supports critical programs and initiatives to drive the turnaround of the Lawrence Public Schools ("LPS"). LPS Superintendent Cynthia Paris directs the Fund. In November 2011, Massachusetts placed LPS in receivership under a 2010 law that enables the Commonwealth to take over "chronically underperforming" school districts. LPS serves approximately 13,500 students, 72.3% of whom do not have English as their first language, and 70.7% are considered economically disadvantaged. Before receivership, student performance was in the bottom 1% of the Commonwealth, with only 52% of LPS students graduating from high school in four years. Eight years into the receivership, Lawrence students have made dramatic gains. The four-year graduation rate has increased by 23.8 percentage points, the dropout rate was cut by almost half, and the district experienced dramatic gains in MCAS and other accountability measures. While we are incredibly proud of our students, families, and teaching community's academic success over the last eight years, we need your continuous support to ensure that Lawrence's students continue on the path of college and career readiness.

Thank you for your support of the Lawrence Public Schools!

The Lawrence Public Schools Fund is a fund at the Essex County Community Foundation. All donations are tax-deductible. If you have any questions regarding your online donation, please contact us directly at (978) 777-8876 or email donations@eccf.org. Thank you!