MassDevelopment Bond Helps Dorchester Collegiate Academy Charter School Add Grades Through Renovations

January 30, 2013

Contacts:
Kelsey Abbruzzese, MassDevelopment, 617-330-2086 & 617-448-9077 (cell)
kabbruzzese@massdevelopment.com
Robert Flynn, DCA, 617-379-3029
rflynn@dcacademy.org

MassDevelopment has issued a $1.6 million Qualified Zone Academy Bond on behalf of Dorchester Collegiate Academy Charter School (DCA), a Boston public charter school that serves 150 students in fourth through seventh grades. DCA will use bond proceeds to renovate or upgrade its entrance, first floor, basement, flooring, HVAC, interior reconfiguration, and plumbing and electrical systems. These improvements will help the school continue to add one grade each year until eighth grade. MassDevelopment enhanced this financing with a charter school guarantee. Boston Private Bank & Trust Company purchased the bond.

“Through this bond, the Dorchester Collegiate Academy Charter School can provide holistic education, including intellectual rigor and character development, for more Boston children,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones. “We’re pleased to support these infrastructure improvements so more students can prepare for college, leadership, and a lifetime of learning.”

DCA opened in the fall of 2009 with 40 students in fourth grade. MassDevelopment also issued a $1,080,000 tax-exempt bond on behalf of the school in 2010, helping DCA purchase the building it leased at the time.

“The Dorchester Collegiate Academy Charter School community is excited about the upcoming interior renovations to our building as we continue to provide a high-quality college preparatory education to Boston students,” said DCA Headmaster Robert Flynn.

MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2012, MassDevelopment financed or managed 280 projects generating investment of more than $2.3 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create more than 12,000 jobs and build or rehabilitate 900 residential units.