School / District and Community Demographics  2003-2004

Location

The City of Chicopee is located in Southwestern Massachusetts, bordered by West Springfield and Holyoke on the west, South Hadley and Granby on the north, Ludlow on the east and Springfield on the South.  Chicopee is 92 miles southwest of Boston; 90 miles from Albany, New York; and 140 miles from New York City.

Community Background

Chicopee was settled in the 1650’s by Japhet and Henry Chapin.  Chicopee is one of the oldest communities in the Connecticut River Valley, and was the home of Edward Bellamy, co-founder of the Springfield Daily News and author of the futurist best seller “Looking Backward.”

In many ways, the strength of the city of Chicopee lies in its diversity.  The City’s population is spread across five distinct areas still known by their pre-incorporation names:  Chicopee Center, Aldenville, Willimansett, Fairview, and Chicopee Falls.  These highly individual neighborhoods link together to form the twenty-five square mile territory of the city.

Chicopee is governed by a Mayor and a board of Aldermen.  The city retains ward representation on the School Committee.  The Mayor, board of Aldermen and School Committee collectively manage and administer a budget of over 50 million dollars, making Chicopee the second largest municipality in Western Massachusetts.

Chicopee is a healthy community with traditional values.  The total city population is 54,653 with a school population of 7,727 students in Public Schools and 1519 students in parochial or private schools.  There are 10 Public Elementary Schools, 1 Early Childhood Center, 2 Middle Schools, 2 High Schools, a Telecommunications Center, an Administrative Building and an Alternative School.  Chicopee is also the home of the Elms College, a four year private liberal arts college preparing women for leadership roles in a wide variety of field.

 Chicopee’s population of over 56,000 people live in a variety of residences ranging from two family homes, to restored factory/apartment complexes and single family homes on quiet, residential streets.  Housing is affordable and available in a wide variety of styles and price ranges.

Chicopee - Directory Information 11/13/2004

Chicopee (00610000) Richard J Cunningham, Superintendent Mailing Address: 180 Broadway Chicopee, MA 01020 Phone: (413) 594-3410 FAX: (413) 594-3552 E-mail: rcunning@chicopee.mec.edu     County:Hampden DOE Region:Springfield SDA:Hampden County   NCES ID: 2503660 Web Site: http://www.chicopee.mec.edu Organization Description:       Grade Span Grades Offered Presently Number of Schools Elementary PK K 01 02 03 04 05 10 Middle/Junior High 06 07 08 2 Secondary 09 10 11 12 3 Total PK K 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 15 Kindergarten starting age is 5 as of October 2.   Relationships Private Schools located in this city/town Holy Name | St Joan Of Arc/St George | St Patricks Elem | St Stanislaus | Valley West School

Chicopee - Enrollment/Indicators

Enrollment by Grade (2003-04)   pk k 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 SP CT Total District 195 512 500 502 539 588 561 566 621 613 640 645 574 472 0 0 7,528 Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity (2003-04) Race % of District % of State African American 3.3 8.8 Asian 1.1 4.7 Hispanic 19.1 11.5 Native American 0.1 0.3 White 76.4 74.6   Enrollment by Gender (2003-04)   District State Male 3,852 504,745 Female 3,676 476,073 Total 7,528 980,818   Indicators (2002-03)   District State Grade 9-12 Dropout Rate 7.9 3.3 Attendance Rate 93.1 93.9 In-School Suspension Rate 9.8 4.6 Out-of-School Suspension Rate 19.7 6.7 Retention Rate 5.7 2.6 Exclusions rate per 1000 4.3 2.0   Teacher Data (2003-04)   District State Total # of Teachers 582 72,062 % of Teachers Licensed in Teaching Assignment 85.4 93.9 Total # of Teachers in Core Academic Areas 448 59,662 % of Core Academic Teachers Identified as Highly Qualified 87.5 93.9 Student/Teacher Ratio 12.9 to 1 13.6 to 1   Selected Populations (2003-04) Title % of District % of State First Language not English 15.0 13.7 Limited English Proficient 5.2 5.0 Low-income 48.5 27.2 Special Education 15.2  15.6    Children Attending Public Schools (2002-03)   % of District % of State Children Attending Public Schools 84.7 89.8   Technology (2002-03)   District State Students per Computer 6.0  4.3 Classrooms on the Internet (%) 97.8  93.0   Plans of High School Graduates (2002-03) Plan % of District % of State 4-Year Private College 19 31 4-Year Public College 12 25 2-Year Private College 1 2 2-Year Public College 43 17 Other Post-Secondary 2 2 Work 14 12 Military 6 2 Other 0 1 Unknown 3 8

Chicopee - Test Results

2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | Annual Comparisons MCAS Tests of Spring 2004 Percent of Students at Each Performance Level Grade and Subject Advanced Proficient Needs Improvement Warning/ Failing Students Included District State District State District State District State GRADE 03 - READING NA NA 52 63 41 30 7 7 539 GRADE 04 - ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS 2 11 36 45 49 35 13 9 577 GRADE 04 - MATHEMATICS 5 14 23 28 49 44 24 14 581 GRADE 05 - SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 13 20 28 35 38 33 20 13 568 GRADE 06 - MATHEMATICS 7 17 16 25 34 32 43 25 559 GRADE 07 - ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS 3 9 46 59 38 25 13 7 609 GRADE 08 - MATHEMATICS 3 13 10 26 32 32 55 29 603 GRADE 08 - SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1 5 11 28 37 35 51 31 603 GRADE 10 - ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS 4 19 37 43 40 27 19 11 573 GRADE 10 - MATHEMATICS 16 29 20 28 34 28 30 15 579 NOTE: Select Grade and Subject for Item Analysis NOTE: Performance level percentages are not calculated if student group less than 10. NOTE: The use of average scaled scores was discontinued by the Department in 2002.   For more MCAS information, browse to:   MCAS Annual Comparisons for Chicopee   2004 MCAS Participation Results for Chicopee   2004 MCAS Results by Race, Gender, Special Education, Low Income & Migratory Status for Chicopee   Cycle III Accountability Report for Chicopee

Chicopee - Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures   District State 1999 2003 1999 2003 Regular Education $6,064 $5,470 $5,487 $6,779 Special Education $18,008 $0 $10,249 $13,542 Bilingual Education $2,198 $5,393 $7,495 $8,936 Occupational Day Education $5,532 $29,924 $9,404 $11,154 All Day Programs $6,552 $6,454 $6,692 $8,273 Total Pupil Expenditures   District State 1999 2003 1999 2003 Total Day Program Expenditures $50,694,923 $58,225,618 $6,395,235,205 $8,024,795,656 Number of Pupils (FTE) 7,737 9,021 955,592 969,995 Teacher Salaries and Counts   District State 1999 2003 1999 2003 Salary Totals $25,140,535 $27,331,123 $3,081,654,861 $3,603,600,648 Average Salary $38,618 $39,325 $45,149 $51,803 FTE Count 651.0 695.0 68,255.8 69,562.9 For more school finance information, browse to:       School Finance Website       Per Pupil Expenditures and Teacher Salary       Chapter 70 Stat