MISSION

The mission of the Lowell Community Charter Public School is to prepare a diverse cross section of children for high academic achievement by providing a supportive, challenging, multicultural environment that integrates the strengths of Lowell’s diverse communities and cultures. The school’s highest priority is the promotion of academic success for all students in each of the areas addressed by the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks, including: English, Reading and Language Arts, Writing, Mathematics, Science, Health and Fitness, World Languages, Art and Music, and Character and Ethics. The Lowell Community Charter Public School places special emphasis on the contributions that immigrants have made to American life and to Lowell’s development over the years, and on the culture, language, and history of the Southeast Asian and Latino peoples who constitute a substantial portion of Lowell’s present-day population. The school’s art and music programs are also dedicated to encouraging students to recognize and appreciate various cultures.

The mission of the LCCPS ASPA program is to give students an appreciation for the arts and a better understanding of how music, dance, art and clay stimulate the mind and influences lives. These programs are geared toward all age groups and all cultures. Using different techniques, a range of instruments, and hands-on activity, this program strives for culturally balanced courses for 2nd - 8th grades that teach students about various regions’ traditions and how music has played a part in their individual histories.

ASPA was established in September 2006, in LCCPS, by Hap Reoun, Program  Coordinator and Randy Orie, Music Instructor. Our inital goal was to maintain and preserve Khmer traditional music that had not been practiced in the United States. LCCPS collaborated with the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association (CMAA), the Morgan Cultural Center (MCC), and the University of Massachusetts, Lowell (UML) to build this program. The program also called upon the Mohori Orchestra, of Khmer traditional music. The CMAA, the MCC, and the UML brought music equipment from Cambodia, but did not have the funds to implement the program. The Mahori Orchestra became a symbol of Khmer traditional music preservation. The school's mission is to preserve ethnic cultures, and hence we expanded ASPA to nine programs in 2009. ASPA’s cultural programs include:

1.    African Dance
2.    Afro-Latin Percussion
3.    Art-Clay
4.    Chorus
5.    Drama
6.    Spanish Traditional Dance
7.    Khmer Traditional Dance
8.    Khmer Traditional Music
9.    Piano
10.  Television Program