The History of the Charter School of Excellence

CSE began as one location at the current site of the Leadership Center at 1511 Peach Street but quickly expanded to include another high school location at the former Hamilton School on Harvard Road and a middle school located in the Erie Maritime Center on Erie's bayfront.  The middle school would move two more times, once into the former Mount Calvary school at Eagle Point Boulevard and, in 2017, to our permanent location at 1307 French Street in Lovell Place. The Maritime Center name has since changed to the Discovery Center.

New and vibrant, the Discovery Center is located in the historic Lovell Place complex. Teachers have access to some of the latest instructional technology, software programs, and textbooks which keep students engaged. There is an emphasis on the development of critical and creative thinking skills needed for the 21st century. The middle school offers hands-on learning opportunities, a highly qualified and caring faculty, and the option to be involved in a variety of extracurricular programs such as STEAM and Industry Club.

The Hamilton Center closed in 2010 as CSE welcomed the brand new Skills Center, which opened in the renovated Lovell Place location at 1309 French Street and is just steps away from the Discovery Center. This building is intended to look like a college campus and workplace environment. In addition to the core academic classes, the Skills Center offers a variety of high-interest electives such as Culinary Arts, Media Arts, Digital Music Production, Fine Arts, Animation, Graphic Design, and an English Language Development Program. The Skills Center offers a workforce development program where students learn soft skills in a tiered approach with employment seminars. This program allows students to gain the skills needed to be successful in the workforce.  There are a variety of extracurriculars, clubs, and other opportunities in this building for motivated high school students.

The Leadership Center has stayed consistently at its location at 1511 Peach Street. The programming at this site has evolved to a blended-model design meeting students at their current level of functioning. This location is for students in grades 9-12, offering small, safe classrooms of about 15 students. The small class size provides an opportunity for students to receive an abundance of individual help from certified teachers. Students with barriers to their education receive additional supports from the non-instructional staff through partnerships with families and community agencies, as needed.  

The Charter School of Excellence serves approximately 575 students in grades six through twelve from Erie, Pennsylvania. CSE continues to focus on educating students who have experienced significant difficulties with academic performance in their previous school settings.  The core values of the Charter School of Excellence have remained the same since its inception.  CSE offers a small and safe environment with a focus on positive relationship building and a prescriptive design.  

All three locations of the Charter School of Excellence offer English Language Development programming.  This program allows students to be in small class sizes based on the level of language proficiency.  There is a focus on reading comprehension and vocabulary as well as cultural orientation in the local community.  The goal is to provide a small learning environment and a welcoming climate for students to succeed.

Want to find out more about how we got our foundational roots? Check out Perseus House, Inc.