CHARTER GRANT

Libertas Academy

Springfield, Massachusetts

“At Libertas Academy, we believe that we are putting our students on a path to college and a better path in life.  Our mission is to hyper focus all of our actions on exactly that.”  -Modesto Montero, founder of Libertas Academy

Libertas Academy is a charter school in Springfield, MA where students find a safe space that encourages educational growth, something that they may not otherwise have access to.  Modesto Montero founded Libertas as a direct reaction to his own experience coming to America from the Dominican Republic.  After growing up with inspirational teachers throughout his educational career, he went to college where he discovered the educational inequality that children are subjected to throughout the United States.  After working with Teach for America, Modesto decided that in order to most effectively make the changes he wanted to see, he needed to start with the schools themselves.

With the singular mission of bringing a stronger education to disenfranchised children, Modesto set out to found Libertas Academy.  In 2015, he began the process by gathering families to enroll in his new charter school.  Once he had the enrollment, he needed to secure funding for the school, which is extremely difficult for a brand new charter school.  In order to help get Libertas off the ground, the Jennison Charitable Foundation worked with Modesto to ensure he had all the resources he needed to make the school a success.  The JCF offered not only funding, but also helped Modesto with strategic decision-making, leadership mentoring, and staffing models to help make the dream of Libertas Academy into a reality.