Ashby Community Collaborative
A community-driven nonprofit working to strengthen Ashby and the towns around it, starting with the formation of a new kind of school.
Our purpose
A collaborative, by design.
Ashby Community Collaborative, Inc. is a Massachusetts nonprofit corporation founded to support community-driven initiatives in Ashby and the surrounding region. We bring neighbors together to accomplish the work that doesn’t fit neatly into town government, a single school district, or any one organization.
Our first major project is Ashby Evergreen Charter School, and we look forward to many more projects to improve the lives of residents in this region.
What the Collaborative does.
Sponsoring and supporting community-based educational initiatives, beginning with Ashby Evergreen Charter School.
Connecting residents, organizations, and town leaders around shared community goals.
Providing the legal, organizational, and operational foundation for community efforts to grow.
The Collaborative and the school.
Ashby Evergreen Charter School is a project of the Collaborative, but the two organizations have distinct purposes. The school will operate as a public charter school under Massachusetts law, with its own board, leadership, and accountability to the state. The Collaborative provides the founding sponsorship, the early operational support, and the broader community context the school is rooted in.
Over time, the school and the Collaborative will function side by side: the school doing the work of educating children, and the Collaborative doing the work of strengthening the community the school belongs to.
Why we chose this name.
Because nothing good gets built alone. The challenges and opportunities facing small towns are too big for any one person, one board, or one organization to take on. They require neighbors working with neighbors. That is what we mean by collaborative, and it is how we intend to work.
Our organizational status.
Ashby Community Collaborative, Inc. is incorporated in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a nonprofit corporation under Chapter 180. We are currently pursuing federal tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Once that determination is received, donations to the Collaborative will be tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.
What’s next
Where we’re headed.
The Collaborative is in its earliest days. As Ashby Evergreen Charter School moves through the charter application process, the Collaborative is also taking shape — building its board, its programs, and its broader role in the community.
If you are interested in what the Collaborative is becoming, or in helping shape it, we want to hear from you.