TO:                   City Editors, Education Editors, Photo Editors, Assignment Editors, News Directors, and Broadcast Editors

Chester, Pa. December 16, 2010 - For the 12^th consecutive year, on Friday, December 17, every single student at Chester Community Charter School (CCCS) will receive a gift during the school’s annual Santa Brigade event. More than 2,700 gifts are being donated to the students by Vahan and Danielle Gureghian of Charter School Management, Inc., which owns and manages the school. The total value of the gifts, this year, is an estimated $48,600, and about $345,600, year-to-date. Those amounts rank the CCCS Santa Brigade program as the largest, single-school Christmas gift program in the Greater Philadelphia area.

In addition to their presents, students in kindergarten and first grade will receive a special surprise, as their gifts will be hand-delivered by Santa Claus, himself, as he distributes toys throughout the morning, at the school.

With more than 2,700 students, the Chester-based school is the largest K-to-8^th grade charter school in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. According to Vahan Gureghian, the Santa Brigade program was launched 12 years ago when he and other school founders realized that it was not unusual for many of their school’s students to go through the entire holiday season without a single gift.

WHO:              

·         Hon. Wendell N. Butler, mayor, City of Chester

·         Vahan Gureghian, CEO, Charter School Management Inc.

·         Steven E. Lee, CEO, Chester Community Charter School

·         More than 2,700 students and staff of Chester Community Charter School

·         Santa Claus

WHEN:                  Friday, December 17, 2010

                             9:30am - 11:30am

WHERE:               Chester Community Charter School

                            East Campus

                            225 East 5^th Street

                            Chester, PA 19013

###

Media Advisory
For Immediate Release
media.millennium3management.com

Contact: Dominique Landry
Tel: 215-922-7184
dlandry@m3mgmt.com

Steven E. Lee
Tel: 610-447-0400
slee@chestercommunitycharter.org