Panel on charter schools OKs 3 sponsored by districts

The state's Charter Authorizing Panel on Thursday approved three school district-sponsored charter schools, each intending to add value to high school diplomas by expanding their students' opportunities for earning college credit and industry certificates.

The three schools, all of which are still subject to final approval from the Arkansas Board of Education, are:

• The Springdale School of Innovation, which will initially serve 1,400 students in grades eight through 10 in a newly constructed building on Hylton Road and grow to 2,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade by 2020-21.

• Hot Springs World Class High School, for as many as 1,200 students in ninth through 12th grades.

• The Gentry High School Conversion Charter for 500 students in grades nine through 12.

The Springdale School of Innovation will be the first charter school with a plan that features a dual-language immersion component, which requires a waiver of the state law that sets English as the only basic language for instruction.

Instruction in the dual-language immersion program would be in English and in either Spanish or Mandarin Chinese, according to the school district's charter school application. The plan was created in response to requests from local businesses and industry.

"There is this misnomer that Northwest Arkansas is this golden egg," Springdale Associate Superintendent Megan Witonski said in presenting the plan to the panel. "Seventy percent of our students are eligible for free and reduced-price school meals. We serve over 10,000 English-language learners. We have students speaking about 42 languages for whom we provide instruction and support for."

Witonski said the district was motivated to establish the School of Innovation by a local business community that competes globally. Leaders of those businesses have said they are not able to find the employees they need to fill the jobs they need to fill.

The technology-infused school would emphasize science, math and engineering. Hands-on projects would be a feature. Students would work at their own pace to fulfill the components of their multiyear personalized education plans based on long-term college and career choices.

The school would feature an online academic course of study for all grades, on-campus instruction and a blend of the online and on-campus programs. Partnerships with area businesses, industry and higher education institutions would provide students not only with industry experts and college-level instructors, but also with internships and opportunities to earn industry certificates and college credit.

"This is what real school improvement looks like, when you are already really good, but you know you aren't 100 percent ... you are always working to continue to meet the needs of kids," Deborah Coffman, the Charter Authorizing Panel chairman and chief of staff at the Arkansas Department of Education, said about the plan.

"I really applaud you for continuity to strive to meet the needs of all kids -- all really does mean all, and your willingness to share with the state," Coffman told Witonski.

Eric Saunders, the Education Department's assistant commissioner for research and technology, called it "a well-thought-out plan designed to meet the needs of a diverse community, and optional pathways are provided to meet the students' unique needs."

Ivy Pfeffer, the department's assistant commissioner for teacher licensure and also a panel member, said in voting for the plan, "I think this is an opportunity for the Springdale School District to work with the students, teachers and citizens of Springdale .... to create the school of their dreams."

In addition to the waiver of the law requiring English to be the basic language of instruction, the Springdale district is seeking waivers of class size and teaching load. On-campus teachers would serve up to 180 students instead of the 150-student limit for most teachers in traditional schools. The course load for blended and online learning could go as high as 350, according to the waiver.

Other waivers deal with teacher licensure, beginning and ending dates for the school year, clock hours for academic credit, a library-media specialist, gifted and talented education, and immunization requirements for online students.

HOT SPRINGS

Hot Springs World Class High School adds four career academies to Hot Springs High School's already existing International Baccalaureate Programme and a ninth-grade Freshman Academy.

Through those academies -- which are liberal studies, education and health care, business and technology, and industrial technologies -- students would be able to earn associate degrees and industry certificates along with their diplomas from the renamed high school.

Flexible, alternative schedules, night classes, blended online and on-campus instruction, student adviser programs and career internships are among the features of the school, which is working in collaboration with local businesses, higher education institutions and the federal Job Corps program.

Lloyd Jackson, principal of the school, said its design will give students choices about their futures and "a leg up among the graduates in the Hot Springs community."

Stephanie Nehus, Hot Springs School District director of secondary education, said much of the school's focus has been on getting students ready for college, "which is not reality for 100 percent of our students. Preparing everyone for a career is a reality," she said.

"So we want to shift the focus to 100 percent career readiness, whether that be on a path that takes a four-year college route, a two-year college route, a technical school route or they leave us directly for the workforce."

Only 77 percent of Hot Springs High School students graduated in the Class of 2014, prompting school district leaders to seek out ways to encourage students to finish high school, Nehus said. Of the graduates, only about one-third went directly to college.

"The whole concept of the value-added diploma -- where they are leaving us with college credit, industry certification and workplace readiness skills -- we know that is going to set them up for success in their future," Nehus said.

GENTRY

The Gentry High School Conversion Charter, if approved by the state Board of Education later this year, would establish or further develop career pathways for high school students in health care, transportation and information technology, Gentry School District Assistant Superintendent Judy Winslett told the Charter Authorizing Panel.

In response to local workforce demands, school and district leaders have already put into place courses this year in areas such as banking and finance, medical professions, certified nursing assistance and an orientation to teaching.

Individualized student education plans, self-paced courses, college courses and internships in the area's businesses would be the features of the school. Students as a result of the program would have clearer goals for their futures. They would realize tuition savings by taking college and technical skills courses while still in high school.

As an additional benefit, the school would provide the needed workforce for area businesses and industry, Winslett said.

A Section on 11/20/2015

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