Celebrating choice
National School Choice Week is coming up (January 26 – February 1), and NSCW president Andrew Campanella has a great op-ed making the rounds across the country in which he celebrates not only school choice, but also the main drivers of those choices: parents.
Specialized education
Here is a profile of Lakes and Bridges, a charter school in South Carolina with a specialized curriculum designed to support students with dyslexia and to boost their academic achievement. The school is drawing families from far and wide looking for just such an alternative.
Student homelessness and virtual schools
The Ohio Department of Education recently released its annual count of homeless students in the Buckeye State: a heartbreaking 25,600 kids. Coverage of the report from the new-ish Ohio Capital Journal, focusing on how schools work to support their students experiencing homelessness, is notable for including the work of Findlay Digital Academy, a virtual charter school for students at risk of dropping out. For them, making sure students can “get to class” includes making sure they have secure internet access on top of all the other needed services.
Quality charter funding
Congratulations to the 63 charter schools across Ohio who met the criteria and were approved to receive funding from the state’s brand new Quality Community Schools Support Program. The idea of schools meeting the criteria for the support funding is an important one, as there was discussion prior to the award of a potential “loophole” in the legislation authorizing the funding which could have allowed low-performing schools to seek funding. However, adherence to the intent of the original legislation made sure that no such loophole was in evidence.
DECA on the glow up
Dayton Early College Academy is in the midst of a fantastic-looking renovation of its space in Fitz Hall on the University of Dayton campus. The Dayton Business Journal calls it “ambitious”—which it is. But looking at those pictures, we’d call it “awesome”.
Sign up today for the next School Performance Institute Workshop
Bring your team to a high-performing urban charter school to learn how to build a culture of academic and operational excellence. Join School Performance Institute at their upcoming Study the Network workshop. This workshop combines interactive sessions with live-classroom observations and conversations with key staff to help build your team’s capacity to create and implement change. Register today for the next workshop coming up on March 19, 2020! For more information, contact John A. Dues.
