This is the first edition of Ohio Charter News to be published in 2025, covering relevant news stories from the final weeks of 2024. Next week, we will have the first news of the new year.
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Charter schools are among the most popular options in Dayton
All versions of public school choice appear to be ascendant in the Dayton area, according to this piece from the Dayton Daily News. That includes charters and career-technical schools, which account for eight of the top ten fastest-growing schools over the last two years. The two traditional districts on the list also prove the point: they are in small exurbs where lots of new housing is going up and where people are choosing to move…for the schools. Additionally, we have yet more proof that charters are becoming more of a positive, mainstream topic in the Gem City. Tess Mitchner-Asinjo, Executive Director of Dayton Leadership Academies (a charter school sponsored by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation), was the guest on a December edition of the podcast hosted by Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims. Discussion covers the gamut, including DLA’s 25th anniversary and the vital connection of charter schools to the community. Worth a listen!
Who will be the first?
Not every community is as lucky as Dayton to have such a rich history of charter school growth and development. Take Boone County, Missouri, for example. The state legislature allowed the location of charters there in April of 2024, 20 years after approving them for Kansas City and St. Louis. While no operator has yet stepped forward, this piece looks at the history of the effort and what it will take for a charter to get started in Boone County.
New and different
Charter schools are well-established across many states. So much so that new schools are looking to push the envelope on the education models they offer. In Connecticut, the Stamford community is pushing to start what they call a “game changing” new school, making their final pitch at a public event in mid-December. Big Picture Learning Academy is a high school model focused on securing internships for its students while they complete their diploma requirements. It was originally envisioned as a program of the city school district, but founders and supporters felt its unusual structure would be better suited to a charter school format. Next step is approval from the state board of education with the hope for a fall 2025 opening. In Arlington, Texas, approvals have already been secured and fall 2025 will see the opening of Infinite Minds School. The K-2 charter will follow an experiential learning model, which founder Rachel King said will allow students “to discover how core subjects like math, science and social studies intersect with their nonacademic lives outside of classrooms.” This would be facilitated through daily “Genius Hours” devoted to personal projects interesting to them and building on their classroom learning.
Sometimes VERY different
A new virtual charter school scheduled to open in Arizona later this year is really pushing the envelope. Unbound Academy is a school for students in grades 4 through 8 that promises “AI-driven adaptive learning technology” that “condenses academic instruction into a two-hour window” each day. Artificial intelligence does the teaching and human instructors are replaced with “guides” who mainly oversee workshops on non-academic subjects like financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and critical thinking. “As students work through lessons on subjects like math, reading, and science,” school founders wrote in their charter application, recently approved by the state charter board, “the AI system will analyze their responses, time spent on tasks, and even emotional cues to optimize the difficulty and presentation of content… This ensures that each student is consistently challenged at their optimal level, preventing boredom or frustration.” All eyes will surely be on Unbound’s efforts come this fall…especially the technology-focused news outlets that covered the story with breathless enthusiasm at the end of December.
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