Out of office
New state superintendent Steve Dackin resigned abruptly last Friday afternoon. In his resignation letter, he wrote, “I don’t want ‘revolving door’ questions to distract from the important work ahead for schools, educators and especially the children.” Former interim supe Stephanie Siddens will return to the role and the search for a permanent leader will begin again.
Commencement
Congratulations to all members of the Class of 2022 who have or will soon celebrate their graduation. The Morning Journal covered the May 31 commencement at Utica Shale Academy, comprising the career-tech focused charter school’s largest graduating class ever. On June 4, nearly 450 Ohio Connections Academy seniors from across the state gathered in person in Columbus for their commencement. Kudos to Richland Source for their coverage.
Standout grads
Speaking of OCA, Newark resident Abigail Sanders was featured on ABC6 News recently. At the time, she was still awaiting her high school graduation from the online charter school but had already picked up her bachelor’s degree from Mount Vernon Nazarene University, earned concurrently with her secondary studies. Amazing! Meanwhile, DECA graduate Alexander Joseph was featured in the Dayton Daily News upon his graduation. Staff at the school called him a “true go-getter” while he praised the school for supporting him to open up and excel. An awesome story!
Looking ahead to next year in Cincinnati and Florida
A TV newscast in Cincinnati noted this week the fantastic news that two new IDEA charter schools will be opening in the Queen City this fall. Two new IDEA schools will also be opening in Jacksonville, Florida, this fall. One of the building principals was recently interviewed about how the IDEA model has benefitted his own son and how he wants to make sure that every student in his school finds the same vital support.
Important new research
A research team led by Boston University’s Marcus Winters found that high-performing charter schools can continue to benefit their current students even as they incorporate new students into vacant seats during the school year. It is the strongest evidence yet to dispute claims that the process known as “backfilling” is detrimental to student achievement.
Talk about a come-from-behind victory
The middle school team from Centennial Academy Charter School in Atlanta won the city’s basketball championship this year, despite having no gym of their own and practicing (half court only!) at the local YMCA. Champions indeed.
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