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New school year – pt. 1
The new school year will be upon us before we know it here in Ohio, which means it’s a great time to look forward to several brand new charter schools opening their doors across the state, and to thank the local media outlets telling their stories. Lake Erie Bilingual Academy begins its inaugural year on August 14. As we read in The News-Herald, the K-5 school located in Painesville fills a longstanding need in that community, whose population includes hundreds of Spanish-speaking migrant families who come there to find work and whose children need a strong school that embraces their language and culture. Awesome! Cleveland 19 News looks at Northeast Ohio Classical Academy, getting ready for its first year in Copley. Head of School David Baum says students there will “have the best of what the Western tradition has been able to provide to give them guidance so they can ask the right questions and have a few answers to puzzle over for themselves.” Perhaps in keeping with this more traditional view of education, the doors don’t open at NEOCA until after Labor Day, but there are numerous opportunities for interested families to connect with the school, take tours, and ask questions throughout the month of August.
New school year – pt. 2
Springfield Sports Academy is preparing for its second year of operation, beginning when students arrive on August 14. The formerly K-5 school has added sixth grade for 2024-25, and remains true to its mission of integrating extended physical activity time with the academic rigors of every school day. Leaders are anticipating at least 125 students at the start of the year, including 90 percent of existing students who re-enrolled. Here’s hoping for a great school year for everyone!
Still to come
Dayton native and former NFL player Chris Ward has got big plans for the next phase of his life as he returns to the Gem City from many years on the West Coast. He is looking to buy 1,000 acres in the area to found a charter school. He envisions a school that focuses not only on high-quality, STEM-based academics, but also athletics. “We’ll have a state-of-the-art stadium there, a state-of-the art track,” he says. “A golf course and driving range.” Why? “Kids need something to do,” he said. “I can’t even begin to think where I would have been if I had not played football coming from the area of Dayton where I was at, OK? It was bad influences everywhere, but I was able to dream a dream because I found my passion, and my parents supported that. So kids will be coming, and families will be coming from all over the world to be part of what we’re doing.”
The view from Tennessee
The Memphis Shelby County School Board in Tennessee this week approved two new charter schools to open in the county. The existing Memphis Grizzlies Prep, an all-boys 6-8 grade school affiliated with the NBA team, was approved to open an all-girls school; and Journey Northeast Academy will be an expansion of the existing Journey Community Schools network into a part of the county that doesn’t currently have a charter school. Both schools plan to focus on STEM education and literacy and should be open by fall 2025.
Prepping for more school choice expansion
One of many provisions in Florida’s sweeping new education law, which went into effect on July 1, expands the types of venues that are allowed to house a private, charter, or microschool. The broadened list includes libraries, community service organizations, museums, churches, and performing arts venues—just to name a few. Specifically, the law now frees both venue and operator from needing to comply with local land-use and zoning restrictions to house a school, a requirement which has been used as a weapon by educational choice opponents in Ohio and elsewhere to block charter schools from operating. Lifting these restrictions in Florida adds a whopping 50,000 new possible locations for school choice expansion, according to one analysis.
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