Can’t quite believe
For its annual Back to School feature, the Today Show went big this year, basing the entire September 12 show in Newark, New Jersey’s North Star Academy. Co-host Craig Melvin oversaw a gym class, Carson Daly led an orchestra, Hoda Kotb had lunch duty, and Al Roker took over a science class. Formerly a desperately underperforming district school, North Star was taken over by the Uncommon Schools charter network. “Today,” Roker said, “North Star is one of the highest-performing schools in the entire state.”
The state of e-schools in Ohio
Here is an uncommonly nuanced discussion of the online charter school environment in Ohio 18 months or so after the demise of ECOT. The experts interviewed for the piece got tons of room to explain the history, the state of play, and ongoing efforts to improve governance in the sector. The journalist even took time to find and interview a student who had a great experience at ECOT…except for the need to graduate early due to her school’s impending closure.
Another successful e-school student
Speaking of which, here is a story about a young woman who is still in high school attending Ohio Connections Academy but who already has her associate degree under her belt. She’s got her sights set on a full undergrad before she reaches age 20.
School choices in northwest Ohio
Sticking with our theme today, the Lima News went out of its way to visit a number of charter schools in the Allen County area, providing detailed and very positive short profiles of each.
Charter school report cards
State report cards were released last week, and were covered by the media largely in the traditional manner. As usual, Jeremy Kelly of the Dayton Daily News was first with a detailed look at charter school performance in Montgomery County. The news is generally good, with charters clearly providing higher quality options to many of the traditional district schools.
It’s not all good news out there
The Arts and College Preparatory Academy in Columbus reported ongoing difficulty with student transportation, more than three weeks into the school year. Approximately 20 percent of ACPA students have been late every day due to the busing problems.
