High on the list
A number of charter schools across the country fared well on U.S. News & World Reports’ list of top high schools in America, released last week. This includes The Signature School in Evansville, Indiana, which was ranked number 2 in the country. Amazing! You can check out Ohio’s charter school rankings here (kudos to KIPP Columbus for being highest rated in the state) and see the full list of high schools here.
Working for students
Here’s a nice look at North Dayton School of Discovery, whose leaders and community partners discuss their all-out efforts to help students to catch up and move forward following years of pandemic-related disruptions to their education.
School and community Pt 1
Utica Shale Academy recently opened its brand new community center in Salineville, Ohio. While it provides needed workout facilities for USA students, it is also open to the public as a recreation/community center in the small Appalachian town and is just one of a wide range of projects designed to further integrate the school and the community.
School and community Pt 2
Building a new community from bare ground is a complicated undertaking. But the planners behind SoLé Mia, now rising in Florida, seem to be thinking of everything. After recently announcing plans to include a medical center for residents, they have also announced a charter school will be part of the community as well. A new campus of Mater Academy (which has schools around the country including Columbus) is projected to open in fall of 2025 as the new city rises and grows.
Charter grad speaks out
Former charter school student (and valedictorian and graduate) Alfonso Narvaez had a pointed message for Toledo City Council members who voted against a permit for expansion of a charter in Toledo recently. In his letter to the editors of the Blade, Narvaez expresses his belief that the downvotes were the result of animus toward charter schools, ignoring the benefit that the proposed new daycare and preschool would bring to the city. “At the end of the day we hurt local businesses,” he writes, “but more importantly, we could be effectively harming some child’s future because of political loyalty.”
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