School district has most charter schools in state, expected to grow

Melissa Haneline
The Post and Courier

Teacher Heather Boggs and her class recite simple arithmetic from a chart during class Friday at Orange Grove Elementary Charter School. Boggs, who has 14 students, likes the smaller class sizes at the charter school.

Melissa Haneline
The Post and Courier

Susan Vinson, an academic remediation teacher at Orange Grove, works on words with double meanings with fourth-graders Johnathan Alson (left) and Julie Small. Teachers like Vinson work with smaller groups for specialized help with problem academic areas.

Charleston County has become the hottest incubator in the state for new charter schools.

The school district leads the state with its seven existing charter schools, and at least seven more groups want to form charter schools within the next few years.

At least three other groups also are interested in starting charter schools but temporarily have put those efforts on hold. Two more charter schools are slated to open this fall — the Charleston Charter School for Math & Science on the peninsula and Horizon Middle Academy on Johns Island.

This growing local enthusiasm for charter schools — public schools run by a board of parents, educators and community members — can be attributed to a host of factors, and one practical reason is the way charter schools are funded.

Charter schools get money based on the average per-pupil revenue for district students, and districts such as Charleston have a higher per-pupil revenue figure than elsewhere in the state, said Cleo Richardson, the state Education Department's deputy superintendent who oversees the Public School Choice office.

In addition, the school district has a staff member who is partially dedicated to working with charter schools, a position that few other districts have, and the district's existing charter schools have received the community's attention for their successes, Richardson said.

Orange Grove Elementary Charter School Principal Larry DiCenzo gave a simpler answer: Charleston County has several failing schools and some schools don't do a good job of listening to parents.

David Church, executive director of the state Association of Public Charter Schools, agreed. He said the school district has had its share of problems with student outcomes, and residents have debated whether the district could have quality public schools.

County Schools Superintendent Nancy McGinley didn't argue with DiCenzo's and Church's assessments for parts of the county with weaker public schools. McGinley said the local interest in charter schools also could be tied to the area's strong history of private schools, and many parents have started looking to charter schools as an alternative to those tuition-based schools.

The growth of charter schools in Charleston could have a number of implications. For the school district, it means more decisions will need to be made about the district-provided services, as well as district oversight and accountability for charter schools, McGinley said.

The school district desperately needs resolution on the state law applicable to Charleston that requires the district not to deny charter schools "anything that is otherwise available to a public school," McGinley said. The law raises questions about what the school district must give to charter schools because some have interpreted it to mean the district is obligated to provide building space, the biggest obstacle facing start-up charter schools.

The increased number of charter schools also could have a financial impact because more money would go to charter schools, she said. The district needs to figure out a way to ensure those schools are cost neutral, McGinley said.

"Whatever creates new options is a good thing," she said.

Church expected more local residents to come back to public education. In some areas, such as Johns Island, most of the children who live there either don't attend public schools or are bused to public schools elsewhere in the county. Charter schools will re-establish confidence in public education, Church said.

Proposed charter schools for the Charleston area

The Apple Charter School

Contact: Patricia Williams at applecharter@live.com

Male students lag behind their female counterparts academically in most elementary- and middle-school grades.

That fact is why Patricia Williams, a public school parent, business owner and charter school employee, would like to see The Apple Charter School come to fruition.

It would be an all-male school for 180 students in third through eighth grades opening in the fall of 2009, and it would accept students from throughout the county. Only 15 students would be in each class so students would have a more intimate learning environment.

The charter school is working with the St. James Foundation to use a building on Grimball Road, which is leased to the foundation as a community center. The foundation has agreed to share space with the school, she said.

The charter school will be open to anyone but will be marketed toward students who score below basic or basic on the state's standardized test. Williams hopes the school will trigger students' interest in school and encourage them to graduate.

The middle school portion of the charter school will have a vocational focus with courses in areas such as plumbing and carpentry. The school's program would be coordinated with offerings at Trident Technical College. If students are introduced to and interested in a vocational program in middle school, they will be more motivated and better prepared to follow through with their high school education, Williams said.

Parents would have to sign an agreement saying they would be involved with their children, but organizers haven't yet decided what that will mean. The school will have an extended day with club activities and a homework center.

Supporters of the school include a former school board candidate, judge, parents, nonprofit leaders and a constituent board member.

Carolina Preparatory Academy

Contact: Stephen Broderick at stephen.broderick@cpacademy.org

Carolina Preparatory Academy would serve at-risk, low-income children who live near the former Charleston Naval Base in North Charleston.

The charter school hopes to open in August 2009 with about 150 students in kindergarten through third grade and would add one grade per year until it extends through 12th grade, as previously reported by The Post and Courier. The college prep school would be designed for 700 nearby students, but children from across the county could apply for admission.

The charter school would offer the International Baccalaureate Curriculum and a comprehensive technology program in which every student has a laptop. Class sizes would be kept to 18 students.

The charter school also would serve as the base of separate efforts to serve the community's educational, social and medical needs, such as offering health screenings, recreational opportunities or adult literacy programs.

The charter school likely would be located in a building on the former base.

The Charleston Institute for Civic Engagement and International Studies

Contact: Franklin Cleveland at se_institute@yahoo.com

Students would be able to speak four languages by the time they graduated from one charter school that hopes to open here.

The Charleston Institute for Civic Engagement and International Studies would open in the fall of 2009 with pre-kindergarten through ninth grade. An additional grade would be added each year until it has a complete high school with a total charter school enrollment of 800. Class sizes would be kept to 15 students.

Franklin Cleveland, who also is working to start a charter school in Berkeley County, said the Charleston charter school would be one for future leaders. Today's students need to be multi-lingual because the economy is now a global one, he said.

Students would be in language immersion programs from the time they start school, and their core academic subjects would be taught in a foreign language. Teachers who can speak another language and instruct a subject such as math will be hired.

The school will develop an exchange program with schools across the world so local students can experience other cultures and vice versa.

The charter school's goal is to produce Renaissance children who are well-rounded, have a civic consciousness and understand different cultures and diversity, Cleveland said. Students will be better citizens because they know the complexity of the world, he said.

Community service will be mandatory, and parents will be required to be involved in the school. Physical activity during the school day is a must, and students will be involved in 90 minutes of activity daily.

Separate groups are involved in planning the Charleston and Berkeley charter schools, although they plan to cooperate by sharing ideas and best practices, Cleveland said.

Organizers have not identified a building where the school could be located.

H.O.P.E.S. Academy

Contact: Marjorie White at mawhite1@bellsouth.net

The school would serve sixth- through ninth-grade students initially and add a grade until it has a complete high school.

H.O.P.E.S. Academy organizers did not return repeated calls for comment.

Liberal Arts Academy

Contact: Elizabeth Moffly at emoffly@aol.com

A former Republican candidate for state superintendent of education sees a need for a high school that would offer alternative routes to earning a diploma.

Elizabeth Moffly would like to open the Liberal Arts Academy in the fall of 2009 for 800 ninth- through 12th-grade students. She has her eyes on the old Wando High School site as a potential home, the same site the district plans to eventually use as the home of the new high school for Mount Pleasant.

The ideas Moffly hopes to incorporate in the charter school were the same ones she had during her run for state superintendent in 2006. She hopes the charter school would become a model for the state and a leader for bigger changes to happen in other schools.

Preference would be given to Mount Pleasant students before opening up to others from across the county.

Moffly hopes to obtain some waivers from the state reducing the number of credits students would have to earn to get a high school diploma. Although the state mandates students earn 24 credits, Moffly hopes to reduce that number to 20, which still would allow students to get into public higher-education institutions.

She also would like students to have more flexibility in what they take instead of requiring every student to have four math credits, regardless of their career ambitions, she said. If students see a course as relevant, then they will be motivated to succeed, she said.

Business partnerships would be key to the charter school, and students would be in class some days and at job sites on others. Each student would have in-school advisors to whom he or she goes for advice or information.

Low Country Preparatory Academy

Contact: Anthony Motley at lcpainc@aol.com

Charleston County could see its first public boarding school within the next few years.

The Low Country Preparatory Academy would open in the fall of 2009 with a kindergarten through sixth-grade school and eventually would offer a boarding school for seventh- through 12th-grade students.

Organizers realize the charter school's funding would be insufficient to support the boarding school so they plan to have older students work in one of four student-run businesses that would benefit the school. Students would operate a barber shop, dinner theater, school store and coffee shop and an audio visual recording and editing company. The job would be an outlet to practice what they learn, said Anthony Motley, president and founder of Inner Thoughts, the Washington-based nonprofit group that is spearheading the charter school concept.

Motley founded Inner Thoughts nearly 30 years ago to work with at-risk students in an effort to reduce crime and violence among young people. The charter school would be a culmination of the nonprofit's work.

Inner Thoughts will support but remain separate from Low Country Preparatory Academy. Motley hopes the charter school would be the foundation for creating more public boarding schools elsewhere in the state.

A boarding school is needed because challenges such as poverty, crime and drugs are a part of many students' home lives, Motley said. It becomes difficult to get students to achieve at higher levels when they are returning home to the same environment and factors that contribute to dysfunction, he said.

Charleston was chosen because the vice president of Inner Thoughts, Calais Guglielmi, relocated to this area. Organizers don't have a building yet.

The charter school will integrate a curriculum that includes humanities, science, arts and crafts, performing arts, foreign language and physical education.

Supporters of the school are local residents, including a judge, attorney, education specialist and law school instructor.

Mackey and Elmore Charter School of Choice

Contact: Information unavailable

The school would be located in North Charleston and open in the fall of 2009. It would serve sixth- through eighth-grade students and have single gender classes.

Mackey and Elmore Charter School of Choice organizers did not return repeated calls for comment.

William Edward School of Technology

Contact: Delphine Butcher at williamedwardschool@yahoo.com

One group in an early phase of organizing is the William Edward School of Technology.

The kindergarten through 12th-grade charter school would open in the fall of 2009 and have a maximum enrollment of 400. Organizers haven't picked a site.

Delphine Butcher is organizing the start up effort and is a public school teacher. She's noticed how technically savvy her students are and the way they are engaged in lessons and learning more when she uses technology in her teaching, she said.

Companies are asking for students with technology training, and the charter school would prepare students for opportunities in technology-related fields.

Every student would have a laptop and personal digital assistant (a handheld computer), and classrooms would use high-tech equipment, such as SmartBoards. Some of the curriculum also would be available online.

Organizers plan to visit a Greenville school, the closest technology-based school, to get more ideas. No other local school has a focus on technology, and that's what William Edward School would provide, Butcher said. The school's name is in memory of her younger brother.

Supporters of the school include educators and business leaders.

Reach Diette Courrégé at 937-5546 or dcourrege@postandcourier.com.