FOCUS D.C. Public Charter School Bulletin

August 17, 2004

--Seven '05 Charter School Hopefuls Survive First Cut; FOCUS-aided Candidates Advance
--Coming School Year to Feature Six New Charters, Six Expansion Campuses


Seven '05 Charter School Hopefuls Survive First Cut; FOCUS-aided Candidates Advance

The D.C. Public Charter School Board at its monthly meeting last night gave permission to seven applicants to move forward with their plans to open charter schools in the fall of 2005. Three of the seven received "conditional approval," which is given to
schools that have not yet found a facility or must make relatively minor changes to their school design. The remainder received "first-stage clearance," which is awarded to applicants who show great promise but need to undertake a more significant reworking of parts of their school design. Eight applications were denied outright.

All seven of the successful applicants took advantage of FOCUS's charter school startup program, which includes formal training programs, a comprehensive guide book, individual meetings, and line-by-line review of draft applications by academic and business
experts.

The successful schools:
Academia Bilingue de la Comunidad (ABC) A Spanish/English bilingual middle school spearheaded by Chuck Jackson, a former attorney who is working with both the National Council of La Raza and Building Excellent Schools

Academy of Learning Through the Arts (ALTA)
A pre-k through 8th arts immersion school founded by Pat Mitchell, head of the Fillmore Arts Center, with partnerships throughout the D.C. arts community

Appletree Early Learning Public Charter School
A literacy-intensive preschool based on a current private school model developed by the AppleTree Institute for Early Literacy and led by veteran charter school founders Jack McCarthy and Russ Williams

Early Childhood Academy Public Charter School
An outgrowth of a successful Head Start program that will offer a language- and literacy-rich academic environment for young children

Northwest DC Public Charter School
A K-8 school developed in cooperation with Imagine Schools, Inc. and emphasizing strong academics and technology literacy

Potomac Lighthouse Public Charter School
A K-12th arts infusion school utilizing the Core Knowledge sequence and developed in partnership with Lighthouse
Academies

YouthBuild Public Charter School
A bilingual vocational GED and high school diploma program led by Patricia Bravo, current director of the YouthBuild program at the Latin American Youth Center

Among the rejected applications were a girls' high school, a school-to-work- based high school, a pre-school through 8th program based on the Effective Schools model, two high schools for high-risk students, a high school for special education students, a trades-based high school, and a middle/high school oriented toward the health sciences.

Coming School Year to Feature Six New Charters, Six Expansion Campuses

Six new charter schools will open their doors this month, along with six new campuses being opened by existing schools. Together, these twelve schools are expected to enroll approximately 2,000 students. Overall, charter school enrollment may increase by as many as 3,000 students.

The six new schools are: Two Rivers (Pre-K - 8th; Expeditionary Learning); E.L. Haynes (Pre-K-12th; Expeditionary Learning); D.C. Bilingual (age 3-5th; bilingual/multicultural); William E. Doar PCS for the Performing Arts (pre-K-12th); Mary McLeod
Bethune Day Academy (Pre-K - 8th; academic prep/language immersion); and Young America Works (HS; vocational/technical).

The expansion campuses belong to Cesar Chavez PCS (6th/7th, 9th/10th; public policy); Community Academy PCS (two new campuses, 1st-8th and pre-school-5th; community-based schooling); Maya Angelou/See Forever PCS (9th-12th; at-risk); Meridian PCS (5th-8th; college prep using the Calvert School program); and Roots PCS (pre-school-k; afrocentric interdisciplinary).

More information about these schools can be had by calling FOCUS at 202/387-0405.

Friends of Choice in Urban Schools
1530 16th Street, NW #001
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 387-0405 phone
(202) 667-3798 fax
www.focus-dccharter.org