FOCUS D.C. Public Charter School Bulletin

June 19, 2007

DCPCSB Grants Conditional Approval to Six 2008 Schools, Rejects Seven; All Approved Schools Worked with FOCUS

The D.C. Public Charter School Board voted yesterday to grant conditional approval to six of 13 applicants who had sought permission to open charter schools in the fall of 2008. The six are Washington Yu Ying (Chinese Immersion, International Baccalaureate; prek-8); Achievement Preparatory Academy (college preparatory; 4th-8th); Thea Bowman Preparatory (Core Knowledge; middle school); Imagine Southeast (gender-specific curriculum, Core Knowledge; preschool-8th); Colin L. Powell International (global awareness, Core Knowledge; prek-8th); and Excel Academy (all-girls, early intervention; preschool-8th). The petitions of seven other applicants were denied; several of these were urged to refine their school designs and resubmit their applications next year.

All six of the successful applicant groups participated in the FOCUS charter school startup program, which features a two-day school design workshop and intensive one-on-one help with academic program design and business and operational planning.

Since 2004, when FOCUS began its charter school startup program, 20 of 27 FOCUS-trained groups have received charters from the DC Public Charter School Board. During the same period, only one other applicant group has received a charter; 29 non-FOCUS applicants have been denied.

Friends of Choice in Urban Schools
1530 16th Street, NW #104
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 387-0405 phone
(202) 667-3798 fax
www.focusdc.org