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Friends of Choice in Urban Schools (FOCUS) is now the DC Charter School Alliance!

Please visit www.dccharters.org to learn about our new organization and to see the latest news and information related to DC charter schools.

The FOCUS DC website is online to see historic information, but is not actively updated.

Interested in starting a public charter school in DC?

By Alison Collier

 

Are you frustrated with the educational options available to your child here in the District? Has your child been stuck on charter school waiting lists year after year? Are you unhappy with the school in which you currently teach? Perhaps you should consider starting your own public charter school.

FOCUS and PCS in the News: July 2013

By Lauren Outlaw

 

D.C. students reach new heights in annual standardized tests (The Washington Post, 7/30/13)

 

In this article, Emma Brown highlights the significant gains charter schools across the district made on this year’s DC CAS.  The DC Comprehensive Assessment System (DC CAS) is administered to students in grades 3 through 8 and 10 every spring.  Public charter schools saw the biggest gains since 2009 and for the first time ever more than half of students attending charter schools scored proficient or above in reading.  For more exciting news on this year’s test results, read this article!  For additional school data information including past test results, please visit our Data Center.

FOCUS and PCS in the News: May 2013

By Lauren Outlaw

 

As budget season continues, so too does the conversation about equitable funding and equal access to facilities for public charter schools in the District.  There were some interesting developments this month including the release of 16 buildings for charter schools to lease, the push for a unified lottery system, and the possibility of legislation that would give chartering authority to the Chancellor. FOCUS Executive Director Robert Cane wrote two articles on the ongoing funding inequities imposed on charter schools. Below are a few of the articles we thought were most important from last month.  And as always, be sure to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook!

First Fridays Tours

By Sarah Lick

 

College preparatory boarding school, expeditionary learning, Chinese-language immersion, and International Baccalaureate curriculum are not concepts that usually come to mind when thinking about American public schools - although all are descriptive of public schools in DC: charter schools. But what is IB curriculum? What does language immersion mean for a preschooler or middle school child? What does charter school really mean?

Two New Charters Approved After Working with FOCUS!

By Alison Collier

 

FOCUS was thrilled last Monday night when the DC Public Charter School Board granted conditional charters to two of the groups that participated in our School Design & Development program, Lee Montessori and Academy of Hope. They were the only two of the nine applicants that received approval.

Remember Mayoral Candidate Gray’s Promises to Charter Schools?

By Michael Musante

 

For those of you old enough to remember the Rocky and Bullwinkle show (a satirical cartoon that aired in the early 1960s), one of my favorite parts was when Sherman and Mr. Peabody (not related to recently retired FOCUS Board Chairman Mike Peabody) would step into the “WABAC” machine (pronounced “wayback”) and visit events in the past. Mr. Peabody usually delivered some dreadful pun that would deliver a poignant message about what they saw.

 

Charter Autonomy at Stake: OSSE on the Loose

By Lauren Outlaw

 

Since the creation of the Office of the State Superintendent (OSSE) in 2007, FOCUS has been engaged in a never-ending battle with OSSE to protect charter school’s autonomy.  The School Reform Act leaves financial, administrative, personnel, and curriculum matters to the exclusive control of the charter school.  Moreover, the SRA also exempts charter schools from laws, statutes, and regulations created by the OSSE, DME, DC Council, Mayor or the SBOE for the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS).  Despite these legal mandates, however, the OSSE continuously proposes new requirements and regulations that purport to apply to charter schools, encroach on the autonomy that is vital to charter schools’ success and are often duplicative of PCSB efforts.

FOCUS bids farewell to founder Mike Peabody at 2013 Gala

By Alison Collier

 

This year, FOCUS’s annual gala honored founder Malcolm “Mike” Peabody who is stepping down as board chair after 17 years. Under his stewardship, charter school enrollment has grown to 35,000 students in 57 schools on 100+ campuses making up 43% of the total public school population in the District.

 

“Who’d a thunk,” Mike said in his farewell speech.  “I certainly never imagined we would get to this level so fast.”

 

Over 250 people attended the March 21st gala, and enjoyed dinner, drinks, and dancing as well as a program celebrating Mike’s contributions to the DC charter school movement. Attendees included: current charter school leaders; founders of the charter school movement; representatives from various charter support organizations; political officials including Mayor Anthony Williams, Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, Councilmember David Catania; and other friends of FOCUS.

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