FOCUS and PCS in the News: September 2013

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.

By Lauren Outlaw

 

The school year is well underway and exciting things are happening! The charter school sector is expanding; two schools were awarded leases in former DCPS buildings; and two schools received funding to expand CTE programs, to name just a few of the developments that occurred last month. Below are a few of the articles from September that highlight FOCUS and the charter schools.  If you haven’t already, be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

 

Seven D.C.-area schools win National Blue Ribbon awards (The Washington Post, 9/25/13)

Congratulations to DC Preparatory Academy’s Edgewood Elementary public charter school on receiving the National Blue Ribbon Award!  The US Department of Education recognizes schools that demonstrate either exceptionally high performance or improvement with this award. DC Prep serves about 400 low-income students in preschool through third grade, and approximately 70 percent of their students are proficient in math and reading by the time they leave in third grade.  Read this article for more on DC Prep and the Blue Ribbon Award.

 

Missing The Point on Charter School Neighborhood Preference (Hillrag.com, 9/23/13)

In this op-ed, FOCUS executive director Robert Cane advocates against neighborhood preference, except in limited circumstances.  A member of the Council created Neighborhood Preference Taskforce, Mr. Cane recounts the recommendation the group presented to the Council, which was that “any [neighborhood preference] should be strictly voluntary and limited to charters that move into former DCPS school buildings.”  Mr. Cane points out that any neighborhood preference beyond this would “likely mean that students [living in Wards 7 and 8] would be forced back across the river to the city-run schools from which they fled.” For more on Mr. Cane’s thoughts on neighborhood preference, read this article.  To read the Neighborhood Preference Taskforce’s final recommendation, click here.

 

D.C. charter schools open with more choices (The Northwest Current, 9/18/13)

In this op-ed by Robert Cane, the FOCUS ED highlights the expansion of the charter school sector here in the District.  Last year charter schools educated 43 percent of all DC public school students.  This year, four new charter schools have opened: Somerset Preparatory Academy, Ingenuity Prep, Sela, and Community College Preparatory Academy.  Charter schools offer “superior public education” as evidenced by statistics like the charter school high school graduation rate last year being 21 percent higher than that of the traditional public schools.  Cane points out “charters’ superior results have occurred in part because of market forces [and that] another incentive is that charters can be closed for underperforming academically or mismanaging public funds.”  For more on how successful charter schools are at educating the District’s youth, check out our Data Center.

 

KIPP DC, Two Rivers charters to lease shuttered District schools in Northeast (The Washington Post, 9/18/13)

Congratulations to KIPP DC and Two Rivers on being awarded long-term leases in two-shuttered DC school buildings (Hamilton and Young).  KIPP will demolish the former Hamilton building and build a new 120,000 square-foot KIPP DC College Preparatory School and an athletic field for its high school students. Two Rivers, currently operating in two building on Florida Avenue NE, will consolidate and move its preK-8th grade program to the former Young Elementary School.  Both KIPP DC and Two Rivers plan to open their new facilities by the 2015-16 school year.  For more on this exciting development, read this article! Also, be sure to check out the Facilities page on our website to learn more about difficulties charter schools have historically faced trying to acquire public facilities.

 

Washington Latin opens year in expanded Ward 4 Campus (The Northwest Current, 9/4/13)

Another congratulations is due to Washington Latin for opening a new facility in the former Rudolph Elementary School building at the beginning of the school year. In the past, Latin educated students in grades five through 12 on three campuses, but with this change, the charter school is now able serve the same grades in one building. Rudolph was shuttered in 2008 and Latin received a 25-year lease last year to occupy this building.  Read this article for more on Washington Latin’s transition and plans for the future.

 

Eight D.C. schools receive planning grants to establish career academies (The Washington Post, 9/4/13)

In this article, Emma Brown reports on the creation of “career academies,” a new initiative designed to help nine high schools create workforce-training programs to provide their students with the skills necessary to enter the workplace upon graduation.  The District allocated $2.8 million for this initiative.  Friendship Collegiate Academy and Friendship Tech Prep public charter schools were both awarded grants to develop career academies in their schools by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education.  The grant monies will be used to “hire at least two administrators, tasked this year with developing and planning for the academy [and] each academy will also receive $85,000 for staff training and marketing to students.”  Congratulations to both Friendship public charter schools! Read this article for more on the development of career academies.